Funny that I should have written about graphics yesterday, because today I stumbled across an idea for a potentially endlessly rich vein of graphic music nerdiness!
It all started with this article explaining a new pop culture phenom: Nerd Merit Badges. An immediately alluring idea, I must say, but I wasn’t all that excited about the particular badges I found there; too many of them related to Foursquare, which I haven’t gotten into.
But then I read on and found a link to the Science Scouts and their panoply of digital merit badges (which formed the initial inspiration for the Nerd Merit Badges, according to the article), and my nerd-o-meter immediately redlined!
Of course, being a music nerd rather than a “classic,” or science, nerd, I can’t claim any of these badges for myself (well, maybe this jokey one here). McDoc can, though:
The “I’ve touched human internal organs with my own hands” badge
Anyway, naturally my first thought after discovering this treasure trove of nerdiness was, “What about Music Nerd Merit Badges?!” I did my due-diligence Google search, and confirmed that it falls to me to bring them to the world. After all, I live but to serve!
So here’s the first one, and it’s for all you string players out there:
The “I’ve broken a string onstage” badge*
Can you imagine the endless possibilities? The mind reels! I’m open to suggestions to help me narrow it down, so send ’em in! 😀
* I’ll accompany my badges with the same policy that the Science Scouts use: “Anyone is welcome to use these badges, although a link to the site (or specific badge) is much appreciated.” 🙂
What a great idea for a series! I can’t wait for the next badge.
Endless possibilities indeed!
How about the “I’ve left my music behind somewhere and performed from memory instead of retrieving it” badge?
The “I get earwormed by my own compositions” badge?
The “wave arms around until music stops” badge for conductors?
The “You play the WHAT?” badge for players of unusual instruments? As a serpent player I get this very frequently!
I haven’t broken a string onstage, but I’ve broken a rotary valve string with two minutes to go before a performance; thankfully I had the necessary tools with me to fix it.
Some other ideas:
1. “I knocked over a loaded percussion mallet table during a concert” badge. Not sure how to draw it, though.
2. “I survived a bad conductor”. Badge has a bull on a podium with his butt facing the audience–because the horns are in the back and asshole is in the front with a bad conductor.
3. “the bell of my sousaphone fell off during a halftime show”. I actually saw this with the Texas A&M band–in Memorial Stadium in Austin, home of the University of Texas. There was much mockage, as you can imagine!
Andy
Great ideas, Kathryn and Andy — thanks! The MMN graphic design house is not the world’s fastest-moving shop, so I may not get to all of these, but I’ll get to some of them for sure! 🙂
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