David Francis wrote:
Well. Two years ago at Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, I was at Celtic Grove 1, and the PA system went down. Full Moon Ensemble was playing. Daniel, the fiddler, stepped down off the stage and continued playing. Everyone could hear him -- we just had to listen more.Which brings me to a question. How did they do it in the old days without amplification?
Another GMHG story: I played with a random, assorted, and unpaid for group of musicians (a wee dram to the first person to identify the reference) on two seperate nights. The "star tallent" was the same on both nights. The attenence was much greater on the night the button box dropped in. I don't think the explanation is that everyone came to hear accordian. I think it's just the sound of that instrument carries better.
I actually go to other games too, just most of my good stories go with Grandfather.
From an acoustics standpoint, 76 of a given instrument sound about 3x as loud as one. There really isn't strength in numbers, other than filling in when one drops out, or making up for acoustic deficiencies in another's instrument. Symphony conductors specify more or fewer of a given instrument to control texture. Or at least that's what I've read. In the 18th century, cellos were common in dance bands. Maybe because the bass cuts through -- esp. if he's in a corner. They had easy parts too.
Bob Rogers
South Carolina
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