No More Fortissimo?

[brianggilbert]

Seriously though, would anyone give any credence to the notion that as health, nutrition, training and teaching, and instrument technology improve, so would the physical abilities and human performance benchmarks of the instrumentalist?

Volume Inflation being summarized as an emphasis or premium placed on louder performance - would it stand to reason that as we develop musicians with better instruments and more refined developmental approaches COULD the ensembles just be flat-out LOUDER?

Look at professional sports (steriods notwithstanding) to see 10 year old kids dunking the basketball from the foul line....

[joebob]

Not everyone is moving to larger equipment. That said, those who are could be doing so for reasons other than louder volume. Maybe they want to play the same loud volume with less effort or with a less bright or brittle sound (or some other kind of sound). Maybe they want a different kind of sound in the softer dynamics. Some professional trombonists are moving to smaller horns for a leaner sound with more high overtones (some players move to small equipment in order to play louder or "cut" through the orchestra more). Players change equipment based on the needs of a particular conductor or the repertoire, or any other number of reasons. Surely there are those who just want to play louder but I know people who are changing in other directions for other reasons.

Many concert halls are far from ideal accoustically and for decades orchestras have been fiddling (ha ha) with shells, accoustical tiles, and yes, electronic amplification/enhancement. In some cases, shells and tiles are moved in order to make certain frequencies less loud.

Again, I'm not saying things are not getting louder on the whole, I just can't say that they are with certainty. I've heard a number of orchestras that play softer today than they did in the past (this often has to do with a different music director).

[jeopardymaster]

About 10 years ago I agreed to play trombone for a local production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The ensemble - a rock band augmented with some winds and brass - was placed in a big wooden box, way upstage, and incorporated into the set. We were not visible to the audience and because it was mostly enclosed our sound was dampened - and instead of opening the space up, we were asked to play louder. Five minutes into the first rehearsal I had to leave - it felt as if I was in 'Scanners' or something. Left, bought shooting plugs at the local S Mart and made it back for Act II.

All I heard the rest of the run was the buzzing of my embouchre, and the residual ringing from that first 5 minutes. I can still feel it. That ACU bassoonist has all my sympathy and support.

[windshieldbug]

"... naw, thery're for listening to the New York Phil... "

[TexTuba]

[MaryAnn]

Back on topic...I wish I could speak personally to the young lady bassoonist. At that age, and with her lack of experience and fear of authority that is likely still present, she needs the support of adults around her to encourage her to do the right thing, which is: protect her hearing, at all costs. Her responsibility is to buy, and carry at all times, ear plugs. I have the musician ones, which are comfortable, but expensive. The foam ones will perserve her hearing at a very low cost. You get used to the head noise.

And the other thing she should do is take the band director to task: just start going up the ladder until she finds someone with more authority than the band director, who will help him see the light. Where are her parents? If no response can be gotten (he's not only ruining her hearing, but that of other band members too) then she should consider just going somewhere that is not abusive. It may sound severe, but dropping out of this college and finding another one, even if she gets behind a year in her education, is going to be something that she would look back on in 30 years and realize she should have done, if she continues on this course with the jerk who would jeopardize her entire future for his rehearsal. Put that way, does there seem any other rational choice? It's not about macho-ing one's way through a tough situation; it's about voting with your pocketbook and absence.

MA

[GC]

I noticed twenty years ago that an unnamed major symphony orchestra was losing the beauty of its tonal colors because the brass was overblowing terribly. The brass was sounding like an in-tune marching band instead of orchestral brass. The sound was powerful, but dull and homogenized. The woodwinds were overblowing to keep up, and the strings were killing their sound overbowing just trying to be heard. Later conductors made the brass tone down, and the whole group was the better for it.

[Allen]

Back on topic...I wish I could speak personally to the young lady bassoonist. At that age, and with her lack of experience and fear of authority that is likely still present, she needs the support of adults around her to encourage her to do the right thing, ... ...

At last, some excellent adult advice!

The majority of people seem to be in a vicious cycle of listening to loud music, which makes them somewhat deaf, then turning up the volume, which makes them deafer, then turning up.... Those of us who are really interested in music should be able to opt out of this dreadful cycle.

Regarding whether music has been getting louder: Those of with white hairs can remember growing up in an era when live theatre was not amplified, and only the rare musical instrument was amplified. What that required of the audiences was a lack of deafness, and also some concentration on listening. It also required audiences not to be talking or making noise during the performances. All of that has changed. At the risk of sounding like a curmudgon, I'll say I liked it better back then.

Cheers,
Allen

[KevinMadden]

We have a bassoon major here at ACU suffering from hearing loss. She wanted to play trumpet in marching band, or tuba for that matter, she can play multiple instruments well, but they put her in percussion, which hurts her case worse, and she admits shes not good at percussion

Well, the otherday, we were rehearsing Niagara Falls by daugherty. We dont have a real organ, so were using amps and speakers and such, and he had them facing the band (though at the concert they are goign to be facing out). Well the speakers were facing directly at the bassoon player, right in front of her.

I will say it was pretty loud, the static was enough to give me a headache when it wasnt being played. She was real respectful and asked the director (who is her bassoon teacher) if they could turn the speakers down or face them the other way because it was severly hurting her ears. He just said too bad.

She left band with severe ringing in her ears and had to miss the next day because of it. She didnt know the organist was going to be there that day OR that it would be that loud, so she couldnt bring ear plugs.

Shes a good bassoonist, a freshman and already principal here. I will be sadden if her hearing worsens because of that event

Thats just ridiculous... The Ithaca Wind Ensemble recently performed John Corligliano's Circus Maximus which calls for the loudest sounds the band can produce + 10 extra trumpets + a gunshot. We were offered (and encouraged to use) ear protection before the start of the first rehearsal, and our director took his own time to research the dB levels with regards to our own safety.

and we're currently working on Maslanka 4, another loud work, and I assure you that if at any point the organ + band were to be too loud and somene were to leave, or put in earplugs, there would be no repercussions