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How loud do you play?


Telecruiser

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I know in restaurants and eating areas they like it a little quiter during the dinner times. But as a solo/duo act, how loud do you play?

 

Simple answer: as loud as that venue requires.

 

Good rule of thumb: When in doubt, start at a lower volume...management tends to ask for more volume with a smile, but less volume with a frown. :idea:

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For restaurant gigs, I play low to moderate. I try to watch people and make sure they can comfortably talk at their tables.

 

Recently, I had a restaurant tell me they recently canned a local player because he was always too loud and acted like a dick when asked to turn down.

 

Getting asked to turn it down is never a good thing.

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My amps go to eleven! Seriously, the way I put it is - I try to keep the volume where people can talk comfortably, but loud enough so they can feel the music. If the venue usually hires bands, I know I have to play louder, much louder.

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i'm in a catch 22 here in sw florida. the real old people usually get to sit closest to the music, then complain. i'll tell you, i'm no ways near loud. when i can hear tables conversations clearly above my music, i'm not too loud. when i lived in ohio and played the classic rock clubs, i had a sign "if i'm too loud, you're too old".

now that i'm down here playing for a much older crowd and they sit right on top of me and complain they cant talk, i go to my bag and pull out a few cotton balls and put them on the center of their table and say "that will take care of that".

management came up to me and said the table up front cant talk and could you turn down a tad, i said why are they sitting up front when there are empty tables further back.

i've even made the comment before starting...." if you want to talk and like the music down low, please sit in the back and leave room for the people that enjoy music to sit up front. thank you!"

 

its common sense and once you mention it, they all seem to understand. easy rule is.. ."dont sit people with hearing aids and grey hair 10 ft from the speakers"

 

i dont have these issues in places i play regularly. they know how to seat people now. but the new venues are a different story. i usually talk to the hostess to ask the people if they like the music or want to be where its quiet. the people that come out to see me like to sit up front. i hate when they have to sit in the back and have complainers up from.

 

rant over :)

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i'm in a catch 22 here in sw florida. the real old people usually get to sit closest to the music, then complain. i'll tell you, i'm no ways near loud. when i can hear tables conversations clearly above my music, i'm not too loud. when i lived in ohio and played the classic rock clubs, i had a sign "if i'm too loud, you're too old".

now that i'm down here playing for a much older crowd and they sit right on top of me and complain they cant talk, i go to my bag and pull out a few cotton balls and put them on the center of their table and say "that will take care of that".

management came up to me and said the table up front cant talk and could you turn down a tad, i said why are they sitting up front when there are empty tables further back.

i've even made the comment before starting...." if you want to talk and like the music down low, please sit in the back and leave room for the people that enjoy music to sit up front. thank you!"


its common sense and once you mention it, they all seem to understand. easy rule is.. ."dont sit people with hearing aids and grey hair 10 ft from the speakers"


i dont have these issues in places i play regularly. they know how to seat people now. but the new venues are a different story. i usually talk to the hostess to ask the people if they like the music or want to be where its quiet. the people that come out to see me like to sit up front. i hate when they have to sit in the back and have complainers up from.


rant over
:)

 

Ya why old people gotta sit next to the speakers when it's a huge ballroom, I'll never figure that out.

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I've noticed that a lot of hearing aids are maximized to enhance mids (vocal frequencies) so when you get a person with a hearing aid turned up that is getting a lot of guitar and vocals through an amp, they have problems. I've played in several places where the ones complaining about the level were the people wearing hearing aids.

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Simple answer: as loud as that venue requires.


Good rule of thumb: When in doubt, start at a lower volume...management tends to ask for more volume with a smile, but less volume with a frown.
:idea:

 

Couldn't have said it better.

 

We play one yacht club were we start at 65dba on the dance floor and barely audible at the back of the room. When dinner is over we crank it up to about 80dba. We play another fairly regular venue where 100-110dba on the dance floor is required.

 

How loud do we play? As soft or as loud as the audience seems to require unless the person who hires us has his/her own opinion. The entertainment purchaser's choice rules over the audience.

 

Leilani and I have been doing this for years. Our yacht/country club business has always been supplemented by retirement condominiums. Back in the 80s and 90s when most of the audience were from the big band era, there was always the "turn it down" designated complainer. It didn't matter how loud or soft you were, you got the complaint.

 

So I would do the sound check, put the levels where I thought was proper, and then turn the PA up a notch. When the designated complainer came up, I'd say, "It's too loud? Oh I'm sorry. Let me turn it down for you." I'd be sure to let them see me turn it down if possible.

 

The designated complainer goes back to his/her seat happy, and I've turned the PA to the place I wanted it to be in the first place.

 

Now that the baby-boomers, (the rock and roll generation) are the condo people, we don't get that anymore, so I start where I want it, and crank it up a bit as they drink more alcohol. Works well.

 

Nothing in music works in every situation. Even different nights in the same place are different. Song selection, volume, patter or lack of patter on the mic, and the audience response can vary greatly. Doing the same thing every night and not paying attention to the needs of your audience is a recipe for disaster.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ?

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We tend to start quietly and turn up as people come in - more bodies and rooms tend to eat more sound. Quiet with a small number of people is too quiet for a decent number.

 

Audience age plays a factor too. Younger + alcohol = very loud talking so to maintain volume we play louder. Older + alcohol = somewhat louder so we are usually ok.

 

We end up staying at the highest volume we got pushed to during the night, i.e., at the end of the night we're too loud, but then everyone's gone so who cares...

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