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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | I've always wondered why music in bars has to be so damn loud. I want to listen to music but I also might want to communicate with the person next to me.
I found an article on yahoo that touched on the subject.
Loud music makes us "drunk." There's scientific proof that the louder and faster the music, the faster (and often more) people eat and drink. In the past, corporate restaurant chains have even developed soundtracks that switch to higher tempo music at a louder volume when they want to turn tables.
At first I thought patrons might just be chowing down faster in an attempt to flee a restaurant before their ears start to ache. I had some personal experience with this last week in Los Angeles at the poured concrete-floored burger restaurant, The Counter. While munching on sweet potato fries, I was bombarded by a playlist that would have been right at home at a fraternity formal, both in song choice and volume. My dining companions and I ate quickly, if only to escape "Jessie's Girl" at 88 decibels.
But research shows that some people might be eating more and faster because they're enjoying the stimulus. "Sound waves literally energize us," writes Prochnik. When we are surrounded by sound, our brain chemistry changes and other senses are measurably enhanced.
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I knew there had to be a reason and I'm not surprised it revolves around money. |
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August 2007
Posts: 1008
Location: Tuscany, Italy | That is not music, just noise.
What you wrote is damn true !!
Now ALL stores of any kind pump music (noise) all around the clock. Personally I hate this system and if I can I choose supermarkets or stores of bars (very difficult ...) that does not have loud music or at least appropriate to the circumstances.....like music stores :) |
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January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | Polka music in public restrooms always makes me suspicious |
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March 2008
Posts: 2683
Location: Hot Springs, S.D. | Hmm...that must be why they play loud obnoxious music to try flushing out people who are holed up with hostages. Makes 'em hungry so they come out looking for burgers.
When I first opened the shop, a couple of people suggested that I put loudspeakers outside to draw customers. I told them that even though I have impeccable taste in music ( ;) ) I will not inflict MY taste on anyone who may not like it. |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | The Counter makes GREAT burgers and sweet potato fries. Pricey though and don't expect your typical cheeseburger.
Muzak figured all this out back in the 50's. The same concept applies to shopping, waiting rooms, and elevators. But I will agree that Jessie's Girl is cruel and over the top.
We need to stop those bastards. They've even invaded my personal space ... when I get into my car, the music gets so loud sometimesI have to drive like 130 and find a nearby sushi bar and my passenger wants a drink. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I'm sittin' at a bar on the inside
Waitin' for my ride on the outside |
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December 2008
Posts: 1453
Location: Texas | I guess I need to play louder and faster… |
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May 2008
Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | A loud bar is better than a dark bar. |
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January 2009
Posts: 4535
Location: Flahdaw | MB |
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November 2006
Posts: 2241
Location: Simpsonville, SC | Milton Bradley? |
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November 2006
Posts: 2241
Location: Simpsonville, SC | Milton Bradley? |
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December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | and I thought this thread would be about Power Chords... aka Smoke on the Water!
More Cowbell! |
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April 2008
Posts: 1851
Location: Newington, CT | For music, JMHO (before schroeder or the like says some nitwittery or other...this is JUST MY HUMBLE OPINION), there is a very fine line between not loud enough and too loud.
If you are listening to the music only to listen to music, then it has to be loud enough to let you hear nuances, dynamics changes, soft passages.
However, if it's a bar then, usually at least, the music is there only to add to the general ambiance that the bar wants to establish. Should be loud enough to do that, but not so loud that you can't socialize -- the usual mission of a bar.
The reason I think this is a GREAT question is that I used to be a classical music fanatic (still am, I've simply RE-acquainted myself with some long-abandoned other genres), and I was constantly frustrated by those who would say something on the order of, "I like to listen to classical music in the background." That used to irritate me more than a little. Beethoven? Mozart? Bach? Brahms? Wagner? In the background?!?!?!
Heck no!!!
These GREAT musicians and titanic geniuses need to command our full attention for the full 45 minutes of the symphony, or concerto, or opera, or sonata, or quartet, or, or, or...
The problem is that we live in a frenetic, peripatetic, delerious, corybantic, five-minutes-per-focus-edisode moment in history. It's understandable why people would eschew the glories of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in favor of the two-minute-45-second pop ditty.
However, regarding loud, I went through a time when I listened to Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto probably 100 times in succession. Whenever I could I'd put it on and listen to the entire composition. Loud. Same recording: Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I swear I heard something new, different and delightful each time.
We lose our desire to listen to a Beethoven or a Mozart -- purely for the joy of listening to them -- and LOUD -- only at great peril to our own personal enrichment, and that of our culture. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6994
Location: Jet City | It's the stupid people talkin' too loud that make us turn up so loud! ;) |
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June 2005
Posts: 1320
Location: Round Rock, TX | I'm reminded of a Christmas Eve gig we did at a country club, years ago. We were putting an Austin edge on the standard Christmas pop fare. There was dancing and drinking and people sitting around talking, mostly having a good time. I say mostly because at the first break an elderly gentlemen, who had evidently been making the bartenders earn their money, came up and loudly proclaimed, "You guys gotta turn that music DOWN! There's old people in here!" Not two minutes later another, equally inebriated and equally elderly gentleman came up and said, "You people have to turn that music UP! There's old people in here!"
I figured we were perfect. |
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December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by AlanM:
the music is there only to add to the general ambiance that the bar wants to establish. and
Originally posted by Damon67:
It's the stupid people talkin' too loud that make us turn up so loud! ;) These are both pretty close, but I'm really surprised no one has stated the obvious and the reason most clubs I know WANT the bands to play loud...
If the music is too loud to allow you to socialize... you drink more. Period. The only "ambience" of a bar with a band is to get you to drink. That's how they make money. Having a band is costing them money.
Sure, many people go to bars to "listen to the music." That's fine for them.. but the "owners" just want you to buy stuff, they really don't care what got you in the door.
Had a discussion about this last night. I'm helping a friend with sound at a gig Friday. The restaurant has the band starting at 9:00. There is minimal setup and sound check cause there are tables (people eating dinner) up to about 8:00 in the area where the "stage" is. They clear those tables away at 8:00 and the band sets up to play. Seems like a real hassle to both the band and the people sitting around that area when the moving and setting up happens. Why would they do such a thing?? Simple.. the income from those few tables for the previous 5 hours of business likely pay for the band. Simple math. |
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LOUD BARS
