Re: question on standing ovations

[Simran gleason <simran.gleason@Sun.COM>]

Peter sez:
> 
> Just to keep you even more honest, how do you know its a "standing" 
>ovation. 
> Does applause sound any different if they are sitting? :)
> 
> I'm telling you, ya gotta watch those adjectives with this group.
> 

To which Mark retorts:
>
>Of course it does.  Being farther from the floor will undoubtly cause
>differences in reverb reflections, silly.  Less so on a carpeted floor 
>with
>upholstered chairs.

well, to be even more pendantic*, I feel obligationalized to point out
that "standing ovation" refers directly to the sound quality of the
ovation, rather than
the condition of the applauditors. This depends, of course, elaborately
on the resonant frequency of the room, together with the particular
configuralation of sound-bouncing ("echoleptic"?) objects present.  An
ovation is considerated "standing" when the accumulated crescendo of
manual percussive echoes intersects a frequency node in the room and
thus creates a standing wave. These nodes are more often found when the
sound source originates approximately 40 inches above the floor, and
therefore are highly correlated with incidences of audience entities
having actually lumbered to their feet placing them in a standing
position.


Simran

ps: *"pendantic," from my American Standard Dictionary of Malapropisms,
    is the ictological variant of pendant, meaning of or pertaining to
    little hangie things that swings back and forth, back and forth.
    Sorry for any confusion.