In order to have the perfect home billiard or game room, the accompaniment of music is vital if you want to sustain the maximum fun and excitement the room can provide. In so many ways, music adds a certain ambiance not felt without it, invoking many feelings and emotions. It does so much more than add to the mood of your game room. Perhaps best of all, music tends to create and trigger memories by the thousands.
Music has different meanings to almost all walks of life. And with so many different decades, musical genres, and musical styles to choose from, there is some type of music out there to suit almost anybody. From classical to current dance and top 40 selections, music has always been around us…in our cars, on our televisions, and constantly running through our minds, sometimes even driving us proverbially crazy. So why not have it in your billiard or rec room, too?
A plethora of musical systems and devices are out on the market that would more than suffice for any small-to-large-sized billiard or game room. Whichever musical system you decide upon, remember that you will want to provide a widely assorted variety of musical styles. You will want to have selections for every type of person, whether it is friends, colleagues, children, adults, women, men, etc. I know that trying to please everyone is a hard task, but each individual has his or her own musical preference, and it is best to have an array of musical selections from which to choose.
Of course, each musical outlet available for a home billiard or game room has both advantages and disadvantages over others. Some more popular musical devices for your billiard or game room, along with their more common advantages and disadvantages, include:
- AM/FM Radio – Free, easy to install, decent musical selection, but full of commercials and rather repetitive
- Satellite Radio – Probably the widest variety of selections, very few repeats, and almost no commercials and advertisements, but involves a monthly fee, and setup and installation process is a bit more involved than just flipping a switch
- Internet Radio (Pandora©, etc.) – A wide array of music is available and can be narrowed down by search. Sometimes fees are involved, but not usually. Internet access and a sound system in your billiard room with internet connections is required, and streamability can be a potential issue, especially in a basement game room or with a slow internet speed connection.
- CDs or Pre-Recorded Songs – Very easy to change musical selections, but variety usually depends on the extent of game room owner’s CD collection. Also, unless you play a CD in its entirety, you are constantly having breaks in the music and interruptions in your billiard game or other activity.
- Jukebox – Provides perhaps the most control over musical selections being added to your game room experience. A jukebox can be filled with whatever vinyls or songs that the owner desires, and many selections can be chosen at once, avoiding “dead air” time you may experience with CDs or other manual musical outlets. Also, it provides, unlike other musical outlets, a more nostalgic value to your game room. However, it can be expensive, considering the initial purchase and constant new musical selections you may choose to fill it with. Changing records and labels is also rather time consuming, not to mention that any jukebox can only hold a limited number of musical selections.
- Karaoke Machine – One of the more fun musical devices for a game room or recreation area. It provides hours of entertainment, and can actually even be one of the “games” in a home game room. Some karaoke machines allow you to play the real songs without actually singing along, but some do not, providing nothing more than personal entertainment. Also, musical selections are limited and usually preprogrammed into the machine, not allowing for much, if any, musical expansion.
Not having music in your home billiard room or activity area is kind of like having cake with no icing. Sure, the cake tastes okay by itself, but the icing usually makes it ten times better. Just like cake and icing, music and fun times complement each other well. Your billiard room might be rather dull and drab with no tunes. Even if you have the best games and activities available that money can buy, your game room may not be as enticing without music included. And the memories that music creates will add to your and your guests’ lifelong experiences, not to mention they will have a great time in your billiard room, regardless of the activities in which they are participating. If you have no music in your game room, go spend $20 to $30 for a cheap FM radio. It’s better than nothing, and you can always upgrade later.
Billiard N Bar Stools has a ton of more articles and literature pertaining to interior decorating, primarily concerning home billiard rooms, game rooms, and home bars. Article topics include color selections, choosing themes, furniture choices, and many more. We also carry a wide variety of products for a billiard or game room, including furniture and smaller decor. Come check us out!
