Quote:
Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby
A lawnmower is around 90db. The average rock concert is around 120db. If it was truly 95db (+/- 5) then it was reasonable to expect for an ABBA tribute concert.
If it was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, it'd be considered low-volume. If it was a Who concert they'd have been booed off the stage and the sound engineer hunted down and shot.
Peoples' hearing changes over the years. Often, the sharper high-pitched sounds become more annoying, while low bass tones can reverberate uncomfortably. The two extremes can be just as difficult to bear as fingernails on a chalkboard, versus someone pounding a padded drumstick on your chest over and over again.
My suggestion: next time you go to an indoor concert, bring disposable earplugs, like the kind they used to give away on airplanes. You'll still hear the music - ALL the music - but it'll be at a more manageable level for your personal needs.
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I play a mandolin that hits 95 decibels at times without extra amplification. This concert must have been much louder. I avoid going to loud concerts because my hearing sort of gets paralyzed, and then I feel like I’m listening underwater. Very unpleasant. I have special earplugs, but it’s not the same. I went to the Rolling Stone tribute a few weeks ago at Savannah and had to use the earplugs, but it was like listening from down the hall. The evening entertainment at the squares is usually loud, but not as loud as the Original Poster is complaining about. It sounds to me like the volume was way louder than usual, and of course it was a paid concert, not a free one, and indoors. At big rock concerts, as in dance clubs, the idea is not just to hear the music, but to feel it in your chest. This gets people excited and dancing. It literally moves them. But I don’t want to be moved that way. I want to hear the music. Was the sound guy trying to recreate that feeling? Probably. Sound guys should pay attention to audience complaints. There should also be a standard of volume for performances here. Perhaps there is. Does anyone know?
Meanwhile, there are free Decibel Meter apps available from the Apple App Store. Put one on your phone, then test the volume at concerts and see what the peak seems to be. Then, you’ll be in a position to tell a sound guy, “Most bands limit themselves to 107 decibels max, but you are at 125. You are going to drive away your audience, and your band won’t be asked back.”