OFF: Motorhead!

[John A Swartz]

>        Sounds like a great gig.  Its hard to gauge how loud a gig
is when it is above the pain threshold.  I judge it by how long the
ringing in the ears lasts asfterwards.  When I saw Deep Purple in 1972
the ringing lasted for three days.  We had to shout at each other in
the car park afterwards to be heard.  Are gigs as pathologically loud nowadays?


Don't know about that, but as someone who has attended numerous concerts,
I have to say that too much volume really ruins a show for me (well, not
necessarily since I wear plugs to any gig that I suspect will be loud).
Not only do I hate the ringing in my ears afterwards, but I've found that
the overall SOUND is better when the volume is lower.  I've been to concerts
where I didn't need plugs (and didn't wake up the next morning with a
"noise hangover"), and they were ALWAYS the best in terms of sound at the
show.  Too many of these guys running the mixing boards at rock (and esp.
heavy metal) shows think LOUDER = BETTER.  WRONG!  I suspect these sound
guys have to crank the volume up 'cuz they are hearing-impaired after all
the years of listening to concerts at loud volume.  Not only that, but this
impairs their ability to MIX the show properly because their hearing is
f*cked up.  There have been reports from alot of BOC's recent shows that
while the band sounded good, the mix was terrible -- I suspect that the
problem I just mentioned is at least partly to blame.

Music does not have to be at 110 dB and up at concerts, IMHO (or whatever
the volume level is - 110 is a guess on my part).  People who are there to
enjoy the MUSIC can appreciate this fact, I think.  Of course, I don't
tend to be stoned or drunk at concerts and don't know if that plays into
someone's perception as far as the volume goes.

But, I really believe in protecting my hearing.  I haven't got any loss that
I know of, and I want to keep it that way -- 'cuz once it's gone, it's gone.
As a music lover, I'd rather lose my sight than my hearing - of course,
without my contact lenses or glasses, I'm as good as blind...

John