Internship: Day 1

Ben Wasserman

Recreational Music Center

Pretty sweet Roland electric drum kits. The coolest part about their studio, is that all the instruments can be streamed together for lessons enabling several kids to play together on the same song at the same time. I get to test them out to make sure they work in the morning!

The walls of the office are decorated with album covers of several bands including U2, Michael Jackson, The Doors, The Beatles etc. This inspires students to ask about these classic and influential bands as a way of appealing musical education.

Just Jammin, you know. They have groups of 4 Pianos located all around the room. The studio must have anywhere from 10-12 pianos, 10-15 Guitars, 8-10 Drum Sets, and massive amounts of Percussion such as steel drums, shakers, harmonicas, hand drums, bongos etc.

The day started at 10:15 when I woke up. It was quite the amazing change from waking up at 7:30 every morning. My hours will typically be anywhere from 10-4 or 11-5. I was able to get up, make breakfast, shower, get ready casually, and arrive 15 minutes early. I am interning at the Recreational Music Center in the Karate building here in NTC right by Vons. When I got there, we got straight to business jumping off what we had discussed in our previous visits. Overall I am pretty stoked, but also very nervous. I want my project to reflect me. I have to work on finding that middleground where I will be helping them, but working on something that reflects my best skills, dedication and professionalism. I love my mentors, love the studio and location. Being so close allows me to walk back and forth from there to school if I need anything. The day ended well, and I see Friday going well.

Their business has actually stayed pretty neutral through the recession. With the arts being pulled out of the schools, parents have been enrolling their kids through music classes outside of school, but at the same time, parents have been less willing to spend money on recreational activities such as music classes for their kids.