-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [scots-l] projecting at dances From: "Toby Rider" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, January 28, 2003 9:36 am To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>Did musicians play louder? > > Yes and no. Baroque violins were not as loud as modern violins. > However, you will notice that some fiddlers today have no idea how to > project their sound because they've always had a microphone in front > of them when they had to project. The older fiddlers must have > learned to project. Also, in Cape Breton at least, they sometimes > used high-bass tuning with more ringing strings, which projects more. > If all else failed, perhaps the dancers could hear the stamping of > the fiddler's foot! Also it might be good to mention about how there used to be alot more of fiddlers playing in teams, like the the MacLellans. Two or three fiddlers playing the same tune in high bass, can be pretty darned loud. If you listen to recordings of the generation of players who grew up before amplification was common, you immediately hear who had learned to develop alot of volume for playing dances. Winston "Scotty" Fitzgerald, Donald Angus Beaton, John Campbell and Donald MacLellan all tended to play seriously loud. That really comes across on those old recordings, which are basically raw, one take deals. You get the feeling that Angus Chisholm and Mary MacDonald didn't spend as much time playing for dances, because there's alot more variation in dynamics within their playing, also some of the stuff they do wouldn't work for dancing, but it's oh so wickedly good and creative.. Of course I could be wrong about Angus and Mary beag, because my observations are based entirely on ancient passed down recordings. I'm still surprised that more CB dance players haven't adopted electric fiddles for live performances, as alot of the American Country & Western and jazz fiddlers have. They really sound alot better at high volumes then some of those crappy old microphones, and you have the freedom to move around more. It sucks being stuck up next to a mic. It makes my back start to ache after awhile, and I am just 30-years-old! If I were about 30 years older, it would probably be an ordeal to play the entire gig that way. Those internal clip-in mics, although they sound by far the best, are limited by the volume at which you start to have feedback problems with the amps/PA system. So they're good for a gig in a small Church or a venue smaller then a dance hall or club. I hate to say it but some of the cheap amp setups I've heard make acoustic fiddles sound like minature trumpets with bad attitudes. I think it's better to sound slightly electric but still sound like a fiddle and have no feedback problems, then to not sound like a fiddle at all. Toby -- Toby Rider ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) "He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, That puts it not unto the touch To win or lose it all." - James Graham, Marquis of Montrose -- Toby Rider ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) "He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, That puts it not unto the touch To win or lose it all." - James Graham, Marquis of Montrose Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
