"Is It Me???????"

[64Guitars]

Youngsters including me when I was young do tend to like it loud though, I suppose it's the nature of kids to rock out and play it loud but not 60 year olds, unless your Lemmy.

Isn't that strange. You'd think it would be the other way around. As we get older, our hearing deteriorates. So you'd think that older people would want the music louder so they can hear it properly and the youngsters would be complaining that it's too loud. How many of us have had elderly relatives who always had the television blaring at a ridiculous volume and the younger people were always wanting them to turn it down? I wonder why it's the opposite for concerts. Weird.

[Blooby]

Youngsters including me when I was young do tend to like it loud though, I suppose it's the nature of kids to rock out and play it loud but not 60 year olds, unless your Lemmy.

Isn't that strange. You'd think it would be the other way around. As we get older, our hearing deteriorates. So you'd think that older people would want the music louder so they can hear it properly and the youngsters would be complaining that it's too loud. How many of us have had elderly relatives who always had the television blaring at a ridiculous volume and the younger people were always wanting them to turn it down? I wonder why it's the opposite for concerts. Weird.

I think in my younger days, concert-going was more a visceral experience. If anything these days, I'm too analytical at shows and don't let go enough.

Blooby

[Farrell Jackson]

The last concert I went too was Dwight Yokum. For those that aren't familiar with Dwight, he plays that Bakersfield country sound of Buck Owens or Merl Haggard but adds some rock flavor to it. I expected a good sound in the 1500 seat auditorium because I've caught other bands there and the acoustics are great. Well this was the loudest country band I have ever heard. I don't like it when the vocals are pushed above the music to the point of distortion and become ear piercing. I stayed through the entire two sets because I brought ear plugs with me that I didn't expect to wear...they came in handy. I think if the band heard the out front sound they would make the volume changes down but they rely on their engineers to make those decisions. From my experience of playing in a top 40 group for many years, we never thought we were loud but we always got requests to turn it down unless we were outside. I don't think it's just you bazz....the loudness bothers me more now than it used to.

Farrell

[IanR]

How many of us have had elderly relatives who always had the television blaring at a ridiculous volume and the younger people were always wanting them to turn it down?

My 85 year old mother-in-law does this.  She can't hear the phone when her telly is on and gives my missus heck for not ringing her often enough.  It is unbearable when we (have to) visit because her telly and her heater is always on max.  It's like being tortured.

Ian

[bazz-t-bass]

Hi Guys n Gals .....many thanx for sharing your experiences.

Its reassuring to know its not just me.......... guess being on the sound desk of a monstrously powerful PA rig is a bit like owning a Ferrari. .......Not much fun if you cant show off and give it some stick.

When I play live, we get up to what we think is a good level, then I get everybody to back off a tad. The result is almost invariably a cleaner, better defined sound which loses none of the impact.

Now where did I leave me hearing aid...........EH!..........speak up

Bazz

[Ferryman]

It's nothing new. I saw Uriah Heep at the Colston Hall in 75 or 76 and I was sat in the very back row as I got tickets at the last minute. It was painfully loud, whenever Hensley played an organ run it was like having sandpaper rubbed on your brain. They were carrying people out who were overcome by the noise. Most places are much more sensitive to noise due to H&S these days, they usually have dB meters to check the volume

Why do you think I now have to wear hearing aids......? Too much loud music with no ear protection.

[Flash Harry]

I was sound engineering a gig earlier in the summer, quite a decent sized venue and full of people getting boozed up and having a thoroughly good time.

I have to admit I was pushing it, tweaking out the feeback that was creeping in as I gave it more and more. I had the PA turned almost all the way up, it was so loud that at the mixing desk 30 feet from the stage I couldn't hear myself singing along. But it was well received by the punters, no one complained that it was too loud, I was well impressed with the PA, I'd never pushed it that far before.

I like loud.

Last night I was playing in a local pub with my physical band, I tried out a new (for me) PA which I can get into my car, just with the seats down, it was great, and loud again -  but not too loud. My ears are ringing today though.

Loud is good, as log as it is below the pain threshold.

[64Guitars]

I like loud.

I like when I'm loud but not when everyone else is loud. Just kidding (sort of).   I remember many years ago when I was playing in a band that we'd always start out at a reasonable level. But then, one by one, each band member would turn himself up a bit so he could hear what he was doing. Of course, then the rest of the band members couldn't hear what they were doing so they'd turn up too. This cycle eventually ended when we were all playing at maximum volume (and still couldn't hear ourselves above the rest). This was in the days before in-ear monitoring and personal mixing which allows each player to control his own personal mix.

[Mike_S]

I can't, and never did make a connection with "Loud" being "Good". I never understood it to be honest. Good music needs to be a certain volume to move you but after that it always seemed a bit juvenile to me people saying things like "Did you see ***** last night, yeah they were really loud, brilliant, etc"

[Farrell Jackson]

I like loud.

But then, one by one, each band member would turn himself up a bit so he could hear what he was doing. Of course, then the rest of the band members couldn't hear what they were doing so they'd turn up too.

I've was caught in that stage volume cycle for years 64. Just as you mentioned, all it took was one person to increase the volume and the war was on. When I was younger all the bands I played with had 100 watt plus amplifiers, including me. After a few years it seemed everyone went to the the 50 watt amps. Then the 25 watt amps. When I retired from gigging with a band I was playing a 15 watt x 10" Fender Pro Jr. and at times that was still too loud, lol. 15 RMS watts will put out a lot of sound but unlike a 100 watt amp they stay at a bearable volume when pushed , unless you mic them up.

Farrell