Appreciate this is more suited to Viva Percussion, but given most people pop in here, I thought I would try my luck.

Watching the Proms concert on BBC2 last night got a discussion going between me and the missus regarding the perspex screens which were in evidence around the drumkit (which was in the middle of the brass section) and the timpani (which were behind the strings).

We argued about what function they served. The two theories were:

i. They are there to stop players banging into these noisy percussion instruments accidentally

ii. They somehow protect the players in front from the full force of the sound / mute the sound slightly so not to overwhelm the rest of the orchestral ensemble.

Any ideas? I've seen them before in studio recording situations too, normally around the drumkit...

Thanks!

As far as I know, it's the second situation... I am not a percussionist or recording technician but I'm reasonably sure that's the idea...

I have seen them before, but thought they were meant principally for practice sessions - an attempt to contain the 'racket' a little

so probably again to contain the sound, separate it from the brass....

I've just asked a percussionist [as in "is there a percussionist in the house?"] and he says it is used in performance to minimise 'bleed' of the sound.
Must make for a cleaner sound ....

We had them at Pepper, supposedly to protect the dancers from 'flying drumsticks'.

Do they make screens for wayward organs too?