Hi all, we’re new at all of this and have a question for those who’ve been through this before. Our S24 will be a first-year jazz bass performance B. Mus. student at McGill in the fall, and we’re trying to figure out what specific things he’ll need that we’re not thinking of at the moment. Of course his instrument, with new strings and a fresh re-hair on his bow, concert black, and so forth. But are there other things that he’ll need, like an iPad for music, etc.? I know this is a vague question and that students all have their own preferences, but is there anything really obvious that we are forgetting?
My son appears to be the only kid at his school without an iPad for music (he actually has one, but apparently it’s too old to be useful?) He keeps insisting it’s fine, and he can get by without one (and if we’re offering to buy stuff, there’s always something else he says he needs more and would rather have), but it definitely seems to be standard to have one.
Agree that most kids use an iPad (with foot pedal for page turns) for music at least some of the time. Mine also has a laptop for his non performance classes. Of course options for concert dress (concert black and tux) but also nice dress clothes for any solo recital or master class.
The rest is just whatever is needed for your instrument. Take into account any major issues with temperature/climate changes if necessary. We invested in a temperature/humidity controlled case because oboes are notoriously sensitive to cold, for example.
My kid is a minimalist…so others may have more ideas.
My kid started using an iPad a few years ago and definitely likes it. If you are not from the frigid NE or Great Lakes region, a great piece of advice I got when my kid was auditioning at McGill was to get winter boots with little spikes for the icy, hilly streets. (this advice was from someone who worked in an orthopedist office)
My husband is a bass player. The other great thing about the iPad is that you don’t need a stand light. Perfect for playing in the pit, my husband does a fair amount of musical theater, in addition to jazz and classical.
Last year before my son went to college for BMus., we were reminded about his instrument insurance. Apparently once he goes to college for music major, his instrument was no longer covered by our home owner insurance. He followed a professional violinist’s suggestion and started his own instrument insurance policy.
Another useful tool he brought to school was his recorder (Zoom Q2n-4K) and tripod. He was preparing for summer program applications and some grant applications and recordings were needed.
different policies cover different items. We checked and ours stopped covering his instrument once he started school out of town. Yours may very well be different.
Re insurance….you need both Theft AND Loss! We had coverage on our homeowners and did check to see if it covered at college. They said it did, but we got a separate policy anyway that covered three expensive instruments, a very expensive case…and all of our kid’s music (he had a three drawer filing cabinet full…graduated grad school in 2009).
Our kid also had his own very sturdy portable music stand. And actually, our daughter did as well (she also had instrument insurance).
My kid who attended college where there was winter also had some gloves that actually didn’t have the fingers for when it was cold. In addition! He had some special earplugs because he was seated in front of a section that was very loud, and he wanted his hearing to be OK.
Mine never thought he would need an iPad and uses it more than his Mac.
LOTS of dress blacks. Find a reliable dry cleaner who is close! Mine does not have a car on campus and very little spare time so getting there is a pain.
Get a higher insurance premium for the dorm, we did 10k vs the standard 5k offered.
They record alot…any equipment they may need
IF you need storage make sure it is climate controlled. Mine is in TX and they go fast!
Mine has to take two years of piano and pass a proficiency…some keep a keyboard in their dorm for practice, mine does not.
Enjoy! It’s a fun ride. Get to as many shows you can! The jazz they make at this level is insane!
Thanks everyone–this is all so helpful. @Shellg: we’ll try to get to as many as we can–our only regret is that it’s a plane ride away! But one super cool thing about McGill is that the jazz combos play out in a club every Tuesday night as part of their ensemble requirement, with other students cheering them on and faculty evaluating them. We went during our visit a few weeks ago and the club was packed–so much fun and such great music!
Regarding the “plane ride away”, we are in the same scenario with ours. While I am generally not a fan of multiple credit cards, we have one airline card for the carrier our son uses most frequently. We have been able to get about every 4th or 5th flight through points. He travels a lot for auditions and gigs, now.
Not sure if McGill offers live stream for concerts. My son’s program does at times. We like to organize a little watch party at home.
My oldest is a CPA, but also a musician in a few bands and performs at several gigs every week. I needed a new ipad (battery life), so I gave her my (very old) ipad and foot pedals, and she loves it (but needs to keep it on the charger due to age).
