JackD

Hi Manny, I seem to remember you posting something in another thread about liking to play rooms that allow you to play "efficiently".

I've been wondering about the effects acoustics have on practice sessions.

A while back I used to like to play in very very dead rooms, because I had convinced myself that would help me iron out any bumps on my tone. Nowadays I can't stand playing in dead rooms - I suppose I like to listen to the room, rather than what is coming directly from my bell (does that make sense?!)

I was just wondering for someone like yourself, who plays in a big resonant hall most of the time, if you like to practice in resonant practice rooms too?

I find I feel much more comfortable in a room where I don't have to work so hard, and end up practising more productively. I suppose the other side of the coin would be that practising in a dead room might force you to work harder, and therefore when you go into a concert situation it'll be that much easier.

Just some thoughts anyway.

Jack.

loweredsixth

In college, our practice rooms were so small and dead that they would actually discourage me from practicing. Finally, I decided to practice outside under a tree or in the concert hall when not in use.

Also, I am moving into a new house in a month and I will finally have my own practice room. It's small, so is there anything I can do to add to the reflectivity of the room?

P.S. sorry to hi-jack your thread.

Joe Lewis
Jazz cornetist

Large bore bach strad shephard's crook cornet
B2D Monette cornet mouthpiece

rjzeller

I got a feeling the response is going to be to practice in an environment most like what you'll be performing in.

I love to practice in as large a space as possible. I definitely notice I tend to close up my sound in smaller rooms and open up more in larger rooms. Unfortunately, I don't have much larger than a standard size living room to practice in these days.

When I was at Ohio State, I remember people would sneak up into the Stadium at night and playing. It was pretty cool -- sit in some far corner of a 90,000 seat stadium and play to the stars.

I don't know if they allow that anymore, but it was neat.

Heck, sit out on the deck and serenade the neighborhood. If my neighbor can sit on his front porch and sing with his guitar all summer long....

Bear

I've always been upset about the practice conditions down here, it's actually led me not to practice as much as I'd like or need to. The practice rooms are terribly small and beyond dead, I mean you have to SHOUT to even hear yourself as a whisper. All the other meduim/large rooms are always locked up. Try playin outside and you'll be yelled at before you finish your inhale... grrr, I'm gettin mad, there's more but you get the idea.

trumpetmike

For general practising I prefer a slightly more dead feel to the room. If I can get everything working in there I know it will all work in the bigger rooms.
At university there was one room the happened to have the same acoustical properties as the concert hall, so it was quite a sought after around recital time.
The problem - it was the gents toilet!


One of my favourite places to play was up on the great plains just outside Huddersfield - miles and miles of not a lot - you could play and not disturb anyone.

Jimi Michiel

A note about dead practice rooms...

I recently auditioned at the U of Minnesota. I'm not sure exactly what the deal is with the practice rooms there, but they were beyond DEAD. I warmed up for about a half hour, not realizing that I was blasting my chops away just to hear myself. When I got into the audition, I got tired QUICK. I made it through ok, but it was a learning experience to say the least.
When I got back to Boston, I told my teacher about this and he recommended that the next time I needed to warm up or practice in such a dead room, I should use a mute. That way I don't expect to fill the room up like I do un-muted and consequently won't blow my chops out before it counts.
-Jimi

Lawler Bb

I've experienced Minnesota's practice rooms too. Very dead, similar to Wenger modules.

Manny Laureano

Dear Jack,

I think dead practice rooms are a boil on trumpeters bottoms.

They are dead for one reason and one reason only: to create the minimum amount of disturbance to the player in the adjoining room! It's not for the player in the room, it's all about the player in the other room!

The dead quality makes you work harder but not in the good way. It makes it a true labor to sound good and it puts your aural priorities out of whack. A live room encourages you to relax and let the room do the work instead of you.

The only way to deal with a dead room is to ignore it and not give in to the temptation to play overly loudly.

ML

JackD

Concise, and to the point

uatrmpt

About two Springs ago, I took some lessons with Leonard Candelaria right after he had arrived at his new post at UAB. There is no music building; rather, his office is right next to a computer lab in the "humanities" building. Needless to say, no playing in his off. The solution was a Wenger practice module down a service hallway. Those were some great lessons with him, but I hated nothing more than playing in that cube. It was the absolute deadest thing ever.