Rock Concerts and Volume

[jpub]

(reprinted from my blog)

Oh ye who love the rock, I beseech you...

...explain to me the need for concerts to be played so damn LOUD?

So, last night A* and I went to the local Uni's bar, where they had David Usher playing, with Crash Parallel covering.

Note: Tickets said 8PM on them. Apparently, that was the 'doors open' time, as the bloody show didn't start for an HOUR AND A HALF. *$(*@#&!!

The Crash Parallel lead singer was getting off a cold, so his voice was off. They were still good enough that I picked up their CD from the swag dude, anyway.
But to make up for the fact that his voice was off, the bloody sound guy turned up the effects and volume. And then didn't turn them down for David Usher.

I don't get it. I enjoy *music*. I like hearing it, being able to appreciate the guitar, the base, the drums, the accompanyment, and the singer. I do not
enjoy having to plug my ears to drown out a substantial amount of the meaningless, ear splitting, discordant NOISE being pumped out of the speakers because of
the insistance that I not only must hear the music, I must feel it in my cellular structure.

I wish someone would explain it to me. What's the point of having it that loud?

I swear to Fnord, next concert, I'm going to steal some of those yellow foam earplugs from work and wear them. I'll have a better time.

[Rod.H]

The audio guys that think "Hmmm, y'know what. F- the multi-channel stuff, its a DVD lark. I'll just ramp all the output to 11". Now as most
of 'em are usually either right out the back of the venue or dead middle, they just ramp the volume up so that they can hear it coming through the
headphones they all wear.

Of cause I think I've an idea to improve the concert going experience, thanks to watching a certain Discovery Channel show - and no it doesn't start
with an M & end in ter. Perhaps I could patent troll it, but I'd very much doubt the USPO would accept a lodgement from Australia.

--Rod.H

[Herr Bad Moon]

jpub wrote:

---

I wish someone would explain it to me. What's the point of having it that loud?

Um, because it's a rock concert?
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"

[robkelk]

Um, because it's a rock concert?

There's a big difference between AC/DC and BNL, but they're both "rock." Cranking it up to 11 isn't appropriate at all rock concerts.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[HoagieOfDoom]

It's partially a matter of the state of technology. The way PA systems work, a speaker cannot provide an even amount of volume to an entire room, so they
crank it to compensate so the people in the back can still have an enjoyable time at the expense of anyone unfortunate enough to be directly in front and in
close range of the speaker. Bose has a new-ish PA system that can provide equivalent volume to just about every corner of the room, but it's expensive.

Some of it's sheer laziness, like Rod H pointed out. A lot of concerts are more of a show than anything else at times; they're about that strange,
awesome synergy that arises when a band can get their crowd really into it (Symphony of the Sword is rife with
examples of this energy). Techs will sometimes get lenient/negligent with proper leveling. Granted, that's a bitch since every single concert venue has
vastly different acoustics, but still, it's their damn job. That's why sound checks exist, as well as all the fiddly knobs on the mixers and the
thousands of dollars of rack equipment.

Finally, some bands just get off on sonically assaulting their audience. Just see Manowar, the current world record holder for loudest concert at ~139 decibels (compare to the sound of a jet engine which is
140db at ~100ft).

Moral of the story: bring earplugs to every concert you go to. If the band is properly leveled, like Yes did back in the day, sweet. If not, pop in the
'plugs and enjoy the concert with %100 less hearing decay.

[Rod.H]

When I saw U2 on their recent tour, the audio for the warm-up act was mega-distaughted & the audio for the main event was just loud. In fact, the soundcheck and a quick visit the next night reveled to me that the audio sweetspot was centerline of the stage, right outside the venue (a 40,000+ seat roofed oval sporting stadium).
Muse on the other hand in a 5000+ seat auditorium was tunefully loud and bearable during attempts of overpressureing the passage ways of the inner ear. Actually it was seeing the positioning of the Bose speaker stacks - hanging from the roof - and a tech demo on a certain Discovery Channel show, which got me thinking on my idea.

--Rod.H

[jpub]

I wish someone would explain it to me. What's the point of having it that loud?

Um, because it's a rock concert?

And what part of 'rock' means 'so loud as to cause hearing damage and to be unintelligible'?

[Herr Bad Moon]

jpub wrote:

And what part of 'rock' means 'so loud as to cause hearing damage and to be unintelligible'?

Well, the cheeky answer would be to say "all of it" but I can understand annoyance at an overexuberant sound guy.  But really, it's a rock concert.  Blowing off the doors is part of the package sometimes.   It be like going to a sushi bar and being disgruntled at the number of items on the menu containing raw fish.
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"

[HoagieOfDoom]

Herr Bad Moon wrote:

---

Well, the cheeky answer would be to say "all of it" but I can understand annoyance at an overexuberant sound guy. But really, it's a rock
concert. Blowing off the doors is part of the package sometimes. It be like going to a sushi bar and being disgruntled at the number of items on the
menu containing raw fish.

Except that a large selection of delicious sushi is unlikely to cause you permanent hearing damage. I saw Iron Maiden several years back in
Boston at the Agganis Arena and let me tell you, I was pretty far away from the stage but without earplugs they were so loud the sound was peaking in my damn ears. An unpleasant feeling, to be sure.