I just bought an SPL Meter.

[NorseHorse]

I bought one of these on eBay for $30 bucks:

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Galaxy-CM130-Check-Mate-SPL-Meter?sku=421161

Last night, I went to a concert, and everyone within 60 yards of the stage was getting their ears seriously damaged. They'll be going to bed with ringing even tonight... it was hands-down the loudest concert I've ever encountered.

I went to check out the concert, but I didn't even stay five minutes. Just long enough to give a warning to the event host and to tell the sound guy he should turn the sound down or consider a different profession. Harsh, but true. No one at the concert had an SPL meter, not even the score of policemen.

To demonstrate how loud this concert was:

Front Row at Los Lonely Boys concert in Norfolk, VA in front of the guitarist's eight full stacks = the volume fifty yards back at a Cool Kids concert in Williamsburg, VA.

I feel really bad for everyone there. I bought the SPL meter so that if it happens again, I can have something concrete to show the folks in charge.

[waveterm]

You fail to mention how loud it measured !

Also, what parameters did you choose ?

WT

[confooshus]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

I bought the SPL meter so that if it happens again, I can have something concrete to show the folks in charge.

Wait, I think I know you... In grade school, did you walk around at recess carrying a whistle, alerting the teacher to unsafe activities taking place? Did you also remind the teacher if she forgot to give us homework? Yea, I remember you.

[Tomer1]

That kid was just anoying ,
This guy is on a nobel quest to save people's hearing!

Friends and hot chicks sometimes tease me for wearing ear plugs in a club or at a concert,
Well... the joke is on them.

Respect!

[confooshus]

Originally Posted by Tomer1

That kid was just anoying ,
This guy is on a nobel quest to save people's hearing!

Friends and hot chicks sometimes tease me for wearing ear plugs in a club or at a concert,
Well... the joke is on them.

Respect!

You can't save people from themselves. I have to resist the urge to walk around swatting cigarettes out of people's mouths. But I just have to accept it: if people want to damage themselves, their gonna do it.

If the volume bothered the concert attendees, they would leave. If it hurts their ears and they decide to stay, that's up to them...

[NorseHorse]

Confooshus, You need a reality check. It's not the same as smoking or other "ills" because people aren't aware of the danger.

This is PEOPLE'S HEARING we are talking about. Given how loud it was, it isn't just a matter of preference, it a matter of what our bodies can physically handle. Sure, people can leave, but most people aren't even aware of the danger. They don't know what's happened to them until they go to bed after the concert with ringing in their ears. And then wake up the next day with ringing still... and go to bed tonight with the ringing still...

It is plain wrong. Sure, it's always going to be loud if you are in front of a speaker, but there was no escaping this. The manager and I tried talking together 60 yards back, and we couldn't hear each other. Just imagine the people closer.

Oh, and for the record, I skipped school nearly as much as I was in it. Check your stereotypes at the door, please.

Wavterm, I just ordered the meter today because of what happened last night.

EDIT: I just noticed I'm "shhhh-ing" in my avatar. Haha.

[confooshus]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

Confooshus, You need a reality check. It's not the same as smoking or other "ills" because people aren't aware of the danger.

This is PEOPLE'S HEARING we are talking about. Given how loud it was, it isn't just a matter of preference, it a matter of what our bodies can physically handle. Sure, people can leave, but most people aren't even aware of the danger. They don't know what's happened to them until they go to bed after the concert with ringing in their ears. And then wake up the next day with ringing still... and go to bed tonight with the ringing still...

It is plain wrong. Sure, it's always going to be loud if you are in front of a speaker, but there was no escaping this. The manager and I tried talking together 60 yards back, and we couldn't hear each other. Just imagine the people closer.

Oh, and for the record, I skipped school nearly as much as I was in it. Check your stereotypes at the door, please.

Wavterm, I just ordered the meter today because of what happened last night.

EDIT: I just noticed I'm "shhhh-ing" in my avatar. Haha.

You gotta admit: The image of a guy wearing headphones walking around with an SPL meter and handing out citations is funny.

[orpheus69]

In my experience a good FOH engineer can achieve a loud but excellent sound, no ringing in your ears.
A bad engineer will give you ringing even with less SPL!
Obiously an excessive SPL could damage your hearing, but I think that anything up to 105 db for an open space can be acceptable (given an excellent mix/balance).

When I'm playing on stage I often have less SPL than that, but the inferior quality of stage monitor's sound (and less than ideal placement of them) create more problems than PA for the audience

What I'm saying is that you have to consider many things, SPL is just one of them and it won't tell you the whole story: How big was the space? Was the sound well mixed? Badly EQ'd? Which PA was used? Was it properly tuned? Was some speaker at ear level?

By the way, excellent FOH engineers are quite rare

[NorseHorse]

True, I suppose excellent ones are rare.

But I hope dangerous engineers are rare too.

The space was a WIDE open amplitheatre. It's normally naturally loud right down in front, but for this recent concert, the whole venue was louder than the front normally is. And the mixing was definitely NOT pleasant. But I when I stopped by it was mainly backing tracks and vox. Some tuning could have been done, but turning down the fader would have helped more than anything. It was unbearable even from the spots where the pictures were taken.

I've attended and performed (drums) at several shows at the venue, and it can sound great. I'm guess the concert last night was between 120-130dB for most of the amplitheatre.

CREDITS:
Photo 1 from: Flickr: minter's Photostream
Photo 2 from: Flickr: yosoynuts' Photostream

[orpheus69]

Very nice venue!
Would love to play there with my 80's tribute band

It sounds like the engineer wasn't a pro....
A pro could play 5/6 gigs a week. At excessive SPL every night, he/she will be deaf in a few months

That said, I think people should learn more about excessive SPL and/or bad sound
It's like being in a taxi that runs at 180 mph...

[Tomer1]

Originally Posted by confooshus

If the volume bothered the concert attendees, they would leave. If it hurts their ears and they decide to stay, that's up to them...

The problem is that fact that people dont know otherwise they became custumed to overly loud surounding and music,
Add to that the fact that they are not aware of the permanent damage they are cousing themselves and you have a 20 year old guy with the hearing of a 60 year old man.

[Duardo]

At the last concert I went to...which was pretty loud on its own...the screams of the audience was much louder than the music itself.

[donsolo]

Try to smack the cigarette out of my mouth...I don't know a single smoker that would put up with such behavior...it's just rude. And the metaphor was off-base.

There's a reason PETA is spray painting red on old-ladies fur coats rather than leather clad bikers...

The reality is he wasn't running around to all the fans and warning them, he went to the people that could actually DO something about it. Valiant Effort.

That's like going to Philip Morris and telling them that Smoking gives you cancer.

It's an uphill battle but at least he went to the right people.

And calling him a tattle tale or whistle blower is a lame ad hominum attack. Nice try but it's a logical falacy for a reason. It doesn't make him any less right in actually measuring the SPL levels for his own sake.

And I think there's a lot of things that are damaging hearing on a daily basis than the ocassional concert that people are unaware of. iPods...

an SPL meter tells part of the story but the bigger picture is that fans equate loud to mean good. They sit right next to the mains and can't hear for a week and say "that was the best concert ever." Can't help that part. But the FOH mixer has a directive from the venue to make it loud...the venue provides this directive based on customer feedback of "That was the greatest concert ever....WHAT?!?!?!?! WHAT?!?!?!?"

At least you had the brains to get out of there.

[cornutt]

Originally Posted by NorseHorse

Front Row at Los Lonely Boys concert in Norfolk, VA in front of the guitarist's eight full stacks = the volume fifty yards back at a Cool Kids concert in Williamsburg, VA.

I get your main point, but I can't help but wonder how many of those were actually real... Judas Priest used to have a bunch of those, and most of them were props.

[confooshus]

Originally Posted by donsolo

Try to smack the cigarette out of my mouth...I don't know a single smoker that would put up with such behavior...it's just rude. And the metaphor was off-base.

There's a reason PETA is spray painting red on old-ladies fur coats rather than leather clad bikers...

Hey, Internet Tough Guy, it's called "hyperbole". Also, as mentioned, I restrain myself. I do think it's funny that you equate smoking with machismo... To me there's nothing weaker and more effeminate than being addicted to having a cylinder between your lips, sucking and blowing.... But hey, if you like it, who am I to judge?

[Corran]

Good for you. I've been wanting to get a cheap SPL meter to just check SPL's when recording. I also happened to get a FOH gig last Saturday (my first FOH gig, being more of a recordist) and was wondering just how loud I was amplifying. However, as mentioned, the establishment probably would want it ridiculously loud anyway.

[donsolo]

Originally Posted by confooshus

Hey, Internet Tough Guy, it's called "hyperbole". Also, as mentioned, I restrain myself. I do think it's funny that you equate smoking with machismo...

Not Internet Tough Guy, not equating smoking with Machismo.

Every chick I know that smokes would break you in half if you pulled that stunt.

And I do beleive your previous comments started the internet tough guy thing...I was merely responding.

and the rest of your comment was incredibly homophobic, so have fun with that.

[confooshus]

Originally Posted by donsolo

not internet tough guy, not equating smoking with machismo.

Every chick i know that smokes would break you in half if you pulled that stunt.

And i do beleive your previous comments started the internet tough guy thing...i was merely responding.

And the rest of your comment was incredibly homophobic, so have fun with that.

killer comebacks!!!!!! Zing!!!!

[NorseHorse]

stike Hahaha. Where is Freud when you need him?!?!!

Maybe I don't like dangerous and harmful SPLs because I have relationship/emotional problems and I don't want to listen to anyone?

=)

[donsolo]

shhhh

lol

[confooshus]

Ah... The ol' switcharoo... Unoriginal, but I'll give you guys a C for effort. I'm moving on...

[donsolo]

It wasn't aimed at you.

But I'm moving on as well...

To go have a cigarette.