When it's too loud.....

[Jamin Lynch]

Re: When it's too loud.....Trading places

When you get the often heard, ''It's too loud.'' complaint, what do you turn down? Masters or channel faders or something else?

You can tell them ''Would you mind trading places with the gentleman over there who says it not loud enough'' That way everybody is happy

Let me get off the floor.

 

[brian maddox]

Re: When it's too loud.....Trading places

When you get the often heard, ''It's too loud.'' complaint, what do you turn down? Masters or channel faders or something else?

You can tell them ''Would you mind trading places with the gentleman over there who says it not loud enough'' That way everybody is happy

or my favorite response... 'perhaps you should go to where the loud isn't...'

 

[Jay Barracato]

Re: When it's too loud.....Trading places

When you get the often heard, ''It's too loud.'' complaint, what do you turn down? Masters or channel faders or something else?

You can tell them ''Would you mind trading places with the gentleman over there who says it not loud enough'' That way everybody is happy

You tell them '' I seem to have the option of brighter or dimmer on this board or I can change the colors''

 

[Jeff Babcock]

Re: When it's too loud.....

The music favored by the complainer was fine - anything else was too loud

Not only can it be a problem of musical style preference, but also at events where the ''talent'' may be questionable. An out of tune guitar or similar things can tweak the ears of listeners in an unwanted way, and sometimes ''it's too loud'' is the way they will try to explain the issue, not knowing what the real source of their frustration with what they are hearing is.

Fortunately I have not heard this complaint very often. I try to remind myself that you can't please everyone, and you'll make yourself crazy if you try.

 

[Vinny D'Agostino]

Re: When it's too loud.....

I used to work in a club where no matter what was done, it was too loud.

My last time I worked there the manager/owner came over midway through the first song and started the crying game ''it's too loud''. All I had in my mix was vocals and guitar (because the guitarist ran direct, no stage amplifier).

I asked him what was too loud, he said the drums.
I replied that I did not even have the drums mic'd.
He continued to cry that I needed to fix it.
I did....I turned my equipment off and packed everything up.
Backed my truck up to the front door and loaded everything out!

I have never, and will never work in that venue again.
Sometimes it is just a losing battle, and sometimes you are just better off going out to dinner with your girlfriend ~:-D~:grin:

 

[Dick Rees]

Re: When it's too loud.....

Vinny....



Short of jamming a pair of chopsticks into his ears I think you found the proper solution.

 

[Robert Burns]

Re: When it's too loud.....

Not only can it be a problem of musical style preference, but also at events where the ''talent'' may be questionable...

In the case I mentioned: it is representative of small town fair settings with mixed talent that a sound provider has to contend with.
Usually with very little mike skills and sometimes badly recorded accompaniment ( groan ).

Since there are different areas of consideration and perspectives on SPL levels; this article has significance for live music venues with employees:
http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/jan09/articles/noiseatwork.htm

 

[AdRock]

Re: When it's too loud.....

I keep it loud enough that I can't hear the complants.

But seriously, for me the stage volume determines the pa volume. If the stage volume is so loud that you can't get a listenable mix without the pa turned up too loud..... well, if the person complaining is the person paying you then you inform them that it's the band, not you that is too loud.

There have been times where instead of pulling the volume down I tweaked the FOH eq a little and cut a little bit of the frequencies that can be harsh to the ears.

 

[brian maddox]

Re: When it's too loud.....

this doesn't directly answer the OP's question. but i had to share... [ 'thanks for sharing brian. please come back...' ]

often when it comes to volume, we are placed in situations that we can't possibly win. i recall a large-fancy-black tie-big ballroom-fundraiser that the company i worked for was asked to provide for. they decided on 'tex-mex' as their theme and decided that the entertainment would be los lobos. great band, but anyone who has ever been near their show knows that they have [had? not heard them in a while] a stage volume that would melt your face. the client was informed multiple times that this was not a good idea. super loud band + gray haired rich people in tuxes = bad night for all. but they insisted.

so day of gig comes. all goes well through talking heads etc. then the band hits the stage. within the first 5 seconds the party planner [our boss] was at my side telling me to turn it down. which i did. 15 seconds later she's back. well, all i had in the pa was vocals anyway, so i turned them down to barely audible. 15 seconds later she was at my side again yelling at me to 'turn it down!'. at that point i slid the master to 0 and pointed out to her that i had 'no more down left', and that it was the band at that point. she told me to make the band turn down. i replied respectfully [as respectfully as one can given that i was yelling in her ear] that the band didn't work for me, they worked for her. anyway, she stormed off to 'negotiate' with the band, and within 10 minutes the room had emptied out and the band finished their contracted set [with no volume change] to about 15 people and the crew.

the party planner later [like the next week later] apologized and admitted she should have listened to us to begin with. at any rate, sometimes, you really can't win.

this concludes show story 9.3.1 [build 7]. please carry on with your day.

brian

 

[Brandon Blakeney]

Re: When it's too loud.....

The truth is that it will always be "TOO LOUD" as well as "NOT LOUD ENOUGH" at the same time!!

People in the audience will have different perspectives about what they deem "loud"

I think the main thing to remember is to go with the opinion of:
A. The person that hired you
B. Manager/tech of the act you are providing for...

There will always be that disgruntled audience member that wishes to interrupt your train of thought to present his grievance. Turn smile and say, "I agree it does sound good" then turn back around and act like thats all you heard.

 

[Stuart Høgg]

Re: When it's too loud.....

The truth is that it will always be "TOO LOUD" as well as "NOT LOUD ENOUGH" at the same time!!

At one event (basically a conference with a live band) we ended up with a queue of people at the mix position. First person was of the opinion that it was insufferably loud, the second person berated us for not "giving it enough welly".

 

[Jack Arnott]

Re: When it's too loud.....

Hi, Jamin
I would echo what Evan says, and pull down the master faders.

In a perfect world this will be the same mix, only quieter.
We don't work in a perfect world. But this is still the best place to start.

You can also go somewhere else in the chain, such as the master faders on a analog EQ, or the amps.

Back to your problem. Almost always there is going to be a ratio difference between something, but its easier to start with the masters.
Then massage the individual faders from here. You will want to go with your original instincts on some things here. For instance, if the drum reverb is not
as special as it was before, trying to mix it louder will probably just result in more of a mess. And at some point you will have to start adapting to the stage.
In some instances it will be the stage itself, not the band. If the band is in a tent, and you have the mix covering them up real well, all will be good. But as you
bring the volume down at some point it will start to sound sproingy. (Technical term) Now you will have to either accept it, or start massaging things from the other end.
Monitors, stage volume, etc.

The point is that nothing is linear. The room, or performance area, the band, perhaps the drive, and certainly not the speaker system. So things will change as the volume changes.
Sometimes you will have to accept that for the sake of the event, that things might not sound like what you want. Your job is to find the best compromise.

Regards, Jack

 

[John Chiara]

Re: When it's too loud.....

When you get the often heard, ''It's too loud.'' complaint, what do you turn down? Masters or channel faders or something else?

When I think it's too loud it is almost always vocals/guitars..etc that are too bright and up front. This usually happens with systems with insufficient low end support, an aux/buss fed sub setup and the operator is not familiar with the system and therefore no comfortable with "real" low end response, a bass heavy(80-160) mix that overpowers the room, or mixers who think it's supposed to sound brittle and piercing. Most people "hear" vocals first and other midrange instruments before they will complain about other things. I find that a solid foundation..even a haystack setup that is properly tuned to the space..will allow for noticeably lower levels of higher frequency sources...and more importantly...allow for longer listening, more bar and food sales..and a happier proprietor. so..."TOO LOUD" probably doesn't mean the whole mix is too loud...just parts of it.

John

 

[Matt Lillie]

Re: When it's too loud.....

When you get the often heard, ''It's too loud.'' complaint, what do you turn down? Masters or channel faders or something else?

Completely unrelated, but I had "The Impossible" happen this past fall. GA, big dollar event had many, many, more people show up than anticipated. Event planner comes up and asks, "Can we get some of these people to leave? TURN IT UP!!" I did, and instantly had a parade of "Too Loud" complaints. I point them to the event planner, she tells them "we want it like this". She then even stationed someone at FOH to intercept the complainers. Desired outcome was achieved, crowd thinned to reasonable and a good time was had by all remaining...