Reading an obituary of jazz trumpeter Ruby Braff, who died this week, I was tickled by this quotation:
“Most people play three times louder than they should. Music should be played at a conversational level - you can’t shout a conversation.”
Many of the traditional musicians I most admire play very much at a “conversational volume” - and an intimate conversation at that.
Thoughts anyone?
I could not agree more. And almost all instruments actually sound better when played at some moderate level. And I don’t like ear aches 
We,unfortunately, live in a ‘high volume’ world.Surrounded,as most of us are,by almost ever present noise pollution,instead of perhaps trying to control it,we attempt to COMPETE with it,and in doing so maybe just add to the problem.I’m sure that if you brought someone from a ‘primitive’(sic) culture-a Kalahari Bushman, for instance-and plonked them down in the middle of one of our ‘Westernised’ cities,apart from the strangeness,it would be the absolute ‘racket’ that would disorientate them.I imagine if we could invent a time machine,and bring a person from an earlier age to our time,they would be just as appalled by our noise! Obviously,our modern surroundings have had an effect on music,resulting in amplification and decibel dominated styles/genres,which in turn have had an effect on 'traditional folk musics. Volume does have it’s place in music-but playing at a constant ‘number 10 on the control’ quickly palls-it’s another variable that needs to be considered and mastered.So,I suppose what i’m trying to say is that excessive volume in(allsorts of) music is at least partly enviromentally governed. I find that a lot of music that I listen to now tends to be pretty low volume- i.e. solo instrumentalists,duos,small acoustic groups music, though I do occasionally like the odd Heavy rock or modern jazz ‘thrash’!
Sorry…what did you say?
*cups hand behind ear and leans forward
I agree about a conversational level. My own playing, at least on the whistle, is so much better when I don’t push the volume.
Carol
But then what would all the pipers do? Actually, that’s partly a serious question from someone who just realized she’s never thought about it - how much volume control do pipes have?
Susan
Old time fiddle player and music guru Tommy Jarrell said in an interview “I don’t like no loud music.”
I started listening to jazz in the '50s. Ruby Braff was an already established musician then. I would have thought he was older than he actually was (b. 1927) given that his playing was considered sort of old fashioned. Many jazz musicians who were more “progressive” were born about the same time. Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, etc.
Steve
[ This Message was edited by: SteveK on 2003-02-15 12:07 ]
As a fluter the temptation is always there to push my volume at sessions. One of the interesting things about the flute is that even though it doesn’t stand out in large gatherings, you can hear it often at a distance even better, and you can tell when it’s NOT being played.
Of course, some would have it that my playing IS best heard at distances, and exponentially so. 
As a way of contributing to greater “musicality” at sessions, I will vary my volume per tune at times to give flavor to the overall effect of a set…and that way, I get to play loudly! But it would be a boring thing to play at a loud volume all the time in an instrument so capable of a good range of voices. I agree that a moderate and intimate approach is preferable overall.
N, it ain’t all about moi
Susnfx, pipers of any stripe have no volume control once they’re up and running; in the case of the UPs, no problem because the UPs are pretty moderate-sounding for the most part. IMHO, if a piper is on hand, that’s the volume gauge for the rest of us -unless the piper’s really bad; then it’s best to crank it up.
N, only pipes at home and rightly so