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Your Complete Guide to Scoring a Clark Practice Room
Christine Wu ’25 in Arts | January 31, 2025
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As we prepare for the daunting feat that is scoring a practice room in Clark Music Hall, we must pause, draw in deep breaths, and remind ourselves that rejection is merely redirection.
But, if one feels a dire need to express the harmonies reverberating in their head, one must learn to embrace unconventional hours: Work while they sleep (if 7:30 AM is too early, do not consider yourself a musician), produce while they consume (take advantage of 3:00-3:30 P.M., Lawrenceville’s designated reel-scroll time), play while they study (must you go to class? Don’t be afraid to defy expectations and form your own prioritizations).
Free periods are apt as well—but those with A period frees are out of luck, for the evangelical chants of the Lawrentians must ring loud. Community time could be a fine opportunity too so long as you don’t disturb the team of highly-focused faculty whose life’s mission is to keep the music building as silent as possible. Hours leading up to orchestra rehearsal are conspicuously busy, highlighting the true dedication Lawrentians hold for high-quality performance and procrastinative guilt. As for the trick to scoring the drum room one must meticulously study Eric Xu’s ’26 timetable for a dexterous workaround of his academic, sports, and sleep schedule.
In the case that there really are no available music rooms, my most prized times at Clark have been opening the doors to concentrated musicians and asking them to join. From my experience, there is a 30 percent chance your efforts won’t be returned by an intruded-upon expression, in which case you and the practicing musician can then embark on an initially awkward but ultimately beautiful improvisation together.
Whatever the situation, remember that the worst possible harm you can inflict upon Clark Music Hall is trespassing into the blessed Jazz room. May the articles inside this holy room only be touched by the highest. Little people better stick to the recording studio, where the most opulent materials for professional song production lie beneath years of dust.
The crowded spaces of Clark have translated into new reverberations in the 2024-2025 air: surges in Smeeting performances, passionate friends forming makeshift bands, amateurs taking up drumming after obsessive viewings of Whiplash. Though rooted in competition, the frenzy for Clark practice rooms has moved Lawrenceville steps closer to spontaneous joy.
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Recent Articles
- Techies Doing it in The Dark? Sophie Yang ’26 and Jane Shindnes ’26
- Stay Safe, Stay Vigilant: Identify and Avoid Theater Kids for Your Safety Sophie Yang ’26 and Jane Shindnes ’26
- The $120,000 Banana Sophie Liu ’27
- The Great C.O.F.F.E.E. Heist Rebecca Streeter ’26 and Catarina Correa ’26
- Your Complete Guide to Scoring a Clark Practice Room Christine Wu ’25