To much sound in society

[KennethB]

Anyone who lives in a city can probably relate; there's so much noise these days and it's getting louder. Kids sodcasting their music on the bus also I stopped going to the local McDonald's because the music they constantly play is too loud. Well, that's a two birds/one stone kind of a deal so I'm not complaining poor bastards that has to work in that environment...
Am I getting old or do others feel the same?

Watch these short clips with Julian Treasure, chairman of The Sound Agency, and a drummer (who actually listens )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRepnhXq33s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELgvDMTKyBE

Makes sense, doesn't it?

[mjac28]

I'm with you I'm retired and live alone and I do not miss the sounds of people talking?machines running,warning buzzers and traffic as long as I have my bass and the Internet I could go years without seeing anyone.

[giacomini]

Man, I love when I'm west in the country side (usually it's work) and even in the small towns (not even straight into the woods, I mean) I hear NOTHING from my hotel room at night, maybe a few crickets chirping and that's all... silent peace.

[scottfeldstein]

I'll tell you where it really bothers me: restaurants.

I'm told it's because they design dining rooms with all hard surfaces now. But surely it's also because they all play music which forces people to talk louder than they would ordinarily do. In many places you can't even have a comfortable conversation with the person across from you.

[giacomini]

Originally Posted by scottfeldstein

I'll tell you where it really bothers me: restaurants.

I'm told it's because they design dining rooms with all hard surfaces now. But surely it's also because they all play music which forces people to talk louder than they would ordinarily do. In many places you can't even have a comfortable conversation with the person across from you.

Reminds me of food courts in malls... just don't have the patience for it anymore. If I have to get food in a mall, I'm surely taking it home.

[mjac28]

I haven't been to a mall in years I think I'm turning into a recluse

[Phalex]

After years of being a rock and roll God in my own mind, I'm more than just a little hard of hearing. I'm fine with a one on one conversation, but at a restaurant or a store where there's background noise, if the person I'm talking too isn't looking right at me, I really have no idea what you're talking about. I smile and nod, and laugh at inappropriate times......

[tastybasslines]

I went into a Foot Locker last week with my wife to look for running shoes. We had to leave because the gangster rap music playing was so loud and obnoxious, it was unbearable. Maybe they want to market only to urban youth?

[Hyper-sloth]

Man I know. I just came back from three days primitive camping and lord the noise drives me nuts. The thing I hate the moat are those stupid tv's at the gas pump. I hate that! Some idiot shouting at me about car washes and super sized drinks whilst I pump my gas.

[Stilettoprefer]

When I get to the machine shop in the morning (6:00) there aren't any machines running or anything. It's silent. Then slowly throughout the day things get running, saws are screeching, the tumbler is shaking the walls, 3 different radios are blaring and the floor manager is running around cussing up a storm because something small went wrong. It gets so loud and busy that I put earplugs in to block most of it out. Taking the earplugs out is insane, though. It's like a giant rush of craziness.

Normal every day noise on the streets? I can ignore it with ease. But kids screaming and crying in restaurants.... Holy cow that pisses me right off. I want to smack their parent in the face. When I was a kid parents would take their kids outside and spank them until they shut up.

[Immigrant]

Movies. Films. All of em. The sound mix since the mid-90s is simple awful. I remember when Mission: Impossible came out, I nearly walked out halfway through the movie. I looked around during some loud moments, and half of the audience was covering their ears.

And it just keeps getting worse.

The last movie I saw in a theater was Batman Begins. I recently picked up The Dark Knight Rises and despite being a great film, the audio mix is horrible. There are times that Bruce Wayne is talking in a low, subdued voice and its barely audible. Then the next scene is louder, escalating to the point where I'm gonna wake my neighbors. I don't live in an apartment.

I can't imagine who likes it like that. Maybe the kids. Those damn kids. I'm turning into my dad.

[iamlowsound]

Originally Posted by Immigrant

Movies. Films. All of em. The sound mix since the mid-90s is simple awful. I remember when Mission: Impossible came out, I nearly walked out halfway through the movie. I looked around during some loud moments, and half of the audience was covering their ears.

And it just keeps getting worse.

The last movie I saw in a theater was Batman Begins. I recently picked up The Dark Knight Rises and despite being a great film, the audio mix is horrible. There are times that Bruce Wayne is talking in a low, subdued voice and its barely audible. Then the next scene is louder, escalating to the point where I'm gonna wake my neighbors. I don't live in an apartment.

I can't imagine who likes it like that. Maybe the kids. Those damn kids. I'm turning into my dad.

I agree with this, I shouldn't have to have my finger on the volume button the entire time I am watching a movie.

lowsound

[scottfeldstein]

The sound in movies is a lot more dynamic than, say, a television show. The loud parts can be really loud and the quiet parts can be really quiet because you're in a theater with surround sound and nobody is doing anything else except watching the movie and there is no one to disturb, etc. Put that same movie on a DVD and take it home...then there's problems. You don't watch movies at theater volume at home. (Most of us don't.) We may or may not have surround sound. So we find ourselves keeping the volume such that the huge music crescendos aren't ear-splitting. But then when two characters are whispering dramatically to each other we can't hear them. It sucks.

[bass12]

Originally Posted by scottfeldstein

The sound in movies is a lot more dynamic than, say, a television show. The loud parts can be really loud and the quiet parts can be really quiet because you're in a theater with surround sound and nobody is doing anything else except watching the movie and there is no one to disturb, etc. Put that same movie on a DVD and take it home...then there's problems. You don't watch movies at theater volume at home. (Most of us don't.) We may or may not have surround sound. So we find ourselves keeping the volume such that the huge music crescendos aren't ear-splitting. But then when two characters are whispering dramatically to each other we can't hear them. It sucks.

What's funny is that this didn't seem to be as much of an issue with older films. Sure, the dynamic spectrum is larger now, but you'd think the guys mixing the levels would get it right. There's really no excuse for the atrocious mixing in some of the films today. And it isn't just a matter of levels - very often the EQ is muddy when it comes to some of the dialogue.

[boynamedsuse]

Originally Posted by Immigrant

Movies. Films. All of em. The sound mix since the mid-90s is simple awful. I remember when Mission: Impossible came out, I nearly walked out halfway through the movie. I looked around during some loud moments, and half of the audience was covering their ears.

And it just keeps getting worse.

The last movie I saw in a theater was Batman Begins. I recently picked up The Dark Knight Rises and despite being a great film, the audio mix is horrible. There are times that Bruce Wayne is talking in a low, subdued voice and its barely audible. Then the next scene is louder, escalating to the point where I'm gonna wake my neighbors. I don't live in an apartment.

I can't imagine who likes it like that. Maybe the kids. Those damn kids. I'm turning into my dad.

I saw Dark Knight Rises in the theater. The volume (which may have been a problem in that particular theater) was deafening. I didn't have earplugs (I usually take them, but I went with a bunch of guys from work), so I spent most of the movie with my fingers in my ears.

[lokikallas]

The neighbor has a smoke detector with the battery beeping at him, he must be deaf or stupid or both. I drives me crazy from my house.
Then again a dripping faucet also drives me nuts.
Too many businesses substitute loud music for acoustic design.

[NYCbassist]

The worst for me was working in a 50 person call center. It would get so loud in there that you could barely hear the customers. It felt like having your head in a vice. Amazingly growing up IN NYC I never noticed the noisy "EL" Trains whizzing past my house. They were loud but you got used to it for some reason.

[macaroni tony]

or not to much sound in society...

[MatticusMania]

Originally Posted by macaroni tony

or not to much sound in society...

On a serious note, you guys should practice meditation.
When you acheive silence of the mind, the world becomes a much less "noisy" place.

[scottfeldstein]

I prefer stabbing people.