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Concerts have to be so loud because audiences are loud. As in the band members on stage wouldn't hear anything but the audience levels of loudness.

by tmtvl 1y ago

tim333 1y ago
Also the tech's probably cheaper and more capable. You probably needed a lot of money to get 110db sound in the 60s.
- mattmaroon 1y ago
  Right and back then you had one, maaaaybe two monitor banks. It was a lot harder to delay the signal to the speakers at various distances from the stage to prevent echo effect. Now it’s trivial.
542354234235 1y ago
99% of concert performers use Monitors to hear their own performance over the crowds and have nothing to do with the loudness of the audience speakers. Stage Monitors can be just speakers at the front edge of the stage pointed directly at the band [1] or they can be sound isolating earpieces so artists can hear exactly the sound mix they want [2]. [1] https://audioinstallations.co.uk/blog/stage-monitors-how-do-they-help-performers https://audioinstallations.co.uk/blog/stage-monitors-how-do-... [2] https://www.newsweek.com/taylor-swift-eras-tour-cruel-summer-concert-viral-video-ear-monitor-beat-1854499 https://www.newsweek.com/taylor-swift-eras-tour-cruel-summer...
camtarn 1y ago
Not necessarily because of the band members, but yeah, you want to cover up the noise of people chattering away in the back. Music can also sound better when it's louder, up to a certain point - if you're recording and mixing a piece of music, you want to do so at a very moderate volume, because if you crank it up loud some of the imbalances in the mix become less obvious. That said, there's 'loud enough that the music sounds good and you're mostly hearing music and not audience', and then there was the Prodigy concert I went to, where I was wearing earplugs and my ears still hurt. Amazing concert, but holy crap, probably the loudest situation I've ever encountered. I've also been right in front of the speakers at a festival dance tent, and my earplugs rattled due to sound pressure, which was unnerving but quite funny.

Concerts have to be so loud because audiences are loud. As in the band members on stage wouldn't hear anything but the audience levels of loudness.

by tmtvl 1y ago

Concerts have to be so loud because audiences are loud. As in the band members on stage wouldn't hear anything but the audience levels of loudness.

tim333 1y ago

Also the tech's probably cheaper and more capable. You probably needed a lot of money to get 110db sound in the 60s.

mattmaroon 1y ago
Right and back then you had one, maaaaybe two monitor banks. It was a lot harder to delay the signal to the speakers at various distances from the stage to prevent echo effect. Now it’s trivial.

542354234235 1y ago

99% of concert performers use Monitors to hear their own performance over the crowds and have nothing to do with the loudness of the audience speakers. Stage Monitors can be just speakers at the front edge of the stage pointed directly at the band [1] or they can be sound isolating earpieces so artists can hear exactly the sound mix they want [2]. [1] https://audioinstallations.co.uk/blog/stage-monitors-how-do-they-help-performers https://audioinstallations.co.uk/blog/stage-monitors-how-do-... [2] https://www.newsweek.com/taylor-swift-eras-tour-cruel-summer-concert-viral-video-ear-monitor-beat-1854499 https://www.newsweek.com/taylor-swift-eras-tour-cruel-summer...

camtarn 1y ago

Not necessarily because of the band members, but yeah, you want to cover up the noise of people chattering away in the back. Music can also sound better when it's louder, up to a certain point - if you're recording and mixing a piece of music, you want to do so at a very moderate volume, because if you crank it up loud some of the imbalances in the mix become less obvious. That said, there's 'loud enough that the music sounds good and you're mostly hearing music and not audience', and then there was the Prodigy concert I went to, where I was wearing earplugs and my ears still hurt. Amazing concert, but holy crap, probably the loudest situation I've ever encountered. I've also been right in front of the speakers at a festival dance tent, and my earplugs rattled due to sound pressure, which was unnerving but quite funny.