Since most aspects of music-making are learned through imitation, music students must be given the opportunity to experience music in consistently good acoustical surroundings if they are to reach their full musical potential. The acoustical limitations of a music education facility can seriously detract from the educational process. When prodded, music educators often confess that their relationship with their teaching facilities is stormy. They may love a room for one musical activity but hate it for another. The few rooms that do function well acoustically are often severely over-scheduled.
Faculty members compete for well-isolated studios.
They see their students' progress being retarded by acoustically discouraging environments. In order to alleviate their difficulties, a music facility typically forms a building committee to study and act on the situation. Design experts are called in, and meetings begin. The design and construction process, however, is usually as unfamiliar to the music educator as the rules of species counterpoint are to design professionals. Music educators serving on a building committee for the first time are usually bewildered by the magnitude of the faculty's expectations, and what's more, the design professionals seem to have already developed their own agendas.