Bernard Hill wrote:

>On a happier note, I attended a ballet performance of the Three Cornered
>Hat a couple of years ago.  At the Festival theatre in Edinburght the "pit"
>extends under the stage so is quite confined in there.  2 piccolos have a
>shrill duet, and the flautist was sitting between them.  Ready for the
>duet, she put her flute down and gently put a finger in each ear.

Nowadays musicians are more sophisticated.  They use earplugs.  Sometimes
really fancy ones.

I remember an outdoor Fourth of July concert I played.  One of the pieces
was some West Side Story thing, complete with big drum kit solo in the
middle.  During the rehearsal they didn't use the drum kit.  That was saved
for the performance.  When I took my seat, I never even noticed that I was
right in front of the drums.  Well, we were playing along, one piece after
another, nothing remarkable going on.  Then came the WSS, and soon enough,
the drum-kit solo.  I never saw it coming.  It was as if someone had set
off an explosion behind me.  Literally.  TNT.  I am not exaggerating.
According to the tuba player next to me (I played bass trombone), my face
turned white as granite.  He never saw anything like it.  He thought I was
going to faint.  All I know is that I was stunned and nearly physically
incapacitated.  (Hey.  I'm a trombone player.  I dish out this stuff.  I
can't take it.) And I couldn't.  I thought I was going to be sick.  I sat
there with my right hand over my ear, leaving my left to hold the horn and
maneuver the valve.  Any note I could play in first position and/or valve
I played (I think).  The others, forget it.

The only other experience like it was rehearsing an Ice Capades in a
concrete blockhouse, sitting right in front of the trumpets.  I was young
and foolish then.

Watch the players sitting in front of the brass.  Often you'll seem them
putting in and taking out earplugs.  It's no joke.  I've talked to many
musicians who have hearing problems from playing.  I have a slight hissing,
though I can't say it comes from playing.  But it's more intense in the
left ear, which is where my bell is, so. . . .

Roger Hecht