Modern Reviewing Practices In Audio Rags Have Become Useless
"Audio_Empire" wrote in message
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On Monday, August 5, 2013 4:36:31 PM UTC-7, Robert Peirce wrote:
In article ,
Scott wrote:
i gotta say, with classical music if there is sound reinforcement and I
am
there it is for one of two reasons. Either someone I absolutely have to
see
is playing or I got free tickets. Otherwise it is a deal breaker for
me. What
blows my mind is that someone would show up and be surprised by the
presence
of sound reinforcement. It's a big world and I guess all kinds of
things
happen but I have never been to a classical concert that used sound
reinforcement that I didn't know about ahead of time.
Another thing that irritates me is theatre. More and more that is being
amplified as well. I have shown up for amplified shows without knowing
it. With small group music you can usually figure out what instrument
is coming through the PA system. In theatre it is often difficult to
pick out the actor who is speaking or singing.
Most of this is a case of "doing it because they CAN rather than because
they SHOULD" Theater existed for centuries without SR. One exception
of course, is outdoor theater where wireless mikes on the actors is a
boon. I don't mind amplified voices where it helps one hear the dialog
but not for music.
The usual reason for using amplification is that the room is too large for
good coverage by the natural voice, whether vocal or instrumental. Some of
this is driven by economics. Larger audiences are required to pay rental,
wages, and overhead.
In the past actors and singers developed their voices with a premium being
placed on loudness. Electronics makes it possible to develop voices with
loudness traded off for tone and control.
In the case of music, there is an economic stimulus to reduce the cost of
delivering instrumental and vocal voices which provides an additional
stimulus for the use of electronics. Particularly theatrical productions
use technology to create the enjoyable sound of a larger and more complex
musical accompaniment with fewer live musicians.
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