Ideal Practise Room

[Tubainsauga]

This is a question that has been floating around my mind for a while now. It started a few years ago when I still wanted to go into architecture and keep tuba playing as a hobby. What would, acoustically speaking, be the ideal practise room? Obviously, it has to be a reasonable size. You can't say "a recital hall". I remember reading somewhere that the WWBW had practise rooms that imitated larger concert halls (I don't know where I heard that or even if it's true). Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Carroll]

Wenger manufactures a stand alone practice room with built in microphones, speakers, and processors to mimic the acoustics of many spaces (recital hall, small-large auditorium, stone cathedral, stadium) that are near sound-proof to the outside. Is this what you are referring to?

http://www.lares-lexicon.com/vpractice.html

[Bob Mosso]

I love a big room. Our front room is 15x26 with a wood ceiling that slopes from 8' to 18'. It's mostly carpeted, the last 8' at the tall end is marble. The room has a tiny bit of a fast echo. Sitting position isn't that critical as long as I point the bell to the high end. The room encourages a nice full sound that will fill the entire house.

My other rooms have flat acoustic ceilings, carpeting, and are smaller. I tend to play quieter in smaller rooms, my tone doesn't seem as nice.

IMO the ideal room should be: as big as possible, a sloped ceiling, and then a trade off of reflective surfaces (walls) and absorbing surfaces (carpeting) to allow a non-ringing echo.

Bob

[Leland]

I once played a chair placement audition in a practice room. Just me and the lone auditioner. I still played the parts like I was in a big room.

There were a number of players in college who only practiced in practice rooms. Whether they were embarrassed about practicing or didn't feel that any other venue was appropriate, I won't try to guess. But, their sounds only took up as much space as those practice rooms, even when they played in our recital hall.

It was intriguing. Their sound would seem like it was coming from them, but you'd want to step closer to be within their "bubble." Their presence just didn't extend very far beyond the edge of the stage.

The other noteworthy (ha!) aspect was that the players who spent enough time outside the practice rooms actually had a good shot at filling the recital hall. They didn't seem to play loudly, they didn't honk, blatt, splat, zing, or anything else. Their sound simply had much more presence -- they could be heard going into the far corners of the hall, and came up right into your own "bubble" of space.

If I had to deal with just one practice room, I'd want it big and dead. Big enough to avoid resonance problems with certain pitches, and dead enough to allow me to hear what I'm really doing.

[Chuck(G)]

I've always wondered what sort of practice room this place would make:

[Dylan King]

Where I practice.

[UDELBR]

I think the only type of practice when it truly makes a difference is for an orchestral gig (tight technical practicing can be done anywhere!). For orchestral rep, the acoustic of a large hall plays a large role in your resultant sound. So, priorities would be:

-a high ceiling!! Really important IMHO.
-a relatively large room volume
-a friendly reflecting surface on the walls (not overly wet; not overly dry)

[elimia]

I think time in a confined area can be good. I initiallly cursed the teeny space I have in the basement of this apartment to practice in, but I think it has definitely helped my sound. I notice little things about my sound a lot more now. This doesn't mean I wouldn't like a resonating surface but the confined area does have its advantages.

[Leland]

I practice in a large room if a can. Does anyone else have the problem in small rooms of getting tired quickly? I swear when I was at school and had to use a practice room, my lip couldn't take more than a half hour, and it just felt so stale and raw. My accuracy seemed to be down the tubes too.

Now if I was in a large room, I could play for hours with no problem.

What I've noticed in small rooms is that they favor certain harmonics & resonances MUCH more than others, and those harmonics are almost always not in tune with any regular notes. And, as usual, strong resonances are accompanied by strong anti-resonances, and those frequencies dampen anything you'll send out the bell.

My guess: Because the tuba's wavelengths are so long, its sound doesn't just bounce around the room -- it just builds acoustic "pressure", and the room severely interacts with the playing itself.

Because you want to play with the most resonant sound, you're going to be fighting the room-induced intonation problems, and you'll also be fighting the pitches that are severely dampened because they don't fit with the room at all. That's why your chops will get tired more quickly.

I hated our practice rooms because of this. I used to come back after dinner and go into our band room, where its domed ceiling would still give me feedback on articulations.

[TubaRay]

i think its time that someone pointed out that you spelled practice wrong in the topic

I wonder who will do that, and when they will do it....

[tubaaron]

I always thought 'practise' was a verb...like 'The band will practise today.' and 'practice' was like a noun(?)..like 'There's band practice today.' No?

[Chuck(G)]

I always thought 'practise' was a verb...like 'The band will practise today.' and 'practice' was like a noun(?)..like 'There's band practice today.' No?

In the title of this thread, the word is used as an adjective--can anyone find a legitimate source sanctioning this usage?

It seems that the adjective is formed from the noun; thus "practice room"; if it were formed from the verb, then it would be "practising room", derived from the participle.

How's that?

[Joe Baker]

I always thought 'practise' was a verb...like 'The band will practise today.' and 'practice' was like a noun(?)..like 'There's band practice today.' No?

In the title of this thread, the word is used as an adjective--can anyone find a legitimate source sanctioning this usage?

It seems that the adjective is formed from the noun; thus "practice room"; if it were formed from the verb, then it would be "practising room", derived from the participle.

How's that?

Only indirectly. WordNet dictionary does not list "Practice Room", nor does it list an adjective definition of "wash", but it does containa listing for "wash room":

• wash room
  n : a toilet that is available to the public

WordNet also includes listings, similarly, for "dining room", "chat room" and "war room".

So why would the dictionary then NOT include "practice room"? Perhaps because it's reasonable that the dictionary might list "wash room" (a facility used by everyone) but omit "practice room" (a facility, based upon my high school band years, used by VERY few indeed).

As to whether it should be "practice room" or "practicing room", the example above show that there is no clear rule. "Chat room" and "war room" use either the noun or the present tense, while "dining room" uses the participle form.
____________________________
Joe Baker, who notes that this discussion has finally gotten sufficiently removed from musical expertise that he finally has something to say.

[UDELBR]

In the title of this thread, the word is used as an adjective--can anyone find a legitimate source sanctioning this usage?

Just for giggles in situations like these, I'll google both to find the most common useage:

"practice room" = 83,100 hits
"practise room" = 783 hits

After all, common useage is the yardstick of a living language!

[Joe Baker]

... and for Chuck(G)'s benefit:

• practicing room - 491 hits
  practising room - 242 hits

________________________________
Joe Baker, who will now shut up, lest he spend more time this week TALKING about practice rooms than occupying one.

[Chuck(G)]

Joe, you misunderstand my posting. By "sanctioning", I meant that did any authoritative source give the spelling (verb or noun) form to be used as an adjective.

I continued on to say that one must assume that the adjective is formed from the noun, thus "practice room", not "practise room" (as the title of this thread has it). Were the verb to be used as a modifier, it would have to be as a participle "practising room".

I did not say that use of practice/practise as an adjective was deprecated, just one had to proceed from the most logical conclusion, barring any evidence to the contrary.

"steam room" vs. "steaming room"; one noun-derived adjective, the other verb-derived.

[Chuck(G)]

... and for Chuck(G)'s benefit:

• practicing room - 491 hits
  practising room - 242 hits

Understand Joe, that US usage uses "practice" for both the noun and verb. However, generally accepted UK usage does not. So I don't see what I'm to take away from your "hit count'.

[Joe Baker]

... and for Chuck(G)'s benefit:

• practicing room - 491 hits
  practising room - 242 hits

Understand Joe, that US usage uses "practice" for both the noun and verb. However, generally accepted UK usage does not. So I don't see what I'm to take away from your "hit count'.

Methinks thou thinkest I argue with thee, forsooth. I prithee, take not the words of thy humble servant as contention; nay, they seek merely to shed needed light to aid thee in the furtherance of thy query. Knowest thou not that English hearkens to its own use? Verily, has it not become the common practice (forgive, if you will, the unintentional pun of a worthless blackguard) among the troubadours to call that chamber in which they sharpen their craft a "practice room", and thus to spell it? Have no part, then, with those whose attachment to outdated wiles and disproved wisdom would dictate use of the rejected "practicing room", nor certainly with those, however noble in their own minds, who spell the word "practise".

For in matters of truth and wisdom, verily the best is seldom found in the greatest company; but the language with which thou commune with thy fellow man must be above all clear in its meaning and purpose, seeking the sanction only of him who would hearken to thee. Would it not be wise, then, to seek that use which is most common among thy fellowman? If thou agree, prithee knowest thou a better means than "googling" to learn what is most common?
__________________________________
Joe Baker, who hopes he got the point across that when it comes down to it, language means what the person listening THINKS it means, and nothing else matters nearly so much.

[Leland]

Criminy... now we're in grammar school again...

Where's the food?

[Lew]

Ignoring the spelling police, where's Rick Denney with the "answer" from an acoustical engineering perspective?