| Author |
Subject |
Laura
Wichers
Registered
User
(8/19/00 5:29:24 pm)
Reply |
Practice rooms
Is there some sort of unwritten law
that I don't know about stating something like "practice rooms must
make the practicing musician sound like crap, no matter who they are
or what they are playing"? @#%#!!! The practice rooms at my school
aren't the worst I've been in, but they certainly leave a whole heap
to be desired. The honky-tonk uprights with stuck or altogether
missing keys, the lovely, oh so tasteful bright 70s orangish brown
carpet, the water stains on the panelling, the nasty rotting carpet
smell in the few rooms that never recovered from said water damage,
and the styrofoam-filled walls combine to make it a virtual pit of
doom.
Is it just me? Of course, the good thing is that when I
finally do get to play outside the practice rooms, it seems like I
sound like some sort of cello god or something.
Oh, and do
your school's practice rooms have mirrors? Only a precious few of
ours do; apparently due to vandalism the admin took the others down.
I ended up getting a cheapo full-length mirror and KMart and
stashing it in my cello locker.
-Laura
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Tim
Janof
Registered
User
(8/19/00 6:14:15 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Practice rooms
Don't forget about the fluorescent
lighting that makes you look like you're on death's door, if you
happen to have a mirror. And what about the poor ventilation,
probably designed for people sitting quietly reading a book, not
working their tail off?
|
Laura
Wichers
Registered
User
(8/19/00 9:13:01 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Practice rooms
Or the fact that I always seem to
luck out and get the practice room next door to a tuba player?
Grrrrrr.
The ventilation's not so bad at WMU, except in the
rooms with moldy carpet (go figure). It's just awful. And those
rooms are the good ones, too - big with mirrors, dang
nabbit.
-Laura
|
sarah00
Registered User
(8/20/00 1:24:49 am)
Reply |
practice rooms
dear laura,
perhaps try to
convince the right people to improve your practice rooms? it may
sound like a long shot, but although we may verbally malign
administrations and their counterparts, if they are presented with
an accurate, persuasive and thorough argument/discussion (and
sometimes they have to be presented with it a few times...) they'll
often listen.
do you have a student government organization
in your music school? you could start with them. i'm sure that a lot
of people would back you up on this. it IS important for us to be in
adequate conditions in a room that we spend many hours of our day!
if you don't have a student gov't, you could even start writing
letters or making suggestions or meeting with people.
it IS
possible to some extent -- we were able to extend practice room
hours, as well as have mirrors put into a majority of the practice
rooms.
... of course... there's still that problem of trying
to practice next to that brass player... 
good luck!
-sarah-
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Laura
Wichers
Registered
User
(8/20/00 9:22:49 am)
Reply |
Re:
practice rooms
I'm big on crusades, and after
discovering this my cello professor decided I should crusade for
mirrors. So that's one of my big projects this coming semester.
Maybe I'll see what I can do about the moldy carpet, too, as long as
I'm at it.
-Laura
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karen83
Registered User
(8/21/00 7:16:53 pm)
Reply |
new
building
Manhattan School of Music is
building a 20-story building just for this reason. Not only do the
current practice rooms have all the problems you mentioned, but it's
impossible to get any practice time in. I'm just in the prep, but
all my friends in the college say it's ridiculously hard even with
the sign-in sheet. Anyway, this new building will have practice
rooms and dorms(which the school is desperate for). A wonderful
thing to musicians and the school. I have a friend who didn't go
just because of the horrific dorm situation, if this new building
had been built he probably would've gone. However, the whole
neighborhood is complaining about the noise of the construction and
the fact that the building will be soo tall. There's a really nice
church(The Riverside Church for you New Yorkers) and they don't want
anything overpowering it. Oh well, once the noise has ended from
construction, it'll be great. I can't wait.
Karen
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Daniel
Ortbals 
Registered
User
(8/21/00 9:42:01 pm)
Reply |
Re:Practice Rooms
Our practice rooms aren't even
rectangular. They're funky trapezoids! They have mirrors but the
mirrors usually aren't perfectly perpendicular to the player, so it
can throw off one's perception a bit. That, and the walls are white
with those little holes cut in (all in rows), so if I stare hard
enough, the world can start to change colors and spin!
Supposedly
there is a new music building in the works, though I'll never see it
(at least, not as a student here). It hasn't completely been
approved, but the University started a capital campaign last year,
and it's one of three projects up for consideration. So, quite
possibly, eight years from now there'll be a new music building way
off in the distance far away from anything. A few years a go this
building was supposed to have been built, but instead the powers
that be decided that a brand new parking garage would suit instead.
So, we now have the Hitt Street Parking Garage. Supposedly a bunch
of music students played a "memorial" concert inside the garage.
Wish I could've seen that!
Dan
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Laura
Wichers
Registered
User
(8/21/00 9:58:59 pm)
Reply |
Re:
Traps
I think that's what I'd call the
practice rooms at your school. 
We've got that holey wall stuff, too. Isn't it awful? In
middle school the highlight of our day was to steal the neon yellow
posterboard from the art room, tape it in a cylinder, and then stick
it on the head of someone who was bugging my friends. Now THAT makes
your head spin.
-Laura
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IUcello
Registered User
(8/21/00 10:13:57 pm)
Reply |
more
practice rooms
Practice rooms......
With such a
big music department at IU......you're lucky to get a practice room
in the "round" building. If you're lucky enough to catch someone
walking out of the door, you must sprint to the door and grab it
only to find yourself moving after 10 minutes of practicing because
the room is now someone elses. See.....people sign up for practice
rooms so if you're in someone's they have the "right" to kick you
out.....quite lame........it should be ALL FOR ONE!!!
We
also have another "practice building" that makes you sound like a
beginner It's very
dry with no ringing......you must have a lot of patience when
entering one of these rooms or you will come out wanting to throw
your instrument out the window. However....it is good for technical
work......
You just have to find a time in the day when
people are eithering eating or having rehearsals. I was lucky my
first year to get a pratice room only to find myself next to a brass
player that plays the same thing for a hour. Hopefully this year
will be better...
The practice rooms definately aren't
paradise either.....one can be COLD and another HOT.......then
you've got the mirrors that distort your body......then you've got
the room with no chairs or stands so you have to search forever
trying to find them........and to top it all off....you have to walk
into a practice room to find brass players' saliva all over the
floor....ahhh.....the things we have to deal with being musicians
Good luck to all of you
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