[Dixielandjazz] A rant on the unamplified rhythm section

[Edgerton, Paul A]

Brian Towers (in Yet Another Banjo Thread) asks,
>I often wonder how the band baolance would
>have sounded - Bolden, with his reputed very strong and loud playing style
>on cornet, backed by a bowed bass and an acoustic guitar - there were no
>P.A. systems to help them out!

Perhaps that's how he got the reputation for being so loud. (It seems so
obvious, I wonder why I've never seen it in print.)

This does kind of fit into the discussion a few days ago about Howard Elkans
and Don Mopsick. The acoustic rhythm section has served jazz very nicely for
a long time. A string bass and archtop guitar CAN be heard and more
importantly can be felt at all times -- even when the horns are screaming.

I think we've been spoiled by recordings to the point that we now expect ALL
music to sound like we've got a compressed and equalized ear six inches away
from each instrument. In a real acoustic rhythm section, the bass doesn't
wrap around you like down quilt. But it's there, and has a percussive
character that's almost always missing in an amplified bass sound.

When the bass gets louder, drummers play louder and the horns have to blow
harder to get over the rhythm. So we make the rhythm section even louder to
keep the band "in balance." What's next, the brass players blowing into
their own microphones?

Over the years instruments have evolved to keep up with player's demand for
more volume and power. They really DON'T build them like they used to. And
they sure don't play 'em like they used to.

The antidote to all of this is exemplified by the Jim Cullum band. Every
time I have heard them, they've been unamplified. Yes, there may be a PA
system, but that's not what sets the volume on the stage -- the musicians
themselves do. 

Somehow, they manage to balance horns with unamplified acoustic instruments.
The trumpet dominates the ensemble sound, as it should. Every instrument can
be heard in its proper acoustic perspective. When a softer instrument gets a
solo, the others just PLAY SOFTER.

I have obviously oversimplified what it takes to do this properly. Go to
Sheik David Littlefield's website <http://www.cpcug.org/user/dwlit/> for
much more information on that.

I urge musicians to try doing this sometime just to see what it feels like.
It'll seem odd at first: you won't hear stuff they way you are used hearing
it. Chances are the bass player will whine about it -- his bass probably
isn't setup for this. But give it a reasonable time, say two or three
rehearsals, and you might be surprised at the difference it makes to the
sound of your band. If nothing else, you might find that you need much less
amplification than you've probably been accustomed to using.

This actually works because the instruments in the typical jazz band balance
with each other, and because they fit their role within the ensemble. Of
course, they can be used for evil purposes, but that is a rant for another
day.

Paul Edgerton, who sees people holding their hands over their ears and
wonders, "Is it me?"