<p>Thanks for asking that question, KeyofH- I was wondering the same thing and hoping that the answer would be “no”! At CIM, they are allowed to practice in their rooms, but I know for sure that my D would never do that. She will sing, anything and everything, but wouldn’t work on anything she had to prepare unless in a practice room- nevertheless,a well meaning friend suggested that she might want to take the entire electronic piano with her, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to be the best idea. I do like the idea of some sort of filing system for all of her music but don’t know if even a 2-drawer cabinet would work. What other options would there be? I know there are those filing cases with a handle on the top, but she has so much that the case would have to be made of titanium!
Speaking of lint brushes- having cats and dogs (especially a Sheltie!), hair is a fact of life around here. I love the rubber brushes with little “fingers” on them that I found at WalMart. No more long, white hair on her navy school uniform pants! I tossed one into her “audition bag” so she could clean off before she went in to sing and they even work great on delicate fabrics too. A fabric steamer sounds like a good idea- does anyone know where to get one?</p>
<p>There is a hand steamer at Bed Bath and Beyond. Probably at Target and Amazon and all the other usual suspects, too. [Bed</a> Bath & Beyond - SteamBuddy™ Hand Steamer](<a href=“http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=15952423]Bed”>http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=15952423)</p>
<p>I would not take all the music right away. They get all new music and will be using the school library a lot. If she has some cycles she had not done yet, or some other collections, but really DD did not use the books she did take since the library had everything.</p>
<p>Im not a big fan of the hand steamers. But then again my H is a pro(film costumer). We bought our professional steamers a long time ago and a good one will last forever, but from what I understand you can buy them from Amazon. I would recommend buying one online and having it shipped. If you buy it and try it at home (if you dont currently have one), I promise you it will NEVER make it to school with your daughter!</p>
<p>Okay, so a keyboard may not make it on the last of graduation gifts. The steamer? My daughter doesn’t even know what an iron is – so the idea of her using a steamer – I’ll wait on that one. As far as an electronic filing system – my daughter has her own filing technology – it’s called gravity. She uses that in connection with an altimeter, depth finder and calendar – if she last read a book two weeks ago, it must be six inches under or three inches above desk-level. I was thinking about a Kendall, an electronic book computer offered by Amazon. She spends a fortune on books. So, I thought that might come in handy. What are you doing or have you done about graduation gifts for your note-worthy grads?</p>
<p>My son has always had the use of a tux through our local youth orchestra but he will now need his own for college. </p>
<p>Any recommendations on good places to get a good quality, affordable one? Should we check with the school to see what style to purchase? What other performance type clothes would be needed and how many are recommended? I am assuming at least 1 black dress shirt, 1 white dress shirt, and 1 pair of black dress slacks. 1 or 2 ties.</p>
<p>He will be attending Rice as a violist.</p>
<p>This topic is a real help to me. Thanks for all of the advice on what to bring.</p>
<p>Do you have Syms near you (no I don’t own stock)? They have a great selection of moderately priced tuxedos. We happened to hit it VERY lucky at Goodwill of all places. DS’s favorite tux (he has three…two from GW, one from his grandfather) and his tails (no kidding…designer ones that fit him perfectly) came from Goodwill for $25. We’ve been to Syms for other “stuff”. </p>
<p>One thing I would heartily suggest is to get four or five tux ties. Have your son keep one in his viola case. Get an extra set of inexpensive studs as well. I can’t tell you how many times DS has been happy to have extras of both…because he couldn’t FIND the set he needed.</p>
<p>Re: shirts…DS has two tux shirts, a couple of black shirts (regular dress shirt and a turtle neck), a black suit, black slacks and a number of dress shirts and ties. Oh…and black comfortable dress shoes.</p>
<p>We have always gotten our tuxes at Syms. Not only do they have staff there to help, they will do the fitting right there. It takes about a week to get the alterations done. My S needed his tux let out and lengthened at the beginning of this year and since we had bought it there they charged us only $10 to do the additional alterations. They have a wide variety of styles and prices. He got his for $119 a year and a half ago. </p>
<p>Check on the school’s orchestra website to find out what style is required or call them. We just found out that our son needs tails for school. I think he will have to have 1 regular tux and 1 with tails, with 2 pair of pants so they will be interchangable. The list keeps growing!!</p>
<p>Another great place to get formal wear is a website called Uniformalwearhouse.com (sorry, I don’t know how to add links here). We get all his shirts, bow ties, etc. there. The prices are great and you can get a stash of extra ties for $1.99 each (high school boys are notorious for misplacing them). You can get shirts with regular cuffs instead of french cuffs which the boys seem to like better, no cufflinks to worry about.</p>
<p>Definitely check the school for the required performance attire. Could be a standard black tux, but they may have a need for a white as well. Some want the cummerbund, other’s don’t. Probably won’t hurt to have both black and white bow ties, and a spare won’t hurt.
Normally it’s a wing collar shirt. Pays to have a couple. Get the permanent press, but be careful with full polyester. Son complains they are far too hot, particularly on stage. He prefers at least 50% cotton. An extra set of button studs is a good idea, in case he loses them. Son has had good luck with shirts from here [Tuxedo</a> shirts including wing collar and lay down collar shirts By Cheaptux.com](<a href=“http://www.cheaptux.com/tuxedo-shirts.htm]Tuxedo”>Tuxedo Shirts | Formal Shirts for Men). I recommend at least two; son had four at school, plus 2 standard collar white shirts, which would occasionally be used with suit for gigs or other types of performances. Between performances, gigs, and playing in other’s recitals, he found more was better, rather than being forced to wear a “used” one. He was good about laundry, but sometimes there were heavy performances in consecutive days and no time for wash.</p>
<p>Son hates to play in cufflinks, so he doesn’t go for the French cuff. Your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>He’s gotten great deals on used tuxes from our rental shop (Camillo’s). His two Christian Diors have seen a gazillion performances, and they still look new. Goodwill is a great source, but you have to be lucky. Ours is close enough to check regularly.</p>
<p>thumper1 had a great thread, but I can’t seem to locate it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the links! We just went through a panic last night when one of the studs was missing and he had to switch to a tuxedo shirt that had back-up buttons - all while his ride was waiting outside. That uniformalwearhouse had sets of studs for $2.95! They were so cheap I ordered a couple of sets in the same style so he could lose them with impunity. And bought him an extra cotton/poly tuxedo shirt while I was at it. Do your guys actually know how to tie a bowtie? We use the hook-on ones. My son hates to button his top button and fakes it, with the tie on top always, inevitably, askew.</p>
<p>KeyofH- if our daughters roomed together,the result could be an on-site archeological dig for a nearby university! Mine has a similar filing system and it’s beyond me how she knows where everything is, but she manages just fine. It all stems from some sort of phobia about putting clothes away once they make it back upstairs from the laundry…Before you settle on the Kindle, check out the other e-book by Sony (you can find it at Borders or on their web site). This looks to be another of the “Beta vs. VHS” battles and the industry is leaning towards the Sony product, at least according to the information from the libraries (their internal journals,etc). From what I can see, Sony took it’s time and seems to have gotten it right the first time, while the Kindle has gone through a few modifications to get where it is now; Kindle has had the benefit of some good product placement PR, since every other day I see something about some Hollywood-type looking at their Kindle while waiting for a flight! I would do some research to see which genres are available for each and also, which one the libraries she would have access to have chosen so that she could download e-books from them. If you need help, drop me a PM and I can point you in the right direction.
Thanks for the link to the steamer,Singersmom07. I’ll be picking one up this week!
RE. performance dresses for school. Should we check with the school to see what’s needed or is it better to ask her teacher or current students? D has many long and short “dressy” things and it would be impossible to figure out which to take without some sort of guidance.</p>
<p>Mezzo’sMama – thank you for the discrete spell check on the Kindle. I had a bad cold yesterday and didn’t pick up on the error. Thanks for not making fun of me. I have a niece with the name Kendall which is where the mental scrambling probably came in. </p>
<p>I will write you a PM for additional advice. My daughter also suggested a Tascam which is digital recorder with its own hard drive and connects directly with a computer. Anybody know anything about those. At this moment I don’t know whether Tascam is the name of the product category or a brand name.</p>
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<p>Actually DS does know how to tie a bowtie (there is a great video online showing how) BUT he uses the kind with the little strap that goes around your neck under the shirt collar (not a clip on) and this is a standard tux tie. He has 6 of them. </p>
<p>Re: The tascam…I’m not sure what that is, but DS has an H2 Digital recorder and it is invaluable. He uses it to record practices, recitals, anything that he wants to hear again. Quality is terrific and the thing is small.</p>
<p>For the guys with your formal wear: do check with the choral/orchestra person about what is worn…most of these conductors have a grad assistant who will be a great resource of information. Be advised, however, many fellows (and girls) change in size quite a bit through the undergraduate years. Guys grow taller, necks get thicker (even if weight stays the same), diet changes and waist lines may thicken. If there is any kind of working out, this changes shapes, too. Many musicians have not been all that athletically inclined, and with the easy proximity of gyms, the emphasis of most applied faculty on physical fitness, it is much more likely that undergraduates will be interested in their fitness. </p>
<p>For the girls, singers especially, but I would assume wind players, chest circumference around the rib cage will expand…sometimes several inches…as better breathing techniques and posture is established. </p>
<p>The point is, buy minimally anything not already in the wardrobe, needs, sizes, style and taste will change.</p>
<p>OK, about recording. For voice lessons, there are lots of small gadgets which record quite well, including iPhone applications, no separate microphone needed, and my students tell me the sound is cleaner with some of the equipment if it is built in. Some students come to lessons with iMac recording computer, which videos as well. These students make terrific progress, from my experience, better monitoring of the whole lesson and expectations. This has helped make progress in some of my more resistant/defensive students…they go home, face their reality, and inevitably what may have been a difficult lesson results in a mea culpa and thanks for my patience (I love those e-mails!) A caveat is that this uses a lot of memory, and they have to strictly monitor what they do with the files…I do not know enough about this to offer any explanations, just know that several super lessons got lost because they ran out of room. </p>
<p>One student came to a lesson last week with a larger recording unit, 5 x 7 x 2 inches maybe, which both recorded the lesson (audio only) and burned a CD at the same time. She liked the permanence of the procedure. </p>
<p>What music to take: for singers, if there is a question of where the range/Fach is headed, it is that much more likely that current volumes will not be needed. I would recommend starting with a minimum amount of music, basic Italian volumes, your best pieces for any immediate auditions, etc. Libraries will have what you need, parents can mail music, especially if it is well organized at home. </p>
<p>Dorm rooms and especially closets are very small. Life gets complicated fast. Minimize, minimize, minimize.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.tascam.com/products/dr-1.html]TASCAM[/url”>Errors | TASCAM - US - United States]TASCAM[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I hope I am allowed to post the link to the Tascam recording device. It looks great, but I don’t know anything about it either; eldest D just left this morning for Argentina, but as soon as I can get an e-mail to him, I will see what he has to say and pass it along here.
D has never been one to record lessons-hates hearing herself- is it really necessary to take a recorder along to college?</p>
<p>DS seldom recorded his lessons. He DID record his practices. He wanted to hear how he sounded and he was able to also correct issues he heard. Occasionally he recored a lesson. My kid would say that a recorder is a necessity…but he started recording his practices (or parts of them) in 11th grade.</p>
<p>We initially just put a small mike on the ipod, but it did not really work well and DD found the recorder a necessity. She likes the Edirol recorder.</p>
<p>DD owns the tascam…bought it for her this past summer before she headed to camp…and yes…Tascam is the brand name…I will ask her how it has worked out for her this year…I do know that there are a couple of other brands that singers tend to use also…Seems like the singers on the other site (if you don’t know site I’m talking about…pm me…as I’m not allowed to post link to it here)…that professional classical singers blog on tend to use the ZOOM (I think that is what it is called)l…</p>
<p>I do know that when we were putting her audition cd together she was required to announce her name and rep for one of the schools…Had her record it on the Tascam and was easily able to transfer it right to the computer for burning it on the cd…</p>
<p>So once I talk with her…will try to post more info</p>
<p>Recording voice lessons is invaluable…there is no other way for a singer to perceive accurately how they sound versus how they think they sound. Many students use the recordings as a part of their warm-ups, very helpful. </p>
<p>iPhone application of iTalk works fine with no microphone.</p>
<p>Parents of boys, if your sons might need Tux shirts, my local Brooks Bros. store told me that they would make my son a tux shirt in their wonderful no-iron fabric. He already has a dress white one that has seen many washes and comes out of the dryer literally looking new and pressed. They are a bit spendy, BUT well worth it.</p>
<p>For dorm room supplies, the deal Bed Bath and Beyond has is fantastic. If you have a BB&B in your town and there’s one near your child’s school, shop at your local BB&B for the supplies. The store will, on the spot, check the inventory of the store in your school’s town, place an order for what’s at that store (which they’ll set aside for you) and ship anything from your local store to the one in your school’s town.</p>
<p>On the day you designate, you stop by the store in the school’s town and pick up your package of stuff. All free of charge, except for the cost of what you buy. No shipping, no hauling, and you get to touch and see the sheets, towels, etc. </p>
<p>It’s a fantastic service, no wrinkles, no hassles. Even if the school you’re going to isn’t too far away, it’s great. For schools that are flying distance away, traveling with just clothing and picking all that stuff up out there is great!</p>