History of theatre sound

[Dave2002]

At what points did amplification in theatres become

a. significantly loud

b. Reasonably high quality

c. too loud?

Thinking back, I feel that the use of higher powered amplification systems in the UK started around 1970, though there may well have been large systems before that, and in the USA more powerful systems may have been used earlier.

Quality is subjective, but despite the power, I feel that it wasn't until the 80s that any large scale systems of quality were deployed. Even now, there are systems used which muddy the sound, and if used with a live band, even though they do provide amplification, the experience as a whole is reduced.

I often think it would be better to have no amplification, or at least only modest amplification.

Also, some venues seem to think that stereo is what should be aimed for, yet there is evidence from the 1930s that 4 or at a pinch 3 channels would do significantly better for this kind of application. Perhaps those who put on shows don't really care about sound quality.

Has anyone written a history of the use of amplification for theatres and public spaces?

[MrGongGong]

I often think it would be better to have no amplification, or at least only modest amplification.

For what ?
where ?
Why ?

and so on

I certainly wouldn't want to hear Ryoji Ikeda without substantial amplification
or to hear Feldman WITH

and I think there was something recently discussed on the CEC list .............. but not sure by whom ?

[Flosshilde]

Do actors use amplification now? I don't go to many plays (ie spoken theatre, rather than opera), but I've not noticed performers being amplified.

[Dave2002]

Do actors use amplification now? I don't go to many plays (ie spoken theatre, rather than opera), but I've not noticed performers being amplified.

Depends what you mean by actors. I can pretty much vouch for Simon Russell Beale not using any - he has a fantastic voice, and can project it way out into the NT. Some singers (??) in musicals definitely use microphones and amplification.

[MrGongGong]

Some singers (??) in musicals definitely use microphones and amplification.

This reminds me of the strange person who used to appear on the old R3 bored with a huge chip about the relative levels of amplified vs non- amplified voices and instruments....... sometimes one might desire a balance that is not achievable without, some instruments make NO sound without amplification and so on .........


sorry for repeating this one........ Someone I know works as a technician at the ROH and they get angry letters and emails about how people see that there are microphones in the pit , sometimes demanding their money back as the writers feel they have been "tricked" into thinking that the sound is all acoustic ! IT IS all acoustic in the auditorium BUT for the show relay in the rest of the building, (and sometimes for dancers on stage there is sometimes a relay) you can't get away without !

[Dave2002]

I heard an amazing performance of Aida at the ROH in the 1970s. i was very impressed by the sound of the off stage brass at one point. It was some while later that I read that the brass musicians had in fact been in a room on top of a pub over the road, and what we heard in the auditorium were several sets of speakers (KEFs?).

[Serial_Apologist]

I was quite shattered at the end of a try-out performance of a new song cycle by a composer friend in his living room a few years back - not having realised how LOUD operatic sopranos can be in confined spaces!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I heard an amazing performance of Aida at the ROH in the 1970s. i was very impressed by the sound of the off stage brass at one point. It was some while later that I read that the brass musicians had in fact been in a room on top of a pub over the road, and what we heard in the auditorium were several sets of speakers (KEFs?).

KEF made sure we knew all about it in one of their full=page ads.

But on the general question - if you are aware of it, it's too loud.
I had great battles with the "sound people" when I was conducting The Merry Widow in 1990. I got my way, but it was a hollow victory. They never asked me back.

[David-G]

One of the joys of the opera house is that there is no amplification.

[Dave2002]

One of the joys of the opera house is that there is no amplification.

Quite, except for special effects. See msg 6.

Are pasages such as those with mandolin in Mozart usually done without any amplification? Some instruments are surely really too quiet to fill a large hall. What might work in Drottningholm might be a lost cause in some larger houses. I suspect that amplification is used where judged necessary, and perhaps to good effect.