About Me
Since hardly anyone spells Sebastian Mikolai correctly by ear - I only think of: Nikolei, Nickoley or even better Nikolaus - and I wanted to be found easily on the Internet, I invented the title: "Lord of Sounds" (German: "Herr der Töne").
However, you too can be the master (or mistress) of sounds if you are enthusiastic about music and enjoy learning or would like to develop yourself! In the following I want to tell you a little bit about me.
How it all began
I can't remember the first time I held an instrument in my hands. It feels like music has always been a part of my life. In my school days I attended a guitar group of my father besides piano lessons and participated in different band projects. In the latter I was sometimes a keyboard player, sometimes a singer, sometimes a bass player or guitarist and more rarely even a drummer. In the youth brass orchestra in Beeskow I played the timpani, and in musical projects I either took on a performing role or acted as a accompanist. My afternoons were well filled!
The many sides of music
And it was fun! I was most enthusiastic about rock music, but I was never afraid of pop, classical, jazz and other music either. If someone wanted to involve me in a project, my answer was always "yes". This way I was able to get a comprehensive musical overall picture quite early in my life. So I decided to study music and graduated as a sound engineer at the University of the Arts in Berlin in spring 2015.
Since the school year 2022/2023 I run the music and art school "J.A.P. Schulz" Schwedt/Oder. I have taught piano, keyboard, bass guitar, guitar, music theory, early music education in kindergartens and EMP classes in the project "Klasse:Musik".
Those who work with me know me as a patient, relaxed guy. Trust, openness, tolerance and responsibility are important values for me. This also includes admitting when I can't do something (yet), or not as well as others.
Learning and programming
Besides music, I have 2 other great passions. One is learning psychology, the other is programming. There are many interesting findings about learning today, up to promising new school concepts. I read and research a lot and exchange ideas with friends and colleagues. And, of course, I strive to bring these findings to our school.
Computers have fascinated me since I was a child and so I dove deeper into the subject at a relatively early age. During my studies I discovered Apple's programming platform Xcode and worked my way through countless tutorials, books and documentations to bring my layman's knowledge to a solid level. Today, as time allows, I develop apps for iOS with the goal of supporting music education. The most successful one is Read Music - Faster. Be sure to check it out!