RE: [Harp-L] Combs

[Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thinking about the impact on the audience rather than having a good time is probably what makes a professional entertainer. I certainly know this as a professional lecturer. But there is more to music than that and some of the greats don't seem to think much about the audience at all. To communicate you have to consider the audience but you also need something worthwhile to say. As many have remarked on this list harmonica on stage can produce certain expectations in the audience, which the player needs to address by meeting them, or not. 



-----Original Message-----
From: George Brooks <gbrooksvt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: 20 September 2008 05:04
To: Harp-L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Combs

But which is more important, the player's subjective impression of tone 
or what the audience hears?  I agree that if what the player hears is 
not satisfying, the performance will suffer.  Other than that secondary 
effect, I think the most important thing, by far, is the audience's 
experience of the performance, not the performer's.

I used to play in a Latin acoustic band.  We had a female vocalist for 
a time, and she was very good.  One day, she arrived at a gig and 
announced that she had a terrible cold and felt lousy.  I told her she 
would do fine and that the audience would probably never know.  Her 
reply was that she felt really rotten and was not going to have any 
fun.  I told her that it was much more important that she sound good 
than that she feel good.  Her reply, which she delivered with obvious 
skepticism edging perhaps into hostility: "REALLY?"  She was not with 
the group much longer.

If you play privately, your private enjoyment ought to be paramount.  
If you perform for others, I believe the enjoyment of your audience 
ought to be paramount.  I do not believe that it makes even the 
slightest difference to your audience whether your comb is made of 
wood, metal, or concrete.

George



  

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