glassner (02/28/83)
Last night we had a north-side dormitory party here, which was the last big bash before spring break. They were serving beer at 25 cents/glass, free popcorn and stuff, etc. There was also a live band playing for our dancing and listening pleasure. It was a four(?)-piece rock band: guitar, bass guitar, drums, keyboard/flute person, and maybe one more. This party was held in a building that used to serve as a dining commons, so it was a large, echoing chamber. When I walked into the actual party I found the volume of the band above my pain threshold. Nevertheless, the place was absolutely packed, and people were even holding conversations (or appeared to be). I got out quickly to alleviate the pain. This isn't an isolated phenomenon. I have found that a lot of bands have their equipment cranked up really high, and fairly often it really hurts to be in the same room! Several things come to mind when this happens: 1. These players are musicians. Aren't they concerned enough about their own hearing so as not to damage themselves? 2. How about the people inside? Have they become partially deaf through repeated and prolonged subjection to loud music? 3. How the heck are they holding conversations? Is it lip-reading, or is there some neat way of tuning into a voice and tuning out loud music that I've never stumbled upon? This ISN'T a criticism of any kind of music, or anyone's right to play it as loudly as they want, but an inquiry into why the heck they do play it as loudly as they do! You can hear music coming out of some dormitory rooms from halfway down the street - I can only imagine the sound level inside must be far above the "common" pain threshold. Does anyone out there play music regularly at very high volume levels? Why? Sure, it's nice to FEEL the bass, but not if the treble rips off my face! -Andrew
dir (02/28/83)
I'm also sensitive to loud music. Any noise louder than a lawn mower probably damages your hearing permanentally, and should be restricted to airports, outside, near the runway, where it belongs. I have nothing against a loud good-time party, but I object when it encroaches upon my (auditory) space.
mark (03/01/83)
Speaking of loud music, does anyone have documented information on noise levels that it takes to cause hearing loss, either for a one-time thing (as in going to a rock concert) or continuous (the guy who tears up streets with a jack hammer for a living) or whatever? Specifically, I'd like to find out if there is any chance of damaging my son's hearing (he's going on 4 months old) when he's sitting in the back seat of the car and I have the stereo (bass speakers in the rear doors, treble in the front) up loud enough to overcome road noise on the freeway. (By the way, I'm not real fluent in what the heck a dB is anyway, I would personally appreciate a brief explanation with some sample noise levels, and maybe a method of measuring the noise level.) Mark
hennessy (03/04/83)
#R:cwruecmp:-52600:uiucdcs:10600074:000:594 uiucdcs!hennessy Mar 3 13:05:00 1983 I am one of those peolpe that like to listen to their music loud. For me, only certain music is good loud, so I don't have the stero blasting all the time. I do notice, after a long exposure to it my ears start ringing, but I think that is like an equalizing effect, like staring at one color for a long time, or being exposed to vibrations for a time, you start to see and feel them when they are not there. Holding a conversation is hard to do with loud music for me because my voice starts to go weak and I know of no way to talk except for screaming in the other party's ear. Rob Hennessy
bernie (03/04/83)
Best theory I've heard as to why some people like their music LOUD is that their frequency response curve drops off really quickly. In other words, their ability to hear a given sound drops rapidly as the frequency of the sound increases; they don't hear high frequencies as well as they do low frequencies. They therefore crank up the volume overall, so as to have enough volume in the frequencies where their hearing is weak; their brains compensate for the increase in the lower frequency sounds, and smooth things out for them. The music sounds "richer" at a higher volume, since they are able to discern sounds in a range that was invisible to them at a lower volume. Here's a nice touch of irony : their inability to hear high-frequency sounds well is probably due to long-term exposure to loud music; the cause and the consequence are one. --Bernie Roehl
nyles (03/08/83)
#R:cwruecmp:-52600:zinfandel:8200035:000:846 zinfandel!nyles Mar 4 00:09:00 1983 Having been a musician at one time in the distant past, I can understand in part why some bands like to play loud. I used to play the trumpet, but due to laziness and a full school schecule, I stopped playing. I still play the piano occasionally. But back to the point, which is that some music is written to be PLAYED loud. That's what 'fortissimo' means. Another thing is that when playing in concert, marching, or jazz band, when the entire band is blasting away on a particularly fun or inspiring part, the excitement I felt was tremendous. Maybe that's why musicians as a class are so crazy, I don't know. Some classical music is quite loud, such as the 1812 overture, where some orchestras use real cannons, built especially for that purpose. Pardon the pun, but playing loud can be a BLAST. Lord Morgon (zinfandel!nyles)