NOT THE SHARPEST KNIVES IN THE DRAWER: Life Imitates Kurt Vonnegut
A European Union law requiring employers to limit their workers’ exposure to noise originally meant to protect factory and construction workers, is now making life difficult for orchestra musicians, reports The New York Times:
[M]usicians are being asked to wear decibel-measuring devices and to sit behind see-through antinoise screens. Companies are altering their repertories. And conductors are reconsidering the definition of “fortissimo.”
Alan Garner, an oboist and English horn player who is the chairman of the players’ committee at the Royal Opera House, said that he and his colleagues had been told that they would have to wear earplugs during entire three-hour rehearsals and performances.
“It’s like saying to a racing-car driver that they have to wear a blindfold,” he said. …
“I’ve spent nearly 30 years in music and I know all about noise, and occasionally, if I’m not playing and there’s a loud bit next to me, I might shove my fingers in my ears for a few bars. But I have yet to find a musician who says they can wear earplugs and still play at the same level of quality.”
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra manager Trygve Nordwall was forced to cancel the world premiere of a new work that violated the noise regulations: “The decision was not made artistically; it was made for the protection of the players.”
I've heard even the Police will no longer be able to shoot at terrorists or criminals because of the noise guns make. They're required to ask in a firm and polite manner to "please give up and walk to jail (can't use police cars because they pollute) - and the sirens!
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