Re: [Harp-L] Combs

[Mark Russillo <jruss433@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

George -
 
I agree with you in principle - it is all about what the audience hears; it is your analogy that I disagree with.  If you sing when you have a cold (if you feel it is severe enough), you may do at least short term damage to your ability to sing or perhaps worse.  Perhaps when she anticipated not having fun, she may have been referring to the aftermath of the performance as opposed to the performance itself.
 
Vocal chords are not as resilient as reeds and are not as easily tweaked when they just don't feel right.  That would be the vocalist's call.  Chances are, if they don't feel right; they're not right.
 
Mark Russillo
a.k.a. The Rhode Island Kid



----- Original Message ----
From: George Brooks <gbrooksvt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Harp-L <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 11:04:35 PM
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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