Good sound can make or break a performance. You don’t want to hear your neighbor’s chatter or an excess of low tones at your favorite artist’s show. What should you give to get the best experience? And how do you prevent Hearing Damage?
The Basic of Concert Sound is Simple: The Further You Are From The Speakers, The Softer The Sound Becomes. At Smaller Venues, You’ll Only Find the Installation at the Front, While at Larger Venues, The Sound is Amplified Halfway Through The Room with Delays. But do you really get the best experience if you stand Exactly in the Line of Such A Speaker Array? Don’t be blinded by that as an audiophile.
“Technology Goes Very Far These Days,” Says Guus Hoekstra, WHO, With Purple Group, is Responsible for the Sound at Events Such As Defqon.1 and the Zwarte Cross. “Personally, I would like all the way in the front or back, but that’s purely to be able to see the show coply. In principle, The Sound Should Sound the Same Everywhere. A Good System Covers Spectrum, Over The Entire Frequency.”
In practice, not Every Outdoor Stage Has The Quality That, For Example, The Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam Can Deliver. “It also defends on what the organizer considers important,” Says Hoekstra. “At some venues, Everything Can Be Heard Perfectly from Every Corner, While at Other Places Less Attention is paid to that. But Certainly at the Larger Events, You Can Expect A High Quality.”
Computer Simulations for Optimal Sound
Sound at an event is of so complex that software simulations are used in advance. “There are many factors that make sound sound different,” Hoekstra explains. “Think of moisture, temperature, the number of people or the reflection of a tent canvas. Furthermore, you must of course take limitations into account. On location, you are therefore constantly working your sound system.”
The Experience on One Stage Can Therefore Be Very Different From A Little Further On. In The Kilometers around a festival site, Measuring Microphones are placed to check Whether the Sound Level Remains Within Limits. “The Direction of the Speakers is of Decisive for Those Values. If they Point Towards a Residential Area or Nature Reserve, They May have to be softer than at Another Stage.”
There are also smart innovations in that area, such as speakers that can silence their own at the back. “Normally, Sound Leaks Away There,” Hoekstra Explains. “But you can, so to speak, put these speakers with their butt against a residential area. The challenge remains to keep the sound experience on the site just as good, while there is no nuisance on the outtide. You can’t all let people vibrate in tea.
The sound level at a festival can rise to anverage or 103 decibels. If you stand in That for Too Long Without Protection, You Run the Risk of Permanent Hearing Damage. “A third of people between the ages of 18 and 25 Never Wear Hearing Protection with Amplified Music,” Says Victor Zuidema or Knowledge Center SafetyNL. “MoreOover, Young People are More Often Exposed to Loud Music, via Headphones and Earphones. Many People Are Not Sufficiently Aware of the Risks.”
Permanent damage is lurking
The Well-Known Ringing in Your Ears is a First Sign of Hearing Damage. Hair Cells in your ears then transmit incorrect information and that can be irreversible. Think of a permanent ringing or noise, distorted sound or a disturbing differentence between both ears. “I have leg wearing hearing protection for years when I go out,” Says Zuidema. “But before that I already suffered QUITE A BIT. I Hear worse with one ear than the other.”
To prevent that, earplugs are available in varous types. The Yellow Foam Earplugs Are The Cheapest, But Do Not Provide The Best Experience. Otoplastics are custom-made and filter the sound naturally, but also cost a lot of money. A lot more affordable are the earplugs with a simple music filter, for sale at drugstores, opticians and varous online stores.
But what if you are already at a festival without Those earplugs? Can you still protect yourself on the spot with the earplugs from your phone, or wads or toilet paper? “That’s not a stupid idea in any case,” Says Zuidema. “You Will Dampen the Sound With It Anyway. But It also Distorts It, Just Like With The Foam Earplugs. I would buy Earplugs with a Music Filter On The Spot, That Is Possible Almost Everywhere. THEN YOU.”