Thursday, October 20, 2005

Noisy Music or Musical Noise

In Thailand the art of rhetoric and speaking is high. Even remote country people when interviewed by a reporter speak clearly, to the point, without shyness or hesitation. But the art of the human voice has been lost. Even when completely unnecessary, microphone and loudspeaker are used. Then, the loudspeaker is turned to its highest volume when distortion is inevitable. Next there is a feedback effect, speakers and singers also speak at the same distorted volume, thinking that that is how the human voice should sound. In the Thailand cultural centre they even try to impose microphone and amplifying system on visiting musicians and vocalists. Apart from case of pop singers when the sound is irrelevant anyway, the voice of a performer, including actors in plays, or the sound of an instrument cannot be carried perfectly by an amplifying system.
Distortion qualifies as unwanted sound and is, therefore, noise. From hearing distorted music from childhood, young Thais no longer have a sense of pitch and cannot hold a note correctly. Singing is equated with rhythmic shouting. As a result one needs ever more sophisticated sound systems to turn crows into nightingales. Then the sound is turned up to maximum level ………..

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home