[Dixielandjazz] Speaking of acoustically designed buildings ...

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Jazz Fans,

Here in Israel we have several Roman amphitheaters that were built 2000
years ago to hold 5000 to 8000 people. I have not yet performed in one of
these babies, but I hope to do that before I'm through. Anyway, you can
stand on the stage and speak in a normal voice, and be heard throughout the
seats. If you play an instrument or talk or sing with a bit of projection,
you can be heard with no problem. And this is outdoors. No roof and no
walls. Just the stage and the seats and the "orchestra", all stone.

I don't know if people were more cooperative and polite at these places 2000
years ago. One might think that 8000 people would create quite a din during
a performance, but they won't if they sit still and shut up and listen to
the show!

I typically bring along a banjo or horn and do a brief demo when I'm taking
guests to visit these theaters. One of these days we will do a concert in
one of them.

Of course, today when there is a show of any consequence in such an
amphitheater, they bring in a killer sound system. Aside from the fact that
this kills the experience of being in an amphitheater, in my opinion, this
is usually probably not necessary, except that 1) Israelis think they can't
hear if whatever is going on is not blasted at them above the threshold of
pain, and 2) they are not very good at sitting quietly and listening.

I have had even small events where people never stop gabbing while I'm
playing, and yet they complain that they can't hear me. I don't bother to
bring sound equipment to offset this. Sometimes I play more quietly to try
to encourage them to shut up and listen. In my book, they can't have it both
ways. Either I'm background and they talk all they want, or I do a show and
they shut up and pay attention. If they don't hire me again under these
circumstances, it's fine with me. I'd just as soon not work for them again.
I've worked in restaurants where they keep asking me to play quieter because
they want to talk. Fine with me, if that's what they want, as long as they
don't then complain that they can't hear.

In other news, has anyone been to the Phantom of the Opera theater in Las
Vegas? I saw the show there last year. All I heard before hand were raves
about how the state of the art theater was built from the ground up for this
show. When I got there, I saw very elaborate high tech ornamentation all
over the walls and ceiling, with lots of moving pieces and hardly a hard
flat surface in the place. It seemed to me that they sacrificed the theater
to the special effects, and then tried to compensate with a sound system on
steroids. The sound throughout the show was painfully loud, but you could
not understand the words of the songs or much of what the actors were
saying. And I had a good seat! I would have gladly traded the fancy effects
for an acoustically functional room. The modern mentality appears to be that
if you crank up the volume loud enough, the rest does not matter. Well, it
matters to me, whether performing or listening.

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