[Dixielandjazz] Accoustic performance was Volume

[Ministry of Jazz]

Say, Dan,

Thank you for confirming what I have always believed but have not had enough
opportunities to prove it yet. Can you tell us, just how large was that
auditorium? how many people in the audience? how many players in the band?

On various occasions when I have played against my will with amplification,
several times some miracle has happened where we had to continue without the
amplification. I think every time this has happened to me or my band, people
in the audience have told me we sounded better acoustic than with the amps.

My 5-piece version of the Doctor Jazz Band played at our national folk music
festival a couple summers ago. We were on an outdoor stage littered with
microphone stands and monitors and direct boxes and whatnot. In the middle
of the performance, the wind kicked up and the tarp above the stage and
audience became unstable. So they told us to end the show early. At the
request of people in the audience, we got off the stage and quickly
regrouped on the grass, and finished our show unplugged. It was a completely
open area on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. We got great compliments on
the unplugged part of the show, and sold a bunch of CDs afterwards.

On the other side of the coin (and the world), I was recently in Las Vegas
and went to see Phantom of the Opera. Their hot new theater was touted as
having been specifically designed for this show. I was impressed to see the
elaborate set, special effects, and how they integrated the audience into
the show. However, it seemed to me that they sacrificed the theater to the
special effects and set design, then tried to make up for it with a killer
sound system. Well, the music was loud ... way too loud ... but you could
hardly understand a word the actors were singing or saying. I could not help
thinking that 100 years ago or so, in a theater of that size, the show would
have been performed without any amplification, since there was none, and it
would have depended upon proper projection, enunciation and balance between
the musicians and the actors, and respectful silence from the audience.

Speaking of which, I played a rather small gig for a group of American
seniors here in Jerusalem once in a sukkah. About 30 people sat around a
table inside the sukkah while we played and they were supposed to sing
along. My band was me on banjo and bone, and a partner on accordion, and we
both sang. We should have been plenty loud enough for such a small space and
group, but the people would not stop talking (and they must have been hard
of hearing because they talked so loud), and they kept complaining that they
couldn't hear us. I was too polite then (not sure about now) to tell them
that if they would shut up for a couple minutes they might be able to hear
us just fine. Instead they blamed us for not having a PA system.

I could go on, as you know, but I think you get the idea.

Elazar
Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537


-----Original Message-----
From: D and R Hardie [mailto:darnhard at ozemail.com.au]
Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2007 1:42 AM

At  a recent concert for the
Southern Highlands Classic Razz and Ragtime Festival the Buddy Bolden
Revival Orchestra
did a 2 hour concert in a large theatre with good accoustics. For
various reasons we decided to dispense
with amplification...