Live Music Headaches

[Beegowl]

I love music. Listening to music and tinkering with my audio system to reproduce the best possible sound gives me a great deal of pleasure. Listening to live music gives me a great deal of joy, as well. But, and here's my beef: in venues, small venues where you can be up close and personal with an artist, the sound guy amplifies the music so much that it actually causes pain. The last time I went to see Tommy Castro at the Saxon Pub in Austin, Tx, I had to take sonic earplugs the sound was so loud. Same thing at the Continental Club. And I caught Los Lobos at Gruene Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas, and the sound system was so loud that it distorted the music until it was unlistenable. What's up with that? Jeez. I'm gonna save my $30, buy the CD and listen to the music at home.

 

[WmAx]

I love music. Listening to music and tinkering with my audio system to reproduce the best possible sound gives me a great deal of pleasure. Listening to live music gives me a great deal of joy, as well. But, and here's my beef: in venues, small venues where you can be up close and personal with an artist, the sound guy amplifies the music so much that it actually causes pain. The last time I went to see Tommy Castro at the Saxon Pub in Austin, Tx, I had to take sonic earplugs the sound was so loud. Same thing at the Continental Club. And I caught Los Lobos at Gruene Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas, and the sound system was so loud that it distorted the music until it was unlistenable. What's up with that? Jeez. I'm gonna save my $30, buy the CD and listen to the music at home.

Yep. I won't even go to amplified music concerts at this point. Besides the rediculous SPLs, I have never enjoyed the sound quality from the sound systems used. But I probably have irational expectations....

-Chris

 

[markw]

... But I probably have irational expectations...

I don't think so. If you do, so do I. A lot has to do with what type of music one goes to see.

I grew up in the late 60's/early 70's and concert venues were realistic sizes, such as the Fillmore East, Capitol Theatre and Asbury Park's Convention Hall. The first two were basically converted movie theaters.

The sound in these was fairly well engineered and dida pretty good job of covering the hall. Not bad for the primitive sound systems. All right, it could get a little racus at times (Bonnie & Delaney @ APCH come to mind) but on the whole they did a pretty good job.

Then, the groups started getting greedier, the venues got bigger and, before you knew it, we had stadium rock to deal with. Lotsa watts. Lotsa speakers. Lotsa noise. ...and look, there's somebody on the stage. Who is is? Pass me the binoculars.

This is just about when I gave up these types of concerts and I was outgrowing this music anyway.

I started doing the jazz and classical scene. Here, and in NY, there are a myriad of small, intimate jazz clubs that use minimal amplification and the classical scene can be had in converted movie theatres. There, only one mic is amplified and that's for the MC to announce whatever it is he needs to announce.

Rock? Yeah, you can still go to a few clubs anf get instant tinnitus but, if one chooses that type of music, that's one of the occupational hazards. Buy earplugs. The speakers up front have to play loud enough for the peoiple in the cheap seats.

If good sound is what you want, then he's right. He should simply buy the CD 'cause the concert ain't gonna sound like anything you expect.

See ya @ The Count BAsie Theatre in Red Bank or the Irridium in NYC...

 

[Rob Babcock]

The last amplified concert I saw was very interesting: it was Queensryche playing in The Great Hall of the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls. For those of you who don't know (ie everyone who didn't read about it in Stereophile) the Great Hall is a magnificent venue, created in the shell of an old high school. Fantastic acoustics, a marvelous place to see a show. At any rate, you know how we always talking about "hearing into a recording" on a good stereo? Well, this is the first rock show I'd ever seen where you could "hear into the show," including every little nuance of the sound system. You could clearly hear all the effects, the compression, distortions in the PA. That is to say, things normally obscured by the venue itself were quite clear. It's the first time I've ever heard rock played in a world-class hall.

But about 5 years ago I got just the opposite- the 2nd time I saw April Wine in a local club, the music was so loud I literally couldn't bear it. I had to go downstairs to the lower tier bar to finish the show. It was hard to tell whether the ear splitting distortion was mostly in the sound system or mostly my ears "clipping." As they weren't nearly so loud the first time I didn't think to bring ear plugs (as I normally have for the last 10-12 years to concerts). Too bad, too. They put on a fantastic show.

 

[zipper]

The last concert I saw was John Mellancamp at the Gorge in eastern WA.Great outdoor venue.Have seen many shows there.JCM was good & not too loud but it helps being outdoors too.Saw Peter Frampton,REO,& Foreigner there a few years back & it was great.
In about a month I'm taking my 16YO daughter to an indoor venue to see Tesla,Keith Emerson ,& the Scorpions.The place seats about 8,000 & I can only imagine the headache I'm gonna get.I'm glad she likes the older bands from my era & not the crap being produced today(not ALL of todays stuff is bad).

I've never worn,or even thought of wearing,earplugs to a concert,but something tells me it would be a good idea in this case.I'm officially old.

 

[Dan]

I saw George Thorogood at a small bar in Ann Arbor about 22 years ago. I have a slight tinnitus (ringing) that I can hear every night when it's quiet ever since. Now that I can afford a good system I can't hear it all. Figures. So what is my solution. Turn it up even louder!

 

[Beegowl]

Maybe I Should quit Supporting Live Music

Naw.

It's just that...Darn! Wanted to see the Subdudes live. Enjoy their music a lot. Went to see them in a small dance hall with about 400 people. The Subdudes were great. The sound was so bad that I had to leave after an hour. What's with these sound guys? They must have all damaged their hearing beyond repair so they just crank the sound up to distortion and think it sounds okay. It just ruined the experience.

Markw has the best idea. Go to small jazz clubs and converted movie theatres where they engineer the sound correctly, or at least attempt to do so.

Ah, I'm just getting old and cranky.

 

[FLZapped]

I love music. Listening to music and tinkering with my audio system to reproduce the best possible sound gives me a great deal of pleasure. Listening to live music gives me a great deal of joy, as well. But, and here's my beef: in venues, small venues where you can be up close and personal with an artist, the sound guy amplifies the music so much that it actually causes pain. The last time I went to see Tommy Castro at the Saxon Pub in Austin, Tx, I had to take sonic earplugs the sound was so loud. Same thing at the Continental Club. And I caught Los Lobos at Gruene Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas, and the sound system was so loud that it distorted the music until it was unlistenable. What's up with that? Jeez. I'm gonna save my $30, buy the CD and listen to the music at home.

I think at times you'll also find that some of those guys don't understand what the EQ is for and set it for the infamous smiley-face.

-Bruce

 

[Leprkon]

I guess the main problem with concerts these days is the band and set-up crews are all wearing ear-plugs, even when they do their sound checks. As a result, HELLO BAYBEEEE !!!!

Add to that the uni-sound arenas where the bands plug into an existing sound system which is tuned for who-knows-what, rather than bringing their own stuff. Imagine a Billy Joel / Elton John concert where all you hear is bass, not piano.... That's the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.

 

[FLZapped]

I guess the main problem with concerts these days is the band and set-up crews are all wearing ear-plugs, even when they do their sound checks. As a result, HELLO BAYBEEEE !!!!

Earplugs are a good idea. There are special plugs that have a pretty flat response to them.

Add to that the uni-sound arenas where the bands plug into an existing sound system which is tuned for who-knows-what, rather than bringing their own stuff. Imagine a Billy Joel / Elton John concert where all you hear is bass, not piano.... That's the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.

I went to that concert when it was here. It was held in a football stadium. What a disaster. Too many people milling around and as the night wore on the sound guy got hearing fatigue and kept cranking on the highs......it was a horrible experience. I would have rather stood behind a jet on a tarmac.

I've since only attended indoor concerts with MUCH smaller crowds.

-Bruce

 

[outsider]

the Gorge in eastern WA.Great outdoor venue.

that's my favorite venue. Unfortunately I haven't been out there in a couple years. The last time was for Area 2, the festival tour put on by Moby. I went just to see David Bowie though.

As for dealing with the ridiculous SPL at live shows, I always use ear plugs.