1. 1
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

2. 2
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.

3. 3
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.

4. 4
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

5. 5
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@balliol.ox.ac.uk
Will Tummon
JCR Maestro Music