Theatre BAND too LOUD?

[majortom10]

2 minutes ago, joro44 said:

May I suggest that MAJORTOM10 tries my experiment mentioned several days ago, in order to rate his hearing.

Sorry to disappoint but my hearing is 100% perfect but thanks for your concern.

 

[joro44]

Majortom10, is the 100% based upon  a hearing test or your subjective assessment?

[majortom10]

47 minutes ago, joro44 said:

Majortom10, is the 100% based upon  a hearing test or your subjective assessment?

My medical well being is a private matter is no concern of yours.

[jeanlyon]

I have just been to see Calendar Girls, the musical in the theatre in Plymouth.  It was fantastic - you could hear every word and it wasn't too loud at all.

 

The really good Headliners show on Aurora last April was superb, again very clear and perfect volume.  Went in for another show 2 days later, can't remember the name of the act.  It was absolutely deafening to the point that I watched 15 minutes with my fingers in my ears and then we left.

 

We also went to the Headliners again for a different show.  Same problem.  Volume was absolutely deafening.  So it really does depend on who is operating the volume.

[ptf2009]

I just don't understand why the volume has to be so loud! I feel like the sound managers think we are hard of hearing.  I am 60 with excellent hearing (maybe too excellent since the volume bothers my ears and head so much). The sad part is that people can lose their hearing if they are subject to such a high volume. 

Hint: have kleenex, a napkin or ear plugs with you. It really does help you to enjoy the show .

Happy cruising everyone!

38 days until our next cruise!!!

[joro44]

ptf2009, might it not be that the audio technicians who 'live' with the very loud sound for months on end, have suffered the very damage to their hearing you mention? So, in order to hear the 'music'  they have to crank up the volume.

[kruzseeka]

7 minutes ago, joro44 said:

ptf2009, might it not be that the audio technicians who 'live' with the very loud sound for months on end, have suffered the very damage to their hearing you mention? So, in order to hear the 'music'  they have to crank up the volume.

 

A very good point!  What amazes me is that they don't have some guide lines in terms of dB levels which are appropriate and not damaging to hearing.  Equipment to monitor the levels would ensure some quantitative measure of volume rather than subjective, individual opinions.  

[jeanlyon]

Absolutely agree and when I hear cars going past in our village with music that would wake the dead, so I dread to think what it is doing to the people in the car, I can only guess that their ears are already damaged, like the young sound engineers.

[Presto2]

Having read this thread I can't help but thinking of Madame Edith from Allo Allo. Anyone of a similar age will remember every ordering cheese to put in their ears when she sang. I don't think I'll ever be able to go in to the theatre now without looking for people with tufts of white tissue, ear plugs or a nice bit of stilton popping out of their ears !!!

[joro44]

The whole issue of volume in the theatre is a mixture of musical taste, hearing acuity, P&O's fleet production management,and a ship's audio technician.

Over the past 26years of cruising I have spoken to a number of technicians, solo artists, and production managers across five cruise lines. Always with the general complaint that the audio balance between the band and the artist was incorrect. This can be confirmed by buying an artist's CD, where the balance is correct. A major problem is the insistence that the soloist uses the percussionist and brass instrumentalists even when unsuitable to the item being sung. Compare the times when there is only a keyboard a complement. The young soloists I have spoken to feel too insecure to insist on their choice of sound level for fear of not being contracted again. Compare this with an Italian tenor acquaintance we had, who insisted in setting his own sound levels and usually sang one aria/song without amplification, that filled the theatre to show how it could be done. This on Cunard and RCI.

Regarding production shows, the backing music is normally pre-recorded and the sound  levels set by the shore side production team. I am told that changes in levels can only be made by reference back to the shore side management. For an example, our last cruise had the first staging of a new show on the ship. Production management were aboard and when I spoke to the technician he agreed that levels were incorrect and said that they were being adjusted for the second show. I did not stay up to listen.

Conclusions, complain to fleet production management for shows and ship's production management for other performances.

Incidently, have you noticed the transparent, acoustic screen now in place in front of the percussionist, to protect the others on stage? A Health and Safety measure.

 

[jeanlyon]

yes I've always noticed it. 

[pr0t]

The screen in front of the drums is there to stop them bleeding into the vocal mics. It has nothing to do with Health and Safety. You will sometimes notice a circular screen around the sax or trumpet players microphone, this serves the same purpose. 

 

http://www.drumscreens.co.uk/drumscreens

 

Mixing live audio is all about compromise. There's a punter at every gig who can mix it better that the sound guy. For every punter that tells you that it's too loud, there's another who wants it louder. It's impossible to please everyone. One solution is to use a 'DFA' knob on the sound desk. You twiddle it according to the punters request and they usually go away happy. It's called DFA because it's not actually connected to anything. I'll leave you to ponder the acronym 😉

 

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by pr0t
addition

[P-L-B]

42 minutes ago, pr0t said:

The screen in front of the drums is there to stop them bleeding into the vocal mics. It has nothing to do with Health and Safety. You will sometimes notice a circular screen around the sax or trumpet players microphone, this serves the same purpose. 

 

http://www.drumscreens.co.uk/drumscreens

 

Mixing live audio is all about compromise. There's a punter at every gig who can mix it better that the sound guy. For every punter that tells you that it's too loud, there's another who wants it louder. It's impossible to please everyone. One solution is to use a 'DFA' knob on the sound desk. You twiddle it according to the punters request and they usually go away happy. It's called DFA because it's not actually connected to anything. I'll leave you to ponder the acronym 😉

 

 

 

 

Yes, I am aware of the DFA knob.😂😂

The Who, a classic band, I dare anyone to ask them to turn their music down at one of their gigs.