Why does rock concert sound suck?
I have been to two rock concert in the past year : Brit Floyd in Bridgeport CT and Eric Clapton at Madison Square Garden, NYC (last Monday)
For Brit Floyd I was about 40 feet form the stage and treble end was an ear-splitting distorted sound - the soprano solo on Dark Side of the Moon sounded like a chain saw running at 5x speed.
For Eric Clapton I was sitting at floor level about 20 rows behind the mixing desk - i.e., the opposite end from the stage. In this case the high top end was not so distorted, but the voices were still very harsh - seemingly a massive response peak at ~1500hz. Imagine AM radio with the treble turned up 20db.
I knew a lot of the words form the songs ahead of time of course, and just about recognized them, but otherwise the lyrics were unintelligible. The only exceptions were when he sang a quieter song - e.g., “Tears in Heaven” . Clapton moved back from the mic rather than place his mouth right next to it. Then the sound was quite listenable .
Of course managing the acoustics in such a big venue is no doubt a challenge — but does it have to be this bad?
@larsman +1 Ahhh...the good old Owsley Stanley "Wall of Sound" days. That was by far the best outdoor sound I've ever heard. You could actually use audiophile terms to describe it. OTOH the worst was McCartney at Giants stadium which was so loud all the lighting fixtures were vibrating/buzzing loudly. Regards, barts |
It has been a long time since I went to a big concert and ended up at Red Rocks and seeing The War On Drugs and support this week. The sound was interesting. Lots of washy echo, clear yet layered guitars, keyboard synths and a bass so firm my mid chest vibrated (and I kept telling myself to buy a subwoofer). It sounded for all its loudness completely involving and visceral. The live impact was huge and that idiot audiophile thought that my system should capture it an obvious pipe dream, unless I want to build a room the size of a hall and put a PA system in place! I was with another audiophile and we both said how much we had missed such gigs. In the end the sound does suck but that’s not why you go. The sheer presence, volume and of being there made the band so much better than their recordings and that musical immediacy far outweighs pristine HiFi sound. Sure smaller venues or better rooms sound a lot more HiFi and artists with more complex and intimate sounds suit those venues well. But for a rock concert with a rock band, then that’s different. In the end recorded music and gigs are very different experiences and long may it remain so. |
@barts + 1 - Yeah, I saw/heard that 'Wall of Sound' a couple of times, and Owsley was doing their sound from before that, almost as far back as their beginning. He was brilliant, and the Grateful Dead live sound quality continued on well past Owsley until the end. They always had serious sound systems and sound crews. |
I'm not a big fan of the audience singing every song either. The first time this really bothered me was at a Tim McGraw show about 15 years ago. I think every audience member sang every song, and very loudly too. Guess what, I didn't pay to hear the *audience* sing these songs, I paid to hear the *artist* sing these songs. If that's now the norm, see ya later. Happy I saw Pink Floyd throughout the years on two different outdoor stadium tours. Sound quality always seemed to be perfect. I know for sure that one of those tours supported a quad sound system, and it sounded excellent. I saw Christine McVie when she was touring for her 1984 solo album. It was at a venue that was noted for symphony performances, and not only was Christine's performance stunning, but the sound quality was outstanding. I'll never forget it. I will also mention a few live recordings that I think incorporate the venue well - Chicago Live at Carnegie Hall, and Atlanta Rhythm Section's Are You Ready. |
@dpop Totally agree, drives me nuts!. Really crazy how audience behavior has changed over the decades. This as it pertained to rock concerts and personal experience. Early 70's audiences rather reverential in that they were totally engaged with performance, quiet and even sitting in their seats with exception of encores. This behavior was common at indoor venues, outdoor or festival audiences far more rowdy. Over time audience participation increased, I really think Peter Frampton's Come Alive release exacerbated the audience as participant in performance thing, Springsteen certainly added to it.
As far as recent sound quality at shows, I've seen Railroad Earth, Beach House and War On Drugs at same local venue, Railroad Earth best of three. This theatre has pretty bad room acoustics and house sound reinforcement guys have no idea, louder and louder better for them. Railroad Earth saved by being more acoustic based band. Saw Kraftwerk recently at another venue, much better room acoustics here and house sound reinforcement guys controlled volume much better.
The problem largely lies with house sound guys and equipment, you learn some venues never produce good sound. In order to get good sound, very high likelihood band has to have their own sound guys, equipment, and how many bands have the resources or even care about good sound quality to do that.
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