Fifth Avenue Neighborhood Commons
Located in the Fifth Avenue Neighborhood of campus, the Fifth Avenue Commons is a beautiful 5,000 square foot community space open to all Carnegie Mellon students, faculty and staff.
Location
how to enter
Address: 4735 Fifth Avenue
When looking at the front of the building from Fifth Avenue, the entrance to the Fifth Ave Commons is located to the left-hand side of the building at ground level.
Hours of Operation
common AREA and Program Spaces
7:00 a.m.- 2:00 a.m., Daily
The Commons' Spaces
The Hearth
The Hearth serves as the focal point and gathering point of the Commons equipped with an operable fireplace and comfortable seating.
Dance/Wellness Room
Amenities: Spring-loaded floor; ballet bar; mirror wall; Bluetooth audio system
Capacity: 15
Reservations: Reserve any time; 2 hour maximum; free to use when not reserved
Reserve through 25Live
Multipurpose Room
Amenities: 6 tables; 40 chairs; built-in projector and flat-screen TVCapacity: 40
Reservations: Reserve 72 hours in advance; room locked when not in use
Large Music Room/Jam Room
Amenities: Acoustic drum set; digital piano; microphone; bass/guitar amps; music stands
Capacity: 8
Reservations: Reserve any time; 2 hour maximum; free to use when not reserved
Small Music Room
Amenities: Digital piano; music stands
Capacity: 3
Reservations: Reserve any time; 1 hour maximum; free to use when not reserved
Study Room
Amenities: Flat-screen TV; whiteboard
Capacity: 4
Reservations: No reservation required
Policies
Access
Who can access
- All Carnegie Mellon students, faculty and staff can access to the space with their CMU ID.
- Guests are permitted only when accompanied by a CMU affiliate. The CMU affiliate is responsible for the actions of their guest.
how to access
- All users must tap to enter the space.
- Exterior doors and doors to programming spaces are to remain closed at all times; no propping of doors is permitted.
Reservations
Advanced reservations are suggested for all programming spaces. The following spaces are available for reservation via 25Live with no advanced reservation required:
- Large Music/Jam Room, Small Music Room and the Dance/Wellness Room.
When not in use, these spaces are available for free use:
- The Jam Room and the Dance/Wellness Room may be booked for up to two hours, once daily per user.
- The Small Music Room may be booked for up to one hour, once daily per user.
NOTE: Individuals may reserve the Jam Room for practice or use it when not reserved, but reservation priority is given to groups wishing to practice. Individuals may have their reservations moved and/or cancelled. Individuals using the jam room will be asked to leave if a group wishes to practice and the individual does not have a reservation.
Reservation Window - Reservations within the Large Music/Jam Room, Small Music Room and the Dance/Wellness Room are encouraged to use the express scheduling function on 25Live and may reserve up to 60 days in advance.
Users reserving space through traditional scheduling on 25Live can reserve rooms during the reservation window. Reservations are made available on the first business day of the month for each following month (e.g. On September 1, reservations for the month of October are made available).
The Multipurpose Room requires reservations 72 hours in advance via 25Live. When not in use for an approved event, the multipurpose room will be closed.
The Study Room requires no reservation and is available for free use.
Any and all spaces within the Fifth Avenue Neighborhood Commons may be reserved for various functions. Accordingly, any and all spaces may be closed to the general public with advanced warning.
To inquire about reservations for spaces outside of the programming spaces, or to reserve the entire facility, please email FifthAveCommons@andrew.cmu.edu
The Neighborhood Commons staff reserves the right to reschedule or cancel events for any reason. The staff may choose to limit the duration, frequency, or number of bookings for an individual, group, or organization if it is deemed that others are not being given equitable access to the space.
General Rules for Programming Spaces
- No food or drinks, except water in a resealable container, are permitted in the Small Music Room, Jam Room, and Dance/Wellness Room.
- No food or drinks, except water in a resealable container, are permitted in the multipurpose room unless part of an approved event.
- Approved events in the multipurpose room must do their own event setup and return the room to its default setup once event concludes.
- All furniture/equipment must remain in designate room. Return all furniture/equipment to original location when finished.
- Any damage incurred will be the responsibility of the student(s) and/or organization responsible.
Rules for the Jam Room
The Golden Rules
- Have fun and play with others
- Be cool and don’t ruin the space for other people
- Play at a reasonable volume
- Keep the door closed
- Report any issues to: FifthAveCommons@andrew.cmu.edu
Hours and Reservations
- 7:00am-2:00am, daily
- Reservations strongly encouraged and made via 25Live
- When not reserved, the room is open to anyone
- Reservations and play time is 2 hours max, once daily per user. If nobody is waiting after you, feel free to stay longer
- Groups of 2+ take priority over individual practice
Everything Goes Through the Mixer
- Instrument cables are provided for you to plug-in
- No outside amps are permitted
- No acoustic drums are permitted
- Non-electric instruments (brass, woodwinds, acoustic guitar, etc.) are still permitted to be played at a reasonable volume.
Working the Mixer
- Don’t rearrange the inputs. If adding an instrument, choose an open channel
- If you’re not familiar with the mixer, don’t change the settings
- Always turn down or mute the channel volume and main volume when plugging/unplugging instruments. Raise the channel and main volume slowly to achieve the sound you desire
- Channel levels should be set on or near the “U” mark whenever possible. The “U” indicates unity gain, meaning the signal isn’t boosted or attenuated
- Don’t let your inputs clip! Watch the LED signal indicator on each input. It should rarely, if ever change from green to red.
- A limiter is in place to keep volume down. You may notice this distortion at high-volume. If this happens, turn down the main volume.
- Monitor the main output meters, and make sure you avoid playing in the red
- Turn off the power (back of mixer) when you’re done
- Refer to provided user manuals for detailed operating info