Decibel meter live + MU membership

[pitchfork]

Well last night we played a gig and at the venue there was this decibel meter light system that showed you how loud you were allowed to go, green you were fine, orange you should be careful and red if you stayed on it for 5 seconds it'll cut the power to the whole stage which of course sucked because it happened twice to us during the set and we kept getting up to red and noticing and having to drop down making it sound unever, played with levels and couldn't really do anything. The owner apologised about it and he said he would rehire us because we did good considering.

Anyone ever encountered it before, it seriously pissed me off, I know they are doing it in respect for the neighbours but its not like we were really going for it bigstyle. It was only about a 200 person capacity venue, the manager said he would still rehire us but it doesn't exactly do much good for your reputation as a band when the power cuts out half way through the song.

Damn little traffic light thingy :(

Oh and i'm wondering is a musicians union membership worth it?
This guy at our rehearsal space sorta mentioned it to us and its sounds like it could be useful. If someone cancels a gig we will still get paid in theory if they sign a contract.

[Aus_rock_god]

I've never had that problem, and this is the first I've heard of it.

Then again, I work on the underground circut where everyone's too stoned to care (hey, I'm telling it like it is), so it might be different at clubs in the city.

Either that, or you boys in the UK do things different.

It depends on the country you're in, but in Australia you'd complian to APRA about it.

It's the sound engineer's job to keep the dbs down, and the club's responcibility to keep the place relitively soundproof if the neighbors are likely to complain.

So if the engineer's not willing to tell you to turn your amps down if they're too loud, and turn the front of house down if he's running the system too hot then it's the engineer who should get slapped, not the band.

The only thing, is this wouldn't apply for small pubs where there is no mixing desk, and the band is using the house PA for vocals and keys only.

[Neodruid]

yeah, ive played a gig with one of those, it was really sensitive and the snare drum on its own cut the power, let alone a whole band, so we ran extensions from the kitchen cos it didnt cut the power to the kitchen. we did keep it down, in respect for the neighbours, but very very annoying.

[pitchfork]

Yeah there was no soundman and we had the amps as low as we could go before they would get lost.
We tried to keep the sound low but the drummers snare pretty much turned it orange every time and any quieter all you would hear would be drums basically.

It was pretty sucky imo but the club was being threatened by legal action and stuff so I suppose its all they can do to keep live music. The manager was nice about it and paid well (£210ish and a round of drinks on the house).

If I played there again I would look for alternate power perhaps like neodruid or maybe look into disabling the db meter or just keep someone by the reset switch so we don't get too much down time.

I wouldn't complain to official sources because its most likely they are the ones who enforce the use of it.

[Aus_rock_god]

Hang on, the snare alone is loud enough to cut the power? How many db is the limit???

[Seafroggys]

were the drums miced?

In many venues I've played, they mic up the drums, when they don't really need to.

[pitchfork]

were the drums miced?

In many venues I've played, they mic up the drums, when they don't really need to.

Un miced and I don't know how loud the sound limit was but it was too low if you ask me.
The snare didn't cut the power in particular it was the combination of stuff, it sent the limit up to orange most hits.

[Seafroggys]

then don't rimshot. Or play quieter

My first gig with my current band was at my old high school's cafeteria (3 months after I graduated, how sad is that?) and we had to play softly because of the bitchy cooks. It was easy to manage, but then again, 3 years in jazz band has taught me much about dynamics.

[Aus_rock_god]

Last time I played at school, the best sound was outside the building.

\m/

[Neodruid]

the one i did, the drums weren't mic'd and the snare just on its own cut the power, with nothing else making any noise.

[pitchfork]

then don't rimshot. Or play quieter
I wasn't playing drums and my drummer was playing pretty much as low as we could go before we would be drowned out by people talking in the audience, he wasn't bashing the crap outta his drums or rimshotting much. He cracked the 8A's out after the power cut the first time and played pretty damn light for a rock setting.

I reckon it needed to go up a fair few decibels to get it to an acceptable level.

Don't worry about the MU thing anyway, I read through 5 or 6 leaflets and just sent my form off, should be decent.

[Aus_rock_god]

Solution: Get the brushes out, and start playing all your music Jazz style (even if it's black metal) :lol:

Most of the pubs in Melbourne and Ballarat blow 100 db easy.

[cadencethefire]

Solution: Get the brushes out, and start playing all your music Jazz style (even if it's black metal) :lol:

Most of the pubs in Melbourne and Ballarat blow 100 db easy.


swing the beats too! Get that chain or ball thing on your ride so it sounds like air aswell

[pitchfork]

Yeah JazzBluesRock, badass, I been wanting to incorporate some jazz type soloing into it anyway.