The Space Filled with Music

With different music coming in and out of this space at all times, it remains diverse, and yet the people in it are similar. The similarity is obviously the love for music but what else could it be? Also while observing this area I noticed how easy it is to see how many Los Angeles characteristics the people here have. They all have the huge dreams and participate in the entertainment industry. There is the learning side for younger people that are still trying to make something of themselves and then there are the performers in the Carpenter Performing Arts Center that have already accomplished so much. Each of the two sections also have their own unique characteristics despite the fact that they are so close and that shows the part of LA that is different everywhere you look. This space also may be associated with the thought of having your dreams broken but I think that is wrong and different factors effect that.

The amount of diversity of can completely change a space. In this case, the diversity makes it more like LA but then when the area completely fills with Vietnamese people to listen to the Vietnamese songs at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, it may scare some people away. The point is that the area at least has a good population of different types of people. Although different events may attract a certain ethnicity to buy tickets, others around still have the opportunity. Different times also make different people come. Its like how at Whisky-a –go-go different bands coming in filter the audience. That is also the same as how when you attend events at the Staples Center, different people are attracted to everything and that’s why it makes it easier to start conversation with total strangers at. Then during school time the corner goes back to being totally immersed in culture and diversity. Students in LA can be this diverse because especially when it comes to music, they come from all over the world to get to learn there.

That brings me to how this attracts people like LA. The level of skill and talent this program creates and showcases has become not only something worth joining but something worth seeing even as an outsider or tourist. This is the big part of Los Angeles that is the entertainment. It includes places like the Dorothy Chandler with Operas all the way to things completely opposite such as mariachi bands on Olvera Street. The Carpenter Performing Arts Center is a nicer attraction and is basically one thing you can’t miss when visiting LA: a real show. As tourists come in and out and students constantly tour, enroll and learn, it keeps this space busy at just about all times! That is one difference from a place like this and a place like whisky-a-go-go. While whisky-a-go-go and other clubs may only attract people at night, this corner of CSULB attracts at all times. Although both have a sort of “nightlife”, and the club life may be far different, it still has less activity going on due to the time of things going on in the corner.

Location flexibility can be used to describe the way the music corner is at Cal State Long Beach. It can go from a learning place to a performance space to a meeting area and to a practice and hang out spot. When you look at a space like a club, it may have possibilities of more, but those are just not looked into because the nightlife is so crazy and they need that clean up and set up time. Another way the music corner is flexible is by supporting and hosting such different events from Operas to Cultural Music Celebrations to Dog Trick Shows. In that way I believe it relates to the Grand Central Park because at that park, they are always looking for different events and activities to get more people to come out and to make that area stand out, not only to the community, but also to the world. Location flexibility is something that is more likely to get a place well known because it has more types of people coming and people spread the word about it to their friends and it gets more and more business. Of course, some places like In n Out may have very little flexibility and only be about one thing, and that can get a place known too but I think it happens faster with more variety. For example, In n Out is very famous for their burgers but if they had more variety to the location then it may have taken the starting restaurant less time to become more popular. Meaning it would always still become popular, but flexibility could potentially speed up the process! After all, making it big and becoming popular or famous is one of the main things people think about in LA so the sooner the better.

Becoming famous is also an idea in many of the student’s minds in the music corner of CSULB. Perhaps that is because of the idea that becoming rich and famous is what LA is all about. The idea of Los Angeles is going there to have your name put up in lights and have thousands of fans chanting your name while you make millions of dollars just playing music and having a good time. That is why people go to learn how to be a great musician at this corner of Cal State Long Beach. This is a place where training is given and careers start. The school is helping develop talents and musicianship in order to one day reach a goal like that or whatever goal a student may have. They then give you guidance to get to that goal during the training. Being a place to start a musician’s career is a lot like how many bands get their big breaks and start their career at Whisky-a-go-go. Getting a manager there is like how CSULB music gives guidance for the specific things the musician(s) want to do. The two both begin a career or give the possibility to and it is what the performer does on the stage at the end of the day that makes it or breaks it for them.

When I say make it or break it, I don’t necessarily believe that is permanent. A musician may fail one day and then completely succeed above and beyond the next. Being a difficult program, one bad stereotype I believe it holds is being a place that crushes dreams. It is only something like that if the student lets it be. There is always an opportunity to make up for it or prove yourself. This stereotype may prevent people from realizing that it is in our own power to make it work or not. Whether we succeed or fail, it is on us, and we are the ones that can change that. Rather than looking at one bad moment as a generalization for the program crushing dreams, people should look at the good side of how if someone really want the school, feeling the bad could force people to work harder and do whatever it takes to get there. More important than the stereotype is just the ability to follow your dreams. Every space has a purpose, and while this one has many, some may only have one or a couple. That’s what space is about; finding purpose and fulfilling it.