Extreme volume in clubs

[Evert]

Hi, so I just walked out of a club out of pure frustration. Rant ensuing.

A big name that I'm quite fond of played a liveset, but it was almost impossible to enjoy his liveset due to the unbearable volume. Even with my earplugs in it was painful and people were literally leaving because of this. My ears are ringing as I'm typing this.

I can't believe someone of his level would purposefully play his music this loud. I'm genuinely wondering how much of this is in the hands of the artists. Can anyone enlighten me on this? I know this will also be affected by the room you're in, but still...

These extreme volumes take all the fun out of a night out. There's just a wall of unbearable bass..
I, for one, always make sure to put in earplugs to avoid damage, but when even that isn't enough to protect my ears I'm getting worried.

Have you guys and gals experienced similar situations? It sure seems like an ongoing problem where I'm coming from.

[terly]

The artist can always turn it down but there is pressure to match the previous artist's level. There should be a sound engineer making sure things don't get out of hand.

I used to do extreme volumes when I played power electronics/noise but for dance music it isn't necessary. Sad to hear. Did it seem like there was an engineer present? Have you been to that club before? Is it always like that? I am pretty immune to loud things but it's usually rock concerts that seem too loud, not techno so much ...

[Alume]

I fully agree. Its nonsense! Its everywhere

[[wesellboxes]]

Most of the clubs round my way have Funktion 1 systems and what must be the glass collector setting the levels. Whether it's the (lack of) engineer or the DJ, there's still an hideous amount of people that equate volume with quality.

[WOLF!]

No 100dB limit over there?

[WOLF!]

It was about the legal limit here in Belgium (and I guess other country's as well?)
I'm sure you agree that atmosphere depends on the peoples mood (and the music) and has nothing to do with very high volumes.

[Alume]

I deleted my reply. Not sure what i said, i was aiming at that you can have a good party at lower volume too. I just love when you're at a proper festival and you domt need earplugs.

The psy community is well ahead of us in that regard.


Eitherway, i agree with what you said.

[Mattias]

Often the people playing are unaware of the SPL on the floor, at least for medium to bigger clubs where the promoter's or the clubs own engineer handles all of that.

[Leskey]

Yeah happens here aswell, way too often... I dunno, I mainly go (went, cause of kid) to underground parties and I feel like it's like they wanna show off their F1/Void triple-quadruple-mega-ultra-BASS-soundofdoom...

[Lost to the Void]

It's more likely poorly setup than volume making your ears ring. A lot of clubs are setup badly? The rig is setup by an external installer a lot of the time, and the in house engineer probably sits out back all night with limiters set smoking fags and drinking coffee.
That was my experience when I was working as an engineer in London anyway.
And maybe half the club's I play in seem similar.

F1 rigs can tear the hair out of your head of not setup properly, but some people just assume F1 so it must be great.

[WOLF!]

(This comment is not posted to discuss all the brands off PA systems).
I think F1 systems are overhyped. It's all about people telling they are good and others just telling the same because they don't know any better.

Also it's a big thing now to 'rave' in industrial spaces but they just aren't made for the best acoustics.
Last time I was on such a party the tech guy was running around the whole night with a tablet to 'fix' the sound of a F1 rig.
I guess it's the story about the cook and the kitchen.

I'm going to leave now to a party with a nicely configured rig (L-Acoustics...) is a concert hall... .

[PatrickHughes]

I'd have to agree that the acoustics of the club itself play a huge roll. I can definitely tell how well planned out a club is the second you walk in. I personally love getting up close to a speaker and feeling the music but I definitely have been places that it's too piercing to want to do that too.

[Hades]

Also it's a big thing now to 'rave' in industrial spaces but they just aren't made for the best acoustics.
.

^^ Definitely this.

When Pedro was playing in Trésor, I was there during the sound check (and the rest of the night), and the very first thing I thought when they started was "fucking hell, this is absolutely insanely loud".
Trésor (never been to the old location, just the new one) is basically just a bunker of concrete walls, and all they have to improve the acoustics is a few panels on the ceiling.
I was lucky Pedro had his old earplugs with him, so I could use those, otherwise I would have ran out after 10 minutes.
It's been a few years since I was actively clubbing, but I sure as fuck need to buy proper earplugs before I go to another night like that. I got the impression things have seriously gone way louder since my active clubbing years.

Trésor had an SPL meter in the DJ boot/cage, and it was all the time at around 95 to 98dB, once in a while passing 100dB.
But I think I once read that anything above 95 or 98dB can give you permanent ear damage after only 10 minutes.

It is totally insane though, why should we even be protecting our ears to enjoy music ?
It just doesn't make any sense.

[Hades]

Evert, at what location were you ?

[Root]

It's best to get those custom molded earplugs, where you can choose of different filtertypes and change them easily. I paid 150€ for them, what is not nothing, but it's to fucking protect your ears. Since then DJing is even better in clubs, because they also take a lot of drone and humming away and you get a clearer picture of what you are playing

[Merah]

Was never a fan of overly loud music in venues, i think i have sensitive ears or something..

[Evert]

I was at Kompass Club in Gent. They have an F1 system and it did seem like there was a sound engineer, but yeah, it's set in this industrial venue with concrete walls..
I have been there before, so I was aware of the accoustics being far from optimal. Still, it never sounded this loud before.

The dj at the beginning of the night played at a reasonable level where you could still hear the tracks being played. It wasn't until the main liveset started that the volume went up drastically and all you could hear was bass.
The dj who played afterwards indeed tried to match the volume, so it never went back to normal.
I don't know about the db limit as I didn't see a meter, but it sure seemed like they were well above 100db that night.

I was just surprised that it went this far when were talking about true professionals (in case of the artist at least).
Of course, as you have pointed out, it's definitely a combination of different factors that caused the problem that night.
I'm not trying to blame anyone in particular for it.

Anyways, this ongoing trend to play as loud as possible is something that worries/scares me as your ears can get damaged so quickly.
I'm only in my mid twenties and would love to be able to enjoy music for the rest of my life.

[SixOfOne]

It's best to get those custom molded earplugs, where you can choose of different filtertypes and change them easily. I paid 150€ for them, what is not nothing, but it's to fucking protect your ears. Since then DJing is even better in clubs, because they also take a lot of drone and humming away and you get a clearer picture of what you are playing

^^ This times 100

Save up and get the custom made earplugs, by far the best thing I've ever spent my money on.

[P0607r0n]

Friend of mine got tinnitus from clubbing in Berlin.
I usually like to go "head in" to the speakers, but when it's loud and screechy then it's not nice, and actually dangerous. It seems to me that in some places sound guys are just setting up the limiter and then they don't care about nothing else.

[Lost to the Void]

Also it's a big thing now to 'rave' in industrial spaces but they just aren't made for the best acoustics.
.

^^ Definitely this.

When Pedro was playing in Trésor, I was there during the sound check (and the rest of the night), and the very first thing I thought when they started was "fucking hell, this is absolutely insanely loud".
Trésor (never been to the old location, just the new one) is basically just a bunker of concrete walls, and all they have to improve the acoustics is a few panels on the ceiling.
I was lucky Pedro had his old earplugs with him, so I could use those, otherwise I would have ran out after 10 minutes.
It's been a few years since I was actively clubbing, but I sure as fuck need to buy proper earplugs before I go to another night like that. I got the impression things have seriously gone way louder since my active clubbing years.

Trésor had an SPL meter in the DJ boot/cage, and it was all the time at around 95 to 98dB, once in a while passing 100dB.
But I think I once read that anything above 95 or 98dB can give you permanent ear damage after only 10 minutes.

It is totally insane though, why should we even be protecting our ears to enjoy music ?
It just doesn't make any sense.

Acoustics really wouldn't help at tresor, they just rinse the volume in that place, it's a little crazy, they also have too much bass (which is something you will rarely hear me say).

But as for warehouses and industrial spaces, I always preferred sticking our soundsystem in warehouses and industrial buildings, when you got a nice reverb, it always seemed very appropriate for techno.
Acoustically, brick railway arches were always the best.