<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I am an avid musician. My main instrument being the drums, but I also can play quite a bit of piano and a wee bit of guitar. I was wondering if anyone knows/has experience of having to leave instruments (mainly drums) behind at your home. Is there ANYWAY I can still practice and play my drums? I'm currently studying with someone and I know the lessons will have to stop once school starts, but I really don't want to.</p>
<p>Has anyone had experience regarding this stuff?</p>
<p>I wish! No way my drums are following me to college, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Funny - you play the same instruments as I do. Drums are my first love, but I also play quite a bit of piano and a wee bit of guitar.</p>
<p>Most of the drummers I've spoken to say bring your practice pad and work on your rudiments, leave the kit work for the summer, and four years later your stick control will be much better. That's if you're living on campus - if you're living off-campus in a house, you might have options.</p>
<p>Also, I suppose it depends on the space you have. If you live in a single, you could perhaps get away with what I do (I live in an apartment) - mesh heads on the kit, practice pad instead of a snare, Hansenfutz (google it) in place of the bass drum, and mute the cymbals (I use HQ Percussion and Sabian mutes, but I know Vic Firth has them too). You'll still have to warn the people on either side, above and below you though, because the low-frequency cymbal vibrations will travel through the walls.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, an electronic drumset might not be a bad idea, but the pedals will still annoy people. Switching out the bass drum pedal for a triggered Hansenfutz might solve the problem, but I haven't tried it. This'll be costly though.</p>
<p>Of course the other issue is bringing your drums to and from the dorm at the beginning and end of each sem, well - I don't know about that.</p>
<p>Me, I'm going to bring my practice pad and Hansenfutz, and get my fix at open mics. Seeing as my three schools are in NYC, Austin and LA, I probably can find a drumset to play on :P</p>
<p>(I'm assuming you play drumset?)</p>
<p>I'm so glad I'm not the only one with this problem haha, and yes, I play the drumset, in fact I got a brand new, one of a kind, Yamaha Absolute Nouveau from my teacher last year for half price (he's endorsed by them and it was one of his studio kits).</p>
<p>I guess I'll have to focus on my chops during the school year, but I'll miss playing my kit sooo much. </p>
<p>I'm also hoping to get a Mac so that I can use GarageBand to write and record some solo songs.</p>
<p>A friend of mine brought his drumset up (took up all the room in his car) and kept it at his frat house. Another person I know lived in a suite with a giant common room big enough to keep his drumset in.</p>
<p>Hey, you might wanna ask the posters in the Music Major forum... I'm sure some of them either had the same question as you or had a child in the same situation.
Also, I don't know if you've actually applied to schools yet, but you can always talk to reps or officials from colleges you're interested in and get their "policy," if you will.
Hope it works out for you! :)</p>
<p>Most schools (at least LACs) allow students access to instruments with practice rooms, so check that out.</p>
<p>Yeah, most kids have practice pads in their rooms (but if you're going to practice at night, please close your door -- it's really annoying), and I think every school that has a music department will have a set that you can play on when no one else is using it.</p>
<p>you should be able to continue lessons if you want to.</p>