Posted by Rick Denney on May 01, 2001 at 09:49:28:
In Reply to: Re: The Sandwiches are Huge at Carnegie Deli posted by Joe S. on April 30, 2001 at 18:40:41:
Yes, Carnegie Hall has a magnificent sound. To my ears, it had about three seconds of audible decay, with no hint of echo that I could detect. From the floor, where I was sitting during the rehearsal, the sound was a bit muddy, though this may have been a problem with the ensemble. From the first tier, however, the sound was much more clear. This hall would favor a group that plays with a lot of clarity and precision, it seemed to me.
But the tuba sound in the Carmina seemed to be absorbed by the hall. I was right over the player, and could not hear him in the loud orchestral tutti passages, though he was clear as a bell in the more soloistic parts. I would have thought the German-type sound that he produced would have been preferred there. Perhaps some of you pros who have played on that stage could comment.
Which leads me to another point: When we talk about the characteristic sound of certain instruments, we often forget about the hall. I would expect that some halls favor one kind of sound and others favor a different approach. Mike Sanders always qualifies his statements of satisfaction of the sound he gets on his Yorkbrunner with the notion that it works in Powell Hall, hinting that it may not in some other venues. Anyone care to comment as to which of the well-known orchestra halls favor which sort of approach to sound?
Rick "who loves lush-sounding venues with lots of natural reverberation" Denney