Klarinet Archive - Posting 000089.txt from 2005/08

From: jcblegen@-----.net
Subj: Re: [kl] Robert Schoen
Date: Sat, 06 Aug 2005 16:42:54 -0400

There's a great difference between audience response (which can at times be over
enthusiastic or misguided) and audience insensitivity or indifference. I have no
problem with the former, even in classical venues, but I'm afraid the latter is very
much on the rise, at least in the United States where I've been rivetted for many
years. A dreadful combination of the disappearance of music programs in schools
and the overwhelming presence of commercial noise may be the cause. When I
perform, I play jazz, often in restaurants and bars where a depressing percentage of
the audience seems unaware that the band is there, where people often scream at
each other to be heard over the annoying music. My other major venue, some sixty
games per year, is Wrigley Field, where I play with a five piece Dixie group; I
obviously don't expect an attentive audience there, but I'm nevertheless amazed at
the number of folks who can file past the band without any indication that they know
we're there. Not infrequently someone will attempt to walk right through the band
and become indignant when we, uh, dissuade (we've learned some valuable
lessons from watching basketball players in the paint). When my colleagues and I
ask for requests, we're often met with blank stares. Aside from "Freebird," names of
tunes (and the tunes themselves) seem to have escaped the cultural education of
far too many. Music, except as another component of the ambient noise level, has
disappeard from too many lives.

John Blegen
jcblegen.com

>
> I haven't read the whole thread, so I apologize if this has already
> been mentioned or if I've gotten off the subject.
>
> Something that we have to realize as performers is that, 99%+ percent
> of the time, people's entertainment comes from television, radio, or
> movies in theaters where "information" only flows one way and the
> audience is isolated from the performance. Consequently, people simply
> don't realize that what they do affects the performers; that we can
> hear coughing, talking, applause, and so forth, and that these can be
> very irritating for those on stage and those around them.
>
> When I was a young man, this phenomenon wasn't nearly so widespread.
> People with crying babies or persistent coughs would remove themselves
> so as not to disturb anyone. And people certainly would not carry on
> loud, lengthy conversations with each other or, as they do now, on
> their cell phones while the performers were on stage. However, all
> these things happen regularly now, in the era of CDs, iPODs, and
> "personal entertainment systems." People act, now, as if they are
> encapsulated in exclusive environments.
>
> I happened to be at a concert of the Shiphills Brass Band from the
> U.K. the other night, and though the conductor nicely but persistently
> and frequently mentioned that they were recording for a new CD
> release, a crying baby and loud conversation were audible to me in the
> middle of the auditorium, and the baby and parents were in the front
> row not six feet from the left channel mic. The parents never removed
> the baby and the others never quit talking, despite several
> too-good-natured prompts from the conductor
>
> Did these people intend to be rude? I think not. They just didn't know
> what they were doing: their frames of reference did not include the
> performers or the other audience members. They were clueless.
>
> Modern audiences--even audiences attending high-falutin' professional
> concerts--just don't realize that what they're doing affects everyone
> else there; they're just used to being in front of their televisions
> and radios, where they can do as they please, attend or not, clamber
> around, or have conversations.
>
> Of course, this is different in many folk and jazz venues, yet there
> is a certain set of rules in those too about what is appropriate and
> what isn't, as other posters have mentioned. Though they allow
> "outbursts" and audience noise, those tend not to be disruptive.
>
> What can be done? Not much. About the only thing that I have done is
> to wait as long as necessary for quiet before starting or between
> movements, though twice I've stopped completely during a piece when
> the noise level increased to the point that it bothered me. However,
> if I perform again, I'm seriously considering giving a friendly
> mini-lecture before I start.
>
> Cheers.
>
> B. McGarvey
>
>
>
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