Loud Volumes

[Edwin]

Do loud sounds bother you? I worked with noisy farm equipment for years, and then I worked with screaming sawmill equipment for 6 years. Now I don't even like to hear the vacume cleaner running. They have what is called noise pollution. We live where the only noise we hear is the noise that we make. We listen to dogs barking sometimes, and that doesn't bother me at all. After living here for 5 years in this remote part of the country with only our kids as neighbos. if we would stay in Seattle or Spokane we would hear cars all night long, and until we got used to it we would not sleep well. My niece was having hearing problems in the 1970s, and it was from listening to music way too loud. You have heard the saying, "While the cat is away, the mice will play!" Some students told me that when their teacher left and I was in charge and responsible for teaching them something. For a few days I took the place of the music teacher, teaching band director. The kids went wild on the drums and other loud instruments, so I put my ear plugs in, and complained to the kids about the loud sounds they were making. They told me the reason the loud sounds bothered me was because I was too old! Well, now I am, but then I was a young guy, but the kids just had a good time at my expense while their teacher was away. I substitue taughter in many class for 10 years, and two of the most difficult classes for me were physical education, and music/band. In those classes the kids are more active, and more difficult to control. One teacher told me that when he was teaching for another regular teacher, he would let the kids do whatever they wanted to do! I tried to figure out what I could get from the kids, try for just a little less than that, and I was happy and so were the kids, then the regular teacher could bring the kids back to reality when he/she returned. The first couple of months were rough for me until I figured out how to deal with the kids, and then for 10 years I had fun in the classroom, and so did the kids. They knew me and liked me, and I had good times because the kids were good to me. Fun, fun, fun!

[Smiley]

Some loud sounds bother me(Hillary Clinton ),while others seem to almost feed some inner need(my Harley ) I guess that it depends on where I am and what I`m doing.

[Edwin]

I hear you, Smiley; Hillary Clinton's voice would bother me also! Some noices grate on my nerves probably because the years I spent working around noisy farm machinery and also screeming saws as well as the wood chipper sounds. So now I don't even like to hear the vacume cleaner running. I have a 1/2 ton 1969 Ford pickup truck that someone put a muffler on that goes bang, bang, bang, as it is going down the hill, and I like the sound of that. The Bible says to make a joyful noise to the Lord, and another place it talks about worshipping with loud sounds, the sounds of cymbols, and talks about all kinds of various sounding instruments. I like loud sounding instruments as long as they are not too loud, in other words within reason! I have a heavy touch on the piano, and while I can tone it down, I like to play loudly and percussively. I also love to hear our doggies barking! They don't just bark on and on, and there is a reason for it, so I like it. The big doggie, Scooby, has a big low voice being a huge doggie, and he barks when he hears coyotes howling. Our inside doggie, Rand, really lets out a shrill loud burst, and sometimes it nearly scares Carol to death, because there is silence, and then all of a sudden without warning there is the extremely loud burst of barking. The really small doggie, Ducky very seldom barks, but he can and does bark once in a while. He barks at Rand to try to get him to play!

[mystic]

I also don't like a noisy environment. Or I don't like artificial sounds (machinery, drums). But I usually enjoy natural sounds. Once in my life, I slept near a very noisy fountain and was a bit concerned. And instead, what a refreshing sleep it was!
And when I play my grand or sing... well, the house trembles. That cannot be avoided, lol

[Edwin]

I am with you on that mystic; I like natural sounds and acoutical instruments. I don't care for the keyboards, many of the guitars that have artificial sounds. Give me the real sounds, and keep the electronics out of it! I hear you talking about your grand! When I play the piano, I do so with a heavy touch. Really great music is music where you can vary the volume and tempo; slow it down, speed it up, play it loud, play it soft! I have a compulsion to play loudly! I play, "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling," much too loud, and I am aware of that, and I do it anyway! Or also I play "Silent Night," much louder than it should be played. Part of that is that I just enjoy hearing loud sounds, whether it is my trombone, or my piano; I love to play it loud. Part of it is limited skill also. If I were more comfortable playing I would vary the volume and the tempo more. When I started learning to play a few years ago I tackled difficult pieces as well as easy pieces. I figure with the difficulty of my job of learning to play, I would not worry about timing, and get that right later, instead concentrating on playing the right notes. Carol really scolds me when I make mistakes playing. Before I could play as well as I can now, my mistakes bothered Carol, and she would tell me, "I think it bothers the doggies when you play so much." She would say, "I think you are hurting the doggies ears by playing so loudly!" She would also tell me, "Don't you need to take a break!" Then she would say, "I can't rest while you are playing!" Sometimes she would come right out and tell me that my playing bothered her, she couldn't stand to listen to me play hour after hour, and "Please give me a break!" I think I have developed enough skill so that it doesn't bother her anymore, except she still points out any mistake I make. Now she tells me that my playing never bothers her even when she is resting, and she tells me how much she loves to hear me play the old familiar songs that she remembers singing in church when we were young. She will tell me "I am going to rest or sleep, but you keep right on playing, because I enjoy it," so I am thankful for that change. I used to get so frustrated with her when she was telling me that she wanted me stop playing, but that is no longer a problem, and I am happy about that. I understand her point, in that it really did bother her when I was trying to play something, and I was struggling to play it right. It is really fun to play the piano, and I am glad that Carol now enjoys listening to me while I am playing. I don't spend as many hours playing as I used to either, and I think I probably accomplish more when I play when I am not so tired!

[mystic]

Oh, I like to play loud too Well, because I do opera, so, my small room have to behave as a big opera theater. I think everybody hears me a few blocks away, despite the house is well insulated

Well, I always liked dramatic and powerful rough voices rather than tiny elegant voices. That does not mean I don't like the varied dynamic contrast, but each song should have its proper style. In the past (over a century ago) music was played very different. I think it was something environmental. The lack of proper heating, the great thermal change, fortified voices, hands, etc. So, people were more "impetuous", "metallic", even not properly tuned in their execution (the opposite of detailed), and also more choral. It was not important to play well, or in perfect tune, or even if an instrument in the orchestra stopped playing because he was having some difficulty with the pistons, etc. But they cared for the "overall color" and transferring a "whole" sensation to the listener. You can still hear that particular "sound" in Europe in old mountain choirs. They have a very particular response and tone. If you are looking to the past, listen to Toscanini, Furtwangler, or the old "deep basses" from Russia.

Nowadays, "deep basses" disappeared, mostly because of climate change. Since Karajan, the entire concept of music performance was reformed, and ruined. In modern times, "perfection" is sought. So, every instrument must be on time, play the right thing, with its clear melodic line. It seems everybody is a soloist, no longer an ensemble. Paradoxically, the stress on the dynamics and precision of every instrument, which should lead to a better listener experience, becomes lifeless. All performances are the same. They are merely historical reconstructions, but they convey nothing of their own to the listener. Singers are trained to save their voices, and sing "on the breath" so not to strain their voices too much. The public perceives this, and they become disaffected toward the old music.

If you compare an execution by Toscanini with a modern conductor, you will notice that in Toscanini every line emerges. You can hear well and clearly every instrument, but the whole behaves as a single body. He was always playing "louder" than other conductors. You had to hear the metal of the brass, etc. A modern conductor will seem void, shallow. And paradoxically, that shallowness gives the idea of a noisy performance where the melodic lines do not emerge (despite they were trying to reach exactly that).

Unfortunately, it is very rare today to hear some old-style performances, but if it happens, it is always an unforgettable transcending experience.

[Edwin]

Mystic, that was an interesting take on the orchestra when they did not strive to be perfectly in tune! I will have to agree with you that there is something special about listening to a middle school band play. They just barely are able to play the scales, and they are belting out the music, and somehow it sounds original. Most of our conductors in the orchestra were school teachers. When I joined the orchestra, the conductor said to me, "Play me a scale." I did, and he said, "You are in," so I played with that orchestra from 1983 to 1999! I played bass trombone the entire time. We played jazz, blues, rock and roll, western, classical; you name it, we played it. Each year we had a Christmas performance. We also played a special performance each year geared to the children. The conductor that invited me to start playing with the orchestra was a born again dedicated Christian who attended the Assembly of God church. My last conductor was one of the music instructors from Gonzaga University in Spokane which was a Catholic University. He was also an accomplished celloist, and that is how he became interested in our orchestra, playing a solo part in one of our performances. He was really a nice guy, not one of these, even though he was a doctor of music, he was my friend as well as every one's friend, and he did not think himself better than anyone else. He had a wonderful sense of dry humor, and saw something funny in everything. Boy could he ever make that cello sing tunes! His name was dr. Kevin Hecknepana!

We had an orchestra master who was one of the volinist. He would play a tune on the violin, and everyone in the orchestra would tune our instruments to the note he was playing, so we would be in tune with each other. He was a really nice guy too! We had an accomplished trumpet player who thought he was pretty good stuff, and really he was, but he would get under my skin sometimes, and he did that to a lot of the other people in the orchestra. Some said they didn't think he was as good as he thoguht he was; well he was pretty good. He would try to get some of us to tune with him, and because of his attitude I would with my lips tune my instrument down, and it would drive him crazy! I would kind of laugh to myself, because I really got him good on that. But actually he an I were very good friends. My days with thge orchestra were happy days, but I don't want to rejoin them yet anyway. I talked with a fellow French Horn player who was very good, and was a retired high school music teacher. I told him that I was learning to play the piano, and he told me that he tried that one time, but he couldn't coordinate his left hand with his right hand! He was a very good friend, and actually gave me a bow tie to wear with my black suit that I wore in the orchestra perforamnces! Fun days with the orchesrtra!

[adlena]

i do not like a noisy environment

[Edwin]

Yes, Adlena, it is called noise pollution. Some loud sounds I like, like varying volumes of musical instruments, the very loud, then all of a sudden the very quiet. I like the sound of my pickup truck backfiring, making poping sounds going down the hill. This will sound crazy, but I love to hear the doggies barking, because they are actually expressing themselves, and they are saying things, and a lot of people don't understand that, unless you know dog language! I worked around noisy equipment enough in my life, so that I don't like the sound of the vacume cleaner or other like sounds. Some sounds bring you pleasure, while other sounds grate on your or my nerves!