Edifice Wrecks by Jim Steichen photos by Mark Stehle There are certain places on grounds that are familiar to everyone. Although none of us would like to own up to the fact, we all know we could probably find our way blindfolded through the dining room at O-Hill. You've got to be some kind of communist if you haven't felt enough school spirit to compel you at least once to attend a sporting event at U- Hall or Scott Stadium. And no self-respecting Wahoo has the right to correct a visitor's incorrect referral to dear old U.Va. as a (gasp!) "campus" unless he or she has spent at least a few minutes contemplating life in the Dome Room of the Rotunda. One place most people aren't terribly familiar with, however, is Old Cabell Hall. Sure, we've all attended a concert or lecture in the beautifully refurbished auditorium, but few people ever take a casual stroll through the lower levels of the Stanford White-designed structure on the south end of the Lawn. Yet to the music department faculty, music majors, and other students involved in musical organizations here at U.Va., the cave-like squalor of the Old Cabell basement is all too familiar. Come with me, if you will, on a brief tour of the exquisitely dilapidated facilities that the McIntire Department of Music calls home. Musty Modules The primary practice spaces in Old Cabell are the 12 "modules," or pre-fabricated, semi- soundproof cubicles similar in size to a walk-in closet. The modules are the work-horses of the music department's facilities, the rooms where music majors and students taking private lessons spend a majority of their nitty-gritty practice time. The modules are also the only music department facilities available for the general use of any member of the U.Va. community. Considering their fundamental importance to musicians at U.Va., one would think that these rooms would be kept in a reasonable state of repair. Not so. Here's the run down on the "dirty dozen" of Old Cabell: Module #1: Yamaha upright piano, no sostenuto pedal, D above high C not functioning, music rack held up by a combination of gum and wads of paper. #2: Yamaha upright, no piano bench -- metal folding chair instead, noisy pedals, noticeably buzzing fluorescent lights, low E sounds sick, sostenuto pedal not functioning. #3: Empty room, General Use. #4: Yamaha upright, broken bench, loose pedals, lower panel on piano missing. #5: Harp module, climate control system (or lack thereof) makes it difficult to keep the instrument in tune. #6 & 7: General Use modules, twice as large as other modules and the only modules in which the ventilation works properly. Both contain Kawai uprights, only one module has a proper bench. #8: The promised land of the modules contains a Steinway Grand, module barely large enough to contain the piano, use limited to music majors. #9: Kawai upright, seemingly new, no bench, torn-up floor. #10: Yamaha upright, sostenuto and quiet pedal not working, lights do not shut off, door must be locked to stay closed. #11: Yamaha upright, particularly out of tune, High E does not function. #12: General Use, Yamaha upright, no bench. There are other, better practice spaces in Old Cabell, but they are not as available to students. Room 107 on the first floor contains a Steinway grand, and room 012 in the basement has a very nice Kawai baby grand. Both of these rooms, however, are occupied most of the day and evening by classes and choral rehearsals. The same can be said for room 113, which has a relatively new and good-sounding Kawai grand. The band room, B018, has a Baldwin upright, but this room is off-limits to everyone except the groups that rehearse there. There is a Yamaha DisKlavier in basement room 019, but access to this room is extremely limited in order to protect the room's expensive recording keyboard. Some of the other practice rooms are not much better than the modules. The upright piano in basement room 20 is less than marvelous. Room 17 contains two side-by-side Steinway grands, but promising as that may sound, one student said of the instruments, "One plays like a dead animal, and the other has no depth to its sound." Yet all of these rooms are available only to music majors and certain students taking private lessons and may be used only when all modules are occupied. The final place available for practice is the Annex, the small white house adjacent to the parking lot behind Cabell. The Annex has relieved some of the overcrowding in Old Cabell, but the new facility also has problems of its own. The fact that the Annex is actually a house has its pluses and minuses. The rooms provide much better acoustics than the claustrophobic modules, but at the same time are by no means soundproof. The rooms in the Annex are also reserved during the day for private lessons and are available for general practice only from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. Consequences If you've ever felt just downright gross after spending an extended period of time in the semi-stagnant atmosphere of Clemons, you can begin to get an idea of what it's like to practice in a module. Imagine that your study carrel is enclosed with only a foot of space on either side and about two feet of space from the front of the desk to the wall behind you. Remember, the ventilation most likely does not work, so you're sitting there breathing the same stale, humid air, smelling the scent left behind by whoever was using the module before you. In addition, musicians exert themselves physically when they practice; they're not simply reading or writing. Thus the air acquires the additional aroma of sweat. Some of you might be accustomed to taking periodic smoking breaks while at Clemons. Imagine having to take "breathing" breaks as well. And because acoustics in the modules are nonexistent, you can't even tell if you're sounding good or not. Aside from these atmospheric circumstances, the pianos in the modules hinder productive practice. In many ways, you can only sound as good as the piano you're playing on. There's nothing you can do if the piece you're playing calls for the use of the sostenuto pedal, and the piano you're playing on lacks one. A squeaky sustaining pedal just isn't conducive to creating beautiful music. The conditions of the pianos force musicians to use more energy than should be necessary as they attempt to coax sound from unresponsive instruments. On many of the pianos in Old Cabell it is nearly impossible to exert any kind of expressive control over sound. Not having a proper bench to sit on is far from just a minor annoyance, but can cause serious problems for pianists. Playing the piano involves using not only one's hands and fingers, but the entire body. Proper posture is necessary not only to produce a more powerful sound, but also to avoid injury to the arms and back. The pianos are tuned only twice a year, which is not often enough considering the number of students who use them. Proper piano hygeine prescribes that instruments in private homes be tuned at least once -- if not twice -- a year, and the music department's pianos undoubtedly log several times more hours of use than a piano in even the most musical of households. Simple logistics also account for many of the problems with the music department's facilities. In addition to the aforementioned scheduling conflicts resulting from classes and rehearsals, concerts and other events displace both groups and individual students, since none of the rooms in Old Cabell are completely soundproof. For example, both the Glee Club and Jazz Ensemble rehearse on Tuesday evenings in the basement of Old Cabell, in B012 and B018 respectively. The Tuesday Evening Concert Series, which occupies the Old Cabell auditorium for three concerts each semester, holds its concerts on, appropriately enough, Tuesday evenings. The Glee Club can still rehearse during concerts, but the Jazz Ensemble cannot, simply because voices don't make as much noise as other instruments. In addition, students are prohibited to use certain modules during concerts because of their proximity to the auditorium. It is far from unreasonable to expect that the music department at a university such as ours be able to accommodate two rehearsals, practicing students, and a concert at the same time. It is unfortunate, if not ridiculous, that this is presently impossible in Old Cabell Hall. Concert conflicts aside, routine practice can sometimes present problems for students at the Annex, in which none of the rooms are acoustically isolated from each other. Practicing is not always pleasant to listen to, a reality to which anyone who has had to endure a family member's ad nauseum repetition of endless scales and laborious ploddings through new pieces can attest. Students shouldn't have to worry, however, about whether their practicing is disturbing others. The two grand pianos in the Annex are particularly loud, making some students reluctant to let it all out when practicing, for fear of annoying their fellow musicians. Accomodating both pianists and other instrumentalists is also a problem. String, woodwind, and voice students need acoustics just as much as pianists do, and it is a semi- paradoxical twist of fate that the rooms with the better acoustics also contain the better pianos. Only two of the modules can accomodate a large instrument such as the double bass, and these two modules are also the only modules where a small group of students can play together in an ensemble arrangement. Solutions The conclusion drawn from this evidence is obvious: the facilities in Old Cabell Hall do not meet the needs of students with either a serious or casual interest in music. According to Music Department Chair Judith Shatin, "We have an excellent program as a department, an outstanding Artist Faculty, and many talented students. It saddens me that the physical plant is by far the weakest link, and that this should be true at a university such as ours." When asked what improvements to the facilities she would bring about if proper funding were available, Shatin cited the modest goals of repairing instruments, improving the condition of the modules (as much as is possible), purchasing appropriate furniture, and tuning pianos twice instead of once a semester. Such measures, however, are only short- term remedies. What the music department really needs is a new building altogether, an undertaking that has not yet reached even hypothetical stages of realization. Despite preventing music at U.Va. from reaching new levels of excellence and national prominence, the deplorable state of Old Cabell Hall also goes against two principles of our oft-quoted founder Mr. Jefferson. An accomplished violinist, Jefferson once said that "music is the favorite passion of my soul." Strong words from a true Renaissance man whose soul was also stirred by philosophy, horticulture, literature, and architecture, just to name a few. Speaking of architecture, we should not forget that Mr. Jefferson knew the importance of proper physical structures for education. The buildings of his original univeristy were not merely the places where classes were held, but were participants themselves in the educational process. The Lawn shows us that physical facilities are not secondary concerns for a school committed to a genuine pursuit of knowledge. So next time you're sweating off some pounds on that brand new Stairmaster at the AFC or sitting back comfortably in one of the plush seats in the Minor Hall auditorium or emailing your far-flung friends from one of the pentiums in Cocke Hall, remember your fellow Wahoos toiling away in the basement of Old Cabell. And if you ever feel brave enough to venture past the elegant lobby into the dark bowels below, just be sure to watch out for the roaches.

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