Volume

Tips and techniques of the trade

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mark0tz
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Volume

#1 Post by mark0tz » Sat Feb 01, 2003 12:16 am

You ever play the songs a bit louder to add energy to the room?
Mike Marcotte

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Mr Awesomer
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#2 Post by Mr Awesomer » Sat Feb 01, 2003 6:25 am

We were BLASTING it all night long tonight. It was rad.
Reuben Brown
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Kyle
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#3 Post by Kyle » Sun Feb 02, 2003 11:24 pm

good job on the volume for the weekend. i loved it loud

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#4 Post by GemZombie » Mon Feb 03, 2003 11:08 am

Kyle wrote:good job on the volume for the weekend. i loved it loud
I was asked to up the volume a lot at 3rd street, but the set up there couldn't handle it, and reached distortion levels early. I guess those speakers need to be upgraded a bit.

And ugh, I had that guy (forgot his name) actually announce a Jam to one of my songs. *sigh* I'm opposed to announced jams.

Oh ya, and this Kyle dude kept asking me to play real music ;) I think he wanted some groove or neo-swing or something. :P

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#5 Post by Nate Dogg » Mon Feb 03, 2003 1:41 pm

It all depends on the room. I generally like it louder, but sometimes I have to tone it down. We have certain dancers that are sensitive to lound noise and they complain. It is never that loud when they complain, but what can you do?

Our main venue is in a large ballroom. We don't have speakers in the back. So, it ends up being extra loud towards the stage and less loud in the back. Most people, place themselves in the portion of the room that best fits them. Personally, when I am not DJing, I stay away from dancing directly under the speakers, because it gets too loud.

In San Antonio, we have neighbors that complain, so that limits things there. I remember last year at the San Diego Exchange, one of the after-hours venues got cancelled due to noise complaints, so being too cavalier about noise could ruin things for everybody.

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#6 Post by Nate Dogg » Mon Feb 03, 2003 1:51 pm

GemZombie wrote:
Kyle wrote:good job on the volume for the weekend. i loved it loud
Oh ya, and this Kyle dude kept asking me to play real music ;) I think he wanted some groove or neo-swing or something. :P
Two weeks ago, there was a brand new DJ in San Antonio, it was his first set and I was in the DJ stand with him. A dude came up to him and asked him to play some real swing music. His request was made with a "you idiot, don't you understand music" vibe.

I asked him what music he considered to be real swing, he replied, that he wanted to hear some Manhatten Transfer and Brian Setzer. The DJ was playing Count Basie or something like that at the time.

Nathan

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Kyle
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#7 Post by Kyle » Tue Feb 04, 2003 11:19 am

Nate: that is a funny story.

I had one woman tell me that, in the back, in front of the speakers, the music was too loud! How do you defend something like that? Ummm, your right, i'll turn down the music so that when you are standing directly in front of the speakers it wont be so loud.



the only problem I had with the loudness of the binge was the treble at times. Reuben played a great version of Rockin In Rhythm on friday, so as you know it can really hit with noise. That was a bit too much for my taste. If I had a monitor in front of me so that I could hear the music better, I would probably play it louder as well. But I never know how loud it really is, so I don't push it too often.


and jesse: I was looking for something a little more Lawrence Welk like. you know, something that really kicks! :D

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#8 Post by JesseMiner » Tue Feb 04, 2003 1:04 pm

GuruReuben wrote:We were BLASTING it all night long tonight. It was rad.
Sorry, but my ears strongly disagreed that night. Several times I had to physically cover my ears due to painful sound levels. I don't know if that had to do with the quality of the sound system at KC's or with your choice to "BLAST" it.

I grew up regularly going to and loving punk/hardcore shows, but the swing scene was such a welcomed change regarding volume/sound quality. I was no longer having to cover my ears, use ear-plugs or go home with damaged hearing. I'm all for boosting energy with sound levels but not when it gets beyond a comfortable listening level.

Jesse

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CafeSavoy
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#9 Post by CafeSavoy » Tue Feb 04, 2003 3:22 pm

Kyle wrote:
and jesse: I was looking for something a little more Lawrence Welk like. you know, something that really kicks! :D

Image

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#10 Post by GemZombie » Tue Feb 04, 2003 4:00 pm

CafeSavoy wrote:
Kyle wrote:
and jesse: I was looking for something a little more Lawrence Welk like. you know, something that really kicks! :D

[image snipped]
The best was when this guy asked me if there was a frank sinatra CD left, and I didn't know anything about it. He wanted the DJ to play something off of it, but since he didn't have it, he asked me if I had any sinatra. I said no, that I had a few songs but I didn't bring them with me (which was totally true... I don't bring it for a reason!). He then said "How can you be a DJ without Sinatra". I almost bitchslapped him on the spot.

He then brought the CD back, which I thankfully didn't have time to play from, at which point I got to shrug it off to Marcelo, the next DJ. He, also thankfully, didn't have "time" to play it.

-- actually, the whole thing of requests when you are only DJing for an hour is really rude when you think about it. I was asked to DJ for the sake of providing my mix of music for the dancers, not so I could play other peoples music. :P

Edited to add: I'm not a snob (or that much of one at least). When I play for a more regular gig, i'll play requests (hell I played soulless music lastnight for the westies joining in)... but at a major event, it's didfferent.

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Mr Awesomer
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#11 Post by Mr Awesomer » Tue Feb 04, 2003 5:06 pm

JesseMiner wrote:I'm all for boosting energy with sound levels but not when it gets beyond a comfortable listening level.

Jesse
Well... I didn't want to playing the music at a listening level... I wanted to play it at room-packed-full-of-people-dancing-hard-plus-loud-enough-to-reach-outside levels. And as loud as the levels were, not a single individual ever came up to the booth to ask for it to be lowered... so at the time there was never anything to indicate it was to much.
Reuben Brown
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#12 Post by JesseMiner » Tue Feb 04, 2003 5:58 pm

Fair enough. I probably should have come up and given you that feedback during the event, but I didn't get around to it. It just ended up being easier to wander outside and converse out there rather than to make my way over to the DJ booth to be critical. I'm just letting you know in hindsight. I can't speak for others, but I know I had to cover my ears at several points, and Lance had his earplugs in, and my ears were definitely ringing on the ride home. That is something I have not experienced in the many years of regularly swing dancing to amplified music.

I guess two different issues are being brought up in this thread:

1. Pumping up the volume to increase the energy in a room. Like I said above, I'm all for it as long as it doesn't get to a painful level for my ears. Even in a packed house of crazy dancers going wild, there is still a volume threshold point that you don't want to cross. It's often hard for the DJ to know exactly where that point is from the booth, so you either need good VU meters or you have to get out of the booth occasionally and walk around to check the sound. Quite often, the DJ doesn't get the necessary feedback from the dancers that the volume is a problem (my point above clearly illustrates that).

2. Increasing the volume to reach greater areas of a dance floor. It is very frustrating for me at events when there are not enough speakers provided to fill the dance area thus forcing the DJ to overcompensate by cranking up the volume. You end up with very loud areas near the speakers and very quiet (or normal) areas far away from the speakers. Two examples have been touched upon already: the situation at KC's where there were no speakers outside thus needing the speakers inside to be cranked to reach the outdoors dancing area, and the situation Nate Dogg describes where there are only speakers on one end of a large ballroom which must be cranked to reach the other end. Both of these situations can result in dangerously, or at least, unpleasantly loud areas near the speakers. The solution of course is to get the proper sound system for the area you are trying to cover, but unfortunately the budget isn't always there to do so.

Jesse

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Ron
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#13 Post by Ron » Wed Feb 05, 2003 6:33 pm

I like to go walkabout to check the volume at the back of the room when I DJ, but its still easy to mess it up on the other songs. That's a good thing about having other DJs in the room, I appreciate it when another DJ tells me that the volume needs to be turned up. And I do the same thing when I'm dancing.

Speaking of volume, some of those Basie tunes are obnoxious. You set a good volume, you think, and go out to dance. Two minutes later you are sprinting for the DJ booth when the horn section lets loose. I have some Harry James thats the same way. It makes me not want to play the songs that have that much dynamic range.

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#14 Post by Kyle » Wed Feb 05, 2003 11:46 pm

likewise with Artie Shaw cuts and the clarinet. blow out some eardrums with some of that stuff


I appreciate it as well when another person, esp. a DJ, tells me to adjust the volume. It is much appreciated!

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#15 Post by JesseMiner » Thu Feb 06, 2003 12:35 pm

Ron wrote:Speaking of volume, some of those Basie tunes are obnoxious. You set a good volume, you think, and go out to dance. Two minutes later you are sprinting for the DJ booth when the horn section lets loose. I have some Harry James thats the same way. It makes me not want to play the songs that have that much dynamic range.
Some songs require volume or low/mid/high adjustments at different points. It's good for a DJ to be well aware of the dynamics in a song and be ready to adjust when needed to avoid blasting the audience with painful volumes. Some of Basie's later New Testmanent stuff is a good example of this, but there is plenty of other music that falls into that category. Sometimes a very quiet delicate section such as a bass solo needs some boosting.

Suggestion: know very well which songs have these issues and be at the booth manning the controls ready for the necessary adjustments. I usually make sure a song isn't going to have these issues before stepped out for a dance. It sucks to be out on the floor away from the controls, get blasted by some highs and have to make a mad dash back to adjust.

The more frustrating part of course is that different songs can have these issues in different rooms with different sound systems. I have learned over the years about some material that is or is not appropriate to be played over specific sound systems. A song can sound great in one room, awful in another.

Jesse

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