A boon and a bane

Time was when musicians sang and music lovers listened to music without a public address system. Even stage artistes spoke their dialogues to be heard in the far corners of auditoria without it. But all that has become part of history now. With the march of time, technology has developed, touching all fields of human activity. Music was not left alone.

Despite initial fears that the advent of the machine may corrupt the pristine quality of art, the entry of well-designed equipment made musicians as well as the music lovers happy. And the microphone came to stay as part of the music world. In fact, it was regarded as a boon both to the singers and their listeners.

The fair weather, however, was not perennial. Development in the field of audio-engineering saw improvements in the design of each component of the system. It even incorporated sophisticated features to meet the special requirements of different — and often difficult — situations in public performances. With such a wide choice of equipment and design, the selection of the right mix of components to meet specific needs called not only for a sound knowledge of the the equipment, but also a close familiarity with the kind of music that the system had to handle.

Barring a few music organisations possessing in-house expertise, others merely sought the advice of equipment dealers. This invariably resulted in an over use of features and facilities.

One can imagine the disastrous results of such abuse in the hands of persons not familiar with the fine technique of sound mixing. One often sees members of the audience covering their ears to muffle the high decibel volume of sound during music concerts.

Even more disturbing is the imbalance caused by a faulty mixing of the sound output from different microphones on the dias. Problems largely arising due to lack of expertise in those operating the complicated units of the system.

Added to the confusion is the interference from the performing artistes themselves in the placement of microphones and their level settings to gain prominence for their individual performance. It would be unfair to generalise, but I am sure that audiences would have felt irked by this ego-driven trait that is common among percussionists in particular.

Some vocalists too suffer from this desire to attract public attention, especially when it comes to group singing like bhajans and other devotional programmes where the text, which carries the essence of the devotion, is completely drowned by their unbridled fervour and uncontrolled outbursts.

The way in which some of them vie with one another to gain proximity to the public address system and prominence for their individual abilities, makes one wonder if the object of worship in such devotional singing is the microphone itself? Has what was once regarded as a boon in the world of music sadly become a bane?