![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/orch_deathzones.jpg?resize=350%2C350\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you’re a regular concert goer, and you happen to either be close enough to the stage or own a pair of opera glass or good birding binoculars, you’ve noticed those portable plexiglass things scattered about different parts of the stage.\u00c2\u00a0 Mostly they’re located at the back of the cello and second violin sections, and behind the woodwinds, and between the timpani and the trumpets.\u00c2\u00a0 Why are these unsightly things on stage in the first place?<\/p>\n
Because when you’re exposed to sudden high sound pressure levels, you lose parts of your hearing, and eventually much of it.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s also quite difficult to produce a good sound, especially as a wind or brass player, if you have earplugs in, because you mostly only hear the sounds your mouth is making, not what is coming out of the end of your instrument.\u00c2\u00a0 So in come these contraptions that often serve as a band aid on a giant open wound.<\/p>\n
Basically, there are three major sonic “death zones” on our stage: (1) between the percussion and the woodwinds and second violins, (2) all around the timpani, and (3) between the brass section and the back of the lower string sections.\u00c2\u00a0 See the helpful (and hopefully dramatic) illustration below:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you’re a regular concert goer, and you happen to either be close enough to the stage or own a pair of opera glass or good birding binoculars, you’ve noticed those portable plexiglass things scattered about different parts of the stage.\u00c2\u00a0 Mostly they’re located at the back of the cello and second violin sections, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[115,2],"tags":[3660,3659],"class_list":["post-573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-viola","tag-violin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-9f","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13253,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/03\/09\/hilary-hahn-and-the-myth-of-perfection\/","url_meta":{"origin":573,"position":0},"title":"hilary hahn and the myth of perfection","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This weekend, we in the Oregon Symphony have the great privilege of sharing our stage with Hilary Hahn, one of the leading violinists of our time. The orchestra has been abuzz since her first rehearsal with us - with utterances such as \"perfection\", \"sublime\", \"gorgeous\", and \"stunning\" flying about in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"hahn-a6bfa122ba4040cdd5685c83bbe553628e2fcc6c","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/hahn-a6bfa122ba4040cdd5685c83bbe553628e2fcc6c-500x375.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":784,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/02\/17\/big-program-hangover\/","url_meta":{"origin":573,"position":1},"title":"big program hangover","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night we played the first of four concerts of the latest Classical Series (3 shows here in Portland, and one run-out to Salem). It's a big program. Usually we start at 7:30 on Saturday evenings, and I pretty much expect to be walking in my front door around 10:00\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7144,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/12\/14\/amazing-recital\/","url_meta":{"origin":573,"position":2},"title":"amazing recital","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night (Tuesday) at the Old Church I had the great fortune to attend one of the most mind-blowing performances I've ever seen. The violinist was the Oregon Symphony's (and Arnica Quartet's) own Shin-young Kwon, and she played, in one concert, all of the six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/eugne-ysae_711684.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1471,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/25\/jennifer-koh-goes-to-11\/","url_meta":{"origin":573,"position":3},"title":"jennifer koh goes to ’11’","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Jennifer Koh - Photo \u00c2\u00a9 Janette Beckman It's been amazing, watching violinist Jennifer Koh play the Brahms Violin Concerto with us this weekend.\u00c2\u00a0 During the rehearsals, she was controlled, a bit reticent, and was clearly getting used to conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni's approach to the score and the orchestra. Then came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/jennifer-koh-c-janette-beckman-400x339.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6015,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/03\/21\/spring-break-as-if\/","url_meta":{"origin":573,"position":4},"title":"spring break? as if!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"While the Classical Beaver makes it seem like we in the Oregon Symphony are doing keg stands, beer bongs, wet t-shirt competitions, and slathering sunscreen all over each other's bodies during spring break, it's often quite different for some of us. Yes, there are some lucky musicians who have scraped\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/IMG_7326-400x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5336,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/09\/22\/hilary-hahns-new-album-drops\/","url_meta":{"origin":573,"position":5},"title":"hilary hahn’s new album drops","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Violinist Hilary Hahn makes her Oregon Symphony debut on our opening Classical series concerts on October 2 - 4, and you can get a chance to listen to her playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto on her newly-released album on Deutsche Grammophone.\u00a0 This beloved work is paired with the Jennifer Higdon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/ir?t=dailyobservat-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0042HSGLW","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}