Klarinet Archive - Posting 000398.txt from 2004/07

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Amplification of music (somewhat OT)
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2004 08:50:25 -0400

At 08:02 PM 7/11/2004 -0700, Gary Truesdail wrote:
>In the 'Old Days', when here was no amplification, the orchestra pit was
>usually out front of or off to the side of the stage. The stage singers
>were almost always at a higher level than the orchestra and therefor could
>project 'out and over' into the audience. The headliners of the day may
>not have had a strong voice but their popularity came from their looks,
>demeanor or other physical or visual attributes. In this case the
>orchestra would suffer by playing as soft as they could. In many of the
>old west towns and mining camps the only thing that mattered was the
>presence of the female star and not her voice. The drunken and love
>starved populous didn't care and frequently ingnored the performers while
>continuing their gambling activities or exploring their desires for the
>next stage robbery, con game or gold vein.

I think you may be mistaken about the importance of "physical or visual
attributes" in stage players in the old days. That became much more
important in films where the close-ups revealed everything, but on the
stage that attractiveness did not project beyond the first few rows anyway.
The vocal talent was more important (see "opera singers"). For a more
recent example, Mary Martin was not particularly attractive, but she was
the toast of Broadway. And the miners were not very picky, either!

Bill Hausmann

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

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