dunderhead, sounding board, deafening roar of cannon plus the jangle of church bells

On this day in 1962, Leonard Bernstein broadcast his Young People’s Concert “Sound of a Hall” from the New York Philharmonic’s new home at Lincoln Center (now David Geffen Hall). He spoke about the science of sound; acoustics, vibration, sound waves, echo and reverberation.

“Well, the best test of dynamic range I can think of is that great piece of fireworks – Tchaikovsky’s Overture 1812, because it begins as softly as possible with only 6 solo strings, and runs the whole dynamic range to a full orchestra, plus at the end, an extra brass band…plus the deafening roar of cannon plus the jangle of church bells… "



Sixty-five years ago the average grade at Harvard was around a C. Now, it’s about an A. The trend is evident across America’s Ivy League. So are these prestigious universities embracing fewer rich dunderheads than they used to, or have standards dropped?http://econ.st/1T3XKSw



Sixty-five years ago the average grade at Harvard was around a C. Today it’s about an A. The trend is evident across America’s Ivy League. So are these prestigious universities embracing fewer rich dunderheads than they used to or have standards dropped? And which students now get the easiest ride? http://econ.st/1dRTpDq

Yale University and the board of directors of Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., the Connecticut-based 501(c)3 that currently publishes the Yale Alumni Magazine, announced that, beginning July 1, the 124-year-old Yale Alumni Magazine will become a department of the university.

Editor-in-chief Kathrin Day Lassila will remain at the magazine’s helm, and the board of directors will continue to serve as a sounding board and source of guidance for the magazine.

Definition of sounding board in English:

noun

1A board or screen placed over or behind a pulpit or stage to reflect a speaker’s voice forward.

1.1another term for soundboard.

2A person or group whose reactions to suggested ideas are used as a test of their validity or likely success before they are made public:friends are sounding boards who let you know how far you can go

2.1A channel through which ideas are disseminated:neighbourhood councils provide a sounding board for local opinion

Definition of dunderhead in English:

noun

informal

A stupid person:show the dunderheads how the thing should behandled