RE: too loud

["Stephen Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

>From: "Laughton, Bob" <LaughtonB@xxxxxxxxx>

>I'm enjoying this ongoing discussion of music vs. volume. Volume does have 
>it's place, but it's in stadium rock music, not in traditional club-scaled 
>urban blues music. The thing I don't like about volume is that it puts a 
>barrier between the performer and audience - literally a 'wall of sound'. 
>Many on either side of the wall do enjoy the experience - I find that I 
>generally do not.
>
>My favorite music environment is the Irish 'pub session' where the players 
>are essentially having a 'musical conversation' with each other, and often 
>don't really care that much if the 'punters' (the audience of non-musician 
>pub goers) can hear or not. It is 100% acoustic and melody-oriented. Rhythm 
>instruments must mesh with and support the spirit of each tune, and the 
>numbers are minimal - one each at the maximum of guitar, bouzouki/cittern, 
>and/or bodhran (irish frame drum) - and in some instances rhythm 
>instruments are excluded altogether.

Hi Bob

All too often you can get "too many" musicians even at Irish-type sessions.  
You are spot-on in highlighting the conversational aspect of the music, that 
is when played as it should be played.  Most of the melody instruments 
actually perform at "talking volume" - whistles, flutes, fiddles, voice, 
harmonica (dare I say!).  And as you say the music often works without any 
backing rhythm/harmony.  Sadly this world is peopled by often enthusiastic 
and often less than sensitive guitar players, and the worst offenders are 
often those who are primarily from other musical backgrounds, eg jazz and 
rock.  I am just about to embark  on "learning the blues" with my 
newly-acquired Jerry Portnoy set, and I am expecting it to take a very long 
time.  Blues hasn't been my world up to now.  But some of these guys think 
they can cross over to traditional Irish and show us a thing or two in five 
minutes!  You won't come across TOO many really good bodhran players either. 
  I think it's mainly about a thing called ego. Other times you get just too 
many guitars altogether, but they're all great guys and what can you say?  
The upshot for me is that I have to use a small amp when the evening is in 
full flow, otherwise I might as well just not bother.  I just want to level 
up with the general volume (rot setting in...) and I soon get told if I get 
this wrong.  Later on, when the gathering has thinned out a bit, it can be 
the best part of the evening and I can put the mic away.  By then of course 
the Guinness has kicked in!  Tant pis!

Steve Shaw


Want more than the blues?  Try Irish!
http://mysite.freeserve.com/trad_irish_harmonica

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