On 15 Feb 2006 at 10:12, Mariposa Symphony Orchestra wrote:

> I really don't think Tchaikovsky was looking
> for a discernable px6 distinctly audible from a px5 or any other
> volume delineation; I think he was simply saying "HEY!  Give me the
> softest, quietest, nearly inaudible sound you can produce!"    I
> think it was his way of saying ABSOLUTELY the quietest of quietest.

This is what I consider "voodoo dynamics." 

The reason I use the term "voodoo" is because the stereotypical 
example of voodoo is sticking pins in a doll that represents a person
in order to hurt the person the doll represents. That practice
represents a belief that doing one thing will cause something to
happen that is different and operates on a different object.

The Tchaikovsky example, like the Verdi one, is a case of writing 
something that is probably impossible in order to have a 
psychological effect that gets you something other than what is 
literally written.  

To me, that's sticking pins in a doll to make it play really softly.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but if you stuck the pin in the 
person you were trying to harm, you *know* for a fact that they'd 
feel it. Likewise, if you want someone to play as softly as possible, 
just write "as softly as possible." 

-- 
David W. Fenton                    http://dfenton.com
David Fenton Associates       http://dfenton.com/DFA/

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