The Coalition of Bands at Brown is hoping to increase funds and equipment to better accommodate independent musicians on campus.
There is currently only one available drum set on campus — in a small, windowless room in T.F. Green Hall, where broken drum heads, splintered drumsticks, rotting batteries, old earplugs, pedals and broken stools litter the floor. There is no cleaning staff, and the room is often overbooked.
But the room is the only sufficiently equipped venue on campus for independent musicians to practice. The Underground in the Stephen Robert '62 Campus Center recently tightened its rules for booking the room — only musicians sponsored by a student group can practice there. The smaller rooms in the Steinert Practice Center are more suitable for solo pianists and classical musicians.
Student bands hoped the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, with its mission and design conducive to musical collaboration, would provide practice space, said Sam Rosenfeld '12, a Herald editorial cartoonist, former member of the coalition and co-founder of Musicians@Brown, a networking site for student musicians. But there are no drum sets in the building, making it difficult for bands to take full advantage of the space.
The coalition oversees the practice space in T.F. Green, rents equipment to student groups, puts on concerts featuring student bands and sends out a weekly newsletter highlighting musical events on and off campus. "I think the space is great," said Michael Frauenhofer '11, a member of the coalition, adding that the room has "helped the live music scene grow."
Student rock musicians face difficulties finding practice space and equipment. The coalition's practice room provides a drum set, amplifier and sound-proof walls. For $10 a semester, members can book the room for eight hours per week, Indrayudh Shome '11, co-director of the coalition, wrote in an email to The Herald. COBAB raised the fee from $5 per semester in hopes of better funding the room.
Coalition members expressed concern over the state of the room and equipment. Because of overbooking, Frauenhofer can only practice early in the morning or very late at night, he said.
"The community of independent musicians here was really lacking when I got here," Shome wrote. "There's no dean or director with independent bands. There needs to be some level of community and awareness for it to function and grow."
