Rant: TURN THE %$#*& VOLUME DOWN!!!!!!

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

I just returned from the store. (I ran out of cat food.) I had to park about a block away, and there was an American Legion hall between where I parked and the store. There was some sort of event going on, and a rock band was playing. I could hear them as I walked past the hall, and they sounded pretty good. Much better than the average garage band. So I walked up tho the place to get a better listen, and was met by a wall of sound that was so loud it hurt my ears. I had to leave immediately.

One of the reasons the band sounded good when I was out in the street walking past the place, was that from that distance, they were at the right volume.

There's no reason to turn up that loud. Especially in a relativley small venue like the hall. People need to learn that louder is not better.
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Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

More business for the local audiologist in a few years. The hearing aid business ought to be good.

Cal Sharp · From: the farm in Kornfield Kounty, TN

Eric Clapton avers in his autobiography that he's virtually deaf. So there ya go.

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Colm Chomicky · From: Kansas, (Prairie Village)

I am resigned to wearing musicians ear plugs, as it just tends to be too loud no matter where we play. This seems to be the norm. We played at a function this weekend with several bands. After our set I went out in the audience (with earplugs of course). The next act, the bass and drum kick where overwhelming. Sounded like carpet bombing. I walked around trying to find if there was a quieter spot somewhere, only to find out it still sounded like carpet bombing backstage. People trying to talk were just shouting in each other's ears. No sense in hanging around, my stuff was packed so I went home. Even with earplugs the level I was exposed to was potentially damaging.

Bob Blair · From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Hey Mike, I think that people have been failing to learn that lesson for as long as I've been around live music! And Lee I have already made my contribution to the hearing aid business (and by the way, these devices changed my life so much - if you are thinking that you might benefit from looking into modern digital hearing assistance devices don't walk, run to your audiologist!!)

Remember when you would get cranky when a club manager or whoever came up and said "turn it down boys"! Now it is us that are saying it, or at least wanting to.

Mark van Allen · From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA

Mike, if you read about or talk very much to studio engineers, one of the controversies of the last few years has been the "volume wars" resultant in nearly every CD release being mastered as loudly as possible to ostensibly compete with all the other loudness out there. Everybody hates it, but few can or will do anything about regaining dynamics in recorded music.

The same thing has been going on much longer in live venues, where the first caveat of the soundman seems to be to get the Kick and Bass as powerful (read loud) as possible, to give listeners the concert experience of actually feeling the low end in their bodies. While turning livers to jelly, and piling the rest of the mix in ever louder heaps on top.

Recorded or live, it's going to take some brave souls to buck the trends and get back to some dynamics. It even trickles down to the performance level. I'm very proud of the dynamics and consequent emotional movement a couple of my bands utilize... it's a pleasure to play and, I'm sure, a great listening experience.
I've been hosting a weekly band jam, and last week's 4 or 5 bands were uniformly full-out from the first note to the last. Truly difficult, and painful, to listen to. Bands and patrons seemed to love it.

I guess we can just hope for some education. And sanity. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Chris Garner · From: Alabama, USA

Colm, I agree. I strongly recommend going to an audiologist and getting fitted for musician's earplugs. Unlike the foam ones, they attenuate the volume without too much frequency loss. I even bring em' with me to concerts I attend.

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

I, too, have custom fitted musicians' earplugs. I have both -9db and -15db filters. The overall attenuation is almost flat on the -15db filters. The graph on the -9db filters isn't quite as flat-looking. The highs are attenuated a bit more than the lows. I like them both.

I wear the -9db filters to hockey and basketball games, where the powers-that-be have decided that we need ear-splitting music and sound-effects blasting at us the whole game.

Ford Cole · From: Texas

The band I regularly play bass with has the "more is better" idea when it comes to volumn, so I use those large earmuff things you see on a shooting range. Can I hear real well? No. Miss a note now and then? Sure do, but I'd miss having the ability to hear even more. Maybe someday in the dawn's early light there will be an awakening to all the damage that bs is doing.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Fortunately for me, the other 2 members of my classical music trio play acoustic instruments, and I keep the volume on my amp way down so we all play at the same level. We don't even use microphones. Our audiences hear the actual sounds that come from the instruments, without any sort of amplification. It's true that violas and cellos are louder than acoustic guitars, but even so, we never even begin to approach a fraction of the levels of volume of most electrified bands.

The low volume at which we play is one of the things I really like about the group.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin

Andy Sandoval · From: Bakersfield, California, USA

It always amazed me to walk into a small club venue and see some idiot with a full Marshall stack blastin away. "Louder is better" may work in a big stadium or arena concert but not where the small room acoustics produce nothing but distorted sounds. You'd think they'd want the sound to be tailored to the room acoustics.

Andy Greatrix · From: Edmonton Alberta

Coincidently, I'm going to Costco tomorrow to buy hearing aids. I am tired of not being able to hear, especially at the live theatre that I go to a lot.
I also have tinnitus.
If only I was smarter and more informed when I was younger, my hearing would be better today.

I don't play a lot of bars anymore, mainly seniors dances. What I really enjoy these days is song writing and playing my steel in my living room at the same volume as an un-amplified dobro. I don’t miss the bars and they don’t miss me. With my new hearing aids, I’m looking forward to acoustic jams.

Dave Grothusen · From: Scott City, Ks

In my 40 year career I have played with two guys that are legally deaf. One played lead and the other bass. Neither were what I would call country so I assume that when they got a chance the would play as loud as the could. In our country bands we tried to play softer. What I always hated was sitting off to the front side of the drummer that had cymbals next to my ear. Wow. I tried ear plugs once but could not hear the tones like I wanted. I know I have lost hearing in some ranges but fortunately can still hear quite well. Yes I have tinitis to contend with but does not bother me.

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

I played bass for years in bar bands and I know it was the cymbals, drummers oughta have their sticks taken away - hey, fingers were good enough for John Bonham. Fortunately the right's OK and I've only lost about 30% of the highs in my left ear... I just have to get my highs elsewhere. Rolling Eyes

Drew Howard · From: 48854

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