General Music Chat

OMG PEG..LOL

Arguing about decibels - 1 dB increase is 10X the loudness. SPL is something different.
Why play at volumes that cause damage to your ears?
I was at a place Saturday night. The band was not-too-loud in their first set. They had been told to turn down when they started as the place is also a restaurant upstairs. The room was packed, 7 ft ceilings with loud audience. By the end of the 3rd set the volume had cranked to where it made my ears ring when I left - neccessary? Not in my mind.

Arguing about decibels - 1 dB increase is 10X the loudness. SPL is something different.
Why play at volumes that cause damage to your ears?
I was at a place Saturday night. The band was not-too-loud in their first set. They had been told to turn down when they started as the place is also a restaurant upstairs. The room was packed, 7 ft ceilings with loud audience. By the end of the 3rd set the volume had cranked to where it made my ears ring when I left - neccessary? Not in my mind.

too many people equate volume with energy. seems to be esp so for gtrsts and drummers.

a lot of drummers just can't cook unless they're really laying into it.

and gtrsts..... "man, i can't get my TONE at a lower volume".

I think your volume should respect your surroundings, If I take out some of my older equipment which does have to be loud to hit is sweet spot, then Im not being respectuful of the enviroment.

I think one thing Ive learned is to set my volume for whatever situation Im in, and use the appropriate gear to do that.

Most modern amps can be set at a reasonable volume and get great tone at a reasonable level, if you are taking a Plexi out to a coffee shop gig then you are just asking for trouble.

LOL JW is 100% correct.

I saw a guy carrying a plexi into a coffee shop not too long ago.
He saw me looking and asked if I was coming in "to hear some good music".

I just smiled and told him I didn't want to roll up any paper napkins and shove them in my ears..and he laughed. I'm guessing because he knew it was true.

"If your music is bad at low volume, then high volume isn't going to make it better". More does not equal better..but that's another lesson that's hard to teach.

Capt 25 years ago I was that guy taking big amps into small places, I guess at the time I just thought that was supposed to be what I did, I guess over time we all mature.

In my cover band we still play pretty loud, but the goal is to hear everything cleanly and clearly, not having my guitar so loud that you cant hear our singer.

The little videos Ive put up of our gigs, I was proud that even using a small camera from different angles you could still hear eveyone in the band, no real hotspots, unless you leaned down in front of one of my cabs, or our bassist.

Another thing is dynamics, the guys I play with, we seem to be so intune with each other that if I choke back on my volume they do also. Its taken years to get to this place, but it works for us.

If you need to fill a large hall with loud-ass guitar a Marshall stack is a good way to go. Jim Marshall was the king of loud and they nearly always sound best when dimed.

If huge guitar tone in your bedroom is your goal, you would be far better served with a 5w Fender Champ or tiny 50s Valco. At least these guys thought so when they recorded these epic guitar tracks:

http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/F ... d-521.aspx

too many people equate volume with energy. seems to be esp so for gtrsts and drummers.

a lot of drummers just can't cook unless they're really laying into it.

and gtrsts..... "man, i can't get my TONE at a lower volume".

LOL .. NOT this guitarist. My rig is all SS, exact same tone at vol 1 or 11.. I actually prefer "moderately low" volume.. I love a live band, but also love the idea that as a patron, I could still socialize with the band playing- I witnessed it ONCE in my life, on a cruise ship where the band (back in the 80's) was playing all 80's radio rock at a relatively low volume.. That always stuck with me.

I've been in argument after argument with bass players and drummers over it (I think you meant to say bass players really..lol), drummers insist that they can't play any lower, and bassists insist that they can't hear themselves.

I gave up on that years ago and just hike my vol up to the rest of the band. And funny.. they constantly tell me that I'm too low and to turn up!

JW you guys got it going on..and I would have never thought you were that type of ear bleeding experience. Funny how after you play long enough with people, you just know what they are doing just like you know what you are doing, even if you aren't thinking about it.

That's the best situation of all, when you don't have to guess what's going on, you just know because you've been there 1000x before with the same crew.

Keith, I know what you mean. I commonly want a lower volume than what everyone else is playing and I wear earplugs religiously. It's just odd when they walk over and start turning you up. I never pay much attention at that point, I just keep on doing what I was doing.

I can hear "me" fine. I just fail to see why the rest would want more volume.

As for the bassist? I find that some bassists have a hard time hearing some frequencies. I, myself, suffered from this. When I was playing my old standard Ibanez Roadstar II bass, there were a few times I couldn't hear the tones, even though the amp was fairly cranked.

I ended up changing basses for a Yamaha RBX 170 and it's a different story now. If anything, it seems like there is a limiter built into the bass and thus the signal doesn't really get that fat but it doesn't get lost in the shuffle either. As a result, the sound is a little easier for me to pick out and I don't have those issues anymore.

Yeah, by the last set on Saturday night, you could not have any conversation while the music was playing.
I went up to the bass player as they were breaking down (I knew the guitarist and bassist) and told him it got pretty loud and he said 'it was the drummer's fault' and the drummer said 'it was the bassist's fault' - typical rhythm section!

Capt there was a time in my area where i had the reputation of being one of the loudest guitarist around, my drummer still reminds folks of that when people tell me to turn up.

I ussually have to turn up a bit at the first of the night, In fact I like doing that, cause I think Im the person that kinda sets the mark on volume within my band anyway. Its way better to be told to turn it up than turn down.

A couple of years ago we were using a sound man, and kinda unbeknownst to me, he would gradually turn us up all night long. These days we run our own sound and by the middle of the first set we have our levels set and dont touch anything again the rest of the night.

I use a wireless, as does our singer and bassist, and during the first set I like to roam the back of the room and make sure everything is sounding right. I like to be able to go to the back of the room and talk to someone just standing there, not shouting but just talking..

So if someone wants a little more volume then sit closer to the front, if you are there to visit and talk then sit toward the back.

Funny how after you play long enough with people, you just know what they are doing just like you know what you are doing, even if you aren't thinking about it.

with me and the jazz peeps i get to play with, no one really wants to know what the others are gonna do...that'd make them boring and predictable. now, of course ya DO need to know that whatever they come up hopefully is gonna kill in a big way. ain't noBODY needs to be pulling the rug out from under.

and that's what's always lacking for me and why i never got into the "covers" thing. i'd rather try to be creative and inventive and try to come up w something that's at least a little different than what i'd played previously. and no matter how cool, and great such and such drum part is, or how integral it might be to a particular song.....i'd prefer not to hear a perfect facsimile of the original bit played every performance after performance after perfo....

scottie, i do realize you too are talking about being able to RELY on your teamates.

That's the best situation of all, when you don't have to guess what's going on, you just know because you've been there 1000x before with the same crew.

yeah, if not's guessing about each other being able to carry the freight... i'm down wif dat. other than that.....surprise me PUH-LEEEZE!

Keith, I know what you mean. I commonly want a lower volume than what everyone else is playing and I wear earplugs religiously. It's just odd when they walk over and start turning you up. I never pay much attention at that point, I just keep on doing what I was doing.

i always wanted to be able to make it work w ear plugs. yrs ago when i was working at MO School For The Deaf the audiologist made me a really nice high dollar set of molded and tuned ear plugs. had to sit w goop in my ears completely sealed off for close to 30 minutes. a very good glimpse into the world of a deaf person. anyway....i could never deal w the loss of frequencies and couldn't enjoy listening/playing/listening.

i never played any screaming loud gigs on gtr.....my gtr gigs have mostly been jazz/classical, folk type affairs. i HAVE played some very loud gigs on bass, though. and don't miss them at all.

i've been playing three weekends on, one off at a big truckstop. very large old style "ballroom" kinda place. we've got a pretty good sized PA but the only thing in there are the vcls and frontman's ac/el gtr (Gibson steel string Chet Atkins)....and just a bit of kick ( this drummer has an oak tree for a right leg/foot that he slams the kick w.....good drummer and fun to play w btw).

anyway...no bass in the PA i've got to carry the room w my little 180 watt Ashdown Blue 180. combo w a super efficient 12". i though it much too ask so i have it sitting on a lttle 2x12 homemade cab that i believe has Carvin spkrs. so i have some serious woof. i have to say i am thoroughly enjoyin playing at that volume! really FEELING it when i lay into low ones on my WASHBURN XB600.

I can hear "me" fine. I just fail to see why the rest would want more volume.

As for the bassist? I find that some bassists have a hard time hearing some frequencies. I, myself, suffered from this.

i think that's something that's common among all instruments.

the big thing and what explains it best from the way i see it.....it's all about "hierarchy"
everyone in a band hears themself at a certain PLACE in the hierarchy. and that's not to say that it's necessarily at the TOP of the food chain.

for instance, i know if i'm playin bass on a george jones country ballad, the hierarchy I'M seeing is the vcls are first, lead instrument offerering commentary/fills is a close second and then the rhythm section/rhythm bed.

but if i feel that my place in that hierarchy (on bass) isn't where i think it should be vol wise...well i'm gonna have to turn up. and then the drummer who has a his different perspective raises HIS dbs, and then......

When I was playing my old standard Ibanez Roadstar II bass, there were a few times I couldn't hear the tones, even though the amp was fairly cranked.

a buddy i used to play w has an old Roadstar (backup bass to his 73 chocolate brown JBass). very cool bass. he wasn't using it much so i talked him into pulling the frets outta it....took a little convincing.

number one thru five: he ain't a fretless player and he'd never molested a neck in that way! he did a very fine standup job and i dig the way it came out...really honky midrange tones really give it a very complex and interesting fretless tone.

I ended up changing basses for a Yamaha RBX 170 and it's a different story now. If anything, it seems like there is a limiter built into the bass and thus the signal doesn't really get that fat but it doesn't get lost in the shuffle either. As a result, the sound is a little easier for me to pick out and I don't have those issues anymore.

hmm, not hip to that bass. active?

I admit it i dont have a freakin clue... all i know is that when i turn the knobs a certain way, the sound is less painful than when i turn them a different way

S'OK, Grant. As long as it doesn't hurt when you pee.

"I tellya, I dont get no respect...no respect at all...! Why... the other day, I picked up my brief case to go to work..and the handle fell off... I tried to open the front door to leave, and the knob came off...I tell ya...I'm afraid to go to the bathroom! ..." - Rodney Dangerfield

Sorry, Grant. i couldn't resist the low hanging fruit!

Besides i take a lot of pride in being the funniest gal on BANDMIX.

And the smartest, dumbest, best dressed, worst dressed....oh, wait.

Sorry, Grant. i couldn't resist the low hanging fruit!

Besides i take a lot of pride in being the funniest gal on BANDMIX.

And the smartest, dumbest, best dressed, worst dressed....oh, wait.

I'll have to address this with my doctor...I thought we fixed my problem..(Low hanging fruit)... Damn I'm sure tired of the road rash...