Stu-stu-studio

With a notebook, pen and dozens of questions at hand, today I lunched with Jack Vees, the director of Yale's Center for Studies in Music Technology, and a lecturer in electronic music. I reached out to him last week to see if he'd let me pick his brain about my personal summer project, which is to produce an album of original music.

Jack was kind, forthcoming, knowledgeable and helpful. He showed me around the studio spaces in Sprague Hall and gave me a rundown of the types of equipment I'll want given what I want to do. This will be expensive, but less so than I expected. My biggest cost will be a Mac, which is new territory for me.

I wish I'd tapped into Yale's music resources earlier, not that I would've really had the time while getting an MBA. I barely had time to juggle all my classes and activities as it was. But I might have even been able to take one of Jack's classes in pop music production. Since it's too late for that, he offered to let me sit in on some of his classes for the rest of this quarter. That's great news!

Recently, I received a "face book" document with the pictures and descriptions of those of us who are finishing grad school and will be joining Deloitte's human capital practice. I was surprised to learn there are only nine of us in New York. One of the questionairre fields is "summer plans," and it's no surprise I'm the only one who wrote, "I'm going to produce an album of original music." Almost all the others are traveling. Embarking on an international adventure was my first instinct when I learned of this impending free time, and it's what most people suggested when I was seeking good ideas. But as lame as this may be, there's just nowhere I'm dying to go. Japan? Italy? Brazil? Yawn. I mean, who needs the hassle and expense, not to mention the danger! I have a recurring nightmare that I'm in another country and lose my passport. That means your body experiences immediate sublimation, right? No thanks!

I'm super psyched to work on my music this summer. I can't wait. And I'll continue in my spare time after I've started working. This'll be a nice contrast to consulting. It's creative, emotional, solitary and personal. Maybe I will do a follow-up blog: Consultant pursues music career, blogs.