Full Blast!

[Teez 0]

All my previous venues have been halls, hotels, bars, marquees etc etc with 'sensible' sound limits.

 

Last night I did an 18th birthday party gig in a very large pub hall on the edge of town. Most of the guests and management and staff were all in their twenties so used to clubbing etc.

 

For the first time I played my speakers at full blast for the last hour. Not something I've ever needed to do but the crowd were enjoying my house mixes and one thing led to another.

 

Ears bled, plaster fell of the ceiling, gaffer tape started to melt etc etc you get the picture. After closing with Tiesto Adagio for Strings mix our ears were ringing. The silence was deafening, they loved it.

 

Last time I had that was at MOS, but to get the same effect in a pub was a good bit of irresponsible fun.

 

The dancefloor was bouncing, but this worked out as the best track of the night for dancing

 

:joe:

Edited October 24, 2010 by Teez

[superstardeejay 0]

Maybe I'm getting old but ear-bleeding music would have me running for the exit!

 

 

[Teez 0]

Maybe I'm getting old but ear-bleeding music would have me running for the exit!

 

 

I agree, I would never last two minutes as a punter, but that's what these kids wanted. I did wear my earphones most of the time

[wizard 0]

Ooooooooh I do love a gig like that, sadly they are few and far between. I do too many weddings, however the last hour of Saturdays did finish with an hour of 90's dance.........unfortunately my bass bins were in the Van.

[gadget 0]

Maybe I'm getting old but ear-bleeding music would have me running for the exit!

 

:)

 

I bought some ear-plugs for trance nights a few years ago when I was heavily into Above & Beyond etc (when it was uplifting trance, not the progressive crap that most of it appears to be now)... Best thing I ever bought!

 

Sadly, not been to a trance/club night out for a while to warrant the need of them!

 

Cheers

 

David

[Robster 0]

sorry for sounding an old miserable jobs worth but i feel the safety of people i play to and my own hearing are very important , my father is now virtually deaf from working in a mill room. The isolation and the way he get frustrated at not being truly interactive with conversations is very saddening , i believe he is deteriorating faster mentally because of his deafness.

 

I am all about having fun and i do like it loud but not to the point of ringing ears

 

I'll get my hi vis vest cocoa and slippers :hurt:

[Teez 0]

That's all right Robster, no need to worry.

 

The best bit is not just the volume, it's when a procession of teenagers from another generation come up to you at the end of the evening and tell you what a great set of tracks were played.

 

:joe:

[Welsh Audio Man 21 0]

I find with teenagers, its not so much volume they want, but (i quote) 'heart stopping bass' they seem to enjoy. I have a set of earplugs with me anyway as I use them for sound work.

 

 

[superstardeejay 0]

Quality not quantity

[Welsh Audio Man 21 0]

Quality not quantity

I agree!

[prosoundandlight 0]

well im a user of funktion one gear .. and last saturday i had a younger couple wedding that REQUIRED Dance, D&B & Dubstep for the last 2 hrs.

With 12K in a huge function room with 350 people, the best but of the night was when the dubstep kicked in and the infrabass came into its own. heart stopping air moving pumping bass

And to top this all ... not one complaint from the hotel residents or management !!! result.

It is true you dont need volume to get the best out of sa night... pushing a system beyond its optimum will just damage peoples ears

as you nhave aleady stated ina previous post.. your ears were ringing !!!

Quaulity rather than quantity is deffo the way to go.

The more modern music nowadays sounds much better on quality systems ... you may need to upgrade or tweak your sysytem to getbnthe bestnout of it teez

[vokf 0]

.. pushing a system beyond its optimum will just damage peoples ears

 

This is a not correct. High Sound Pressure Levels will damage peoples ears. Permanently.

Funkion One and even SkyTec are all capable of this.

 

Just because it sounds nice, does not mean its not causing damage. If the DJ hires a roadie (paid or unpaid), they are legally required to manage these risks.

 

Interesting article;

http://www.performing-musician.com/pm/jan0...noiseatwork.htm

 

 

This does effect all DJ's (and roadies), and is the reason why venues are continuing to install sound level monitors. Not just for environmental reasons, but also to ensure the well-being of their staff (and to avoid costly claims for hearing damage!)

 

I suspect the days of belly rumbing bass may be "limited"...

[Teez 0]

Point of order here chaps..

 

When I say I was playing my system full blast, it was within the design limitations of the system. There was no sound distortion whatsoever...

 

so, in other words......

 

it was Quality AND Quantity.

 

I agree Bass on many of the current stuff is important but the limit isnt the crowd it's the structure of the room you are in. I find the limitation is often to do with the mechanical resonance, even sometimes the wooden floors themselves. But hey I'm no scientist.

 

 

:joe:

 

[Robster 0]

I do play Dubstep occasionally and I do a simple test that i talk(not through the mic) and see how easy it is to hear my own voice if you cant at all its way too loud!!

 

A clean signal can be played way too loud without you realising and this is where permanent damage can be done KEF engineers i know in the sixties and seventies found that out.

 

i like it loud but not to the point when your ears are ringing that is damage right there when you hear exceptionally loud music, your Hair cells(stereocilia) become damaged and mistakenly keep sending sound information to the auditory nerve cells. In the case of loud music, the ringing happens because the tips of some of your stereocilia actually have broken off. You hear those false currents in the ringing in your head, called tinnitus. However, since you can grow these small tips back in about 24 hours the ringing is often temporary. Repeated exposure to loud noises can kill the hair cells entirely once those hair cells die, we cannot growth them back. This is why protecting your ears is essential.

 

so i would say play it loud but be careful