I was told to turn it down!

[sparky77]

I was hired to provide sound reinforcement for a small town band at our fair, which the fair grounds are about a mile and a half out of town. I had my entire sound system set up because it was a very large venue, expecting loud music for over 4 acres of area. Then all of a sudden I get a call from the chief of police asking if I can the volume down a bit, he said he could understand the lyrics in his house with the windows closed, which I though was pretty cool considering he was over two miles away. So while I was on the phone with him, I turned down the volume til he was happy, and over the next 10 minutes I had over a hundred party goers complain about turning it down.... so I turned it back up again, 5 minutes later the sherriff showed up and pulled the plug, well, the sherriffs car ended up upside down. Guess it's not a good idea to mess with music lovers during a concert.

What gets me is this is the first time I've ever been told to turn down my system when playing in an outdoor venue, and I usually run a little low on volume due to insurance problems after somebody jumped the ropes around the speaker stacks one night and blew out an eardrum. I now have 6 foot high 4 rope border about 14 feet from the speaker stacks.

After the backup arrived, I was arrested for inciting a riot, which I was released after about 15 minutes because I never said anything to anybody about that could have incited the riot. Then tonight I dj'ed for the towns annual street dance, and was told by the mayor to turn it up a little bit cuz I was running a bit conservative after the incident at the fair, and right away one of the cops comes up and says to turn it down. Despite to say I nearly got arrested again, I kinda blew up in his face and told him in explicit directions where he could go for the rest of the night, and consequently he shut the dance down at 11pm, when it was supposed to run to 115am. This last situation I think was pretty rediculous when I was asked by city councel to donate my time and equipment again for the 4th year in a row, and once again, I didn't charge anything, but now, the city street dance is not gonna be a donation, or I won't be doing it again. To me it was a great waste of time to set up all the equipment for an hour and a half, and piss off 3/4's of our dinky little town of 1500 people.

What do ya'll think, $100 bucks an hour for next year?

 

[jamie2112]

I am a sound engineer and that has happened countless times as far as working for nothing. It is a thankless job we are the first ones in and the last ones out. go figure....

 

[Hi Ho]

I mainly do acoustic music which isn't terribly loud anyway but I have never had anyone ask me to turn it down (or up). I do get quite a few compliments though when running sound. There are too many soung engineers that know very little about how to run an acoustic show. I like to think I know what I'm doing.

 

[sparky77]

I don't get to do much sound work for acoustic groups, and when I do, it's usually polka/waltz bands, and they just rent the little idiot proof system they can set up themselves.

 

[Alex2507]

And let that be a lesson to ya! Working for free.... Not only does that get you not paid, it also gets somebody else not paid.

$100/hr sounds reasonable. There's your time to consider and I'm sure you equipment cost a pretty penny.

Doing something for free for 1 person is beautiful. With 1,500 people I think they should all give you $1. If they won't do that, they don't deserve the thing they want: music. Maybe they just wanted to see you go to jail.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I think the sheriff learned his listen too. Do not mess with hippies and their music.

 

[Haoleb]

sounds to me like your police departments a bunch of communists. Good thing the guys car was flipped though You give people a sense of power over you and they thrive off of it.

 

[Adam]

What do ya'll think, $100 bucks an hour for next year?

Be sure to also charge them for setting up and tearing down, especially if they shut you down early again!

Did the mayor talk to the cops? After all, it was the mayor's idea to turn the volume up the second night.

 

[rnatalli]

We're Audioholics. We'll lose our hearing; we'll go to jail; we'll spend money we don't have; we'll turn cars upside down; and we'll get divorced over audio. We'll be dammed if someone who simply complains and calls the cops will stop us

 

[Joe Schmoe]

"Loud music is a $40 fine
down in Amarillo Texas
on the Rock Island line"

-Rev Horton Heat

 

[10010011]

I would go to the next city counsel meeting and tell them exactly what happened and how you feel about it. Tell them you will require to see whatever permits or permissions required before you take the job so it doesn't happen again or they will have to find another service provider next year.

Also remind them you were doing the for free too.

 

[sparky77]

Yes, I am planning on going to the next city counsel meeting to discuss the issue, not sure how it's gonna turn out when the youngest person on our counsel is is in his 60's, but its worth a try.

 

[jamie2112]

Yes, I am planning on going to the next city counsel meeting to discuss the issue, not sure how it's gonna turn out when the youngest person on our counsel is is in his 60's, but its worth a try.

Yeah I think you are fighting a losing battle there Sparky.......

 

[fredk]

and we'll get divorced over audio.

Oh oh! I did it wrong. Divorce first then great audio gear.

 

[fredk]

I wouldn't sweat this years mess too much. Whats done is done.

If you do this next year, paid or no, I would arrange for the mayor and a representative of the police to be there at the beginning of the dance to agree on acceptable volumes. If there is dissagreement, you're not stuck in the middle.

 

[haraldo]

Wouldn't it be possible to get some kind of dB figures with these permits, so that these things are quantifiable, so that you don't have to go through all of these turrn it up / turn it down excersises.....

-H