Planning a Successful School Music Facility
By: Jerry Carstensen
Great school music facilities - like wonderful musical performances - represent years of preparation and hard work, with dedicated people striving toward a common goal in a productive spirit of cooperation. The impressive fine arts center at Brentwood Academy in Brentwood , Tennessee , beautifully illustrates the fruits of such an effort. This project also highlights four factors key to any music facility's success: acoustics, floor plan, storage and equipment.
Laying the Groundwork
The first step in most facility projects is a vision for the future. In the late 1990s, Brentwood's Board of Trustees assembled a volunteer "Dream Team" of supporters to plan the future of Brentwood 's fine arts program. Proximity to Nashville meant this enthusiastic group included professional musicians along with parents and other arts supporters. After careful study, the Board and Dream Team concluded that strengthening the fine arts first required more students to sustain these programs. A new middle school was deemed the first priority, and its opening in 2000 enabled enrollment to rise by more than 30 percent to almost 800 students, grades 6-12.
"Seeing the big picture and being patient was a great strategy by people passionate about fine arts," said Ray Mullican, the school's director of business and finance. "They put the school's overall sustainability ahead of short-term needs."
Fueled by increased enrollment and talented, committed faculty, the fine arts programs grew despite being squeezed into crowded classrooms, hallways and even the gym. The bands and choir both rehearsed in makeshift spaces built from two regular classrooms.
"Students and faculty got fired up about the arts curriculum," recalled band director Matt Nygren. "We planted the seeds and watered the growing saplings. When your arts program is in place, it's much easier to get the funding and support to build a fabulous fine arts facility."
Concrete Plans
In the late 1990s, architect David Minnigan, AIA, a principal of Earl Swensson Associates in Nashville , had assisted with the master planning for Brentwood Academy . Minnigan, a Brentwood alumnus, understood the school's passion for the arts and deliberate financial approach of tackling facility needs in phases. He said the academic spaces were considered first, along with a flexible black-box theater that became a fundraising focal point.
"It's hard to generate excitement about rehearsal spaces, so the theater was a higher-profile goal," recalled Minnigan. "The addition of the black-box theater was a way to show prudent use of funds, while creating a very flexible room for rehearsals and performances."
The multi-function black-box theater, with maximum seating for 138 people, features a sprung dance floor and hosts a variety of activities, including concerts, dance recitals, and cheerleader practice. It also provides students with learning opportunities in technical production, including lighting and sound systems. Symbolically, the lobby to this new theater and fine arts center functions as an entryway into the entire school, a daily reminder about the vital role that fine arts play at Brentwood Academy . A wall of windows in the lobby indicates where the larger performance theater will connect in the future, when phase two of the fundraising is complete.
1. Proper Acoustics
More than any other subject, music is learned by listening, so acoustical considerations are crucial in any music facility. Students must be able to hear the slightest variations in pitch, tempo, articulation, and balance. For rehearsal rooms, adequate cubic volume is of primary importance, so that the sound has enough space to develop and blend effectively, while minimizing the possibility of hearing damage. For band/orchestra rooms, we recommend a ceiling height in the range of 18-22 feet, and up to 2,500 square feet of floor area. Ensemble size is an important determining factor.
Sound isolation is also vital to effective listening - keeping sound-generating areas buffered from each other and preventing noise from mechanical systems like HVAC from interfering with learning.
Nygren said Brentwood 's "bold and correct" band philosophy relies heavily on sectional work, where he's aided by four part-time instructors.
"Students get specialized instruction, and there's little wasted time in rehearsals - it's very effective," he said.
Dedicated sectional rooms make this possible, and Brentwood Academy also features five modular, sound-isolating music practice rooms, including one larger, ensemble-sized room.
Minnigan recommended these modular practice rooms because their sound isolation qualities are guaranteed. These modular practice rooms also offer the flexibility to be reconfigured or relocated later if necessary, either across the hall or across the campus.
"We must design facilities for change," said Minnigan. "I can't tell you how many hard-walled practice rooms I've been in that are now just storage rooms."
2. Effective Floor Plan
Making music is a physically demanding activity. The music area requires more square footage, per student, than any other part of the school. Instrumentalists need space for their instruments and room to play them. Choir members need space for vocal exercises and choreography. Specialized furniture, equipment, and supplies also take up space. Proper planning addresses these needs by incorporating adequate floor space, efficient traffic flow, easy access to related areas, and flexibility for multiple activities. Visits to other facilities can be particularly helpful when developing a facility's floor plan.
"I encourage our clients to open a dialogue with us," explained Minnigan. "Visiting facilities together is very helpful, whether it's the 'perfect' building or not. Sometimes you learn more from someone else's mistakes."
He believes this field research empowers some music educators who are so facility-deprived they might jump at anything as an improvement over their current situation.
These off-site visits also help foster a common vocabulary among members of the planning team.
"For example, some people may not know the characteristics of a resonant band room until they experience it in person," added Minnigan. " Brentwood Academy has an excellent faculty. Giving them the right tools allows them to teach the students with a greater opportunity for success."
3. Specialized Storage
The storage needs in a music facility vary widely, but generally must accommodate instruments, sheet music, uniforms, robes, and other miscellaneous equipment. For the typical high school, the combined value of this inventory often exceeds $300,000. Protecting this investment requires secure, specialized storage systems, including cabinets, lockers, or mobile racks.
Effective storage solutions dovetail with the floor plan, ensuring that convenient locations enable a logical, streamlined flow of students and equipment. Storage space is always at a premium in music facilities, and underestimating storage needs is a common problem.
Prior to the opening of Brentwood's new fine arts facility, the lack of specialized instrument storage cabinets meant students kept their instruments in regular school lockers scattered around school or stacked on the floor of the band room. Neither option was very convenient or secure. Brentwood 's new fine arts facility features a whole wall of instrument storage cabinets located in the hall outside the band room. For sheet music storage, a high-density, pull-out storage system helps organize 30,000 music titles, while using less than half the wall space of traditional filing cabinets.
4. Suitable Equipment
Although most equipment is selected after the blueprints are finalized, it's always wise to look ahead at how the spaces will be outfitted. This is particularly true with technology, which should never be an afterthought. "In my first meeting with David Minnigan, he asked me about my dream facility," recalled Nygren. "He encouraged me to imagine a building that could accommodate future growth. If our plans had to be scaled back later, at least we'd be scaling back from magnificent - not mediocre."
Nygren believes that dreaming big also helped build enthusiasm for the project's fundraising.
After examining enrollment numbers and projections, Nygren estimated the largest future band would probably be 70 students. The band room was designed and equipped accordingly. Technology was an important component, with projected media and high-end audio systems designed into every rehearsal space, including an 8-channel mixer, tuner, metronome, and pre-conduit wall interface.
"We can record ourselves and play it back, or listen to recordings of jazz greats or Mahler symphonies," explained Nygren. "We can also project warm-up and rhythm-teaching exercises from DVD, VHS or the Internet on my laptop. We're in band heaven - it's all very cool!" Nygren's own sweat equity helped make it heavenly. Just before the facility opened, he was disappointed to learn that the AV systems planned for the three sectional rooms had been cut due to budget constraints.
"These systems were part of the dream facility I had told my students about and looked forward to, so I really wanted them," he said.
By volunteering to install the systems himself, Nygren saved significant labor costs, and the school was able to afford very good components.
It's important to consider any purchase, including technology, as a long-term investment. Equipment and furniture that is sturdy, functional, and well-designed enables both students and teachers to better focus on their music, ensuring the maximum results from their efforts. After the final ovation, a wonderful concert lives on in the memories of the participants - both musicians and audience members. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, a wonderful music facility lives on as an enduring, tangible tribute to those who helped transform the vision into reality.
Most importantly, by addressing key issues of acoustics, floor plan, storage, and equipment, an outstanding facility helps develop and inspire even greater musical achievements and performances in the future.
Jerry Carstensen is vice president of sales for the Wenger Corp., a manufacturer of innovative, high-quality solutions for music and theatre education and performance; elementary education; and athletic equipment storage. To request a copy of Wenger's free Planning Guide for Secondary Music Facilities, visit www.wengercorp.com.
Product Roundup
Rhythm Band Instruments
The RingLeader DVD series, available from Rhythm Band Instruments, features DVDots, a quick and easy performance tool for handbell ringers. DVDots is a patent-pending system consisting of musical accompaniment and automatic color-coded cues, all conveniently recorded on DVD for 8-note handbell sets. Instant success makes bells fun from the very first ring. Simply press play, sit back, and enjoy a perfect performance every time. No need to count beats or worry about losing your place in the music. The dots and music are permanently in sync.
www.rhythmband.com
Gryphon House Books
"And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon: Over 650 Activities to Teach Toddlers Using Familiar Rhymes and Songs" offers more than 250 songs, rhymes, and chants. This book is a fun way to enrich language experiences. By incorporating songs, chants, and rhymes into the classroom, teachers provide opportunities for children to develop every aspect of reading readiness and literacy. While the selections themselves are a great way to enhance the development of literacy skills, the follow-up suggestions for story time, outdoor play, music and movement, and literacy extension activities will be a sure-fire hit.
www.ghbooks.com
Eldridge Christian Plays and Musicals
Since the beginning of Eldridge Christian Plays and Musicals in 1906, their goal has been to provide the highest-quality drama available to schools and Christian churches, no matter what the size or denomination. They have nearly 1,000 titles, including a large variety of Christmas and Easter plays and musicals. They also have full-lengths, one-acts, melodramas, children's theatre, dinner theatre, audience participation, and resource books.
www.histage.com
OCP's Never Too Young
OCP's contemporary music division, spiritandsong.com, recently announced the release of a new Christian music resource designed specifically for kids in grades 4-8. Offering more than 280 songs for use in prayer, worship, and the classroom, Never Too Young: Spirit & Song for Young People is ideal for upper elementary and middle school students. All songs were carefully selected to fit their particular voices and musical skills. Never Too Young features songs challenging enough musically to both engross students and promote learning. They support a wide range of topics, from conversion and Scripture to justice and morality.
www.spiritandsong.com
Hohner Kids Play & Rock
Hohner has introduced a new musical toy line, Hohner Kids Play & Rock. Featuring quality rhythm, wind, and early childhood musical toy products, along with attractive packaging, Hohner Kids targets the growing early childhood market segment. Hohner Kids addresses this market by providing engaging products, as well as contemporary and colorful packaging. All products feature a value-added insert with songs and playing activities developed by a certified music educator for each instrument. Hohner has manufactured and distributed musical instruments since 1857.
www.hohnerusa.com
Fleetwood Music Storage Solutions
Fleetwood-a leader in flexible, highly functional school furniture for the classroom, library and lab-now offers a line of storage solutions for the music department. Constructed of the same high-quality materials as other Fleetwood lines, the company's uniform, folio, and instrument storage cabinets are designed with security, durability and space efficiency in mind.
www.fleetwoodgroup.com
