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THE MUSIC ROOM CURRENT STATUS AND POTENTIAL FOR
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT (OCT. 2013)
1 THE MUSIC ROOM
1.1 LOCATION AND CONTENTS
Balliol College’s Main Site Music Practice Room is located in Staircase XXIII,
at the end of the corridor to your left. It contains musical equipment, including – but not limited to – 3 pianos, a kick drum, a snare drum, and music stands. It also contains non-musical equipment, including a sofa, tables, 12 volumes of the British Library Catalogue of Printed Books, and – at the time of writing (29/09/13) – a large, obstructive mountain of bottled water.
1.2 OWNERSHIP AND USAGE
The Music Room itself is owned by the College, but technical responsibility for its administration and upkeep is delegated to Balliol College Music Society. The Society administers an online booking system (available at: http://music.ballioljcr.org/) for the Music Room, effectively limiting access to its paying members. Once booking dates have passed, the system disposes of booking information, rendering any accurate quantification of usage a particularly tedious task; however, it may suffice to say
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that – during term time – demand for the room from Music Society members tends to saturate the booking calendar.
1.3 STATUS OF CONTENTS Almost all of the non-musical equipment in the Music Room belongs either to
the College or to Old Members. All such items – books, furniture, screens – are in permanent or semi-permanent storage. Although an effort was made at the end of last term to encourage individuals to remove their own equipment from the Music Room, it also remains a storage space for personal musical equipment. The remaining contents which fall into none of these categories might be said to be more or less ‘of’ the room. In some cases, such as with the three pianos, the owner has deliberately left equipment for communal use; in others, no ownership can be ascertained, and such objects are simply festering.
2 ISSUES WITH THE CURRENT SETUP
2.1 LIMITED
CAPACITY
As has already been mentioned in 1.2, the online booking system for the Music Room is often saturated during term time. Since there are no means for effective sound separation within the room, the entire space can only really cater for one user (or group) at a time, despite its considerable size.
2.2 NO JCR ACCESS
Currently, members of the JCR do not have de facto access to the Music Room, despite considerable potential demand from within it. Any attempt to change this should take account of the fact that if such a measure were introduced, it would necessarily pile extra pressure upon a system reaching, or perhaps already at, full capacity; in other words, while the issue of limited capacity remains, granting Music Room access to JCR members might risk seriously inconveniencing Music Society members, and ultimately creating a system which works poorly for everybody.
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2.3 LACK OF SOUNDPROOFING
Since the Music Room sits adjacent to hall, the Domestic Bursar has prohibited the playing of amplified music within it. This is in case elevated sound pressures should upset anybody at mealtimes. Such a ban presents a difficulty for the prospect of opening up the Music Room to JCR members, since much of the aforementioned potential demand appears to be for amplified sound.
2.4 INSUFFICIENT OR POOR QUALITY EQUIPMENT The lack of functioning equipment in the Music Room – in particular, the lack of a
full drum kit – is a current inconvenience for Music Society members who feel obliged to bring their own equipment to make practicing possible. This is less of an issue for those who play very portable – or very niche – instruments, who are relatively unlikely to expect such to be provided for them in the Music Room; for those having to bring their own drum stands and amplifiers, however, poor quality or insufficient fixed capital onsite can be a major nuisance. With such a setup, there is also a strong incentive to dump one’s own equipment in the Music Room, and little incentive to then remove it.
2.5 CRAP The sheer volume of crap in the Music Room literally leaves only about half the
space available for use. Much of the room is navigable only by climbing, and most of the usable equipment is frequently either trapped under, or at the very least obstructed by, other things, necessitating a prior search and rescue operation every time one wants to set up the drum kit, for example. This also acts as a physical roadblock to improvement, as little can be done to install new equipment with nowhere to place it. It should however be mentioned that there are already movements in the right direction in this regard, with both the Domestic Bursar and the Library having agreed to a removal operation.
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3 DEVELOPING THE MUSIC ROOM
3.1 INVESTMENT AND IMPROVEMENT
Perhaps as a short preface to this section, it should be noted that the issues outlined in section 2 cannot be adequately addressed without significant investment from both college and the JCR. Ideally, I would like both the JCR and college to work together seamlessly in realising my excellent plan; in the near future I will be tabling a motion at the next GM (Sunday of 1st week), which will give the JCR an opportunity to discuss, comment or criticise, and I have a planned conversation with college and Music Society reps. in 1st week for the same purpose.
3.2 CLEARING UP As has already been
discussed in 2.5, little can be done in terms of development and improvement until there is physical space to work with in the Music Room. Clearing the crap from the Music Room is thus perhaps the most urgent task ahead of us, and the speed at which this can be carried out will ultimately depend on peoples’ willingness to shift their own property. I have been promised that the items owned by College will be moved as soon as is reasonably possible, but there remains an issue with Old Members’ property since this obviously cannot be removed without prior permission.
3.3 SOUNDPROOF PRACTICE BOOTH
Installing a soundproof practice booth in the Music Room would solve a number of problems in one go. First, and perhaps most importantly, it would double the capacity of the Music Room, by introducing an extra, separate space for practice. Second, it would facilitate the playing of amplified music; the quotes I have received so far suggest sound attenuation of between 40 and 60 dBA, which would do more than enough to ensure the sonic purity of dinnertime for those sitting above the
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Music Room. Thirdly, for reasons covered in 2.1-2.3, the above benefits would make it far more viable to open up the Music Room for JCR use.
I hear you all wondering loudly about how much this is likely to cost. The quote I have so far received of around £15,000 – for a hypothetical 3.5m2 practice booth – really should only be used as a guideline; until the Music Room receives a thorough cleanout, it is not possible to invite anybody in to survey the space and provide a more realistic quote. Over the coming weeks, I hope to be able to come to an agreement with the JCR, the Music Society and College on the subject of who would shoulder the cost if such a project were to go ahead, as it is clear that the JCR could not manage this alone.
3.4 NEW MUSICAL EQUIPMENT Contingent upon the success of plans to increase the capacity of the Music Room
will be an investment in new equipment for the Music Room. Since this would entail spending c. £400-600 of JCR money (from the music fund) on new equipment for the Music Room, it will first be necessary to secure JCR access to the room. A full list of all the proposed items will be brought before the next GM for comment, scrutiny and likely amendment. The items that currently feature on the list were decided upon as a result of a JCR consultation at the end of last term, but I expect that musically inclined Freshlings might want to suggest additions.
Remember to turn up and opine strongly at the 1st week GM (Sunday 20th). If in the meantime you have any burning questions about our exciting Music Room, and my even more exciting schemes, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at:
Will Tummon JCR Maestro Music
