Cohousing-L Mailing List: dinner music? (was Taming noise, and Common House Table Size)

[Ed_Stauff (Ed_Stauff]

Joani Blank <joani [at] swansway.com> wrote:
>Some
>cooks think it's cool to accompany dinners with music.  Unfortunately no
>one usually is listening to the music at dinner time, so all it does is
>make people raise their voices.  It is perhaps okay to have music playing
>for atmosphere as people collect for dinner, then maybe turn it on again
>quietly during desert/after dinner coffee or tea, especially if the dinner
>crowd has thinned.  But while the main consumption is taking place, I
>strongly prefer no music.

One of my recurring ideas for cohousing (our development is still in
the planning stages) is to have *live* music as often as possible
during common meals.  I love the idea of soft classical or jazz or
folk music playing while I eat dinner, and I also love the idea of
giving the musicians in the community a regular opportunity to perform
for an audience (even if it is "musical wallpaper").  I definitely
feel that the musician(s) should be located at one end or corner of
the dining room, so that those who want to listen can sit closer, and
those who don't can sit farther away.  And no amplification, of course.

How do others feel about this?

-- Ed, Northern Vermont Cohousing

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