ecarroll

Trent,

I remember an exercise that Bob Brookmeyer did in Lake Placid back in '96. Bob asked the class to close their eyes and not to reopen them until the pedal C that he sounded on the piano had left the imagination of each listener.

The results were revealing: most young musicians opened their eyes the moment the sound had decayed past the level of their hearing (and wondered what to do next). Others, more evolved, kept the sound in their "ear" for 1 or 2 minutes longer before looking up. Bob kept his closed for a full 10 minutes and later claimed that he could continue to hear the sound in his imagination all day if he felt like it.

Deep listening vs. simple hearing. Deep listening as concentration. Sound as art, not as background. No sound-bytes. No video. No flashing lights. Just listening. What else do we have when we are onstage?

I'm off to LA today but will check-in here after I'm settled. I'll be curious to read other responses.

Best,
EC