Performers need foldback to hear themselves while performing.

Evidence

A third factor, which is often ignored, is the acoustics that the performers experience. Pop groups have known about this for years and take elaborate precautions to provide each performer on stage with their own individual balance of acoustic sounds via a technique known as “foldback.” In fact, some performers now receive their foldback directly into their ears via a technique known as “in-ear monitoring,” and in many large gigs, the equipment providing foldback to the performer can rival or even exceed that which provides the sound for the audience. The classical musician, however, only has the acoustics of the hall to provide them with foldback. Thus the musicians on the stage must rely on reflections from the nearby surfaces to provide them with the necessary sounds to enable them to hear themselves and each other. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1936

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader project on listening and silences — the acoustic experience of the performer, not just the audience, is a theme that parallels the ‘other people’s listening’ threads in the silence books.