M usic can be heard spilling out of frat houses, echoing in the dining halls or even escaping the ear buds of a fellow classmate at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. However, enter Selleck or the Cather-Pound-Neihardt complex and music can be heard in another form: the piano.
Whether those tickling the ivory are churning out classical melodies or the more playful sounds of Disney's classic tunes, the pianos on campus are small elements that have changed over time.
Unfortunately, because of the local weather's effect on the instruments, many of the traditional pianos have been removed during the renovations and updates made to the residence halls.
"We have to tune them all the time," said Keith Zaborowski, associate director of residence life. "As we've renovated, we've taken (the pianos) out, also because they make a significant amount of noise."
The upkeep of pianos on both East and City campuses is designated to the associate director of housing facilities operations, Glen Schumann. According to Schumann, there are a total of eight pianos within the residence halls that are accessible for students to use at any time. Located in the complexes of CPN, Selleck, Love Memorial, Burr and Fedde, the impracticality of piano space is a major factor in determining their usefulness on campus.
"They take up a lot of space, and there aren't as many areas for playing them," Zaborowski said. "You almost have to build rooms for them, and we've concentrated on building more study space than piano space."
Coupled with this sentiment is the lack of desire from students for designated areas for pianos in other residence halls.
"We're not going to put one in if there isn't a need for one," Schumann said.
Schumann attended UNL and remembers living in the Abel Residence Hall, then equipped with two pianos. What sticks out in his memory was the fact that the pianos would sit and collect dust, and when they were used, they were constantly in need of tuning. Schumann has combated the tuning issue of the current pianos by moving from the traditional pianos to digital keyboards.
"As the more traditional pianos start to hit the end of their useful life cycles, we'll start to replace them with electric pianos because of maintenance issues," Zaborowski said.
While new pianos may be a rare occurrence due to the enduring lifespan of traditional pianos, Schumann said when new pianos are needed, he is looking to purchase digital keyboards because of virtually no maintenance costs and stability of sound quality for students.
"It would be hard for me to justify putting a traditional piano in instead of an electric one," Schumann said. "There is nothing worse than having a very nice piano that is out of tune, and the more people play it the more it has to be tuned. With an electronic piano, it will be the same if it's hot, cold or humid. And they're a high quality for the students."
In the wake of the digital age, the maintenance and residence hall associates have tuned their ears to the advantages of electronic keyboards, and they are also working to be conscious of the needs and desires of students.
"We just try and put pianos in where people want them," Schumann said. "If there is a community that does want access, we'll hear them out."
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