Re: "Powerful/Loud!"
Personally, I like my mandolins loud and powerful, especially in jams as I'm a bit hard of hearing. It doesn't matter if I'm home alone, and is much less of a problem with my fiddle.
Originally Posted by
JAK
We know people who have powerful and loud voices, but the result is not pleasant or pleasing.
I take exception to that statement. Caruso, John MacCormack, Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Bessie Smith, Johnny Cash, and Barbara Sterisand weren't short of fans. Before the development of on-stage microphones, around 1930, if a singer wasn't loud and powerful, they would not be heard in a big hall or auditorium. I'm taken aback today by how many contemporary "singers" are unable to broadcast their voices. Take away the microphone, and their voices fade out. This isn't a problem as long as they have a mike, a decent sound person, and no electrical troubles. At an unplugged gig, they're in trouble. However many who aren't loud and powerful think that everyone can hear them clearly, except for the twenty-five cranks who are yelling at them to speak or sing louder.
Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
"I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.
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