Just thought this's be a fun thread and sorry if it's been done before.

I've just been playing my clarinet in the kitchen which is in a bit of a state due to a leak whist we were on holiday

Anyway half the floor is down to bare hard tiling instead of the laminate so it's affected the acoustics and there's now a slight echo so got me thinking about strating this thread....

My answer would be my kitchen or echoey rooms because it emphasises the lovely tone of my clarinet and I don't have to try too hard to sound gorgeous either

On the converse playing in a conservatory with a fan on as I once did many years ago.... is a big no no!!! (wah wah wah wah was the sound) Took me ages to figure out what was happening thought it was something wrong with my clarinet

Surprise , surprise, I play the organ in a church !

I sing all over the house and in the car. And sometimes I hum or whistle in bus queues.

Other instruments tend to get restricted to the house. And where I play them then depends on which room they're in....

I mostly play when everyone is out or at work, which is okay because I'm a shift worker, I play in my middle son's bedroom because it's at the end of our end-of-terrace house, although I play in the day and the neighbours are at work anyway, and I do play downstairs in the living room sometimes.

Mind you, I was playing the other day in the living room and the postman knocked with a package, from Musicroom stamped on package, and he said; "reckon you need this!"
What a nerve eh, we did laugh.

Regards, Peter

I play in my living room as I live alone so can do what I like.

It also means I can keep my dog company and he can join in if he likes.

I have a CD player in there too for any accompanying CDs

At the moment I'm playing in the study and in te bedroom, mainly because they're upstairs Most of my music is in the study too, which always helps.
Viola playing is done in the bedroom, because the room is less constricting and because it has a full lenght mirror

Love church acoustics too if not too cold!

And singing in the bathroom - same reasons as before great acoustics make me sound better

Agreed the kitchen is rather good fun for the acoustics (though apparently somewhat frowned upon because it makes you sound "artificially" good). The oven door also makes a good mirror for checking posture, embouchure and fingering.

The kitchen for flute and acoustics.
The piano in the lounge because that's where it lives.
Bev.

The piano at my parents house - daily, becuse it makes me vist. My flutes and guitar in front of the telly - because I can

Once played alto sax *at* (ie directed at) the West end of Lincoln Cathedral, just cos I had it with me at the time. Nice.

nick

My Clavinova in the lounge and the Bechstein in the Library

living room, but in the back room if people are watching tv.

Realised I didn't really phrase my initial question exactly as I had in mind.....

That's ok, but what I was intending this thread to be about was places that you love to play in regularly or those amazing places you've played even if only once and why.....

can we add those in too please?

I once played with junior concert band in various locations in Austria that was pretty amazing!! What scenery. The Mirabel gardens in Salzburg were lovely.

I play my violin in my bedroom at my dads house.

At my mum's I play in my study.

In lessons I play in my teachers living room.

At orchestra rehearsals I play at the rehearsal venue, usually a school.

I like to play my recorder on the landing, as it's got high ceilings , so sounds really nice, or sometimes in the kitchen.

I once played recorder with Bagpuss and a friend in the church of St Mary-le-Strand in London - a wonderful experience!

The church was so beautiful, the acoustics made us sound MUCH better than we were, the audience were lovely, and it was a strange experience - making lovely ancient music in this dark, magical place and hearing the traffic roaring past on both sides (for those of you who don't know it, the church is on a sort of 'island' in the middle of two lanes of traffic)! It was the traffic and bustle of outside that seemed like the alien world, not the one that we were inhabiting in there for that short space of time..

I've found that standing at the bottom of our stairs, where the ceiling goes right up two floors is good for playing violin, wonderful accoustics!
When I'm with certain friends and we walk through a tunnel or an underpass we tend to break in to song to test the accoustics
Also this summer, playing in Barcelona Cathedral with my youth orchestra was absolutely fantastic!

Most of my practice is done in my studio but we have a piano in the kitchen at home and I tend to play a set number of verses of "Petra" whilst timing boiled eggs. I don't often sing at home apart from the odd warble in the kitchen or the downstairs loo corridor as it can be heard in King Rat's study and the office upstairs. I don't mind that but they have to concentrate on their work.
I have a good vocal warm-up on Thursday mornings on my way to choir practice and then we spend twenty minutes on more exs with them.
My favourite place to sing or play recorders is a local church. They let me in sometimes to practise and it is really magical. I would love an old church as a studio.

I'm like a cat - I'll have a favourite place to play (e.g. the bedroom), then a couple of months later I'll abandon it and find a new favourite room to play.

Also I want to join the growing group of people who like to play in churches. As long as it isn't so big that the sound gets lost, it's magical. The other half being grown up (???) enough to have a proper job in the church and being issued with a key is such a bonus!

Normally I play my flute in our front lounge because it is far enough away from any other members of the family who might be in, and also it is where the CD player is. Sometimes I play in our hall because I found that it helps get a nice resonance on the low notes.

Occasionally I am the relief organist at our church, and was recently asked to play on two consecutive Sundays while our regular organist had a holiday. The minister likes a couple of minutes of quiet music to put the congregation in the right mood for the sermon, and as this was just after I had passed my Grade 4 flute exam, I felt brave enough to play a flute solo on each Sunday. The first Sunday it was a simple warm-up piece, but the acoustics were so fantastic that it made me feel and play better. So the second Sunday I played one of the pieces in my exam book that I had not played in the exam (the Study by Andersen for any Grade 4 flautists reading this). Having a much greater range than the other piece it sounded even better, and after the service I got a permanent request to play again on the flute any time I am standing in for the normal organist. That really pleased me!

It looks from the other posts that I should also try the kitchen or bathroom to get a similar effect.

The piano lives in the living/dining/everything room (well I live in a one-bed flat )

The harp gets dragged around depending on my mood and when I play it. My favourite, weather permits, is of course on the balcony overlooking the Thames!

sigh *dreams of owning a bespoke library* (instead of living in a tiny cottage with books piled up in every room)


I play the violin in the sitting room with the door to the hall open so the dogs can escape


The most magical place I have played was when I played the clarinet in my teens and my friend, an organist, would accompany me on the cathedral organ in the evenings when the place was empty. The sound was incredible!

I also remember an orchestra rehearsal on a coach when it broke down on the motorway on the outskirts of Belfast during the conflicts. I think we played to take our minds off the danger we were in.

But recently my violin teacher and I have played duets in the garden on a sunny day; drinking tea and eating chocolate cake in our breaks. It was like having a private garden party and was pure bliss.

We're lucky in having a large spare bedroom upstairs which we call the 'music room' but over the years has become a homework room, watch tv room and also a let's play stupid computer games room.

Last year I moved a lot of my stuff down to our basement. I could practise in peace and the acoustics are great! However, the humidity was terrible and I realised that it was no place for storing anything wooden! Last week I staged a small revolution and reclaimed the original room. If the kids are there on the computer, I remind them what the room's for and a few upper altissimo notes helps to get the message across!

Steve

I find it quite difficult playing or singing out of doors. The sound just disappears as soon as it is made. I have played in a few outdoor events over the years but have never found it easy to do. Perhaps some instruments perform better than others in these situations. Scottish bagpipes for example, which are best played in a field at least half an acre away from the listeners.

.....and downwind from the listeners, too!

In the living room because thats where all my instruments live.
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