Band Too Loud

Palmer · Post by **Palmer** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:09 pm

I am once again frustrated working with a band that is loud.
I'm looking for stories about techniques for getting bands to turn down,
& when the volume went down did the music get better, or worse?

Waltz Mastering · Post by **Waltz Mastering** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:13 pm

"LOUD" is a direct by-product of rock and roll...More sound proofing...Isolation..close miking or not.etc.

Are you concerned about bleed, hearing damage or neighbors?

Palmer · Post by **Palmer** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:28 pm

Waltz Mastering wrote:"LOUD" is a direct by-product of rock and roll...More sound proofing...Isolation..close miking or not.etc.

Are you concerned about bleed, hearing damage or neighbors?

This is 2 keys, 2 guitars, bass, & drums. I'm concerned with everyone hearing everyone else, playing together, bringing out dynamics in a room without headphones and I'm convinced they could achieve this with less volume, so I was looking for techniques to get people to turn down and stories about lower volume working or not working.

kslight · Post by **kslight** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:31 pm

Just make the suggestion once and if they don't comply then proceed as normal. When it's time to mix and there is tons of bleed on every track then explain how you pointed it out in the beginning...

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 2:25 pm

kslight wrote:Just make the suggestion once and if they don't comply then proceed as normal. When it's time to mix and there is tons of bleed on every track then explain how you pointed it out in the beginning...

I was gonna suggest something like that.

Seems like most people have problems successfully making instantaneous, last-minute changes to their modus operandi though.

brinnbacka · Post by **brinnbacka** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 7:26 am

If you can make them understand that something needs to be quiet before something else can be loud...

mjau · Post by **mjau** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 7:59 am

In my limited experience, the band's-too-loud thing is usually because one person is too loud, and everyone else follows suit to compete. If you can find that one person and work with him or her, it might then lead to everyone else settling in.
It's funny...my current band has the opposite problem. I can't get them loud enough at times.

suppositron · Post by **suppositron** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:51 am

Is the band loud because everyone needs to hear themselves louder than everyone else? You can try reposition them to point their amps away from each other. Put amps up on chairs and get them pointed right at the players' heads.

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:56 am

suppositron wrote:Is the band loud because everyone needs to hear themselves louder than everyone else? You can try reposition them to point their amps away from each other. Put amps up on chairs and get them pointed right at the players' heads.

YES!!!

Point their amps right at their heads, and then cover the floor with plastic sheets for the ensuing bloody mess that will happen. Then tell them to turn it up MORE and MORE until noses start bleeding. Don't stop telling them it needs to be LOUDER.

When they finally become deaf, you can turn it down to your taste.

I pretty much let bands do whatever they like, so long as they allow me to engineer however I like. If the two are in conflict, I change my method, rather than change them.

Cheers

comfortstarr · Post by **comfortstarr** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:06 am

As a one-time member of a "band too loud" I have to say that getting everyone to be more quiet is a hard hard hard thing to accomplish. They need to start playing less loudly way in advance of coming to the studio to record (or the club to play for that matter).

I also think that tendency for this to be driven by one member of the band is relatively common. It takes just one player with compromised hearing to start throwing things way out of whack.

@?,*???&? · Post by **@?,*???&?** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:42 am

Unless it's jazz, there's really no point.

The band will always be up against the loudest thing in the room. That is 90% of the time, the drumkit. Balancing guitar volumes against drums, is the key to any rehearsal situation.

Is this a recording or a rehearsal situation?

Rehearsal and pre-production is a time to sort out arrangement. If it's too loud, did you bring hearing protection? I always do when I'm in pre-production.

From a recording standpoint, if they are too loud and the goal is capture everything in the same room, you've got to balance them and mind your polar patterns when mic'ing. If it's not the goal to record them all at once in the same room, find isolation.

@?,*???&? · Post by **@?,*???&?** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:47 am

Palmer wrote:I am once again frustrated working with a band that is loud.
I'm looking for stories about techniques for getting bands to turn down,
& when the volume went down did the music get better, or worse?

Please clarify 'working with a band'.

In what capacity are you working?

Jay Reynolds · Post by **Jay Reynolds** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 9:59 am

@?,*???&? wrote:Unless it's jazz, there's really no point.

*Envisions Geoff trying to get Buddy Rich to play quieter and the resulting shit-storm*

mmmm...happy thoughts...

thethingwiththestuff · Post by **thethingwiththestuff** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:39 am

having done a lot of live sound in the past couple years, i can confidently say that the drumkit is no longer the loudest thing by default EXCEPT in jazz or acoustic genres. amps won.

Palmer · Post by **Palmer** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:52 am

Thanks everyone for your advice. I've been looking at other forums as well and the answers are all familiar. I'm gonna leave it alone, do my best and research "polar patterns when mic'ing."

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Band Too Loud

Band Too Loud

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Thank you all for your advice

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