I must be getting old. Or maybe I’m just getting whiney. No, evidence suggests it’s old age creeping up on me. Know why? Because I have the overwhelming urge to tell the guys (and gals) who mix sound in LA rock clubs to TURN DOWN THAT GODDAMNED NOISE!!!!!!!!
There, I feel better. And I’m a musician for crying out loud… I LIKE loud music.
In the not-too-distant past I have been to the Viper Room, the Roxy, The Gig, The Joint, and the Troubadour. (I’ve played at the Cat Club and have always wondered what it sounded like out front. Can’t tell from the stage. But I digress.) Each venue was painful and the bands sounded like ear-splitting mush. The only clarity was in drums and even then, the kick drum is overemphasized.
Maybe it’s the bands’ fault, I don’t know. Anyone who has played in a band knows how hard it is to find that perfect balance so that the guitars don’t overwhelm the vocals but each member can hear himself and the rest of the band. My band has dealt with it by downsizing the guitar amps because we found you can’t turn up big amps in small clubs to get the tone you need without getting complaints about being too loud. Clubs with backlines (house amps and drums) tend to have the big 50 or 100 watt half stacks that are overkill for the space. Ours are 15 and 22 watts.
Earplugs have become my salvation, but they attenuate frequencies unevenly, even the ‘better’ ones I have been using. (If anyone knows of a good full spectrum earplug they would like to suggest, please let me know. Something that just drops the level, but lets frequencies through.) Of course, when you don’t know who you might see, earplugs come in handy for other reasons…
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