mabozza wrote:Should this become reality then any "live" entertainment louder than a hearty laugh will be put to an end, as venues won't be wanting the hassle so will just stop live music.
The fact of the matter is within particular venues, all bands are always roughly the same volume anyway - it's just perceived differently depending on whether you like that type of music or not.
Whether it's a noncy jingly-jangly pop band or a thrash metal band the volume is always roughly the same. i.e. within a few dB anyway. dB's are a logarithmic value and to double the apparent volume needs the level to increase by 3dB. i.e. 99dB is twice as loud as 96db etc.
Volume is one of the main devices used by music shops and especially P.A. Hire companies to try to get people to spend more than they need to. For example you see P.A. companies advertising 2K rigs or 4K rigs etc and will always say things like, "Oh that venue needs at least a 4K rig" or words to that effect. The music shops will try to tell the schoolboy guitarists that a 100 Watt amp is twice as loud as a 50 Watt amp etc!
The reality is that to double the volume of say a 2K (2000 Watt) rig, i.e. increase the sound level by 3dB (assuming that all the equipment is similar) would require a 20K (20,000 Watt) rig. So to actually double the apparent volume would require a ten times increase of the output power level!
There's more to it than that and it depends on the efficiency of the individual amps - a good example is that VOX AC30's (a 30 Watt amp) can sound a lot louder than a Marshall 100 Watt amp - due to the inefficiency of the Marshall.
Most bands playing in small venues have roughly the same amount of equipment and similar size of P.A. so the volume doesn't actually change that much.
The actual levels for any limiting devices can be quite high as long as the audience are at least 2 meters away from any PA speakers. This is a Health & Safety requirement.
You'll also find that most proper venues (i.e. not wee pubs) already are obliged to have an enforceable noise limit.
As already stated, the levels within pubs etc, don't vary that much and I think you'll find that it won't make any difference to the "apparent" volume.
Obviously, crap music will always sound too loud!
lanky
