Support the T as a venue for artistic expression

[chanaleh]

From queendeb:

Save Boston's Subway performers!
http://www.petitiononline.com/Tmusic/petition.html

(But can I exempt that guy who makes that awful didgeridoo racket in the Central Square station during morning rush hour?)

Comments

[meranthi.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the guy who occasionally plays steel drums (badly) at Porter. He apparently only knows 3 Christmas carols, which he plays over and over and over and over....

[(Anonymous)]

Or the guy who has the "no money, no music" sign.

I always wonder if that is a promise because I would physically hold people back from giving him money if that were the case.

No...

[rjpb.livejournal.com]

From what I have heard, the new regulations seem completely reasonable. Many cities do not allow amplification, and really it should not be necessary nor have any effect on what performers can play. I am curious about the limit on instruments; I do not recall seeing anything about that.

Re: No...

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

I couldn't find anything official from the MBTA, but I found a history of the process including a response letter from the MBTA about the new regulations going into effect Dec. 31, 2003. Interestingly, they claim the new policy grows out of their Anti-Terrorism Task Force -- which automatically makes me skeptical of it. >:-)

Of course, each of us should support the side of this debate that we see fit.

Re: No...

[alaria-lyon.livejournal.com]

The restriction on specific instruments I believe is on horns. And it is part of the Anti-Terrorism Task Force because it has to do with being able to hear the speakers in case of an emergency.

I kindly suggest an upgrade of the speaker system so they can be understood, which they currently can't be even in silence. I'd also recommend a streaming text sign in addition the speaker system for those of us who can read better than we can hear.

[navrins]

Some stops have them. You tune them out after they've scrolled the same ignorable message for ten minutes. If the message changed, I probably wouldn't notice.

But you're right about the speakers. The only words I can usually make out are "Thank you for riding the T." Although if they broadcast an actual ALARM in an emergency that would make a difference, and I could see loud music drowning that out.

I don't care for T-music anyway. Either I don't like it, or I do like it and feel like I ought to give the guy money, when I haven't asked for the service he's providing or agreed to pay for it.

Re: No...

[erik-j-meyer.livejournal.com]

http://communityartsadvocates.org/images/MBTAweb/MBTAguidelines.pdf

At this point I am thinking of petitioning for a permit just to have one. I think stating that I will bein singing Yule-tide carols might work.

Re: No...

[jencallisto]

just a couple offhand ways that banning amplification would affect music played:

1) one of the musicians i enjoy most plays a recorder along with recorded pieces of music. sure, he could just play the recorder, as the new policy eliminates the recorded pieces of music due to amplification, but that does severely limit the artistic scope of the music, which seems to me a shame.

2) electric guitars and acoustic guitars sound very different, and not everything that works on one will work on the other.

[cmouse.livejournal.com]

Is that the "alien folk music" guy?

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but that would account for a great many things...

I've never gone down to the opposite end of the platform to see what the hell kind of object he's actually playing (or even if it's in fact a he); the sound is so oppressive that I just cower in my usual spot and hope it ends.

I mean, I am all for artistic expression, and although I personally dislike the sound this guy produces (and wouldn't mind some form of popular case-by-case veto power!), I don't want a blanket regulation blocking an entire category of instruments or performers, either.

[queendeb.livejournal.com]

wow.
who knew
that this was something that really annoys people so much?
when i was little
i used to look forward to the times when we would go downtown
to filene's basement
because it seemed romantic to me
that there was free music
echoing
i think i once wrote a story about it in elementary school
ah well.

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

Did it already.

[blkdrgn.livejournal.com]

At the Harvard Sq T station, there is this black guy who sings the most awful stuff, and he's LOUD. I'm all for him not being amplified.

And I've seen the guy in Central too (now that I live near there), but like you, I've never gone to see what makes that horrible noise. I figure that if I did, it would only be encouraging him. Heh.

[tenore.livejournal.com]

Aw, but didgeridoos are cool. At least in the hands of a skilled artisan, which it sounds like this person is not.