When I competeted at the Alexandria games a few years ago, it
was the first time that I had to use amplification with my
harp. I understand that it is very neccesary to use it so that
the harps can be heard over the cacophany of the pipebands.
But there I was, dealing with a bad case of nerves already. And
on top of the stress of being in an unfamiliar "room" with
other harpers listening to me, and COMPETING, I had to deal
with a new and unexpected obstacle in the placement of
microphones. I remember bonking the mike at least once on my
way to the bass strings. I also know that the (slight) time
delay of the sound through the amplification, and the fact that
my harp had a different sound/tone through the speakers was enough to
throw me off my rhythym (especially when trying to ignore the
pipers at the same time). I'm very dependant on hearing
what my hands are doing to make sure they are in the right
place at the right time and I'm sure many other beginners are
too. A bit of preparation with the sound system would have
made my experience a little bit less stressful.
Julie
-- Julie Lehrman I wish I lived on a planet Univ of VA, Chemistry Dept with 28 hour days....... jml2q@Virginia.edu I might even get enough SLEEP!! http://faraday.clas.virginia.edu/~jml2q