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Moby concert and ear damage?

The other night I saw Moby performing at the Sydney Opera House and it was a stunning event with superb amplified sound filling the Concert Hall to the delight of 4000 enraptured fans.
The hall is really a vast volume (too big for any symphony orchestra to adequately fill) yet the volume produced by the amplifiers and speakers became so deafening that at times I had to crouch down behind the seats and block my ears......and I was sitting in row W of the Stalls?
I am sure that I must have suffered some permanent hearing loss over the 2 hour concert duration although thankfully there were some slow melodic songs to break the continual 100-110dB sound pressure levels.
The band members must surely wear ear-plugs to avoid early permanent deafness?

But this is not my question.
My stomach lining and chest cavity were vibrating and pulsing with the volume of sound but the bass drums and bass guitar were the lowest frequency-producing instruments on stage and I know that the lowest notes of the electric bass guitar is not lower than about 32Hz and most notes were way above that?
My home system with 2 Vandersteen 2Wq Subwoofers can produce 26 Hz in my listening room but my innards do not vibrate when I play low organ music?
So it must be 'volume' combined with frequency that vibrates the guts?
Is there a mathematical formula for determining what volume at 40 Hz is needed to vibrate materials compared to that at 20 Hz?
128x128halcro
emailists
923 posts
 
Regarding foam earplugs set deep, what I often do is rip one in half. It still provides the same protection, but when it's flush with the ear, there is no half of the plug sticking out. It helps when I wear them sometimes even in bars where there is just music, without attracting attention to the fact that I am wearing earplugs.

It really sucks I have to forgo seeing Springsteen concerts. I have seen him close to 70 times over the years, but 2 years ago was my last show of his (or any large rock show). Every bass drum hit felt like it was punching me. Luckily every show of his is recorded by fans (sometimes in great quality and twice even in 96K) and posted online via dime and usenet.
gregfisk
118 posts
 
Jax2, I too live in Seattle and stopped going to indoor concerts years ago. I did just see David Grey at the Paramount. Great show but way too loud. That place can sound great if the mixing guy is good. I just can't take the loud and distorted music anymore. I really wanted to see the Beck show as I havn't seen a show at Benaroya and I like Beck, now I'm glad I didn't go. I have been going to the winery shows in the summer for years now which is a great place to see a concert. The sound is amazing with the right artist. And hey, the wine isn't too bad either.

Take Care, Greg
tpreaves's avatar
tpreaves
2,686 posts
 
If I had to listen to Moby for two hours,my ears would not be the only thing hurting.
paulsax
275 posts
 
want a real low freq gut jiggler? Go to a NHRA drag race sometime that is featuring the nitro dragsters/funny cars. Most venues let you down close to the action and you will feel organs you did not know you had. Sort of like being 75 feet from a force of nature.
jax2
3,031 posts
 
I too live in Seattle and stopped going to indoor concerts years ago. snip

Hey Greg - I've seen a few good ones at the Paramount (Tori Amos several times very well done). Also seen some bad ones there that were overamped. The Moore is an outstanding venue here and I can say that I've never seen a bad show there. You didn't miss anything as far as Beck at Benaroya. See acoustic music there - the hall shines with un-amplified acoustic music. I completely agree, the Winery shows are great and usually well done as far as amping and mixing. I've seen Cowboy Junkies there, Tori Amos (again), and a handful of others - all great. ZooTunes often has some great shows, but their amplification is consistently poor (not nearly as engaging as St. Michelle) - I go anyway as I there's been some very enjoyable shows there in spite of the SQ. Gott'a smuggle in the wine though. The Pier is sometimes good to...hit or miss there. I loath the Gorge and you could not pay me to attend a show there. One time was all it took to figure that one out.
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