[Dixielandjazz] Playing too loud

[Bill Allen]

The goal of our group is for people to ask us to turn UP the volume - after
all, isn't that a lot better to your ego to know that people want to hear
you MORE, rather than asking you to turn it down?

By the way, often the bass is instrumental to  a listener's perception of
loudness.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ministry of Jazz" <jazzmin at actcom.net.il>
To: "Mr. Bill" <ballen at deltapathology.com>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 12:11 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Playing too loud


> Shalom Jazz Fans,
>
> I just saw a post today on a local Jerusalem list by the host of a private
> event who hired a band with the specific provision in the contract that
the
> host (i.e., customer, the guy with the money) will determine the
appropriate
> volume level, and the band must lower the volume at the host's request.
The
> poor guy says the band played so loud that his guests couldn't hear each
> other even if they screamed, and when they told the band to lower the
> volume, the band either ignored them, or turned it down a little bit and
> then raised it back up again a few minutes later.
>
> It is a known problem in Israel that party bands play way too loud, and it
> is a rare event that one does not go home without a headache. This is why
my
> players often try to tell me that the audience can't hear the vocals if we
> don't use an amp, or that we can't adequately fill the space of an outdoor
> event for 100 people with sound with a 4-5 piece brass band. So far I have
> stuck to my guns and refuse to use amplification except
> for a small portable amp for vocals.
>
> I wrote the guy and said a) next time he should hire us (I said it
nicely),
> and b) if the band was really that bad that they didn't meet the terms of
> the contract, he should have refused to pay. If the band was not willing
to
> play at the customer's requested volume level for artistic, egotistical or
> any other reasons, they should not have accepted the job.
>
> What's wrong with players who are so wrapped up in their own egos that
they
> will leave a trail of unhappy customers behind them? Gigs don't grow on
> trees! And you can completely ruin someone's once in a lifetime event. For
> what?!
>
> Playing solo or with a small combo in a restaurant, I have had the problem
> of people complaining the music is too loud even when I'm barely playing
> loud enough to hear myself, and  completely unamplified. There has to be
> some reason to the issue. If a restaurant has a jazz night, then
presumably
> people come to hear the jazz, and a reasonable volume level should be
> accepted. If somebody wants to make a toast or give a short speech, I
always
> stop playing for this when requested, but some people are more gracious
> about the requesting than others. Once in the middle of a song, a fellow
at
> a nearby table turned around, waved his hand at me rudely, and barked at
me,
> "Can you stop playing for awhile? I want to give a talk." I stopped on the
> spot, which I feel is rude to others who may be listening to the song. (I
> prefer to finish the chorus at least.) The fellow then proceeded to give a
> religious talk on manners!
>
> I have found one way to solve the problem. Sunday I'll be going with a
small
> troupe of entertainers to play music, do juggling and balloons, in Sderot,
> the Israeli town that has been on the receiving end of the Kassam rockets
> from Gaza for some time. I figure, if a Kassam lands in the area while
we're
> playing, people probably won't complain that the music is too loud. Will
let
> you know how it goes.
>
> Best regards to all,
>
> Elazar "cover me, I'm going in" Brandt
> Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
> Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
> Jerusalem, Israel
> www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
> +972-2-679-2537
>
>
>
>
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