Pfftt...try enduring the teen girl fans at a Jonas Bros concert. The concert itself is the least of your worries. I'm serious. There wasn't even a warning label or anything.
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Playing live in a room
- Thread starter Slaphound
- Start date
Doesn't work that well for employees in bars and other places where music is played though. I don't think I've ever seen a bartender with earplugs, let alone ear muffs. Which is the same problem as with smoking in bars and restaurants, the staff can't protect themselves and they get subjected to the noise/smoke for way longer times than their customers.
So ... now I'm just waiting for someone to pull the "they are free to find another job" card ...
But they can protect themselves. And their employer can buy cheap ear plugs to do that.
Ok...I admit it...I am guilty! Yes, guilty!
All these years, I have strapped adults in their chairs, barred club doors to keep them from leaving, poured alcohol down their throats until they had no will to resist, then proceeded to damage their hearing with my band's loud music! Oh, the shame I feel!
But you know what.....it's not my fault! Leo Fender and Jim Marshall, they should never have built those amps that go to that volume! Yes! And those drum makers, they could have deadened those instruments so that they will not produce those awful volumes! Zildjian, too! I'm gonna sue them all!
Please.....cut me a LARGE measure of slack!
All these years, I have strapped adults in their chairs, barred club doors to keep them from leaving, poured alcohol down their throats until they had no will to resist, then proceeded to damage their hearing with my band's loud music! Oh, the shame I feel!
But you know what.....it's not my fault! Leo Fender and Jim Marshall, they should never have built those amps that go to that volume! Yes! And those drum makers, they could have deadened those instruments so that they will not produce those awful volumes! Zildjian, too! I'm gonna sue them all!
Please.....cut me a LARGE measure of slack!
You guys coming after my firearms next? They are pretty loud. I might damage hearing...
For the record, we bring plugs for anyone that wants them, free of charge. I know that maybe a random street wanderer may find themselves in the venue we are going to play. They may not have realized what they got into.
I'm not trying to kill people. I'm creating a soundscape that people that understand this music, like. When you hit a big riff and everyone feels in tune to it, there's really nothing like it. My grandparents didn't understand the Beatles, my dad didn't understand thrash, many people don't understand this. If you want to get your feet wet and try to understand where we are coming from, check out Such Hawks, Such Hounds. Get some 101 time.
I'm still waiting to here some audible evidence of what this mush sounds like. Are these mush mixes in question, coming from amateur musicians? I have not experienced it. I also haven't booked a gig where the band hasn't been able to figure out their EQ. My ears hear notes being played, probably because I protect my hearing...
For the record, we bring plugs for anyone that wants them, free of charge. I know that maybe a random street wanderer may find themselves in the venue we are going to play. They may not have realized what they got into.
I'm not trying to kill people. I'm creating a soundscape that people that understand this music, like. When you hit a big riff and everyone feels in tune to it, there's really nothing like it. My grandparents didn't understand the Beatles, my dad didn't understand thrash, many people don't understand this. If you want to get your feet wet and try to understand where we are coming from, check out Such Hawks, Such Hounds. Get some 101 time.
I'm still waiting to here some audible evidence of what this mush sounds like. Are these mush mixes in question, coming from amateur musicians? I have not experienced it. I also haven't booked a gig where the band hasn't been able to figure out their EQ. My ears hear notes being played, probably because I protect my hearing...
Every band i have ever been in the same thing.....Ouir Audience/Friends/Family ask....Why is the drummer hitting the drums soooo hard...Why is the guitar player playing soooo loud.....So i tell them the truth.They do this because they are selvish and couldnt care less about anyone but themselves.....Note; i also notice they are always the members that have no followers......Hang on im gonna grab some popcorn.
I'm in the 'reasonable volume' camp but these doom guys are right. The venues in which they perform are 'loud' venues. They are marketing 'loud.' The fans want it. The venues supply it. It's what happens there. If you go to work there it's on you to protect yourself from it if you feel the need.Doesn't work that well for employees in bars and other places where music is played though. I don't think I've ever seen a bartender with earplugs, let alone ear muffs. Which is the same problem as with smoking in bars and restaurants, the staff can't protect themselves and they get subjected to the noise/smoke for way longer times than their customers.
So ... now I'm just waiting for someone to pull the "they are free to find another job" card ...
I'm sorry, but I flatly reject the statement that "playing too loud is to cover for bad playing."
- "Too loud" is relative
- Some music is better at higher volumes
- My band plays pretty loud and we play pretty well
- When I'm playing a gig I'm not there to be ignored. If you want to have a conversation over a beer, don't go to a rock show.
- Talk about first world problems. At most of the shows I play the "sound guy" is either the guy in one of the other bands that brought the PA, or some guy that turns on the mixing board and walks away.
Levels of Noise Allowed Per Day
Read more : [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
- OSHA sets its limits on noise levels at work in terms of the amount of time that workers are allowed to be exposed to a certain level of noise per day. The noise levels are measured in decibels (dBA
) as measured by a slow response sound meter. The amount of time that workers are allowed to be exposed to that sound is measured in hours.
The basic standards are as follows:
--No more than 8 hours a day of 90 decibels, or, say, the sound of a busy urban street, a power drill, a diesel truck, or a food blender. (reference 3)..............
....................
--No more than ½ hour a day of 110 decibels, which is about the same as the noise coming from a chainsaw, a pneumatic drill, a rock concert, or an autohorn at 3 feet away. (ref 3)
--1/4 hour or less of 115 decibels, about the noise level of a jackhammer. (ref 3)
- If the level of noise to which workers are exposed is greater than what is laid out above, then employers are required to take steps to protect their workers from the dangerous effects of excessive noise exposure. OSHA calls this a "Hearing Conservation Program." (references 1, 2) It essentially involves allowing employees easy and constant access to ear protection free of charge and trainingthem in the proper use and importance of ear protection. (reference 2)
- When it becomes clear that ear damage is happening, OSHA demands that employers take immediate corrective action. This may mean an increase in the availability of hearing protection or education, and may also mean changing the form of hearing protection to better fit the employee or the noise. If none of these correctives works, then the employee must be transferred to a more quiet working environment. (references 2)
Read more : [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
How to Protect Workers
Corrective Action
- If the level of noise to which workers are exposed is greater than what is laid out above, then employers are required to take steps to protect their workers from the dangerous effects of excessive noise exposure. OSHA calls this a "Hearing Conservation Program." (references 1, 2) It essentially involves allowing employees easy and constant access to ear protection free of charge and training
them in the proper use and importance of ear protection. (reference 2)
- When it becomes clear that ear damage is happening, OSHA demands that employers take immediate corrective action. This may mean an increase in the availability of hearing protection or education
, and may also mean changing the form of hearing protection to better fit the employee or the noise. If none of these correctives works, then the employee must be transferred to a more quiet working environment. (references 2)
Read more : [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
So if it is a loud working environment the employer is required to supply hearing protection. And employees are to be educated in its use.
That's about it, yes. If you are a customer you're on your own. Some people will say 'that's wrong' and I can understand why, but it's legal in the US. So, have a pickle.
It would be like going in to a Hookah lounge and then complaining about the smoke.
Sure, but this is by no means limited to doom and similar music where you might know to expect very loud music; I've left more than one show where classic rock or even pop/r&b music was played so loud I got physically ill. It's not always the band's fault though, I know this "soundguy" we've had the misfortune to be "helped" by, who has a tendency to crank the volume and the bass more and more throughout the night until it is way too loud. We don't work with him anymore, of course, he should know better and he is endangering people's hearing.
You want to know what? I eat a few bites of pickle just about every week. Why? I do it in front of the kids. They know I dont like them, but I am willing to try it over and over again as a demonstration of not being closed minded. Who knows maybe some day my tastes will change, or I will find a specific example of pickle that I find pleasing. I want them to grow up with that same attitude, and that is worth choking down something unappetizing every once in a while.
Me too and I hate it and wish it didn't happen. But that's on management. They have the ability to control it if they desire. Unfortunately folks like you and I occasionally get surprised by a situation such as this but that's life. I might not go back there but if other people do, well, that's the market. I don't leave the house without earplugs in my pocket if I'm going to see(or participate in) live music of any kind.
What genres of music do you play?
I think that the crux of what is being debated is: What is the purpose of the show?
For a cover band, let's say, the job is to primarily keep patrons in the venue, and buying food and and/or alcohol. That is most efficiently done by playing at a volume where the patrons are comfortable and will stay in the venue and continue to imbibe. (I suppose this can be applied to any genre of cover band.)
With the S/D crowd, there isn't the primary goal of keeping as many patrons in the venue as possible. The music is original, the fan base is much smaller, and the fans aren't necessarily there to eat/drink/socialize, they're there to heard those specific bands/songs.
