Post 347: DO YOU CARE FOR DISCO MUSIC?

Which do you prefer: disco music or traditional jazz? Regular readers will know well where my preference lies.

Quite a few years ago, when I lived in Wisbech, I volunteered to help at a disco for teenagers in the Great Hall of the Isle College (just inside those windows in the photo above). The din from the stage, on which the operators and their battery of equipment were placed, was unbearable. After a while, I decided I could endure the evening only if I took up a position in the corridor outside. Even there, if I wanted to exchange a word with anyone, I had to shout and then struggle to make out the reply.

Occasionally teenagers would run out of the hall into the corridor for a while, screaming, shrieking and sweating.

At the end of it all, we adult volunteers were left with the clearing up, after which I was truly glad to go home. I would never do anything of the kind again.

I was reminded of that evening while reading a book by Susan Tomes, a very fine pianist whom I admire.

She said in one of her chapters that amplification had 'become the main event' in much modern pop music and that the youngsters embrace this music out of a kind of tribal allegiance. I am sure she is right. These young people are in danger of missing so much if they never hear music played quietly by genuine musical instruments, unamplified. I hope they will in maturer years happen upon a recording of the Quatuor Mosaiques playing Mozart's String Quartet KV 590 or Tuba Skinny playing Cold Morning Shout and be amazed by a new source of great musical joy.

There must be some nuggets somewhere in modern pop music but I long ago gave up the struggle to find them. If you asked me to explain the deficiencies of this type of music, I could come up with a kind of list. But Susan is brilliant at putting her finger right on so many features of the music world. So here she is doing the list-making job for me:

     'You need only spend an evening listening to any pop radio station across the world to know that songwriters in all countries work to a formula. The same disco beat, the same tiny short phrases, timid harmonies, melodies culled from just two or three notes, real instruments replaced by electronic sounds, performers who can't even sing.....'!

Post 226: TRADITIONAL JAZZ - A HORRIBLE DIN!

I must be honest: on very rare occasions I find the sound of a traditional jazz band to be a horrible din.

There are very good traditional jazz performances and very bad ones. I wonder whether you would agree with the following. (For the purpose of these examples, I am talking about the musical sounds produced by a six-piece or seven-piece band.)

LEVEL ONE - THE LOWEST - HORRIBLE DIN LEVEL: Most of the instruments are unnecessarily and excessively amplified. The drummer plays too loud and doesn't take much note of what the front line players are doing. The rhythm section sounds like one collective bass drum. The front line players - especially in full ensemble - take an 'every man for himself' approach and blast away, regardless of what notes the others are playing. It is sometimes impossible for a listener to pick out instruments individually (especially bad if there are four in the front line). The result is a horrible noise! A din!

LEVEL TEN - THE HIGHEST - TOP QUALITY LEVEL:  All instruments individually can be clearly heard. There is little or no amplification. The percussionist plays discreetly, never drowning out other instruments but always decorating and complementing what is going on. The rhythm section plays like one man, maintaining a steady, pulsing beat, never dragging and never speeding up (unless as part of an agreed special effect). The front line players listen carefully to each other, producing wonderful polyphony and syncopation by complementing and responding to what the others are doing and not trespassing on the same notes. The overall effect is like the best chamber music of the classical music world.

In practice, most traditional jazz performances fall somewhere around LEVEL EIGHT. Yes, most are closer to the top quality level than the horrible din level.

Post 203: MUTES, MUSICIAN DEAFNESS, HEARING YOUSELF

Here's an interesting correspondence that occurred recently between bandleader Mr. A, trumpet-player Mr. B and trumpet-player Mr. C.

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Hello B and C,

How are you? I hope you are getting lots of gigs.

As you know, we have Mr. D .. in our band playing trumpet and he says he is going deaf (although I don't think he is as deaf as I am). Anyway, he says he can't hear himself when we play outside.

I have noticed that you sometimes play into a metal dish that presumably reflects the sound back to you. Am I right? If so what is it and where can he buy one and how much does it cost, please?

Best wishes,

A.

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Hi A, 

Hope all is well with you.

No one realises what we trumpet players go through. When you play, the sound from the trumpet goes away from you and as you are directly behind it you don’t really hear yourself until it strikes a surface and returns to your ear (trumpet is even worse than cornet because of its length). That is why Dizzy Gillespie bent the bell of his horn up into the air.

Sometimes when the drummer, amplified keyboard, amplified guitar, amplified bass and ringing banjo are blithely roaring away and on one side the trombone and on the other the reedman are blowing in towards you, it’s near impossible to hear yourself without blasting away at ffff.

Playing outside is even more difficult. People then comment on how loud the trumpet is and think he doesn’t need a mike and wonder why can’t he play with more sensitivity and more pppp.

When you play with mikes, a monitor or fold-back system will cure this problem and the whole band can hear each other and play in a more balanced and sensitive way.

When playing without amplification, any device or method that reflects the sound back to you can perform a similar function.

Sometimes you’ll see a trumpet player suddenly hold his hand over the bell, not necessarily for a special sound effect but to simply hear himself.

Metal hats, plastic-covered music scores, wa-wa mutes, brick walls or just the hand are all methods to this end.

As you know, when playing a wind instrument you need to hear yourself clearly enough in order to strike the balance you want in volume and tone etc.

Well, that’s my rant over and I feel better for it - hope I didn’t bore you.

To answer your question re availability of such devices: I have tried for ages to find a metal derby hat but have been unsuccessful. If they are in production anywhere it’s a well-kept secret. I have a felt-lined derby which I bought on Ebay for £20 which isn’t too bad but my own device is simply an Ikea stainless steel salad bowl (£3.00) screwed to a microphone stand.

The best thing is a metal derby (Ken Colyer used one for years and other trumpet players likewise). This, when no microphones are available, pings the sound back to you and the band with a nice, clear ringing tone and saves a lot of wear and tear on the lips. 

Hope this answers your question and tell D.... best of luck. 

B.

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Hi Folks,

I'm pleased to join in this correspondence since B's comments so accurately reflect my own experiences.

I was playing cornet recently in a seven-piece band in a church hall. There was amplification of some of the instruments. I could not hear myself at all. I felt I was struggling even to play an audible melody for the clarinet and trombone to 'decorate'. But my wife (who for once had come to a gig) told me in the interval that I was playing FAR TOO LOUD and I really must try to curb my sound. That taught me something. I would never have believed it if she had not pointed it out.

On the other hand, if I'm playing in a not-too-noisy band (e.g. an unamplified quartet) with a good BRICK wall facing me (e.g. outdoors in a shopping centre) I can hear myself perfectly.

I believe the above confirms all that B said. And I hope it will be of some comfort to D.

Regarding the danger of deafness, I have on rare occasions tried using home-made cotton-wool earplugs in exceptionally noisy environments. They reduce the impact on the ear-drums but they have the disadvantage of leaving me unable to assess the tone and balance of the music I am involved in.

As for mutes, I have become addicted to them in recent months and have built up a collection. My favourite is the Humes and Berg 102 stonelined cup mute. But this is for special effects and not to enable me to hear myself better.

I also wanted a 'derby' mute and have just acquired one - the Humes and Berg 120 stonelined derby mute. I got it from Myatt's of Hitchin for £30.

It's good; but not quite what I wanted because it is indeed felt-lined, producing just a little too much 'fuzziness' and I shall have to practise hard with it if I am to play the highest and lowest notes in tune.

Seems I'm in the market for one of those salad bowls!

I hope this all helps.

Happy blowing to everyone,

C.