Band volume rant. We are our own worst enemy.

[Jeremy Jones]

I have been lucky, never really have had volume issues with the bands I have played in. We do have some players in my area (mostly bass and drummers) that play way too loud. I know of one band that the local sound guys will not put the drummer and bass player in FOH because they are so loud on stage. I am not sure why these guys play so loud because they do not need to.

 

[Pings Bass]

3. looks awesome on stage.

4. Keeps the drums out of the frontline vocal mics

 

[jshinal]

One of the best guitarists I've ever played with uses a Deluxe Reverb and it's plenty loud enough for ANY gig. My rig is a tc RH450 and two RS112 cabs. To be honest it's almost too much bass rig to run with modern PA support. I've played bass since 1969 and have seen, played through and owned just about every big name bass rig out there. Ampeg, SUNN, Acoustic, Bi-amp rigs, you name it. Honestly those big dinosaurs move HUGE air but aren't needed with today's PA's.

IMO one of the many marks of a real seasoned musician is learning that volume ain't everything. IMO a true PRO can get his/her volume and style with any rig at any volume. Same with drummers. A drummer can have power along with finesse. Not easy but it can be done.

Sure, I agree with all that. As you know, especially with new forming bands they might have a vocal only PA, and then try to carry the room using onstage amps. When those are the wrong amps for the situation, we tend to see volumes that are far too loud, just because the amps sound cool that loud.

So much of the history and advertising leans to big powerful amps. I too love the small amps and have several. But people still buy SLO100s and Bogner Uberschalls and they want to crank them. It's the wrong choice for most gigs and that's all I meant to address.

Fortunately for the past 10 years or so there are lots of new amps designed to hit their sweet zone with much lower volume - thank heavens they are selling well too. Frankly I'm a heretic, and happy to get a 95% perfect solution with my pedalboard. I'm happy to say my current band isn't that loud and we have a great re-booking rate partly because of that.

 

[Tony In Philly]

I'm struggling with this problem in my current band. We play southern rock. One of our guitarists is just crushingly loud. I use earplugs religiously(Etymotic ER20) and when we are in rehearsal he is so loud that I can't hear my head voice! I've tried unsuccessfully to get him to turn down, but it doesn't seem to work. He wears earplugs but it only seems to encourage him to crank it up. I'm concerned how well my in-ear monitors will work at our upcoming gigs. He was unable to make our last rehearsal and it was so much quieter that I think it was our most productive rehearsal ever. I brought up the volume issue to the BL and the rest of the band agrees. If the BL can't get him to bring his volume under control I may have to consider leaving the band.

Have you suggested a tube amp attenuator to him? That way he can still get his sound without becoming excessively loud.

 

[lat]

if your drummer had a proper skillset you wouldn't need the screen.

yep...

and?

If it's a choice between hearing myself and protecting my ears or not, I'll choose the former. Our drummer doesn't come with a 'suck' dial, lol...

 

[newwavefrank]

My band is 100% direct. No amps at all, and electronic drums. Everything is through FOH but can be turned down. I know the bar staff appreciates it.

 

[jeffbrown]

TL;DR, BUTT I'll just give a story I may have shared in a different thread....

On one of my "day" jobs fairly recently, I worked an event where there was a DJ after the corporate folks had their say and all the awards were given out. I have an app on my phone that measures db. At the back of the (pretty large) hall, I measured repeated peaks at 109db, the AVERAGE was about 103db. Needless to say, I was striking my gear with earplugs IN. This was a young crowd, they were drunk, dancing, shouting at one another, and digging it.

Yes, I'm an old fart, but this seems to be the norm for the yutes these days. I've worked similar gigs where the MO was the same. My kids' generation will be yelling, "WHAT?" to each other before long....

And, yes, the drummer in my band tends to be too loud. I absolutely wear my 'plugs at rehearsal and gigs. I bought him a set of the Rods to use. He got the message, and is now actually trying to bring his level down. I've turned down in an attempt to get the others on board. It IS working. I did turn up, just once, hehe, and that also got their attention.

Workin' on it!

 

[TOM TERRETT]

Volume is the main concern for most venues. Remember, you are hired to entertain the crowd and keep them in the club. If you're too loud they will leave and you have not done your job, no matter how good your performance has been.

 

[Jehos]

Crossfire amps are a great solution to on-stage volume problems. Set up amps on the sides of the stage, aimed across the stage at the band rather than forward at the crowd.

Either you'll realize quickly how much you're blowing each others' heads off, or you won't but at least a lot of that isn't hitting the front line mics so the sound guy has a prayer of making you sound good.

 

[Bass Viking]

The drummer was the limiting factor so I just said, if we can't play quieter we're going to lose the gig, no ifs, ands, buts or excuses will be accepted by the club; what can you do? He now uses his electronic drum set at that club. It's much better that I let him figure out how to play quieter than if I had said, "You have to use your electronic set, or you have to use small sticks, or you have to use brushes."

Electronic drums are great but I've found that asking drummers to use them goes over about as well as suggesting they use a condom.

 

[lermgalieu]

The only true solution to this problem: https://www.sweetwater.com/custom/w...pe=p&msclkid=ad18a31d5a5d1b5a1370ff49ba8161e7

 

[mstillman]

A good drummer can control his volume.

A rare breed! If scientists could only isolate that gene and combine it with the one for keeping a constant tempo...

 

[SAlcott]

I played with a 17 piece big band in the mid-late 70s; PA support only for soloists; Fender Deluxe for guitar, and B15 for the bass. We could go from earsplitting to playing so softly you could hear the sound of the dancers' shoes on the floor. I can get a usable sound from almost any amp, a good drummer can groove (on real drums) at any volume, and any guitarist can get "my sound" with a 5 watt amp or a 100 watt stack. In 2019, there is zero excuse for being too loud.

 

[TOM TERRETT]

Crossfire amps are a great solution to on-stage volume problems. Set up amps on the sides of the stage, aimed across the stage at the band rather than forward at the crowd.

Either you'll realize quickly how much you're blowing each others' heads off, or you won't but at least a lot of that isn't hitting the front line mics so the sound guy has a prayer of making you sound good.

Jehos, that is a great way to stave off volume problems for the sound tech.

 

[BucketOfFish]

Dynamic is the key here IMHO.

Dynamics? I'm playing as loud as I can!

 

[filmtex]

Dynamics? I'm playing as loud as I can!

That's pretty funny, actually. WTG

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

A rare breed! If scientists could only isolate that gene and combine it with the one for keeping a constant tempo...

I am blessed with one who does both.

 

[JRA]

The high SPL was screwing with my ability to discern pitch.

that can happen! and it's too bad when things are that loud.

Drums have a volume floor. They can only be so quiet.

only if that is the way your music is defined. try jazz!

I feel sorry for the guys who never played with a drummer with all the energy AND the volume under control.

me too! i think it's a rock-poser thing for drummers and guitar players when they say "i have to play this loud in order to....."

Electronic drums are great but I've found that asking drummers to use them goes over about as well as suggesting they use a condom.

skip the condom: have them neutered!

 

[Chango Malo]

i think it's a rock-poser thing for drummers and guitar players when they say "i have to play this loud in order to....."

That's very true. The version I hear from bass players runs along the lines of "I have to feel the vibration through the soles of my feet/in my chest"...

On the occasion I'm actually running an amp on stage these days I try to let the bass player set their volume and then turn mine down until my low end brother says "hey can you turn up just a little?". Then I know I'm right where I need to be.

 

[DougSkinner]

Wow! I love reading these forums and hearing that I’m not just the only whack-job fringe outsider! A bunch of you are too!

Before starting to play bass for our P&W team at Church, I was the sound guy. Sometimes certain stage volumes were set so high, that I had nowhere to go, and nothing to work with for FOH. Well meaning volunteer Church members often don’t have much sway over one another. It seams the best and most (semi) professional musicians could be the worst.

It’s just good to hear other people deal with the same things!