Music Studio!

I'm back... sorry for the delay. I had a wonderful time at Balkan Camp, and promptly got a nasty head cold when I came home. I do that almost every year. It must be psychological by now; no one else I know who was there got sick.

But first of all: kudos to Rusty! He made so many changes, little and not-so-little, that it was a joy to come home to the school. (And very comfortable to be sick and not do anything for a few days.) He rebuilt the bed, even fixed the breaking frame (cheap Ikea construction, what can I say), so no more sleeping on the floor. He completely cleared out the music studio space and confined all boxes to the dark room and the east end of the studio, next to the office. Plants are everywhere. It's starting to be really cozy!

So now he's off again on another tour with Ottmar Liebert, and it's up to me to tinker along and "make progress." Hm. I'd love to unpack some of those boxes, but with every other one I look at, it becomes really clear that we need a closet. We have bookshelves galore, but there is no storage for clothes, linens, towels, and bathroom items. So, more trips to Ikea in the future. (Unless someone has a better suggestion? Please? I'm starting to lose my enthusiasm for pressboard furniture...)

But one thing I have done is start to use that studio for what it's ultimately meant for: making music. Behold my music studio set-up:

I'm very shy about playing. I've been practicing the gudulka and violin, and I'm a beginner at both, so it's not pretty. (And the room is wonderfully resonant, so I'm sure sounds are leaking into the hallway!) So, to all my neighbors: please forgive me...!

-- What does a gudulka sound like, you ask? Well, here you go:

If it ain't broke, rip it off the wall.

Well, with Dina gone I have been remiss in updating the blog but here we go! I have been really busy with not that much to show for it but progress IS being made. I have started working on the music room and with every step forward there are two steps back. First there were these large pin board panels on the wall and I wanted them off so I could paint and put up acoustic sound dampening foam so I began pulling the first one down and what did I find? They were glued on to...plaster. *sigh*

 

Two hours later I had finally pulled the first panel down as well as what seemed like most of the wall. The second one on the back wall was NOT glued but only screwed to the wall and came off easily. Another 2 or 3 hours later and the room was cleaned and ready to paint. The next step will be to paint the room a warm red and glue (!) acoustic sound dampening foam panels to the wall where the plaster used to be. Well, at least we now have a stove to cook with and lights!

Actually, I was really bummed when I pulled the wall apart but after cleaning everything up I am starting to get excited again. Unfortunately, I will be leaving July 6th to do another tour with OL so I won't be able to make any more progress until I return in August. I can hardly wait to be able to play drums at home!!!