Satisfying an NPAC audience<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Running a performing arts center is a job I feel blessed to have.\u00a0 I have always said, what better job someone can have than to be involved in music and, through it, bring joy to so many people?\u00a0 Music has been a part of my life for so many years that I can say it is not a job, but it is who I am.<\/p>\n
Presenting concerts at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center and, soon, Fountain Park, once again, is a pleasure.\u00a0What pleases me the most is seeing happy faces of audience members before, during and after the concerts.\u00a0On occasion, however, there are some not real pleased.\u00a0 I understand completely.\u00a0For some, it\u2019s too loud, while for others (believe it or not) it\u2019s not loud enough.\u00a0For some, the hall is too hot, while for others, it\u2019s too cold.<\/p>\n
I suppose it would be appropriate to explain a few factors which affect people differently.\u00a0 Regarding the sound level at concerts, the more \u201cprominent\u201d the performers, the less control we have over sound levels.\u00a0 With the performers so many want to see, they normally bring their own sound man and quite often bring their own system (although sometimes, I think ours is far superior.)\u00a0 I guess the thinking is that \u201ctheir guy\u201d knows the show, the performers, and knows just how they want it to sound.\u00a0 They mix the sound concert after concert and think they can do a better job.\u00a0 Sometimes I wonder?<\/p>\n
What seems to irritate some is the level of sound.\u00a0For instance, I got a letter (not all that unusual) from someone complaining of the sound level of a recent concert.\u00a0I also heard complaints from a few others in the lobby.\u00a0That\u2019s fine.\u00a0I understand.\u00a0What people however need to know is that we do not control the sound mix, which affects how you understand what is being sung.\u00a0 We hope that the person they bring knows what they are doing and can adapt the show mix to the acoustics of our hall. Sometimes, I think we could do a better job.\u00a0The natural acoustics of the Van Wert County Foundation Saltzgaber Music Hall are very good.\u00a0An acoustician from the East Coast was hired to design the hall and did a marvelous job.<\/p>\n
Although contracts strictly state that the performers have final say on sound levels, I have commented on the levels during sound checks.\u00a0The common retort is that it will be different once people get in the hall.\u00a0I understand this and try to give the soundman credit for knowing better.\u00a0 Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.\u00a0Thankfully, we win far more often than we lose.\u00a0 But we are not perfect.\u00a0To quote President Lincoln: \u201cYou can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can\u2019t please all of the people all of the time\u201d.\u00a0Our goal though is to always try!<\/p>\n
It\u2019s good to understand the heating and cooling of the Music Hall.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it\u2019s not like our living rooms at home where we can go to the thermostat and make a quick adjustment.\u00a0 First of all, the hall is a large room.\u00a0 Think of how many living rooms you could fit inside the music hall?\u00a0The controls of heating and cooling throughout the Niswonger PAC are controlled by a computer (what else?) system that takes many elements into consideration.\u00a0 Outdoor temperatures, humidity levels, ozone counts per number of people, wind, sun, changing outdoor temperatures, and on and on.\u00a0I certainly don\u2019t understand it all.\u00a0 I\u2019m like you, I only know if I\u2019m hot or cold.\u00a0I am told that circulating air is required to control such a large area.\u00a0 When the air hits you, it normally feels cold, regardless of the temperature.<\/p>\n
We work with school officials who control the settings to try and make each setting as comfortable as possible.\u00a0Sometimes we get it just right and sometimes \u201cthe porridge is just too cold,\u201d to steal a line from an old nursery rhyme.\u00a0However it is, the temperature certainly fluctuates throughout a performance when taking body temperatures into consideration.<\/p>\n
Okay, I think this is enough sharing of information on our behalf.\u00a0Please just understand that we are constantly trying to make a concert experience just right for everyone in attendance.\u00a0 Wish us luck!<\/p>\n
FIN\u00c9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Satisfying an NPAC audience Running a performing arts center is a job I feel blessed to have.\u00a0 I have always said, what better job someone can have than to be involved in music and, through it, bring joy to so many people?\u00a0 Music has been a part of my life for so many years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 09:14:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63525\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}