Being Asked to Turn Down?

Bill McCloskey · Post by **Bill McCloskey** » 21 Jul 2010 7:23 am

Was Billy Bob Thorton playing drums?

Joachim Kettner · Post by **Joachim Kettner** » 21 Jul 2010 7:36 am

Rick Barnhart wrote:]
I'd say your band leader's a bit full of himself.

I don't know... I've just imagined what Little Richard would have replied.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 21 Jul 2010 7:44 am

In most of these situations, music is not the attraction, it's a novelity, just like the decorations.

Presactly!

I've played numerous such private parties. Quite often, I'll know some of the people attending the party. The next time I run into them, I'll ask them how they liked the music we provided. Most of the time, they have no idea I was in the band. They make no eye contact with the band members. Just decorations... $:\$

John McGuire · Post by **John McGuire** » 21 Jul 2010 8:06 am

Ceartain places this has happened in the past although not private. One bar owner that we play at least monthly was always asking us to turn down, got to the point when we started we were very low and he complained no one could hear us and we needed to turn up the volume. We did back to the level we normally use. He thinks we are the most cooperative band he has and always calls us to fill in other dates. I guess its like reverse psycoligy (sp) but it worked.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 21 Jul 2010 9:44 am

Everything in life is situational. Adapt to the situation or watch your role in it die. That goes for everything from music to work to basic existence and survival. My opinion.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 21 Jul 2010 9:48 am

Who you callin' a dinosaur, Mister Mudgett?

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 21 Jul 2010 10:14 am

Jim Cohen wrote:I also respond by turning my clothes inside out.

In front of the bandstand, that would be a show unto itself!!

Eric Philippsen · Post by **Eric Philippsen** » 21 Jul 2010 10:32 am

Time for a generalization followed by, I'm sure, posts that have "not necessarily" in them somewhere.

More often than not, a band's volume is determined by how loud the drummer is.
Give me a drummer who plays with brushes or, at most, very lightly with sticks. I love those gigs. Just love 'em.

Yeah, throw in a PA and an overzealous soundman and that's another situation but I still look to drummers first for volume levels.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 21 Jul 2010 10:33 am

Jim, I've argued p=>q, but said nothing about p. This is strictly 'if the shoe fits'.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 21 Jul 2010 10:35 am

Yeah, but what if you've got p in your shoes?

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 21 Jul 2010 10:41 am

Then you better adapt.

Paul Crawford · Post by **Paul Crawford** » 21 Jul 2010 10:58 am

If asked to turn down by anyone associated with the venue, then down it goes no questions asked and smiles all around, (except the drummer.) If asked by dancers or drinkers, we consider the intoxication level of the requester but generally comply.

The only time turning down becomes an issue is when I'm already a low as I can go on stage and still hear myself. If asked in that situation, (which I have been), I smile and explain I can't turn it down, but will offer to turn the amp so it's not pointing at them.

We're sitting behind the mains and managing our own stage volume. I always assume the listener knows better than I do on what he's hearing out in front.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 21 Jul 2010 11:55 am

Steven Finley wrote:loudly declared over the mic, "How dare you try to turn down Tom Bovine! You hired Tom Bovine to sing. Next time, save yourself the $2500 dollars and tape my headshot to the mic stand." Then he took off his jacket (which looked like it came out of Porter Wagoner's closet), turned it inside out and put it back on.

I am much saddened by the stain which this divo has spilled over our good name, and I sentence him to two years as Kathleen Battle's personal assistant.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 21 Jul 2010 12:02 pm

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt...

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 21 Jul 2010 12:39 pm

Usually the guy who complains about the sound being too loud is the one sitting directly in front of a speaker even though there were ten gazillion other seats he could have chosen, go figure!

Roual Ranes · Post by **Roual Ranes** » 22 Jul 2010 4:12 am

A long time ago, I worked through a booking agent and most of our gigs were private parties. We were there just in case someone wanted to dance but for the most part we were ignored. The money was good and we could not have survived in the main stream club scene. The funny thing was that most of the time when we quit we were asked play over time. Still we were quiet enough to be elevator music.

Joe Smith · Post by **Joe Smith** » 22 Jul 2010 7:01 am

WHAT DID YOU SAY? TURN DOWN? SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU.

Joe Casey · Post by **Joe Casey** » 22 Jul 2010 8:27 am

I think I may have told this story before probably with more humor as it was a funny night.. but it fits this thread so here goes....We were hired one night to play for a State Senators grand mothers party..(I was just told by Agent that his band had double booked and this night and this would be a super paying gig..But when the room started to fill up it onlly took mili seconds to figure out why the other band did not want the gig.. The Senator was in his late 50s His Mother was 80 and the Guest of Honor was turning 100..Everyone attending except for the Senator and his wife was at least 65 or older so we only set up 1 set of Bose 901s and no monitors this was a small room and held slightly over 150 people....The first set was while they were eating so we just played instrumentals very softly..The second set was short as there were guest speakers and gifts being presented to the little old lady in a wheel Chair. She was oblivious to it all and barely responded..Now the third set was watching the majority of the people look as if they were napping or wondering where the hell they were they all looked like they hated each other..You could hear the dishes being washed in the kitchen..If three couples danced during the whole evening I would say that was it..The fourth set and the shortest one, we were all accoustic and the songs lasted about 7-9 minutes ..The guest of Honors favorite song I was told was Heart of my heart so I did what I could do accousticly by myself on that one..When we packed up there was only the help and the Senators table left..I'm sure most of the audience left because it was past there bedtime (about 9:pm)....He came up shook my hand and said we were great and paid us. We were only asked to turn down once and that was the first song of the first set..My guys knew what we were in for and and the professionalism of each did what they were hired to do..Entertain and please the crowd..Needless to say I did my own booking from that gig on..But I was proud of my guys for knowing the difference between a Job and a party..

Bill Howard · Post by **Bill Howard** » 22 Jul 2010 9:40 am

We played a Moose lodge in the early 80's the band leader had a really small peavey pa with collums maybe 150 watts max and a cpl collums with 12's in them no where near todays systems they ask us to turn down understand this band was a quiet one compared to some I played in, Harry kept turning it down,finally He flipped the off switch and ask "how is that"?
'Thats Perfect", we turned on Pa then turned speakers toward us and played that way to last set.
Funny how the same people go into a REALLY noisy Restaurant which I HATE.... MUSIC BLARING... and nary a word about it:)

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 22 Jul 2010 2:03 pm

Erv I've met that guy on many occasion .... how brain dead can you be hehe!!!! And he wears his jacket inside out as well

Don Sulesky · Post by **Don Sulesky** » 22 Jul 2010 2:45 pm

I can add to what Jack Stoner said and others about our situation at Catfish Johnny's and our FSGC.
I believe it was two summers ago in that spring Jack and I decided and told the club members and Johnny that we would not have any jams from June until September I think it was.
Well come the following year we were asked not to stop the jams doing the summer months.
I think this explains who is benefitting from our club jams as well as we are.
Let me be clear here.
We do owe a great deal to Catfish Johnny for his generous offer of letting us play and use his place each month.
Also we did have a problem with a few players being louder than the rest but the members of our club have come to realize the noise level and things have gone very well lately.
Don

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 22 Jul 2010 11:42 pm

That "red light is too loud" comment is true!! Back when I was on Johnny Bush's band, we'd play a Sunday afternoon dance at the Farmer's Daughter (no longer there) in San Antonio. This was generally acknowledged as a "seniors" affair.

I was onstage before the show, with my guitar unplugged from my amp and in my tuner, when an older fellow walked up, a chip on his shoulder bigger than Dallas, and said rather contentiously "now, we're not gonna have any trouble with you and the volume, are we?"

I told him I didn't think so and asked why he would think that when I hadn't yet made a sound. He said "I see that red light on your amp, and that means it's overdriving, right?"

I told him, politely, "no sir. It means it's plugged into the wall socket."

Not to be outdone and look the fool, he said "well, that BETTER be what it means!"

Bush was standing off to one side, and I thought he was gonna soil himself holding back the laughter!!

Danny Bates · Post by **Danny Bates** » 23 Jul 2010 12:52 am

Herb, next time say "Thanks for asking, most people aren't inclined enough to know that it's a narrow-wavelength electromagnetic spectrum monochromatic light that automatically keeps the volume of the entire band at a perfect level at all times"

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 23 Jul 2010 1:16 am

true ..seriously..true...

years back we played an outdoor Wedding. We we setup easily 500 feet away from the gathering on a small porch at the house , the gathering was down the big lawn near a small brook or something like that. When I tell you we could hardly see the people that's what I am talkin' about. So we played, modest volume nothing more than a typical small club...

yep..you guessed it..we were told to turn down. I didn't even know they could hear us ! The fact of the matter is they really didn't want to hear ANYTHING..."We have a Country band but we don't want to actually HEAR the Country band" thing was going on...The people getting married came to our gigs all the time.

So, we turned off the sound system. The funny thing was about 15 min later a few kids were playing in the yard maybe 50 feet away and they came up and said they couldn't hear any music. I said "great"...

we have success !

t

Jim Palenscar · Post by **Jim Palenscar** » 23 Jul 2010 6:10 am

I feel a bit differently than others on this issue. While I absolutely love to play loud, it is my opinion that if someone hires me to do a job for them and I accept that job then I am bound to do what they want to the best of my ability. If I don't like how it went I won't accept it again. That being said - once I get there- I am their servant and will acquiesce to pretty much any reasonable request. The band I'm in plays an outside Sunday afternoon gig at a local Bar and Grill and another restaurant nearby complained that the music was too loud and was disturbing their patrons so we were monitored with a db meter. While it was tough to comply with at first, the band got much better and tighter as a result of that- a "lemons into lemonade" scenario I guess. One of the many things that most impresses me about The Time Jumpers in Nashville is that you can literally sit on the stage and carry on a conversation without raising your voice and hear every instrument and vocal in an 11 piece band in the middle of a performance. That is the yardstick that I aspire to be measured by- not that I would ever in my life come close to achieving it but a goal nonetheless.

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