| Derek,
Interesting story and observation.
Developing a knowing ear is critical to the speed of musical development. We meet with our teachers for one (or less!) hours per week and this pales next to the twenty-one hours that I know most of you are practicing (ahem). Thus your best guide is your own sensitivity to good/bad and resonance/dull.
Allow me to wear my Arnold Jacobs hat for a moment . . . it would be fun, wouldn't it, to illustrate your point with two pieces of equipment: a LED meter (to measure volume) and an oscilloscope (to measure resonance). The game at hand would be to decrease the former while increasing the latter.
I'd prefer, however, to train my ears rather than my eyes, making those of you who own stock in Johnson & Johnson very happy.
Q-tips in both ears,
EC |