The Blog

With you 1,000 percent, Deanna. There's no excuse for this. The New York Times yesterday noted that Ute Lemper was so amplified this weekend at a Toronto Symphony Orchestra performance of Kurt Weill's "Seven Deadly Sins" at Carnegie Hall that you could not even hear the orchestra! Why amplify anything at all in the theatre most of the time? Bring back Ethel Merman!

What amuses me about Deanna's complaint is that she sounds exactly like the "grownups" who complained about rock and roll when it first started half a century ago: "It's too loud. You can't hear the lyrics." As for the "tyranny" of the sound engineer, I think the directors and music director are actually the folks who call the shots.

Deanna is right, re: over-amplified stage performances. More often than not, the actors know how to project and the acoustics are effective, making the added din unnecessary.

If it's too loud, you're too old, Isaacs and your old fart buddy Miller. Isn't the Reader supposed to be targeted to young demos who like rock and roll and pop culture? Maybe that's why your company's in bankruptcy. How about giving your target demographic what it wants the way RedEye does?

This is not the loud of a half-century ago when they didn't have the equipment to do it. But -- whether the director or the guy at the control panel is at fault -- it's a too-common problem now, one that's marred performances for me at venues and companies as varied as the Mercury, Next, Black Ensemble, and Ravinia's Martin, just to name a few.

On the contrary, Rocker -- If I were *really* old, I might appreciate the extra volumne.

As with any theatre production, especially one where the Sound Designer is separate from the operator/mixer, the sound you are getting has been set by the Designer and Director. Any operator who changes the sound to suit their own tastes would be fired. You were not at a concert at a bar, you were at theatre production. While I certainly understand the stereotype of the deaf sound guy, you should know that it would not be tolerated in a theatrical production. I also happen to know the op for this production, and he is certainly not deaf, or a tyrant. Whether this production is too loud or not is a matter or opinion, but as a theatre reviewer, you should know who is responsible for what, and how, you hear a theatrical production.

Hey Deanna! I'm that tyrant in question, the sound operator for Million Dollar Quartet. Stagehand is absolutely right, it is never the sound engineer/operator's responsibility to make a decision such as "let's be really loud during this show," it is our role simply to effectively execute and maintain a consistent mix over the course of the run. You have absolutely made my day with this conversation (I LOVE being accused of tyranny, and power, it's really funny if you only knew the truth), though I do have some (I hope well-reasoned) points to make about sound's relationship to theater here and why it's such a hot-button topic, and some suggestions for further exploration so that audience, critics, designers, and producers can start having a meaningful dialogue about why shows are getting so loud and the ethical, aesthetic and financial implications of "Louder or Softer." In any case, the short answer is that it's too complicated for a blog comment, so I'll continue this discussion for anyone who wants to hear over at: http://theaterforthefuture.com/should-i-dress-as-sound-hitler-or-sound-pol-pot/

I'm disappointed with your seemingly naive comment about the sound operator and his tyranny. Operators are craftsmen charged with the task of executing a designer's artistic vision. Legion is the name of operators who disagree with a designers choice of volume, mix, or any other of the many peccadilloes that artistic designers subject their audiences to. It would seem that poor Nick Keenan, a proficient and professional sound engineer (yes, I know him), should not be subject to the ridicule you have mistakenly lain at his feet. Shame. This is tantamount to a patron of the theater taking umbrage with you if they did not enjoy a show you which you gave a positive review and then declared you a tyrant of opinion. Sort of. You should know better. Call out the designer not the operator who's just doing his job. And doing it well, i.e. the way he was instructed to. Yuck.

Thanks, Deanna, for this great investigative reporting into a growing hazzard. Several decades ago, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) devised regulations on sound levels in industrial settings, and now workers in affected industries are saved from prolonged exposure to jackhammer and other engine sounds. Great! But I think another set of workers and customers is now exposed to sound hazards just as great as what those machines caused -- in retailing. I'd say the music volume in a Supercuts Haircutting place is as loud as a power lawnmower, Potbelly Sandwiches blasts at a level higher than chainsaws, Office Depot is up with jackhammers, and Best Buy approaches ambulance siren levels. Ed Debevic's music might exceed the decibel level of a jet engine takeoff. This can cause headaches among customers, but we tend to be out of these places in 15-30 minutes, but what is it doing to the workers there? Deanna -- could you get your hands on a sound-level meter and get the decibel readings at retailers (as well as theaters) in Chicago? -- compare them to the sound levels controlled in industry, and start a campaign to bring OSHA to retailing and entertainment. We can bring earplugs to these places, but the workers are completely unprotected.