# My school orchestra performance today



## KevinW (Nov 21, 2021)

Hello TC community,

My school orchestra did a performance yesterday and performed several festive compositions. The performance seems to be alright, according to the conducting teacher. However, as the second chair in the first violin, I can't quite hear the others playing. I can only hear the first two row of the first violin (including myself) and the first row of the second violin playing. It wasn't a surprise that I do not hear most parts of the second violin, because I know their skills aren't advanced. However, I also didn't hear the rear rows of first violin though there are good players. As the second chair violin I can't quite hear the other strings as well, including the cello and the violas. I am pretty curious about whether a member in an orchestra can hear others playing--seems like only the conductor hears everything but players hardly hear each other. This is almost my first time playing in an orchestra so I am curious why can't I hear other people. Also, is there a way I can hear and tell whether the orchestra is performing well if I am just a first violin player?

KevinW


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Back when I was an orchestral horn player, the only thing I heard were all the notes I missed.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

KevinW said:


> Hello TC community,
> 
> My school orchestra did a performance yesterday and performed several festive compositions. The performance seems to be alright, according to the conducting teacher. However, as the second chair in the first violin, I can't quite hear the others playing. I can only hear the first two row of the first violin (including myself) and the first row of the second violin playing. It wasn't a surprise that I do not hear most parts of the second violin, because I know their skills aren't advanced. However, I also didn't hear the rear rows of first violin though there are good players. As the second chair violin I can't quite hear the other strings as well, including the cello and the violas. I am pretty curious about whether a member in an orchestra can hear others playing--seems like only the conductor hears everything but players hardly hear each other. This is almost my first time playing in an orchestra so I am curious why can't I hear other people. Also, is there a way I can hear and tell whether the orchestra is performing well if I am just a first violin player?
> 
> KevinW


Always an issue. Yes, you have to rely on either your conductor (or sound engineer, if it's being amplified, broadcast, or recorded) to determine whether the balance is right. It's a pretty common problem that you cannot hear the other musicians or sections while you are playing.

Every performance venue has different acoustic properties, and you simply have to "trust" in those who are responsible for the balance.

I've heard that the Hollywood Bowl now has excellent acoustic feedback for individual musicians; in addition to the famous "cone" over the stage, they installed several spheres of different sizes suspended over the stage which redirects the sound evenly.


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