Dear Peter, Greetings From The Bronx!  I too have often been
incensed by rude people who continue to chatter and talk while an
instrument is being demonstrated.  Case in point: while at an AMICA
annual meeting in Boston, we were privileged to hear Welte
Philharmonic pipe organ rolls being played through a large church
(cathedral) organ.  The particular organ escapes me now, but it was
chosen for it's close resemblance to the Welte Philharmonic's
registers.

Whilst sitting and listening to this immense organ, there were
several rude persons (mostly of the female persuasion), who must
have found the music boring, as they continued to talk through most
of the impromptu concert.  (I have proof, now if I could only remember
where I put those darn tapes.)  What is their reasoning?  Do they
feel that because that it is a mechanically reproduced rendition,
that they couldn't possibly be offending a machine?  (But what about
the persons who actually came to hear the music!)

Other examples are plentiful on YouTube.  At Herr Wendel's Museum
in Germany, (and probably in a few others), the docents regularly
shut off the orchestrions and organs in the midst of a musical passage.
(Again, mostly those of the female persuasion.  Should I ever get the
opportunity to visit these collections, I will have to learn how to
say: "I Would Like to Hear the Entire Musical Selection, Please",
in their native tongues.)

As for the selfishly rude idiots who feel that, just because they
like a certain type of music everybody should be inflicted with it
-- and not just at an comfortable decibel level but at an annoying
earsplitting level where you can hear not only the distortion but also
the loudspeakers buzzing with every "Whompa-Whompa-Whompa" -- I think
I might make some long-range investments in several hearing aid
companies!  Who's with me?

Pardon my rant, sincerely,
Dale F. Rowe
Bronx, New York