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Re: Yamaha YCL-650

Author: Matt74
Date: 2021-12-08 21:17

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

People play too loud. I literally can't hear music at the volumes it's played at.

Maybe I exaggerate, but it seems to me that a lot of amateur brass players are incapable of playing any softer than F, and prefer eyeball popping FFFFF whenever possible. I've never seen an amateur set drummer that can play less then FFF. On the rare occasions that I've played on stage I thought my head would explode.

I have to believe that it was not always this way. In the 19-teens and 20s, and even through the 40s, they simply didn't have sound systems that could blast music so loud. People never heard music at insane volumes, so they didn't try to play that way (IMO). Even the drums were smaller. You had to hear the clarinets in those arrangements clearly, because that was the sound - and they had brass. How could you possibly hear an upright bass? They were not all playing FFF. The saxophone mouthpieces had large chambers and were not as loud. Today, you can always hear the clarinets in Wynton Marsalis' bands, but I don't see Victor Goines or whoever turning red. Back in the day I'm sure they were quite capable of projecting, but they prioritized playing musically. In old videos all the old Jazz guys tried to act cool, collected, and nonchalant. The Ellington clarinets look like they're going to fall asleep. Nobody seemed to think that busting a gut was a virtue.

I'm sure that Sydney Bechet was loud, but he was unusual.

- Matthew Simington

Post Edited (2021-12-08 21:37)

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Yamaha YCL-650 new

pritishbudhrani

2021-12-05 11:37