JUST SAW “0” IN lAS Vegas; wonderful show but music was ear spliting. Why in so many restaurants or shows is music played so loudly that one can barely talk or listen to the person next to him?
ERS
WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU, YOUR THREAD TITLE IS TOO LOUD!!!
“That’s entertainment!” —Vlad the Impaler
Many of this in the audio industry have asked the same question… why the hell is music so loud at concerts? Well, the simple and unfortunate reason is that most concertgoers want it that way… especially after the Heavy Metal boom. Live music, especially live music that caters to a younger audience, is expected to be so loud that you “feel it” presumably because most people are too rhythmless to dance unless it’s thumping in their chest. Unfortunately, many a musician and audio engineer has lost substantial amounts of his/her hearing because of this. The only solution for you as a consumer is to get fitted for a pair of ER15 earplugs. You need to go to an ENT to get them and they cost about $80-$100, but they will save your hearing. It only takes a few minutes for noise over 110 db to do permanent damage to your ears and every time you leave a place and your ears are ringing, that’s a good sign that permanent damage has been done… so be careful!
Probably the same reason the person in the car three behind you is playing their stereo so loud it’s annoying to you even over traffic. Some people just like really loud music. I think they like to be able to “feel” it.
Also…
Maybe so people can hear the music over everyone talking? A restaurant is one thing, but people talking during a show is really disruptive to the other listeners. Loud music a) makes it easier to hear the music over the talkers and b) discourages talking in general. Just a WAG.
“Drink your coffee! Remember, there are people sleeping in China.”
Dennis Matheson — dennis@mountaindiver.com
Hike, Dive, Ski, Climb — www.mountaindiver.com
It seems that many restaurants (especially Mexican) use music to set a mood, but can’t seem to help slapping you in the face with it: “Hey! You’re in a MEXICAN restaurant!! Hear the mariachis!?! Enjoy your dinner, gringos!!”
Also, research shows that fast music makes you eat faster and leave sooner, making room for more paying patrons. Whether or not volumes affects this I know not.
Another theory – the volume control and the thermostat are both in the worst place possible: the kitchen.
I think it is for the same reason that they put $4000 worth of speakers and stereo in a $1000 car, then drive up and down residential streets after midnight rattling the windows in houses with their enormous bass and rap music. The annoyance value. On my street, I strongly suspect that one night I will probably get out of bed, take my pump shotgun, load it with some of those barely legal sabot shells (explosive tips yet! Aint America grand?) and blow the engine out of the next rap blasting, bass booming, sleep disturbing, fool filled car that drives by.
Lighten up, Francis.
Listeners of other genres of music are exempted from punishment, of course.
When was the last time someone drove past your house at 2am blasting Mozart?
Mozart? Don’t know. But where I live, the blasting is most likely to be KISS or Led Zeppelin, something of that nature, neither of which are even remotely close to rap.
In college I once got in trouble for blasting Beethoven too loud. I also had a roommate who played gospel at an insane volume, and still managed to outsing it. Yikes!
That reminds me how I got my voice in shape for singing in my synagogue’s choir for the High Holy Days: turning up my car radio all the way (I listen to an alternative station) and singing OVER the radio. Of course, it’s a little ironic preparing for Yom Kippur by singing Limp Bizkit’s “I did it all for the nookie” song…