Good Sound Foundation

ARTjSCIENCE FORUM Good Sound Foundation ArthurStid/ok Trying to produce a New Music event these days can be like playing Paganini with a broken bow: no matter how hard one tries, it just is not Paganini . All too often the essential tool of the contemporary composer/performer , 'good sound', is broken or even missing altogether. And yet tools for creating effective sound in live performance do exist, as well as the means to create better ones. Good Sound Foundation is a nonprofit research organization founded by Loren Rush, Pauline Oliveros, James A. Moorer andJohn Michael Grey to promote the development and availability of effective tools to improve the quality of sound in live performance productions. GSF conducts research into the practical use of electroacoustic technologies in live performance , applies existing technologies in novel waysand collects and disseminates information about a wide range of issues related to sound in live performance. Since 1985 GSF has mounted a number of temporary electroacoustic installations for research and demonstration , including sound design and production for more than a dozen concerts at New Music America '87. In late 1988 and early 1989 GSF received major grants to establish two permanent research/performance facilities [l]. These facilities, to be located in Philadelphia and San Francisco , will be devoted to the development of practical electroacoustic tools for use in live performance. GSF also functions as a resource for information and support on a broad range of issues related to sound in live performance. During the past 3 years it has worked extensivelywith people from around the United States involved in various aspects of live performance, new music in particular. While the GSF Arthur Stidfole, Good Sound Foundation. 1670 10th Ave.• Brooklyn, NY 11215, U.S.A. Reprinted from Ctmaf1osIr's F"",_ NttworIlNtwS.Spring 1989, Vol. 7, No. I. Received 9 March 1989. staff has known from the beginning that most performers labor under varying degrees of acoustic handicaps , these interactions have broadened our understanding of performance issues and needs. The reasons for the inadequacy or absence of good sound in performance are almost as numerous as there are situations , but some issues recur often. One of the most striking and constant phenomena we have encountered during visits to dozens of performance spaces and concert halls is the production manager who proudly displays a $200,000 lighting system alongside a $5,000 sound system. The same producer who would not think of letting a performance die visually through a lack of lighting tools thinks nothing of letting a performance lose all credibility through bad sound. While not everyone can afford a $200,000 sound system, or even, perhaps , a $20,000 system, there is a great deal we can do that is significant . We can begin a process that includes education by example, the lobbying of producers, boards of directors and funding sources and incremental improvements in production values whenever possible. GSF promotes the use of electroacoustics when the natural acoustics of a performance venue are not adequate for the art that is presented. This is a pervasive issue because most spaces are multi-purpose, and no one acoustical character is appropriate for all types of performance. Yet it is remarkable how little attention is generally paid to acoustics when performances are scheduled. We can educate ourselves simply through training our ears to be aware of the way different performances sound in each space. Many common performance venues are entirely unsuitable for the uses to which they are put. Bycontinuing complacently to perform under inadequate and often disastrous acoustic conditions, we as artists are doing ourselves and our work a disservice. As composers and performers, we can participate in the move toward good soundjust by increasing our level of awareness. We can learn to have an impact. The first step toward improving a bad situation is to recognize its existence . Many instrumentalists spend years learning how to produce a beautiful tone and then pay no attention to how that tone sounds in an actual performance space. GSFisworking toward enabling an artist to imagine very clearly the sound he or she wants to hear and then to project that sound to every audience member. A related issue is...