<p>First, neither of my daughters is home! ;) You may be confusing the two. The one that is working in Paris this summer is not my MT kid. But my MT kid is working in MT in NYC but is coming home for two weeks to do a MT job she is directing before returning to a MT job in NYC and eventually school. Don't worry, I can't keep my own kids' comings and goings straight and certainly can't with others' kids! But I can tell you that we are feeling like a moving company with three moving trips this month alone for our kids. And our guest room and basement become holding areas for all their STUFF. </p>
<p>Your suggestion about the piano keyboard is a very good one. In fact, this was essential for my daughter and she uses it daily. At home, she has a baby grand piano which she obviously can't take to school and the girls (both mine have played since they were young) had an inexpensive keyboard but not really as big as the one my D really needed for college. So, when she graduated, she got a local scholarship and she used that money to buy a very nice full size electronic piano and stand which she took to college (one more big item we move every time....twice this month alone to and from NYC). My D has several paid jobs involving piano and besides that, uses it constantly for everything she is involved in....whether it is to work on her own songs for her BFA in MT program, record accompaniment for other students, work on arrangements she writes for the a capella group she musically directs, musically directing school and professional shows for pay, getting work doing transcribing for composers, composing her own songs, as a paid accompanist in the pre-coillege program, to write her own musicals, and is also in a band where she plays piano and sings. She can schlep the piano via taxi in NYC too. The piano is not only helpful to her own studies but she gets paid well for MT related work using the piano. She could not be without it. While not all MT students might use it as much as her or might not be of the level to get paid work, every MT student should be able to play piano and would benefit from having one to work on their stuff for their training. If my D has an audition and is given new music she has never seen before (new, as in not yet published), she can go to her piano and prepare it. Those who can't sight read or can't play piano are at a disadvantage. The piano she has is not cheap but a MT kid who is more of a beginner, could get a smaller sized cheaper electronic keyboard. </p>
<p>But I hear ya about all their stuff. I can't even get rid of my big SUV because we need it constantly to move these kids and it gets filled to the hilt each move and when they come home, this looks like a moving company!</p>
<p>Steam Inhaler... I would recommend using the steam inhaler without the "vicks", though. It can help open the passages when you are very sick, but also is extremely drying.</p>
<p>I also found the "Mabis Healthcare Steam Inhaler" at Target.com. Looks a little smaller and more portable than the Vicks one.</p>
<p>Anyone have suggestions for keyboards that are particularly well suited for MT majors in small dorms? Only want those features that are really necessary for MT students and weighted keys if possible. Thanks!</p>
<p>I'm not that up on models as my D bought hers two years ago when she graduated HS. But I looked in my basement for ya, and the box is there and it says it is a Roland FB2 Digital Piano (I don't know if that is enough information about the model). It is a full size keyboard and she also bought a stand. I don't know your D's piano level or if she plans to use it only to help her MT singing training or for more. Someone only using it for that might be able to get by with a smaller keyboard or a less expensive model. I think this one was mid range. I have a vague memory of her spending $1500 but can't be sure (that may have been with the stand). I also suggest quality earphones so that the playing doesn't disturb roommates. The piano I mentioned is a very good quality and my D is using it for professional work and so I think it would suit your D's purposes if you are looking for one in this range.</p>
<p>Michael....just a caveat...the model numbers could have changed since this was two years ago. This was a full size keyboard, but if your D is just using it to help with her voice work, a smaller keyboard would do.</p>
<p>I typed it wrong above....and I just checked the box again.....it is a Roland FP2, not FB2! I checked Roland's own website which is how I discovered my error. The FP2 is what my D has and that is still apparently the model number. </p>
<p>Here is a description from the Roland site:</p>
<p>
[quote]
FP-2: Digital Piano</p>
<p>The FP-2 Digital Piano answers the need for a lightweight and compact digital piano while keeping the feel of a fine concert grand. This affordable instrument comes with an 88-note Progressive Hammer-Action Keyboard, superb piano and instrument sounds and a refined new look with onboard speakers. A new Sound Control function gives players deeper, richer piano tones, while the onboard Session Partner provides easy auto-accompaniment. Great looks and even better performance. Thats the Roland FP-2.</p>
<p>Compact, lightweight digital piano with stylish black and silver design
88-note Progressive Hammer-Action Keyboard for dynamic playing
64-voice sound engine with expressive new pianos, bass and harpsichord
Sound Control function with 4-band equalizer for creating richer sounds
Session Partner provides backing accompaniment in 80 musical styles
Onboard USB-MIDI interface; GM2-compliant
<p>Thanks soozie! Unfortunately, it looks like that model is discontinued but Roland has a lot of other neat models. My daughter's real dilemma will be to figure out where to put one in a small efficiency apt/dorm with 1 roommate, 2 beds, 2 bureaus and 2 desks and a kitchenette!</p>
<p>It is discontinued? Oh, I saw it on the Roland website today....FP2.</p>
<p>I hear you on where to put it! Don't I know it! At NYU, D had an apartment style dorm freshman and sophomore years. Freshman year it went in the common room. The bedroom would have been NO way, very small. Sophomore year's apartment, didn't have a common room, but it fit in her bedroom. Next year she has an off campus apartment with her own bedroom/bathroom. I'm not positive where the piano will go as the girl she is living with ALSO has a keyboard (smaller one) but I think they will find a place somehow in the living room, not sure. Her band has even practiced there and so I know they have even brought the piano there before. It is a big priority and they'll make it fit. Your D could truly choose a smaller model if she is using the piano more for her vocal work and classwork, than as a full scale musician. My D needed the full keyboard as she is a musician as well as an actor, and uses the piano for work beyond what she does for her BFA degree classes. I don't know how these kids fit all they do into their dorm rooms or apartments, but they sure have a lot of "stuff."</p>
<p>Soozie, Pay3, Michael,
I need help. I know nothing about keyboards. We bought an upright piano when my kids started taking piano years ago. MT D took for lessons for 6 years and can play well enough to figure out new music etc. and she's done some song writing, but I just don't know if I can justify $1500.00 if she's only going to use it for such purposes. Does she really need something that is performance quality, or could she get buy with something from Cosco for $300?</p>
<p>Soozie, we cross posted and you answered my question pretty well. I think we'll get something small. She's not an accompaniest and if she were in a band, she's probably want to play guitar or flute before piano.</p>
<p>Sarah...my D also plays guitar and has to fit that in her room too! She used to study flute but gave that up but that was smaller! :D A smaller piano is suitable to kids using it for their MT work but my D uses it for her work as a musician, accompanist, musical arranger, songwriter, and music director, plus the band and so it is a thing she can't do without as it is a big part of her life and not just for her MT voice work.</p>
<p>Your D does not need the 88 keys or as good of an instrument. Your D could make do with the keyboard I have in my basement by Casio that is not as big, and not nearly as much money.</p>
<p>Most people using keyboards just for their own purposes will be more than satisfied with a 61-key keyboard in the $150-300 range. (Yamaha and Casio are the 2 I'm familiar with.) These are lightweight enough that they can be moved easily, and don't have to be set up all the time - slid under a bed, or on a closet shelf, if they aren't needed for a period of time.</p>
<p>The features that I would look for - touch sensitive (feels more light real piano keys), and the capability of using a midi hookup to the computer. EXTREMELY helpful for a musician with some music software. And, I know that some college theory texts include either Finale or Sibelius. The ability to plug the keyboard into the computer, play things in, then print them out is a great perk!</p>
<p>Just a note about music schools (at least this is the case at WCC) - the dorms all have individual practice rooms equipped with pianos. A nice perk of Westminster. Also free laundry ... but that's off the topic.</p>
<p>In my daughter's dorms, she also had practice rooms with pianos and she used those a lot even though she had her own piano. She could be alone and she also sometimes used the practice rooms to "go to work" as it was away from her room with other distractions. So, it was a nice perk at her school too. She is moving off campus. Then again, she has her own bedroom and her apartment mate is also a musician and so that helps. Also, the earphones can really help too. I agree for those using the pianos just for school related work, a smaller Casio type keyboard is enough. For a musician who is playing piano a lot, it would not be adequate.</p>
<p>Soozie, I'm also a bit confused about the FP-2. It's on Roland's website but all the vendors I've found online state that it is discontinued. It appears that the FP-4 is the current lower end model. I think though that you are correct; if just being used as an adjunct to studio and lab classes, a cheaper Casio probably suffices.</p>
<p>Michael, I'm sure whatever you found out is true. I have no idea what is available at present. It is just that when you asked about it earlier today, I looked at the box my D's piano came in and then in order to find it online I saw it on the Roland site (my D bought it in a store in Vermont in person). I asssumed that since it was on their site, it was still a current model but I have no clue. After all, she bought it two years ago. My girls shared a baby grand piano growing up, the one I had as a kid, in fact. Since both studied piano, we once got a Casio keyboard piano as a gift for them so that both could have access to a piano at the same time. But the main piano was the baby grand. As I said, since my D is a musician and uses the piano daily and not just for school, but also related to paying jobs, she wanted to have her own at college, even if there are practice rooms, and the Casio was not suitable as her main piano. But I do think it is suitable for the kids who are not pianist/musicians and just need it as something for school/studies. I've got a spare here that nobody is using! I don't know much about your D and that is why I don't know if she'd want what my D has. My D has a case and can take this piano places but it is heavy and requires going by taxi with it. Also, I could not have afforded to buy this for her but she wanted to buy it when she got a scholarship at the graduation and we thought it was a great idea to use it for that. As it turns out, I never knew how much my D's piano playing would get her work in the MT world. She never took piano because she was in MT. Our kids started piano lessons at seven and stuck with it through graduation and also played a second instrument. But now, upon reflection, I have to say that the musicianship she learned through piano and instrumental music has come in very handy in musical theater in so many capacities. I truly recommend up and coming students to learn to play piano. The nice thing too with piano and guitar, is that you can sing and play at the same time and accompany yourself, which is not true with flute (an instrument my D also played for five years but no longer)! My D's apartment next year will have two piano keyboards and at least two guitars. These are definitely bulky items.</p>
<p>Vicks is the "brand" name of the steam inhaler - it is smaller if not the same size as the Mabis and bit cheaper. Yes, don't use it with the menthol. All do the same trick. ;-)</p>
<p>Soozie: It is really very neat that your daughters had the opportunity to grow up playing the piano you had as a kid. A instrument like that is really a very special thing to be able to share across the generations in a family. About 10 years ago, we picked up a baby grand made in 1918 from its second owners who were retiring and moving out of their house. Their son was a professional piano technician and had restored it to pristine condition. Fortunately for us, the owners were more concerned that the piano go to a buyer that would cherish it than the selling price otherwise we never could have afforded it. My daughter took lessons on it for a number of years but stopped as she got more involved with dance and voice simply due to time constraints. I have no doubt that when the time comes, it will reside in her home for her and her children to enjoy. My son, on the other hand, tells me that I should just give him my guitars now since in his view I no longer play enough to warrant having them. His idea of living room furniture in his apartment is multiple guitars in stands, half stack amps and pedal boards. And your comment about flute playing and singing immediately conjured an image of Ian Anderson, who I swear was the only flute player I ever encountered who seemed to be able to play and sing at the same time - while standing on one leg like a crane! I was also interested in your comment that your daughter's piano playing has helped her to get work in the world of MT. Could you share a little more about that?</p>
<p>MusThCC: Thank you for your comments also. I think your comment about connectivity to a computer was right on the mark for my daughter. At her school, all freshman music and musical theatre students are given Macbook Pro laptops configured with software for their particular programs of study. My daughter was also required to take a music theory test online a few weeks ago to assist in placing her in her music skills class. Her program as an MT student will have a lot of focus on muscianship utilizing keyboards and computers.</p>