Klarinet Archive - Posting 000384.txt from 2004/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Amplification of music (somewhat OT)
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 23:11:06 -0400

At 09:53 PM 7/11/2004 -0400, Karl Krelove wrote:
>I know, and part of my complaint about the whole thing is that in
>professional theaters these days (New York included) they're amplifying the
>pit!! Then, the voices need to be even louder. They put the players back
>underneath the stage for a reason, for heaven's sake! The part that really
>puzzles me is that this isn't the doing of the performers, who can no longer
>really tell what the audience is hearing because there's so much being done
>at the sound board. I don't know if it's directors, sound engineers or
>someone else generating this mania for volume, but there is one live theater
>in Philadelphia that I simply won't go to unless the show is something I
>absolutely can't resist. It's louder in there (or was the last time I saw a
>show there) than any movie theater I've been to recently. The pit and the
>stage seem to be competing for some sort of Decibel Prize - but it's
>probably one guy (whose hearing may no longer be very acute) at the reins
>holding on to all of this sound (noise).

Apparently, the sound guy's hearing is not very ACTIVE any more, much less
acute!

>And my reaction, as it was last
>time I heard our high school jazz band play (to come full circle in this
>thread), is that I could *hear* so much more if the sound were just quieter.

There again, those steeped in the rock tradition of "louder is better" have
taken control. WAY too much bass, too much drums. And in my experience,
strangely enough, too LITTLE sax! But plenty of trumpets!

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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