Live music rubbish!

In regard to Rock concerts, there were alot which were loud in my experience where my ears would be ringing for quite some time afterwards.  I remember saying to my friend in a Rock concerts in the 70's that its handy to be familiar with the particular songs played because one would know how the song progresses and recognise it.  Otherwise If I heard the songs for the first time live in that concert I would most probably have no idea how it is played, its a bit like if someone knows a little French and the French person is talking to you in his own pace in French and one would only understand just three words out of forty spoken words!

However live concerts are exciting, certainly organic, emotional and a lot of times certainly more interesting then the studio versions.  Most of my favourite Rock music collections is from live concerts certainly more exciting atleast than the studio version.  Eg How can one listen to studio version of UFO's Love to Love song , after having heard the live album  of Strangers In The Night - Love to Love with Michael Schenkers blistering guitar solo; its simply a no brainer...!

winkyincanada posted:

Pev posted:

Live music every time for me but if it's at home - play it LOUD!

And yet again, that exploding sausage fails to convey any meaning whatsoever.

It means turn up the volume until all the sausages in your house explode 

Romi posted:

In regard to Rock concerts, there were alot which were loud in my experience where my ears would be ringing for quite some time afterwards.  I remember saying to my friend in a Rock concerts in the 70's that its handy to be familiar with the particular songs played because one would know how the song progresses and recognise it.  Otherwise If I heard the songs for the first time live in that concert I would most probably have no idea how it is played, its a bit like if someone knows a little French and the French person is talking to you in his own pace in French and one would only understand just three words out of forty spoken words!

However live concerts are exciting, certainly organic, emotional and a lot of times certainly more interesting then the studio versions.  Most of my favourite Rock music collections is from live concerts certainly more exciting atleast than the studio version.  Eg How can one listen to studio version of UFO's Love to Love song , after having heard the live album  of Strangers In The Night - Love to Love with Michael Schenkers blistering guitar solo; its simply a no brainer...!

But Romi, if the CD sounded like what we hear at concerts, nobody would buy it. It is really frustrating! I was at Elbow on Saturday in Dublin and though I am very familiar with the the music (I have all the albums), it was mighty difficult to hear what was going on. Delivering distortion levels of sound has nothing to do with music.

I went to a gig last night and at various points the sound was too loud and the PA was overloading. however, this did not detract from the quality of the music and the intensity of the occasion. It was lightning, and that rarely strikes. I couldn't really care that it was a less than "hi fi" experience. It was the emotional engagement with the music that mattered.

If you want hi-fi sound at a gig, you generally have to go and see Pink Floyd (or these days, Roger Waters/Dave Gilmour), or otherwise sit at home and listen to a CD/LP.

Oafs with mobile phones held aloft, filming everything are a far bigger distraction than poor sound as far as I'm concerned.

I find almost all gigs (here I'm thinking of the smaller gigs for audiences of about 50 to 200 in size) the sound system is really bad.  Seriously, in many cases.  Trying to get the most volume out of inadequate amps (so clipping), increasing bass to get the most bang for the buck (even though it's distorted, and sucking the power supply so much that the treble doesn't really get a look in, and it too gets clipped) all going through cheap (Peavey very often around here) speakers.  HiFi would be nice, but even midfi seems unachievable very often.  It does detract from the enjoyment of the show, though I usually enjoy the show anyway.  

I often used to wonder what it would be like in smaller venues (50 to 100) if you had 6-pack 135s into DBLs.  Of course, you could do better now.  

I did hear some Bose (I know, but...) of some sort consisting of bass speakers and a tall thin column giving the mid/hi frequencies.  That sounded better than average.

Went to see Erasure playing a couple of weeks ago at Southampton Guildhall and the audio quality was absolutely shocking - just a wall of noise...

Phil

Phil Harris posted:

Went to see Erasure playing a couple of weeks ago at Southampton Guildhall and the audio quality was absolutely shocking - just a wall of noise...

Phil

Yup, that's the Guildhall alright. Terrible acoustics. I think it's all listed, Lutyens etc., and they can't do anything about it even if they wanted to.

Chris

The last 2 shows I went to were Paul Macca at a large basketball arena, and Joe Jackson in a theater that seats just over 1,000 and in both cases the sound was good. Loud but not overly so, and not distorted. 

Christopher_M posted:

Phil Harris posted:

Went to see Erasure playing a couple of weeks ago at Southampton Guildhall and the audio quality was absolutely shocking - just a wall of noise...

Phil

Yup, that's the Guildhall alright. Terrible acoustics. I think it's all listed, Lutyens etc., and they can't do anything about it even if they wanted to.

Chris

They could play somewhere that doesn't sound worse than my toilet...

Phil

Saw Nils Frahm at the Colston Hall on Sunday evening. Superb sound which was quiet in the quiet bits and louder and the loud bits. Quiet bits so quiet we could hear his trainers squeak as he moved around the stage and we could hear him plonk down on his piano stools. We were in the second row though.

Quietest ever probably Joanna Newsome, also at the Colston. Loudest was A Flock of Seagulls at Aston Union when my ears were still young enough to take it.

Keith