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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?

oliver_reid
larsman's avatar
larsman
1,737 posts
 

Probably because it doesn't always suck. I've been to hundreds of rock concerts and some have had absolutely pristine sound, like hearing it on a great hi-fi system. And sure, plenty sound horrible, too. Venue, sound crew, lots of reasons... 

ddzstereo
83 posts
 

Most of the concerts I go to I am wearing ear plugs these days, no need to aggravate tinnitus, I go for the show not the sound quality which is poor +90% of the time especially in the large venues.  No doubt there are exceptions

mitchagain
408 posts
 

The larger the venue is, the worse it will probably sound. When you add in the stratospheric prices at most of the larger venues, this is not a good mix.

Learn where the good sounding venues are in your area and support them. In the past year I've seen King Crimson, The Ocean Blue, Gang of Four, Steve Hackett, Joe Jackson, China Crisis and Norah Jones. All of them were in good sounding venues and the cumulative ticket price of those shows was far less than what a ticket would have cost me to see Elton John or Van Morrison when they recently passed thru town

4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 

I never thought that it would happen, but I LEFT an Elton John concert right at the beginning! Loud was not word for it. Jet engine loud was a better description. I could feel the MIDRANGE bouncing off the wall. Too bad.

 

 Went to a YES concert many years ago. It was nearly perfect in spite of the fact the concert was at a multipurpose venue. Never a good sign.

 Last concert was a cover band for Led Zep. Completely incredible, and not damaging. High level of talent there. Was very surprised.

larsman's avatar
larsman
1,737 posts
 

I was once at a concert by the Cars, on the Panorama tour, and of all bands, this was one of the loudest I'd ever heard - the PA was blowing the hair on my head and punching me in the gut and blasting my ears!! Yes, Grand Funk did that once to me in the early 70's, but this was the CARS!

But I think a lot is down to the sound crew - there are some venues I've been at a great many times, and most bands sound excellent, but a few bands sound as atrocious as can be in the same venue. 

But then there are bands like the Grateful Dead who always put big, big emphasis on sound, back to the days when Owsley Stanley was their extremely innovative sound man. I've heard the Dead sound superb in all kinds of venues, inside and outdoors. 

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