Performance volume

musicegbdf

OK , not sure if off topic is the right place. Thought I would share my experience last night. I went to a friends silver wedding party. The DJ was a total dickhead.
OK when I was gigging (back in the day) , when you did functions you start out quiet so people can meet and chat , and once they have had a few bevvys and want to dance we pumped the volume up.

So last night some friends haven't see each other in decades. When we arrive (early) the disco is so loud the hosts couldn't greet the guests without shouting. As the evening went on the DJ kept pumping it up so much that most people kept away from the dance floor as it was painful. People were hiding in corners or leaving the room. may wo or three women tried to dance. 95% of everyone else was trying to hid, around 10.30 people made polite goodbyes and left. Just after eleven he had cleared the place....

Think he was a rank amateur who just wanted to try his gear and did not consider his audience. Anyone who is a performer must remember they are there to please the audience not themselves.....

To give some idea of the volume I went to see a very good Led Zep tribute bank and was in the front row and they were half the volume of this dick !

Lesson for u all

digitalscream

Did anybody ask him to turn it down?

Grunfeld

Similar story from our gig last night but the other side of the coin:

The (new-ish) drummer finally dampened his kit down.  Most drummers I've worked with my amp is on 2 or 3, with this rowdy bastard it's on 5 or 6.  He's come from a line of metal bands and we're the first covers band he's worked with.  And he hadn't quite got the idea that it's a different way of playing.  He's a great drummer though, pro-attitude so we know he'll "get" it, and he's cheerful... unlike his moody predecessor.

Last night the landlady had given us the heads up:  "play quieter or I won't be booking you for next year."  So... reluctantly the kit was dampened with all manner of stuff.

He was still loud enough by miles but it wasn't painful, a great time was had by all, lots of people dancing, happy landlady, and even a happy drummer cos he saw the difference it made and he's agreed to do it as a regular thing.

ICBM

digitalscream said:

Did anybody ask him to turn it down?

Especially whoever was paying him...

 A party DJ isn't really a "performer" either .

I fully agree about excessive volume from both DJs and bands though. I know, "if it's too loud you're too old" and all that crap... actually there comes a point you can't even listen to it properly whatever age you are, and if you're not too old and deaf already it will f*** your hearing.

John_P

Sounds like he is used to doing a different type of do or has new gear he wants to show off...

Took me a lot of years of gigging to realise the audience move to a place where the volume is right for them and if you're too loud they move back.  
It still needs a bit of wallop at a rock gig but not painful - I remember seeing DLR in the early 90's and getting right to the front - after 3 songs it was just too much and I had to move back - could have ruined the gig and I'd have loved to stay near the front...

mike_l

I saw Motorhead a few years ago, and, even right at the back it was too loud. My hearing recovered after a couple of days.....

 

At the Blues jam last Sunday, using a Laney RC15, the gain was on 5, and the volume on 1, and that wasn't drowned out by either drums or bass.... Ok a band would probably want to be a bit louder, but not to the point of deafening everyone within 100yards of them...

musicegbdf

Everyone was saying the same , but to polite to tell the person who's party it was . He didn't seem bothered , but lost most of his guests early.
I think watching a rock band is different to a famiily function

CloudNine

Indian weddings are the worst. DJ's playing Bangra at ridiculous volumes.

My wife is Indian so go to these functions reasonably often and it is usually painful. I have walked out with my kids before as it is obviously damaging as well as massively annoying. I saw other people with ear defenders for their kids, and I bought some, but they won't keep them on...

It's actually the shitness of the sound systems that make it so much worse. Everything distorted. Went to a really fancy wedding last year and the DJ's were clearly a top end lot with great gear, and the difference was amazing. Still loud but clear and not fatiguing on the ears. 

Paul_C

I saw Walter Trout at The Stables a few years ago (actually went to see Oli Brown, who was supporting him) and he was so loud that I (and a few others) gave up and went and sat in the foyer.

digitalscream

Sacred Mother Tongue were painfully loud at MonkeyFest a few years back. They were in the main hall, and everybody sat outside in the marquee to listen, except the teenage djent mob who clearly thought damaging your hearing is a sign of manliness.

Phil_aka_Pip

The loudest unpleasant gig I went to was at the Mean Fiddler. Over the dancefloor at each corner they'd hung from the ceiling no less than what looked like FOUR 4x12 cabs pointing downwards into the dancefloor. It was painfully loud, so I went to the bar at the side. At each end of the bar, firing along the bar was a 2x12 so the only way you could communicate with the bar staff was sign language. It was also painfully loud, so I went in the "acoustic room", and guess what I couldn't stand it in there either, so I went outside. Waste of a gig ticket, waste of time, deprived me of seeing a band that I'd have enjoyed if they hadn't been so feckin loud.  :x

musicegbdf

CloudNine said:

It's actually the shitness of the sound systems that make it so much worse. Everything distorted. Went to a really fancy wedding last year and the DJ's were clearly a top end lot with great gear, and the difference was amazing. Still loud but clear and not fatiguing on the ears. 

Interesting point, not only a shitty system  but a dick controlling it. The guy whose party it was made a speech and said the next song was special to him and we should all listen to the words. There was so much bass that no one could hear the words and this was a Tamla Motown track !

viz

Saw Basement Jaxx at the O2 - wow what a sound system! It was incredibly loud and rich and full but for some reason you could hear the people next to you talking. It was like NO distortion whatsoever.

mike_l

I think a lot of sound systems are under powered, so when the volume goes up, they're above their "happy range" and start clipping into distortion. Which, provided my brain is working, is the way guitar amps evolved into a driven sound, ie turned up, past their "happy" point, and into clipping

chillidoggy

Most bands I saw in the 70's had shit sound, but were crushingly loud. The noise stayed with you for two days afterwards. Which is why a lot of ears were damaged.

jd0272

We're a none fully PA'd band and as such I'm always v conscious of the front end volume. Can be a bit 'hitty missy' depending on the room dynamics I have to say. No fucking excuse for a 'professional' doing a paid gig tho. He woulda been off by his ear and 'advised'.

Has to be said, the sheer luxury of a sound engineer is great. We recently did a biker weekend gig (plenty opportunities to get self murdered....), had independent sound dudes, and it was great. Had we been left to our own devices and ears the levels woulda been up. But they just gave the old "Up, up, up, a bit more, clean now, now lead, that's you mate."

It was fucking lush.