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Band-mates won't dial it down...................

#21
Our bandleader who keeps us super busy always goes into the audience area to check volume during soundcheck. He is also very aware of the volume levels during the shows.
He told us all straight up that he would fire us if we didn’t follow his lead…especially when it comes to volume.
He’s a good guy and a smart guy and we have been very successful with his leadership.
My ears could not tolerate a loud drummer or guitar player…especially if they were not learning their parts. Unacceptable behavior.
 
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#22
Nuisance said:
I would go with a plexiglass shield on the drums, and if that doesn't work you tell the drummer to continue in the band they need to be on a Roland kit.
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Asked a noisy drummer how he liked his new electronic kit a while ago. Said he loved being able to control the volume. But he couldn't find any sampled velocity layers that went up to the sounds he was chasing.

Played with a drummer generated a lot of power without too much volume back when. Man was kind to his skins. But he broke a couple of snare rims in the time I played with him.
 
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#24
DW, It depends on if they are good players and genuinely worth keeping or not. Guitar player sounds like he needs to go for sure, but the drummer may be workable. I would definitely get some IEMS. Not for them, but for you. Make sure they are noise canceling. Then l would set MY volume accordingly and let the drummer do whatever the hell he wants. I would also tell him he needs to get a plexi enclosure. After a few gigs of that snare blowing his ears out, he might settle down. I like the revolver idea too.
 
#27
I just saw a small venue bar show where the first band was a very reasonable volume with a good mix. They weren’t quiet but they weren’t pushing crazy volume with two guitars, bass, vocals, and drums. The second band was the same two guitar format and used the same drum and bass back line. They turned the guitars up a little, and the mix fell apart and the volume level crossed into just a bit too loud. The third band brought their two guitars back down and the overall sound improved.

There were some other issues with the second band, but the volume contrast between the three bands made it pretty obvious that pushing the guitars even a little over the line was detrimental.

Nothing groundbreaking here. Just adding this timely experience to the anecdote pile.
 
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#28
Sorry to hear this from you again, Dwalmz.....seems you've been having all kinds of band dramas over the last several years......drummer sounds like a rock guy that doesn't understand the fine art of finesse for variety/dance music: that comes with live play experience in those genres/venues ...... guitarist sounds like an amateur.......you may be hitting the "bassist wanted" ads in the near future but good luck regardless
 
#29
Killing Floor said:
Turn up.

Louder = Better

But not the wrong chords thing. That’s no good.
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Being capable of getting loud is a good thing. Doing that all the time is very tiring for your audience (it'll drive them away, which is never a good thing), and very hard on your hearing. It is simply not worth playing with folks like that. Move on.
 
#35
Discipline is somewhat rare among musicians and almost impossible to teach or learn.

There’s no great solution to the issue other than separation; them from you or you from them.

I’ve played in a couple really good bands with really good drummers who were too loud. Acoustic drums set the sound level on stage and everyone adjusts to that volume which is usually way too loud.

I tried three sets of noise isolating eat-buds for IEM, and ended up turning up my in ear volume way too loud just to hear what I needed over the bleed-through stage volume. I just used -33db rated earplugs until the bands ended.

The sad part about your problem is that it’s probably the most common problem full bands encounter. In the drum world, good sounding acoustic drums are usually loud, and drummers like to go caveman on their drums to achieve that sound.
 
#36
Lance Bunyon said:
IEMs would change all this. Once we stuck those earbuds in, amplifier volume was no longer an issue. Even my giant of a drummer hits softer with his hearing blocked by IEMs and an even feed coming through them.
We were friggin loud bro! Now everything has evened out.
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(FYI: 5 pcs. group. 3 members using IEM's, 2 members using floor monitors, small backline amps, BIG club size FOH system.)


A softer hitting drummer because of IEM's.....wish that was the way it was working out for the group I'm with.

Our Sound/keyboard player spends more time on setting drum stage level and drummer's IEM mix/level than anything else.
After sound check is finished, acoustic drum level/tone on stage is great.

But by the middle of the first set the drum level has more than doubled in stage volume.

It does absolutely no good to say anything, IEM wearing members say, "it sounds good to them," the two of us still connected to the open sound are trying to tell em, your to #@%& loud.

I've been working with a 210 cabinet as a stage bass monitor, I'm seriously considering going back to using the Berg 610.
 
#37
DWBass said:
Ok, I'm dealing with an extremely loud drummer and guitarist. For some reason, they can't grasp the concept of letting the PA do it's job!! Drums just slams on his snare. We play on a small stage and he gets frustrated when told to control his volume. Guitarist is just loud! Plays the wrong chords and chunks along needlessly!
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One of my favorite quotes seems to apply here:
"If you can't change the people, change the people."
 
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#39
TheArchitect said:
You need to walk. Going deaf if not a good deal and I seriously doubt any band with that kind of volume problem is going to gig much.
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Lemmy said “hold my IEMs”
1722876916427.jpeg
 
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