Fortissimo Forever

Some observations on noises, especially loud ones:

• One car manufacturer's TV ad features a woman enjoying the peace and quiet of her car, windows up, as it sits directly underneath a waterfall. On the other extreme, some commercials incorporate a hair-raising scream somewhere in the ad, usually at the beginning.
• At a movie theatre the other night, I was assaulted by the deafening volume of the previews and ads. It was actually painful to sit through.
• TV stations routinely turn up their broadcast volume for commercials.
• The young man who lives across the street from me has installed large speakers in his car and the booming of his bass, even with windows shut, announces his every departure and return to the entire neighborhood.
• Saturday morning children's cartoons on TV are filled with loud yells, screams, and sound effects.
• Lead-in and connecting music on TV and radio is loud, fast, has pounding percussion and distorted guitar effects, what we used to call "fuzz busters" and "phase shifters."
• Talking heads on TV news and commentary shows have gradually raised the pitch, tone, and volume of their words.
• The other day my neighborhood association sponsored a Saturday gathering, picnic, and pool party. Music was offered by keyboard, bass, drums, and vocalist. After their first set I asked them to turn down the volume, which they did; but they gradually restored it as the next set progressed, and it increased as the evening wore on. Whenever they played and sang, the rest of us were forced to yell to have a conversation, even when sitting next to each other.

Why are we subjected to these assaults of volume all around? What is the purpose of turning up the volume? Here's why: it gets your attention. It used to be that loudness signified danger, alarm, or something of great importance. Our culture has taken this over and the commercial interests use it not for something of great importance, but to sell you something or to keep your attention. In the case of the car commercial and Saturday morning kids' TV, they know that we'll shift our attention elsewhere, but by keeping up a steady barrage of volume attacks, they may hold our attention. In the case of my neighbor's pounding car speakers, it's similar. He's saying, "Here I am. Pay attention to me. I can command your attention." He may also be self-identifying with an aspect of youth culture or of protest, as my generation did in the 1960s with rock & roll and loud and raucous concerts and protest music. I fear that by now we have changed from loud volume as an indicator of danger, alarm, or importance to simply being a normal, accepted standard of our culture, no longer signifying anything unusual.

What about church music? There are times when church music becomes quite loud, and other times when we encourage the music-makers to increase their volume:

• Much contemporary Christian music has taken on the qualities of secular music, including heightened volume levels and distorting sound effects.
• There is no difference between musical styles of Christian and secular recording artists. Differences of text remain, of course, although these are less pronounced today than in the past.
• Praise teams and bands take their cue from secular groups in setting their loud volumes.
• Churches spend thousands of dollars on sound systems to provide for music in worship.
• We usually accompany, lead, and sing some hymns louder than others. For instance, we probably sing the last stanza of "How Great Thou Art" louder than "Spirit Song," and "Shout to the Lord" louder than "Lord, Be Glorified."
• We probably play the organ postlude louder than background music for Holy Communion.
• In some churches, the only time the organ is used any more is to play the Doxology following the offering, and it is usually played rather loudly.

I am wondering if it is a good thing that church music performance practice follows the secular culture's lead in setting volume levels. Should we allow high volume levels to become the norm for choirs and praise teams as they sing congregational hymns? Should the sound technician be the one to determine volume levels, or should the performer or music director? Do prevailing loud music volumes encourage or inhibit good congregational singing? If everything is loud, do we lose any of the communicative abilities that music possesses? Does a continually loud music volume have a negative impact on worshipers in your congregation — a few of them, some of them, many of them? Finally, and this may be the most difficult question of all, who should be responsible for answering these questions and putting the responses into action?