Re: Hi Fi Bugs Concerned about Live Performance

[Tim Nelson <tcn62@ici.net>]

>Or you could just enjoy the old trick of fooling them into thinking its 
>the
>end, and just as they start to clap, go into the really loud section 
>that's
>obviously the same piece. Smile wickedly when you do this.

March 23rd, 1792: Haydn's Symphony #94 ("The Surprise Symphony") premieres
in London.

It'd be great to have a time machine to check out the audience reaction on
THIS one! Or imagine the Haydn interview in the April 1792 issue of
"Today's Composer" where he explains how he came to feel the need for such
extremes of dynamic range; "...Well, they just weren't paying attention,
and I said to myself 'Joseph, you've got to wake those buggers up', and
started going through my 'orchestral stab' samples, and next thing you
know..."

Live audiences have always been prone to distraction. It's only natural to
look around and check out a room full of interesting-looking strangers at a
public gathering, especially in the hyper-social setting of a nightclub or
bar (or a concert hall, or an art gallery, or the mall, etc.). It would be
NICE if everyone would sit and listen intently, but it's probably not going
to happen very often, and this is not always an indication that the music
being presented is in itself boring or that the band's presentation is not
worth watching. It's just that there's a lot going on in the room, and
that's just part of live performance...
One advantage we have over Haydn is that we can sell CD's at our live
shows, so that some of the audience can take the music HOME and put on
those headphones... We can take advantage of two very different means of
presenting the music, live AND recorded, and each can enrich the other.

Maybe Hi Fi Bugs could start off with a few pieces of a more conventional
length/dynamic range to hook the crowd, and THEN preface the longer ones
with the sort of communication/explanation Kim wrote of once the room has
settled in a bit.

Best wishes,

Tim