Practical Hints 'n Things

We don't have to play loud to sound loud. The subjective sense of loudness can be enhanced by a couple of things: the change from a softer level, and the onset of distortion.

Regarding the former, Count Basie made it a trademark to set up the audience for some loud sting by having just the rhythm section play, quite softly, for an extended section, then to blast them with a full fortissimo brass sting, and then go right back to the pianissimo rhythm section. The stings sounded deafening, but they weren't really much over 100 decibels Sound Pressure Level. So, if you drop your overall level, your loud stuff will have that much more impact.

Regarding the second item, the addition of distortion makes music sound louder. If you can control the onset of distortion and make it happen at a lower level (under control), the band will still sound like it is really cranking and really loud, but without nearly the actual level or risk of damage. It is ironic that really clean sound systems need to run much louder to have the same emotional impact. A studio designer told me once about a studio monitor system he'd installed that was extraordinarily free from distortion right up to 125 decibels Sound Pressure Level. When it went into service, everybody loved it, but then all the engineers and producers working there started getting headaches and couldn't understand why. When the designer investigated, he found they kept cranking levels until they got to distortion, at 125 decibels peak Sound Pressure Level! He solved the problem by lowering the onset of distortion at an intermediate gain stage in the monitor system!

Ear Plugs

Ear plugs are a basic hearing protection device. The problem with them is that they change the quality of the sound. I can't mix reliably with them in. I personally can't imagine playing on stage with ear plugs, but I suppose performers do get used to them. Some manufacturers are trying to build musically viable plugs to get around this.* Anyway, in the studio, I can't imagine wearing ear plugs unless someone wants to listen to a playback really loud and I have to be there. Just so you know, it is usually considered reasonable manners to leave the room if somebody wants to really thrill themselves. In any case, I suggest you consider wearing ear plugs anytime you are in a really noisy environment, except when you are making critical musical decisions. I've even tried wearing them during commuting, and find they make the Fresh Pond Follies (Boston's infamous commuter whamo) and Route 2 (The Road With No Speed Limit) comparatively peaceful-feeling.

SPL Meters

Lord Kelvin said, "To measure is to know." Buy a cheap Sound Pressure Level meter and use it. Get to know the levels you work at. Learn to know by ear how loud sounds are and how much risk they really represent for you.

Control Of Sound Reinforcement Systems

When you are performing with sound reinforcement, if you can get control of the monitor system levels you can really help yourself. Often, the monitor levels are determined by the loudest acoustical sound on stage, which is usually the drums. If you can get the drummer's levels under control, you can thing begin to bring down monitor levels, and the whole thing becomes a little more palatable.

You have to fight, here, against the dependency on loud levels to generate emotional intensity in the band. I once mixed sound for a major MOR artist whose monitor mix was up in the 110 decibels Sound Pressure Level range while the house mix for the audience was down around 85 decibels Sound Pressure Level! The band simply had become dependent on fire and flame out of the stage monitors to feel good! Watch out for this tendency in yourself, particularly when you are tired.

Most of all, just keep in mind that you can wreck your ears, and that if you do you are going to have to start over in another profession. Hearing damage comes on slowly, and you can't tell for sure whether that most recent little screech of feedback really destroyed some nerve endings or only felt like it did. This is a place to be conservative and careful. Happy listening!