Berlin residence rental guide

4. Practicing and working

4.1 Practicing and working

All the doors of the upper living room must be closed when you play, sing or listen to music/watch TV, movies etc. in a way that produces noise.

The residence is in an ordinary residential block of flats. Behave responsibly and use common sense in how much noise the neighbours can be exposed to and what is an appropriate time of the day for such exposure. As the grand piano can be played also silently using the headphones, it is wise to do this whenever possible. You can also listen to the bass amp using headphones.

There are active speakers in the downstairs workspace, too, but especially in the evening and night it is advisable to use headphones. The speakers can be turned off by turning the dial at the bottom left corner of the speakers fully anti-clockwise.

Five music stands, five battery-powered notelights as well as three microphone stands are provided.

4.2 Grand piano

The grand piano is Yamaha model C3 silent (186 cm), so it can also be played silently using headphones. On the left side below the keys there is a lever which you need to pull in order to transform the instrument into a silent digital piano. Beside the headphone input there is a volume dial.

There is also a MIDI/USB cable interface (Roland UM-ONE) attached to the MIDI terminal of the grand piano. You can use the grand piano as a master keyboard and connect it, for example, to your laptop computer. Instructions and drivers can be found online.

The digital piano is always in tune, also when the acoustic grand piano isn’t anymore. The tuning of the grand piano must be agreed with the union office. We hope everyone understands that it cannot be tuned every week. When playing acoustically you can detach the music stand and lift it on top of the closed lid, which makes the sound a bit quieter.

4.3 Guitar and bass

There is a steel-string guitar (LAG) and an acoustic bass guitar (Höfner) hanging over the workstation downstairs. Please handle them carefully to maintain them in good condition for other users, and return them in their wall holders after use. If a string is broken, please change the whole set. If there are no string sets in the soft cases (in the cleaning closet downstairs), there are several guitar shops in Berlin.

Please don’t try to adjust the truss rods unless you know what you are doing.

There is also a small bass combo with amp modeling, effects and a rhythm machine. There are two foldable stools suitable for playing.

4.4 Workstation

The downstairs workstation is equipped with:

  • Yamaha MIDI/USB keyboard
  • 24 inch FullHD LCD display (with VGA, DVI and HDMI inputs)
  • 2 Genelec active speakers
  • a mixer
  • a bass amp
  • a laser printer
  • headphones

Basic connections are ready, do not change them unnecessarily. If you change any connections, change them back before leaving the residence. There are adaptors for connecting a Mac laptop to the display. Please do not take them away.

User manuals are on the table or in the TV shelf. In order to use the master keyboard (Yamaha), you may need to install drivers from the disc or from Yamaha website. You can use the keyboard in USB or MIDI mode, so please make sure you select the correct option from the keyboard menu. The keyboard is just a controller, so it doesn’t produce any sound by itself.

If you need more space for accommodation, the downstairs workstation table may be placed in front of the window. Move the curtain to the side first. Please be careful with cables (detach what is necessary first), and don’t try to move the table alone. Return the workstation to its original location and re-connect cables before you leave the residence.

The small table in the dining room doubles as an extra work surface in the workstation. Please return it upstairs before you leave.