What is Music Pollution? Part 2

Hi. Welcome to livingpianos.com and virtualsheetmusic.com. I'm Robert Estrin. Today, we have a response to the "Music Pollution" video. It was so tremendous, all the comments, I really appreciate it. And it's nice to see that there is almost unanimous support for this idea that music doesn't have to be played every square inch of everywhere you go to be appreciated. In fact, quite the opposite. Music is something to be listened to and treasured, not something that's relegated to the background. And in fact, the danger is that people grow up thinking that you don't really focus in on music, as I discussed in my last video. Well, what more could possibly be said about this idea of music pollution?

Well, earlier today, I was on the phone and I went on hold, and you know where I'm going with this. That's right, the on-hold music. Sometimes this can be a loop of as little as 30 seconds, and if you're on hold for 4 or 5 minutes, it can drive you crazy. More than that, as you well know, the sound quality on a phone is often times horrendous, so it's something you can't possibly enjoy. Worse yet, my little complaint is why does the music have to be 10 times louder than the person talking? Well anyway, so, that's one example, but it permeates other aspects of our lives. You know, there was a time when music was extremely quiet. Musical instruments were not very evolved. Go back to the Baroque Era, before the piano was invented. Listen to a clavichord, such an expressive instrument that doesn't produce enough sound to be heard, even for someone playing halfway across the room. Even the harpsichord, the most robust keyboard instrument, really could only be relegated to small ensembles or little chamber kind of concerts.

Of course, musical instruments grew, and the orchestra grew to the symphony orchestra, the piano, and then even into the 20th century, instruments continued to evolve with louder instruments like the saxophone emerging. Then, of course, the electric guitar, and before you knew it, sound you know, could fill stadiums. But there was always the challenge of getting clean sound, and then we came up with systems that amplified music. It could really, really reach massive levels. And the way it worked was, earlier systems introduced distortion and it was a real problem. A problem sonically, it doesn't sound pleasing. More than that, distortion could blow up speakers. So, lights were invented so you could look at the levels and get the optimum level to have a good, clean, clear sound. Then the trouble started. Engineers, not being used to the fact that you had unlimited range of volume, would look in those red lights and, basically, tweak everything so everything was just under that red light. Well, that used to be fine before sound systems could produce 110 or 120 decibels beyond the threshold of pain.

So, where do we find ourselves today? How often have you walked into a club and want to hear a group playing music, and it's so unbelievably loud that the only way you could endure it for any length of time is to put something in your ears? It's almost like mass insanity sometimes. You walk into a room, it's like, could this really be comfortable for everyone? Now, even in movie theaters today, sometimes the sound could be beyond the level of comfort, because technology's gotten to a point where it's virtually unlimited how loud you can go. At one point, louder was better, but we certainly reached the point where engineers have to use more than their eyes to make good sound. It's important to use your ears. Now, there's a lot to this. If you know anything about equalization curves, it's possible to make something loud and satisfying without causing ear fatigue or pain, by having certain frequencies emphasized and some de-emphasized. In fact, in some more forward thinking restaurants even, they know how to peak down the vocal frequency spectrum so that you can carry on a conversation, but still hear the bass nice and full, and a little bit of the treble, and be able to carry out a conversation without having those other frequencies interfere. So there's a great deal of artistry to sound, to be able to do sound and sound reinforcement that comes into play.

In the mean time, I don't know what we can do as individuals to try to change the thinking that things have to be overwhelmingly loud in order to be enjoyable, particularly when there's acoustic music. Acoustic music, of course, you have to amplify, for example, in a jazz group, the singer has to go through a PA to balance with the louder drums and other instruments. But, often times, everything is amplified much louder than necessary to be able to enjoy the music. Here again, I know I've opened up a can of worms, would love to hear from others out there. Have you found this also to be the case, where amplified music, often times, is much louder than necessary and it could lose something when you are actually fighting the pain or trying to find a place far away from the stage because it's too loud? Or sometimes, one trick is to get closer to the stage, in front of the PA speakers. That's a trick you got to try. Others who have tricks and tips how to handle overwhelming levels and still to be able to enjoy live music that's amplified, love to hear from you. Again, Robert Estrin at livingpianos.com and virtualsheetmusic.com.

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