[Dixielandjazz] Sound men...speaking of...

[Bill Allen]

People designing large public buildings - such as churches - actually design
them PURPOSEFULLY to be "dead". They figure on deadening the building so you
can't hear money dropping in the offering plate, babies crying, coughing,
and just put a mike in front of everything you're SUPPOSED to hear. I've had
architechts look at me in disbelief when i tell them that the area around
the choir should be LIVE - lined with hard reflective surfaces, hard floor
as opposed to carpet, no drapery, etc. They wonder why i just don't get more
microphones.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
To: "Mr. Bill" <ballen at deltapathology.com>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 1:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Sound men...speaking of...


> Bob --- I want to know who in hell the sound man was for Lincoln's
> Gettysburg address? What mikes was he using? What speakers, etc! The
> ceremony was outside, fer gawd's sake! And everyone heard it!......>
> Approximately 15,000 people are estimated to have attended the
> ceremony.......> What in hell happened to the art of audiences just
> listening?
> ______________________________________
>
> The simple answer is that they all didn't hear it.  That area is outside
and
> not in an ampatheatre and it's unlikely that the sound  traveled more than
> about a hundred yards or so even in good conditions.  It has been noted by
> historians that Lincoln's voice was not commanding and a bit high and
> squeaky.  Lincoln was not noted as a bombastic outdoor speaker either.
>
> Crowds would also move in much closer than we do today so a lot more
people
> could be in a 50 or 75 yard radius circle than you might see today.  If
you
> look at old photos you will see people crowded like sardines at events.
>
> In pre amplified days there were repeaters in the audience.  They were
> people who repeated what a speaker said.  They would have been at about
> every 50 yards or so then a couple of relays would expand the circle a
lot.
> Often this was not an official thing but happened impromptu.   Megaphones
> were also used but not on that day because megaphones focus the sound into
> one direction.
>
> Today voices are not trained to be heard either in public speakers or in
> singers with some exceptions but at one time it was the standard.  Public
> speakers developed very strong voices and again Lincoln was not noted for
> this.  They were used to long winded bombastic speeches from orators.  In
> fact the previous speaker spoke for about two hours.  Lincoln's speech was
> noted because it was so short.
>
> Today, church lasts for about an hour most places.  Then, they could go
most
> of day.  If you got in your carriage and rode 10 miles to go to church you
> weren't about to turn right around and go back after only an hour.  They
> wanted their money's worth out of those preachers in those days.
>
> Before amplification, buildings and amp were built like the inside of
> megaphones and were designed so that people could be heard at some
distance.
> I played once in the Mormon Tabernacle and it's designed so that a person
> speaking in a normal voice can be heard by everyone there.  I believe it
> will seat 5000.  But whatever it's a big room and the ceiling is shaped
like
> an inverted bathtub.  If you are at the lectern  you can almost whisper
and
> be heard.
>
> There is one more thing.  People before amplification didn't have to cope
> with as much ambient noise and people actually LISTENED.  They didn't hold
> conversations or have cell phone conversations or have a highway near
them.
> Very few of us know what true silence is today.  A large crowd has a lot
of
> ambient noise associated with it and people soak up a lot of sound.
>
> St. Louis is noted for it's Muny Opera and has the largest outdoor theatre
> and stage  My brother used to take me when I was a kid and we would sit in
> the free or 50 cent seats at the back.  There were people who would sit
and
> hold conversations all the way through the performance and sometimes even
> with amplification it was difficult to hear the stage.  The Muny is built
to
> let the audience hear with or without amplification.  What I can't believe
> is that people will actually travel down there early to get a seat then
sit
> there and talk through the performance.
> Larry
> StL
>
>
>
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