No matter how you slice it, the human voice is "acoustic." And so is a guitar or banjo or harp or any other instrument that doesn't need a power cord and wires coming out of it that you have to plug in in order to make it heard. A Fender Stratocaster is not an acoustic instrument.

But in a large auditorium or theater, or in a chronically noisy venue such as a bar, a singer with an acoustic guitar might need a PA system in order to be heard. I would still consider that "acoustic music."

Segovia was adamant about never using any kind of amplification. The theaters in which I heard him play were moderate in size, and I never had a problem hearing him (an expensive, very well made guitar such as a Houser or concert Ramirez helps). And Segovia would glower balefully at anyone who happened to cough, or would stop playing altogether if someone were having a coughing fit or rattling his program. In fact, the Moore Theater in which he often performed when in Seattle put a table in the middle of the lobby loaded down with cough drops and throat lozenges, and invited people to fill their pockets and purses—free—just in case. The audience often reeked of Hall's Mentholyptus.

But when I first heard Christopher Parkening, he played in the Seattle Center Opera House (capacity 3,100), and although the acoustics there are outstanding, it was still deemed advisable that he make use of the sound system, which he did. Two microphones were set a couple of feet apart and about three feet in front of where he sat. The sound system was such that it gave the sound of his guitar a little boost, making it clearly audible throughout the opera house, but the sound was not noticeably "elecronic." No complimentaty cough drops necessary.

I have a big voice when I want to unleash it, and the guitars (generally classic) I've used are good quality, but I have performed in places where amplification was needed (Center House at the Seattle Center, for example, or a gymnasium at Grays Harbor College). Moderate sized theaters such as the Seattle Center Playhouse (800 seats), house concerts, most coffeehouses, and the church (capacity 200) where Bob Nelson and I sang our "reunion concert" a year and a half ago require no amplification.

The advantage of amplification in a large venue is that one can sing without having to "belt" everything, allowing you to bring out emotional nuances of a song the would get lost otherwise.

How about listening to a singer and/or acoustic guitar on the radio? Or on a CD, with all the attendant electronics necessary to make it audible? Still "acoustic" I would think.

Don Firth