[rodgersorgan] Re acoustics and tuning

Jane, thanks for your comments...I agree that his playing seemed to lack a 
degree of feeling, but I didn't say that in my Group post since I wanted to 
keep it Rodgers oriented, and I attributed the apparent dry playing to the 
acoustics and sterile tuning...maybe if the organ/acoustics/tuning were more 
"user friendly" his playing would have seemed less sterile too.  I want to hear 
him again in a better situation, hope he will show more "life" or whatever.  I 
have heard many hot young organists (you too?); sometimes they just play too 
fast, sometimes you can tell what they were trying to do but it didn't come 
across, sometimes it's lack of awareness of the particular organ's 
idiosyncrasies, etc.  It boils down to listening to what's happening, i.e., 
they're not listening to themselves...they hear it in their mind, but if they 
recorded it and listened to the playback objectively, they might notice that, 
hey, it just doesn't sound like what they thought it did, so it won't sound 
good to the audience either...hmm.  They should at least sit in the nave/room 
while someone else plays and learn what the beast sounds like "out there."

Example - playing too fast for the notes/pipes to speak.  Maybe the piece is 
supposed to be played that fast, but if you can't hear the notes/music, maybe 
you should back off on the tempo, or use less staccato, or different stops, or 
choose a different piece, eh?  And what is the point of pumping the swell shoes 
like a sewing machine or pump organ if the swell engines and shutters can't 
keep up with your intentions, so the net effect is zilch...can't you hear that, 
won't the listeners notice that?  And what about that lovely flute that sounds 
so warm and liquid at the console, just perfect for romantic soup, but "out 
there" it exhibits hard chiff and thin harmonics...OK for some music, not OK 
for the piece at hand.  If the 32 reed comes across like the clappers of doom 
in the chancel, does it sound like (as Virgil Fox said) "a snake pissing down a 
rainspout" to the audience, or vice versa?  If the acoustic is dead, what can 
you do to fake a better sonic ambience, get the sound to fade instead of just 
stop, blend instead of jerk, etc?

The occupational hazard of playing organs has always involved trying to get 
blood out of the turnip/acoustic/music/instrument/etc. in spite of assorted 
circumstances (including one's own skills/talents).  The paramount "ruling 
engine" is sound...music is aural, not visual, not "real."  It is experienced 
in the mind, the imagination, not palpably.  It simply doesn't happen very well 
unless the external crosses the blood-brain barrier and is internalized.  Our 
job is to make it happen as best we can, and we need to use our own ears 
better.  The great thing about Rodgers and instant record/playback audits, 
whether via PR300 or other gizmo, is that we can have the gift the Gifty has 
given us and can hear ourselves as others hear us, AND take corrective action, 
manipulate some variables deliberately, consciously manage the external to 
enable the internal...get the job done.

End of sermon, choir...
Noel Heinze, Asheville, NC



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