Might be just me, but pub sound systems always seem to be tuned into the higher end of the sound spectrum. Now we all know that usually bands are made up of a vocalist, percussion, lead guitar and bass guitar. But for some reason, the reproduction of the 'bottom end' (I'm talking about recorded music here) is neglected in favour of the vocals/treble, resulting in a thin/irritating noise that cancels out speech (of anyone that happens to be in the range of the loudspeakers).
It's been known for a long time that different sound frequencies can influence behaviour in the listener, used to great effect by shamen in ritual ceremony for example. It is my belief that the town centre pub play their records in the mid/higher frequency range in order to make people shout to be heard thus giving the impression that everyone is in high spirits, when really they are just there because "birds like this kind of music, so the blokes will follow". But I digress, in conclusion I think town centre sound systems are driven at levels they were not designed for/operated by personnel that don't know their **** from their elbow.
Clubs are usually better, Angels was quite good, but can't really compare it to a really good system.
It's a bit different for live bands, (more variables in the equation), but I can put up with that when the focus of attention is on a band rather than when you're trying to socialize.
I'm not a sound engineer but have discussed this subject with a few and they tell me to stay away from this sort of thing if I want to keep my hearing but tell me if you think I'm talking B*****s.
__________________ I am not young enough to know everything Oscar Wilde. |