Originally Posted by JayG
I've been to more orchestral concerts than I can count, and never has one of them been comparable in loudness (even at the loudest point) to the average rock show that I've been to. Not to mention, as mbhaub said, that orchestras rarely sustain their maximum volume for long periods of time.
Oh, no question. Rock shows are still
very loud in many, if not most, cases.
Originally Posted by JayG
Rock shows, while I don't doubt your assertions of increased self-regulations and a gradual decline in decibel levels, are still unnecessarily loud. I can never understand why the groups want to have their music so loud that the hearing of audience members is adversely affected.
This, for better or worse, is part of the culture of rock music. The music is meant to be felt, as much as heard. Probably the loudest show I've ever been to (without walking out) was a Husker Du club date in the mid-80s. It was a very small place, and the crowd consisted almost entirely of true believers -- people who really loved the band. So people were pressed up against the front of the stage. When the band launched into the first song, nearly everyone backed up, in an almost involuntary way. I don't know how to describe it, except to say that the sheer volume gave the sound an almost solid presence.
Today, I would never go to a show like that without ear protection. But I might let myself have a few minutes of unprotected listening, despite the probable damage, just to revel in that sheer force. It takes me back to my teens, when I would play Black Sabbath's
Paranoid so loud that I couldn't hear my mother frantically pounding on my bedroom door.
Originally Posted by JayG
The music invariably sounds worse because of the volume. I understand the desire for a tactile impact from the sound, but it goes far beyond that.
That kind of excess is sometimes the point!
Originally Posted by JayG
I think the reason orchestral climaxes seem so earth-shatteringly loud in context is that the audience has been carefully listening for extended periods of time to music at low to moderate volume levels. When the orchestra really lets loose, it is incredibly loud in contrast.
Dynamics are certainly a much more important part of classical music and jazz than of rock. In the Times article refrerenced in my OP, someone comments on a conductor who has many different gradations of fortissimo; so even when playing loudly, classical musicians have a nuanced sense of dynamics.