Klarinet Archive - Posting 000125.txt from 2004/10

From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Playing Upstairs
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2004 16:41:44 -0400

This is one unintended consequence of amplifying the pit in the way it has
come to be over the past couple of decades. Once the sound becomes
all-electronic, it no longer really matters from the audience's point of
view what is producing it or from where. The next logical step is an
all-synth pit, which the Broadway producers already seem to have attempted
(wasn't that one of the main issues in the recent strike?). In fact, there's
nothing much to stop a producer from putting silent actors on the stage and
having them lip-synch the show to a track made by the real singers/actors
(just like in the movies). It's all coming from speakers in surround sound
anyway. For my money, I'd rather hear voices miked only as needed for the
hall and the pit orchestra left to its own acoustical devices unless the use
of an intrinsically electronic/amplified instrument (electronic keyboard,
electric guitars, etc.) is called for by the composer and the pit arranger.

Karl Krelove

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shaw, Kenneth R. [mailto:krshaw@-----.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 3:55 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] Playing Upstairs
>
>
>
> Here's an amazing story from the NY Times. Since most of the music, even
> from a live orchestra, comes out through speakers, it makes sense to add
> an extra row or two of audience seats, reduce the size of the pit and
> put the "bulky" instruments someplace else. For The Producers, the
> harpist and percussionist are on the 7th floor, playing darts between
> their riffs.
>
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/05/theater/05pit.html?oref=login&oref=lo
> gin>
>
> Am I the only one who's appalled? For those of us who play shows, how
> would you feel if the entire orchestra played somewhere else?
>
> Ken Shaw
>
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