[Audio Empire]

On Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:33:43 -0700, Scott wrote
(in article ):

On the time line they claim attendance for a concert in 1936 to be
over 26,000 so that would suggest that even back then it was as big a
"house" then as it is now.
The photos from 1945 show a vast array of microphones. Maybe just to
record the orchestra? Maybe sound reinforcement.

Most likely broadcast.

I have been to many non classical concerts at the bowl but I have only
been to two classical concerts and that was only because a friend of
mine was playing.

The bowl really is rich in it's history but it really is a crap venue
for any sort of concert. I only go if there is no alternative for a
must see concert. The Greek just down the road is so much better and
the John Anson Ford Theater is better still although it is really
small. It is ironic that the L.A. Phil lives in arguably the best
concert hall in the world during it's regular season and the worst
venue in the world for their summer season.

It wasn't always a terrible venue. Back in the mid-sixties, the LA
Philharmonic played at the 'Bowl often during the summer. I heard three
concerts there, but I don't remember the conductor. Perhaps it was the LA
Philharmonic's young Music Director, Zubin Mehta, but perhaps not. There was
so much musical talent in LA in those days, that it could have been anybody
from Andre Previn to Miklos Rozsa. (although I suspect I would have
remembered them).

In the old shell, They sounded great even though I was in the second tier of
seats off to the left. I could still see and hear them perfectly. Same with
a string quartet I heard a few weeks later. Whatever it became, it was a
pretty good natural amphitheater with good acoustics for much of it's
history. The modern shell, erected in 2005, might require SR (and maybe not.
Once the decision was made to build-in SR facilities, whether or not a venue
actually NEEDS the SR facilities of not becomes moot. The venue is going to
use them as a matter of course).