We did our monthly pops runout to the Smith Auditorium at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon tonight. It’s usually an interesting trip regardless, with the very different acoustics (often described as better than the Schnitz both on stage and in the audience seats) and backstage “amenities”. Tonight, there were lots of extras.
First of all, we had a veritable banshee chorus of hearing aid feedback to contend with throughout the evening. I’m always amazed that no one in the audience seems to be aware of this, yet we can hear it with terrible clarity many feet away on stage.
Next, we had the “loud whisperers” – this was most evident right at the hushed beginning to Rhapsody in Blue, which I think distracted our soloist (the excellent Jon Nakamatsu), and certainly distracted those of us on the edge of the stage.
We also had the nearby train whistle that joined in at the top of the famous clarinet glissando. Priceless. There was also a bit of suspense in An American in Paris. On the Sunday matinee in Portland, one of the taxi horns was off by a major seventh, and produced some of the most amazing and unearthly sonorities I’ve ever heard, Paris or elsewhere! There was a lot of mirthful Facebook postings after the Sunday concert, for sure. We were all wondering if the offending horn might have been successfully fixed by the runout. Alas, it was, though there were a few knowing glances during the section in question.
Finally, we had various loud thumping sounds (not produced by playing) from the bass section as well as repeated squeaks of one of the stage doors. It will be a concert that we’ll all remember at least until the next time we return to Salem.