1950 Rock and Roll was the beginning of the volume invasion. Even Folk music was limited in decibels until the day Bob Dylan went electric. Once amplification was established in pop music, nothing would be the same. Every garage band was twanging away with 10 on their dials.
As time past, more musicians were evaluated and eventually praised for the number of Marshal Amps they were able to get on stage. It seemed that the higher the decibels, the better the band. At least to the children who eventually lost their hearing.
“Loud is good /soft is bad”.
Many musicians have forgotten the value and beauty which low dynamic levels bring to the party. Many of us have become accustomed to soft volumes used in the performance of Ballades but the full range of dynamics should be used in all styles of music. How can one sound loud if all you play is loud? Loud sounds louder when prefaced by soft and soft sounds softer if introduced by loud.
Here Chris Botti performing “My Funny Valentine” and demonstrates a wonderful example of the artistic use of dynamics. Sting aint’s bad either.
