General question about volume

[fenderfunker]

yes, conversations as well as listening to the sports TV is what rock shows are all about...how dare these musicians play loud rock music when people are trying to talk? We all know that if you want to talk about all these important issues, you must go to a venue where music is being played, then get insulted that you can't hear the TV or talk about your mundane life.


get over it.
if you want to talk, go outside and use your cell phone

I agree, unless I"m chatting up some hotty. I even had some bikies ask me to turn down; what's this world coming to? If you wanna talk, go to the other bar. I don't practise/rehearse and buy shirt loads of gear, then travel to a gig, just to play wallpaper/escalator/background/easy to ignore music.

 

[bill7122]

After lotsa gigs in my career, unless you are putting everything through the pa, the drummer controls the volume. Most of our gigs are at medium sized clubs and we just put the vocals through the PA. We leave it to ourselves to balance things, and with the good players we have, we hit it pretty well. A couple times we had the vocals a bit loud, but we can always adjust that. I think my key is ALWAYS have more headroom in your rig that any guitar player or drummer can match. Always at least 3x or more bass wattage than the guitar(s).

 

[NGL]

In response to the OP, I understand what you are saying. Just because I want to hear a band play doesn't mean that I might not also want to speak to the people that I'm sitting with or get home with my hearing intact. One thing I had to try to convince my guitarist about is appropriate volume for the venue. If we are playing a large hall that is set up for concerts, then the volume needs to be up--these people came for a show. But when we play bars, the volume needs to come down a bit. I'm not saying don't be heard, but not everyone came for the band. About a third to half the people that come to our shows are there because we are there. The rest are there because it's a bar and they need alcohol and a social environment. When you play too loud I believe that you kill the social factor and can leave a bad taste in people's mouths, whether you played well or not. But that's just my opinion, and I may be full of crap.

 

[Ablebasser]

I don't know much about the covers scene in Belfast but I've noticed that gigs on the originals alt/indie rock circuit are definitely not as loud as they used to be, they actually seem to be at a pretty sensible volume. They still pack a punch, but you can make out all the different parts, I've not experienced any pain from playing at or attending these gigs. At all the gigs the drums and amps etc are miked or DI-ed and sent through the PA so it essentially in the hands of the soundman. In my band the guitarist and I will set the volumes of our amps according to how loud the drums sound in a particular venue.

 

[Dale D Dilly]

I don't really understand the phenomena either.... I'll have to admit that I've heckled (and that means yelled at because I couldn't be heard otherwise) a few soundmen in my day for cranking it up to the point that I can't even hit on a woman.

I would get it with music and venues that are all about the energy, A bunch of kids beating each other up to death metal requires enough volume to push blood out of their ears. But there's no excuse for it at the bars I frequent.

I have zero live sound knowledge, and have only gotten by because I've worked with great sound guys, but even I can tell that the mix starts to fall to crap in most small venues when the overall volume goes up. You'd think if a band or sound guy didn't give a **** about the audience, they'd still care about the fact that they were ruining what would otherwise be a good sounding mix.

 

[makanudo]

I used to not care, now i regret it.

At practice im the only one wearing them, after we are done, everybody is like, "omg i cant hear a thing", but do they listen?.. =(

Anyway, i think most people think the louder the better but sometimes it is just way too much, specially for someone who likes going to festivals and standing there listening to insanely loud music for what, 6 hours straight, omg i had to improvise paper sheet earplugs at kfma fall ball!