Klarinet Archive - Posting 000114.txt from 2007/07

From: "Rien Stein" <rstein@-----.nl>
Subj: [kl] loud bands
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2007 18:28:16 -0400

It was a couple of events that brought me to my tag line. The first one lays
back some 15 years, when in Utrecht was a "roaring 60's night". Man, it was
roaring, litterally. It was the first time I saw a jazz band in which every
instrument was micked, even though the amplification was only moderate I was
really irritated.

Some two years after we went to see "Cats". The orchestra was not in the
pit, but in a different room, and its sound came to us by speakers, the
"cats" had monitors to see the conductor. But after the break I didn't
return to the theater hall, the sound was horrible!

In the local Maartensdijk band in which I play, we had a conductor the last
eleven years, who used to correct only if the band didn't follow his tempo.
The first trumpetplayer used to write piano with two f's (fortissimo). The
first alto sax player usually was louder than he, and there was a bugle
(flugelhorn) player, who outblew the two of them. Often I put down my
instrument and stopped playing. When the conductor asked me, why I stopped
playing, I used to answer something like "I couldn't hear which piece we
were playing, but I think it should be ...(whatever we had on the stands)".
Three years ago I quit the band for that reason, and then he apparently
understood what I meant: I heard from the other members "Please come back,
we cannot miss you, and he now gives attention to dynamics", which was true,
so I returned.

But what really brought me to my tagline was a concerto by our military Air
Force Band. My wife and I had looked forwards to it, as it was an all-beatle
concerto with some very good singers. But it was the "man behind the
buttons", who decided on loudness and balance, and indeed I often couldn't
even recognize what was being played. I left the concerto hall after half an
hour, and indeed heard next to nothing for several hours!

Ciao

Rien

"The orchestra was wonderful", he said, "it played so loud I couldn't even
hear what they were playing!"

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