Interesting - but this is a fairly recent phenomenon. When I was growing
up all that we had was a radio which didn't work very well and we didn't
have it on all the time. Only when there was something worth listening to.
The constant barrage of noise today may affect the general public but
musicians can avoid noise pollution if they want to and if they have any
sense they will do. I would expect professional musicians to have as acute
hearing today as in the past.
There is an organisation in England called "Pipe Down" which was started by
Peter Maxwell-Davies as a result of which there is or was no background
music at Gatwick Airport because he used to fly back and forth from the
Orkney Islands from there. Personally I never patronise any establishment
that plays background music if I can help it and always ask for it to be
turned off if I can..
According to J. Huizinga in "The waning of the middle ages" bells were a
constant source of noise. and there was a lot of street noice - including
street musicians.
Kalahari bushmen are somthing else.
Monica
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Andrico" <praelu...@hotmail.com>
To: "Monica Hall" <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk>
Cc: <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 9:22 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Re: brass strings on 15th century lutes
Good question. When I took a university course in acoustics some time
ago, I had the opportunity to delve into the research. Indications
point toward a pretty good probability that people who are not
bombarded by constant background noise, particularly mechanical noise,
have hearing that is more acute. Exposure to constant sounds at an
audible level at any given frequency effectively results in loss of
acuity, and we are constantly bombarded with the sounds of motors,
ventilation fans, coffee grinders, sopranos, traffic, whatever. We can
assume that people in the 15th century who had access to musical
instruments were not likely to have been subjected to the roar of a
grist mill or other loud sounds in the course of daily life. Of course
unusual situations like building activity, warfare, or squeaky cart
wheels may have factored in, as well as hearing loss due to illness.
But based on the typical exposure/hearing loss picture, I'm pretty darn
sure they had better hearing than we do today. Some supporting
evidence:
[1]http://www.scribd.com/doc/85873558/The-Acuity-of-Hearing-in-the-Kala
hari-Bushmen
RA
> Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:31:28 +0100
> To: praelu...@hotmail.com
> CC: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
> From: mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk
> Subject: [LUTE] Re: brass strings on 15th century lutes
>
> How can you be sure that people in the 15th century had better
hearing than
> we do today. Interesting but slightly off topic.
>
> In the 15th century people were much more likely to be subject to
illnesses
> which cause hearing impairment that we are today.
>
> Monica
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ron Andrico" <praelu...@hotmail.com>
> To: "Monica Hall" <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk>; <jaroslawlip...@wp.pl>
> Cc: <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 6:55 PM
> Subject: [LUTE] Re: brass strings on 15th century lutes
>
>
> > This has been an interesting discussion with good points made by
all. I
> > think there are so many more questions to consider when approaching
> > 15th century music than later periods, but it's still all about the
> > nature of musical sound and human reactions to it. One thing we
know
> > for certain is that most of the music that was heard was not
written
> > down.
> > I think some of our ideas about instruments and interpretation have
> > been skewed in odd ways as they spew forth from the wasp's nest of
the
> > academic world. For instance, the idea of octave stringing and
voice
> > leading: If our understanding of how historical sounds were
produced
> > and received in the 15th century reach us in the form of a thesis
> > authored by a musicologist trained in the 'great' composers of the
18th
> > and 19th centuries, and tried out at the piano, then we're bound to
be
> > told that 'proper' voice-leading precludes the barbaric use of
octave
> > strings. On the other hand, we hear from other musicologists that
the
> > use of instruments in the 15th century chanson is wrong, mainly
because
> > they have these ideas about vocalization they'd like to try out and
> > they need funding for a recording project.
> > I resist the idea that we should be bland in our interpretations of
> > 15th century music, simply because perspective in painting wasn't
fully
> > developed, and we should not be too conservative in our choices of
> > instruments and stringing. Two things of which we can be certain
are
> > 1) there was variety in music, and 2) they weren't planning on us
> > reviving it, and thus did not write down concise instructions.
Jaroslaw
> > aptly points out the serious tuning problems that result from
mixing
> > wire and gut strings. People had better hearing in the 15th century
> > than we do today, and they probably did not put up with bad tuning
or a
> > jarring mixture of string sounds. Whatever Tinctoris was
describing,
> > there had to have been an elegant implementation of the mixed
stringing
> > idea.
> > RA
> > > Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:38:35 +0100
> > > To: jaroslawlip...@wp.pl
> > > CC: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu
> > > From: mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk
> > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: brass strings on 15th century lutes
> > >
> > > matter. The only thing
> > > > that is difficult for me to accept in the result of your
> > translation is
> > > > the fact that it is not a practical solution. Can you imagine
> > playing such
> > > > an instrument? Some people complain about octave stringing on
> > instruments
> > > > equipped with gut only saying that it ruins voice leading, so
how
> > it would
> > > > be possible to play a tenor or alto voice crossing 2 addjacent
> > courses -
> > > > one with unison guts and the other with a mixture of gut and
wire
> > in
> > > > octaves!!! I won't even mention problems with intonation and
frets.
> > It
> > > > sounds like a nightmare to me. I am sorry, but it is very
difficult
> > to
> > > > find any logic in this arrangement. Therefore I tend to think
we
> > are
> > > > missing something in the interpretation of Tinctoris's words,
or he
> > didn't
> > > > express himself clearly.
> > >
> > > For what its worth I'll stick my oar (or ore) in and say that
some
> > people
> > > today may complain that octave stringing ruins the voice leading
-
> > but there
> > > is very little doubt that plucked string instruments were strung
in
> > octaves.
> > > People in the past may have had no choice in the matter as the
> > alternative
> > > may have been even worse.
> > > Octave doubling and voice leading is a major problem on the
baroque
> > guitar
> > > for players today but players in the past may not have found it a
> > problem.
> > > As the distinguished musicalogist Howard Mayer Brown said "What
we
> > may
> > > think sounds "best" or "right" or "most musical" is not a safe
guide
> > to what
> > > was done in the past". (My favourite quote).
> > > Surely the only thing that is not clear in Tinctoris' comment is
how
> > exactly
> > > the strings he refers to were actually made or what they
consisted
> > of.
> > >
> > > Monica
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Best wishes
> > > >
> > > > Jaroslaw
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > To get on or off this list see list information at
> > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> >
>
>
--
References
1.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/85873558/The-Acuity-of-Hearing-in-the-Kalahari-Bushmen
