From: someone@anywheret.net   
      
   "JimD"  wrote in message news:201707200832202163-email@nowherecom...   
      
   > I was approached at yesterdays job by a lady who wants me to work at a   
   > retirement place a friend of hers runs.  Seems a normal thing.   So I gave   
   > her a card, said " sure, have your friend give me a call ".   
      
   > Several other solo act guys I know work this new gig. She was talking   
   > about that, about them. Mostly good comments, then for some reason she   
   > went all " honest " on me.  Said one big problem they have with some acts,   
   > and these were her exact words, she refered to some of the acts as " bar   
   > people ", was that they played far too loud.   
      
   I'm seriously considering getting an SPL meter and literally *asking*   
   listeners to tell me when the level is too high, too low, and just right!   
      
   > Yep, called some of these acts, bar people.  And said they played too   
   > loud.   
      
   It's time to start getting actual figures for all of this and put the entire   
   matter to bed once and for all!!!   
      
   > Told me that her friend, who manages the place, has ask several of them to   
   > cut it back just a bit, turn down. Said one guy, a keyboard dude, actually   
   > got mad when they ask him to drop the volume a bit.   
      
   > Huh.   
      
   Yeah, and who would think a *keyboard* player would make a fuss!   
   Keyboards, particularly pianos, are full range instruments, and their   
   players Need to Hear ALL of the range!!!   
      
   > One of the office people at the place I was at last evening told me a   
   > similar thing a few months back about this. Said many of the singers /   
   > musicians they get in are too loud.  She told me because, I hope, she   
   > didn't think I was in that camp.  I hope :-)    I certainly am sensitive   
   > to this issue and try to work at a conversationaly level, and absolutely   
   > don't take a bigger speaker setup than is appropriate for the room.   
      
   I'm Now Thoroughly Convinced that all of us who are Serious, Must establish   
   SPL values for too loud, too quiet, and just right - and carry SPL meters so   
   we can SET the  levels appropriate for each environment/venue - our jobs   
   depend on it!   
   The levels may be stated as for example, something like 93.0 dB @ 1.0 m. I   
   know that's a bit into the nearfield proximity ;) but I based it on a   
   loudspeaker speaker prototype, one of so very many I wouod have tested at 1   
   W @ 1 m, a more or less standard condition, in our anechoic chamber - but   
   the idea is the same...number of dBs of sound pressure at a specific   
   distance from the source...SURE BEATS GUESSING ANY DAY!!!   
   Sure, the perception, what I like to call "the psychology of sensation", can   
   be very subjective, but this is the Science of acoustics and That is Very   
   Precise!!!   
      
   So many times, I've been making such a big issue of Good Soundwork - because   
   it IS A BIG ISSUE!!!   
   And it starts with setting the levels BEFOREHAND...so you'll sound Great,   
   not too loud, not too quiet, but JUST RIGHT!!!   
      
   > In bar world, it's a different game. Loud is a selling point, a good   
   > thing. Loud music drives excitement, causes people to talk loud,  drink   
   > more, get loose. That's all fine.   
      
   But how many dBs at What distance are we talking about here? Because That's   
   what we Need to know!   
      
   > I play a lot for seated, sober audiences.  Loud isn't the thing there. Got   
   > to find another way to engage them.   
      
   Jim   
      
   Wouldn't it be simply Awesome to have baseline settings for such   
   environments so you could simply make a quick initial adjustment and be in   
   the proverbial 'ballpark'?   
      
   Ouisie   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)