Klarinet Archive - Posting 000151.txt from 2004/09

From: Donna Higgins <Donna@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Interesting conversation - giving lessons in residence
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2004 09:08:38 -0400


Ormondtoby Montoya wrote:

> council added a clause that says (paraphrased) "If it annoys someone, and
> if a police officer agrees, then it's an illegal."
>

And probably unconstitutionally vague. Laws must *clearly* tell people what
is prohibited. "If I'm annoyed and a cop agrees" doesn't cut it.

I don't know how long that clarinet teacher has lived in her apartment, but
I wonder if she really thought about the practicing and/or lesson issue when
she chose a place. When I was looking for a place two years ago, it was the
foremost consideration (along with being able to keep my cats). I knew I
would end up in an apartment because I had (and still have) no hope of being
able to buy a house.

I found a ground-floor unit, bordered on three sides by the outside, and on
the fourth side by a garage and laundry room. I have upstairs neighbors,
but they've never complained. The current neighbors, in fact, play loud jam
sessions on electric guitar and keyboard most evenings. I haven't
complained because I'm out of the apartment most evenings, and when I'm here
and I hear them I know it's safe to practice my Eb! :-)

Plus, I don't want to give them any incentives to complain about me.

I also built myself a little "practice booth" to help dampen the sound. I
bought a large wardrobe-size box from a U-haul store, cut out one side, and
lined the interior and the top with foam rubber. It looks pretty ugly, but
seems to work OK. There's just enough room for a music stand and a chair.

Another nice aspect of my setup is that I live 1/2 mile from my office. I
often come home for lunch and I can usually get 30-45 minutes of practice in
during the lunch break. It's great because everyone else in the building is
at work.

- Donna

--
"L'enfer, c'est les autres."

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org