2. speakers
  3. 1262752749

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?
halcro
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
2,688 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.
david12
1,454 posts
 
TOMRYAN The idea of relaxation is new to me and I'm in the business, family doctor, not ENT specialist. An interesting idea, though I am not sure I understand the physiology.
As many of you know, the hearing sense organ is the Cochlear in the inner, a shell like looking organ through which sound passes and excites hair cells which are the actual sense organ. each cell responds to a different frequency. It follows that loud sound potentially damages the cells which are excited at that frequency.
Typically, in age related hearing loss, you get a progressive loss with higher frequencies. This is often accompanied by a high frequency tinnitus, as a corollary to the hearing loss. I have some high frequency tinnitus, which has'nt gone away, perhaps I should Tomyran's audiologist advice.
Noise related hearing loss, usually is different, with a mid frequency notch of hearing loss and more normal higher frequencies. This is what you will get, working in a canning factory, say, for 30 years, without hearing protection. I am not sure if there is a particular pattern of loss with rock music. Perhaps there should be a study of Ozzy Osborne and Frank Zappa.
More to discover