The curse of the PA

Amplification is sometimes very useful. Indeed in some situations it's clearly essential. There would be little point in a sole fiddler trying to entertain several thousand people in a major festival hall without some powerful electronic help. Even in quite small venues amplification can be necessary if the acoustic environment requires it.

But there's a heated ongoing debate in folk music circles about the use - and misuse - of PA equipment. The culprits are often performers who set up their own sound systems. Sometimes its a pal of the performers who likes to play at sound engineering. All too often it's professional sound engineers who really should know better.

There are two common grumbles. The first is that many folk musicians use amplification when it isn't necessary. They rig up a small cosy bar as if it's Carnegie Hall - and even try to reach the equivalent volume level. Because of the small room size, half the audience is inevitably close to and level with the loudspeakers - and for these people too much volume is uncomfortable and damaging.

Excessive loudness is also a disservice to good performers themselves. The natural defence mechanisms of the ear flatten and deaden the sound as volume goes above comfortable level. So all the fancy playing techniques and subtle vocal expressions are lost in the mush of ear-bending sound.

I recently heard a young band of UK folk musicians in an acoustic rehearsal, and they were superb - sensational playing on top-quality instruments and all the style and subtlety you could wish for. Then I heard them in performance over a PA system which was far too loud - the sheer volume destroyed all the distinctiveness of their playing. My ears hurt but I couldn't actually hear what was going on within the solid wall of sound. Such a shame.

Now for the second grumble in the current debate. It's not only unnecessary volume that offends - it's also the frequent and inappropriate over-use of other electronic facilities such as reverb, tone controls and special effects.

Sure, a little reverb can do wonders for a voice in an acoustically dead venue, and a hint of subtle equalization can add warmth to an instrument. But for most folk music audiences, any more than a minimum of electronic correction is a distraction from what they want to hear.

Electronic wizardry is fine for contemporary art forms which happen to be based on folk traditions or styles. But for material which is presented as authentically traditional, using acoustic instruments and traditional singing styles, the only legitimate purpose of any sound system is to enable the performance to be heard by people who in the circumstances would not otherwise be able to hear it.

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