Berklee
 

Does anyone here have expirience with the school? I've been checking it out and am very very interested. I'm only a sophmore in highschool, but I've been working to get most of my credits out of the way so I have my senior year to practice all day.

Yes.. Berklee school of music has fallen very much flat since it's hay day. The school rides on it's reuptation from back in the day, when people such as Alan Dawson taught there and students included Steve Smith, Vinnie C. etc.

The school is nothing like that now, I would not in anyway recomend it. It's a pretty shabby place with questionable facilities for drummers and even less to offer educationally on the drumset.

I was wondering what are some good schools for drumset players ?

PIT, The Collective, UNT has a good jazz/classical based program.

[QUOTE=Josiah]Yes.. Berklee school of music has fallen very much flat since it's hay day. The school rides on it's reuptation from back in the day, when people such as Alan Dawson taught there and students included Steve Smith, Vinnie C. etc.

The school is nothing like that now, I would not in anyway recomend it. It's a pretty shabby place with questionable facilities for drummers and even less to offer educationally on the drumset.[/QUOTE]
Tis a shame. Josiah, you have some experience with PIT, don't you?

Most applicants that apply to Berklee apply on drums or guitar. So it's very competitive on either of those two instruments, you have to be very good. And most freshmen who come in on one of those two instruments drop out after the first year. Your choice though. It's a great music school, I plan to go there when I'm out of high school.

How much is the semester on berklee?
And also, what does PIT stand for?,a link to it?

I have a good friend who's going to school there now, and he pretty much echo's exactly what Josiah said.

[QUOTE=Kris2000]How much is the semester on berklee?
And also, what does PIT stand for?,a link to it?[/QUOTE]
I believe its Percussion Institue of Technology. Probably terribly wrong. Cant find a site.

Hey Josiah, could you post us a link to PIT?

I know a girl that went to Berkely after she graduated from my high school, and she said that she was too advanced and Berkely couldn't teach her anything she hadn't learned already.

[QUOTE=ThisMustBeHeaven]Hey Josiah, could you post us a link to PIT?

I know a girl that went to Berkely after she graduated from my high school, and she said that she was too advanced and Berkely couldn't teach her anything she hadn't learned already.[/QUOTE]
You mean Berklee....Berkley is a university.
And I think your friend is lying, you can't go there and not learn ONE SINGLE thing.

Anyone know a site were we could learn a little bit more about Music Universitys?

The Conservatories are ace, but good luck. They accept something like 3 or 4 applicants a year across the entire country. A friend of mine ended up getting accepted there, though, and now he's in the big time. Unfortunately, I haven't spoken with him since pretty much sophmore year (I'm a senior now).

I believe Mike Mangini taught at Berklee at one time, but that must have been ages ago.

[QUOTE=ThisMustBeHeaven]I know a girl that went to Berkely after she graduated from my high school, and she said that she was too advanced and Berkely couldn't teach her anything she hadn't learned already.[/QUOTE]
Thats bull****. If she learnt nothing there, she should be the one teaching.

PIT stands for the Percussion Institute of Technology, this is the percussive school subset in Musicians Institute. You can find them at [url]www.mi.edu[/url]

I did attend PIt for almost 2 years myself.


I know 2 people who have gone to berklee school of music, 1 for their normal program and another for a summer program. Both walked away saying it was a waste of money and very much "built" up image that does not exist.

[QUOTE=novacain]Does anyone here have expirience with the school? I've been checking it out and am very very interested. I'm only a sophmore in highschool, but I've been working to get most of my credits out of the way so I have my senior year to practice all day.[/QUOTE]

a friend of mine went to Berklee for guitar.

Advice: if you can get in, GO. If you get accepted, it means you are one of the best drummers out there. It's really expensive, though. And it's in Boston, so you'll have to deal with all those god **** red sox fans. lots of hot girls though.

the catch with Berklee: most people who go to Berklee end up dropping out and pursuing a career in music. This is how the band Godsmack was formed, as well as Martin, Medeski, and Wood... Along with countless other touring and nontouring acts.

good luck, but this is a really tough school to get into. if you can do it though, GO. check it out... it might be the best thing that ever happens to your music career.

I think I'd rather go to Berkley.

Then where else..?


This is the problem with Berklee right here..

" If you get accepted, it means you are one of the best drummers out there."

That is completely untrue!

You want to talk to somebody who ACTUALLY weant their for drums?

AIM him at 'cardboardcabin'

That guy spent the summer at Berklee, IM him, ask him about it. He'll tell you waht I did. It's practically a joke, the money is insane and the facilities are sh*t house. The place it's in in Boston is way bad and the people their are a lot of well.. just talk to him...

[QUOTE=drumforyourlife]

the catch with Berklee: most people who go to Berklee end up dropping out and pursuing a career in music. This is how the band Godsmack was formed, as well as Martin, Medeski, and Wood... Along with countless other touring and nontouring acts.
[/QUOTE]

If Godsmack is the calibre that Berkeley produces, then they're in trouble.

Alot of rockguys seem to come from Berklee these days...Adam D from Killswitch spend a few years at Berklee..same for Chris Pennie from Dillinger. And trust me, those guys can PLAY. that they choose to out it in a rock context, that's their problem ;D

Anyway, to sum it up in my opinion:
- Do you need to go to a school like Berklee to become a better player? No.
- Is the chance bigger that you meet people who share similar musical ideas and allow you to play music you really like to play? Yes. As its already been said, alot of people drop out after 2 years because they achieved a goal..being able to play music for a living.

Its more about networking and meeting people than the actual schooling itself, imho.

If you really want to focus on becoming a better drummer, try finding some good teachers in your area first. Will save you tons of cash in the end.

any1 no what drumsets they have in berklee?

Wow, and I was just about to enrol in ICOM, and local music school linked to Berklee. I guess I should just screw it.

[QUOTE=Carn]Alot of rockguys seem to come from Berklee these days...Adam D from Killswitch spend a few years at Berklee..same for Chris Pennie from Dillinger. And trust me, those guys can PLAY. that they choose to out it in a rock context, that's their problem ;D

Anyway, to sum it up in my opinion:
- Do you need to go to a school like Berklee to become a better player? No.
- Is the chance bigger that you meet people who share similar musical ideas and allow you to play music you really like to play? Yes. As its already been said, alot of people drop out after 2 years because they achieved a goal..being able to play music for a living.

Its more about networking and meeting people than the actual schooling itself, imho.

If you really want to focus on becoming a better drummer, try finding some good teachers in your area first. Will save you tons of cash in the end.[/QUOTE]


you know Chris Pennie didnt even go there for percussion

Yes I know. But I`ll be ****ed if he didnt pick up a few things there.

Same for Adam from killswitch. I do believe he majored in production and minored in bass.

"any1 no what drumsets they have in berklee?"

It's anyone, and yes.. not that it really matters. Nothing special to mention.

[QUOTE=Josiah]Yes.. Berklee school of music has fallen very much flat since it's hay day. The school rides on it's reuptation from back in the day, when people such as Alan Dawson taught there and students included Steve Smith, Vinnie C. etc.

The school is nothing like that now, I would not in anyway recomend it. It's a pretty shabby place with questionable facilities for drummers and even less to offer educationally on the drumset.[/QUOTE]

That is untrue. Sure there are better music schools out there, but Berklee is still one of the best in the business, I would venture to say that its in the top 10. It is the largest primier institute for music and many successful, talented, and respected people have come and are coming through this school. The faculty is amazing for drums how could anyone not see that. Mike Mangini, Kenwood Dennard, Rod Morgenstein, Dave Dicenso, Gary Burton, as well as guest appearances throughout the year which include Dave Weckl, Haracio Hernandez, Mike Portnoy, Steve Gadd, Steve Smith, and the list goes on.


The facilities for the drummers are just as good, and the education that i received when i was there was great. To me its seems like you have a grudge or something against the school. Yes, its expensive, but I think its worth it, and so is the education that you get with it. I have been there for a summer program and it was the best experience I've had with drums. I dont want to start arguments with you Josiah, Im just trying to tell it from the other side. You shouldnt base your perception on what 2 people have said, because it looks like thats what your doing. You should go and see the school and its facilities for yourself. I would also like you explain your reasoning a bit further because I'm having trouble understanding your reasoning.

Yes Berklee is **** expensive, but so is Eastmen, Julliard, Manhatten, New England, and all those other top notch conservatories. Berklee is a **** good. Basically if you have the chance to go...GO!!!

People either love this school, or hate it; it seems.

Theres tons of differenet opinions out there.
Hey flyguy,could you give us a little inside on your experience at berklee?
How are the facilities?,The teachers?,
Anything that dissapointed you?
And suff you really liked?

[QUOTE=Kris2000]Theres tons of differenet opinions out there.
Hey flyguy,could you give us a little inside on your experience at berklee?
How are the facilities?,The teachers?,
Anything that dissapointed you?
And suff you really liked?[/QUOTE]


Well...to start off I thought it was great. The school, the people, the students, the enviornment, the faculty, everything. The facilities are very nice and advanced. I believe there are 12 fully equipped recording studios, and about 10 labs. There are an abundant amount of practice rooms. The 52 drum set practice rooms are equipped with a standard 5 piece drum set usually a yamaha/pearl set. They are availible for use 16 hours a day. There is also 41 drum set equipped rooms for ensembles. You can also get practice rooms with marmibas, vibes, whatever, pretty much anything you can think of.

The teachers are great. Ive talked and studied with many of them during the sumemr class i took, and ive found them to be great instructors as well as great people. You can really talk to them, and they really want to make you a better musician. You can find a list of the faculty, and visiting artists on the website.

Something that disspapointed me...Hmm, well the only thing negative about the school I would say is the cost of the school. It is a private school and it isnt cheap. I believe its up around $30k a year.

I really liked the Berklee experience that i got there, i learned alot and found that it was definately worth checking out.

Hope i answered your questions. If not, shoot me again.

Well I know several people who attended Berklee.

First off, it's not the biggest by FAR. Its one of the smaller ones. I never said it's not good, it's just not what it used to be.

The facilities for drummers are questionably decent. The studios are good, but the rest is the worst of all the schools I looked at before picking one.

When I saw it, you had to provide your own kit for practice, the practice rooms we're small and not nearly as secure as one would hope. The number of practice rooms is also iffy, so sharing becomes an issue.

It's a good school, but you have to look at the goals of a drummer. If you want to go pro, spending 4 years at Berklee would help. But 4 years is a long time, in wich you end up spending a lot of time doing things other then drumset.

As aposed to some other schools where ALL you do is drumset classes.

Location is a big one as well, while Boston has a music scene, it's not comparable to LA or NY.

There have been several pro's who attended the school who have spoken out against it in major mag interviews (such as Modern Drummer). Abe Loberial Jr described the school as having a "cookie cutter philosphy, training you to play at Holiday Inn's".

Also you can not compare Berklee to schools like Julliard, Julliard is a very very different school, with a different program geared entirely for classical and dance. If the number of famous people coming out of Julliard we're compared to berklee, it would be a joke. But again, that's apples and oranges.. one is a contemperary music school, the other is pure classical.

When it comes to paying that kind of money for drumset instruction, I found options to be out there.

Again, Berklee is not a bad school at all. It's deffinetly in the top contemperary schools for music. However for a drummer, I think it's important to look at your goals as a player and your career. In the music industry, nobody cares where you weant or if you have a degree. People only care about you're abbility to play.