SIDE DRUM

ACOUSTICS IN THE ANECHOIC CHAMBER

“I usually wear ear protectors when I play, and it felt much like that when I played here in the anechoic chamber – as if I were wearing ear protectors. There was no resonance. Without spatial acoustics you feel strangely alone and somehow lost.” – Markus Steckeler, percussion

It’s striking how “thin” the side drum sounds in the anechoic chamber. It only obtains its typical sound from the resonance in the auditorium. This can be easily heard when we compare it with the recording made in Hercules Hall.

It’s also clear that Markus Steckeler chooses a different tempo and other characteristics when the artificial reverb on the headphones makes him feel as if he were playing in a large auditorium. The basic tempo is slower, the range of figures narrower. When artificial acoustics were added on the headphones, he felt that his playing was indistinct and automatically adapted. The richest variety of dynamics and sound arose in Hercules Hall.