Klarinet Archive - Posting 000153.txt from 2007/07

From: Oliver Seely <oseely@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Re: loud bands (nearly OT)
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2007 16:17:22 -0400

I agree completely with Juan Francisco and I=20
ought to have preceded my message with the story=20
leading up to my rather aggressive=20
stance. Faculty had complained about the volume=20
of the music (at campus events) negatively=20
affecting the classroom experience. Up to that=20
time no one in Student Affairs had bothered to=20
check on sound levels or to weigh the value of=20
such events with the primary mission of the=20
university. My threat that "I would shut him=20
(the DJ) down" was baseless. As a professor I=20
don't have a lot of power except to make a public=20
issue of the matter, but the best defense being a=20
good offense I figured that it was worth a=20
try. It has worked so far at least. It's very=20
satisfying to stand 10 feet in front of a speaker=20
and see a dB meter registering above 85. You're=20
able to look at the sound engineer and say, "Are=20
you out of your mind? This exceeds the level for=20
industrial safety," and leave him to ponder the matter.

Oliver

At 07:50 AM 7/20/2007, you wrote:
>Oliver Seely escribi=F3:
>>When an amplified sound event is announced on=20
>>our campus I always show up with the meter and=20
>>tell the disk jockey that I'm going to shut him=20
>>down if he doesn't lower the volume.
>
>That's great!, but, what if I have the meter (or=20
>the ears pain), but I'm not the "man in charge"!.
>
>In smoking, you can choose whether to smoke or=20
>not, but sometimes it's impossible to avoid=20
>suffering passive smoking. Of course you can=20
>choose to listen music or not, but, nowadays,=20
>there is kind of a "silence horror", all needs=20
>sound, all type of toys, shops, machines.
>
>I am a musician, I make sound (sometimes called=20
>noise, but that is subjective, :-) ), but I=20
>always try to adjust my music level: quantity of=20
>audience, potential background disturbing noise,=20
>volume of the room, keeping an eye (sorry, an=20
>ear) in reaching a pleasant auditive experience.=20
>The conductor's "point of hearing" is one of a=20
>really high intensity (both emotional and=20
>acoustical way :-) ), but this is needed because=20
>some "weird" thing about the sound decreasing=20
>the inverse of the square of the distance. I=20
>don't want to hear music whispered, I like it=20
>loud when I want to pay attention only to the=20
>music, but not to the "pain point".
>
>The problem here comes when a lot of people=20
>(age, education, and social customs?) think that=20
>a "nice and pleasant" auditive experience is up to 120 dB.
>
>At least with the DJ you can try to (unnoticed) unplug something.
>
>
>Juanfran
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------
>

------------------------------------------------------------------