Quote:
Originally Posted by JYang
The noise level probably varies from regional to regional. If the noise level that you are describing it as is really how loud it was at your regional, then you should talk to the regional director or assistant. At the Silicon Valley Regional for the past two years, the sound is not that bad. Many elderly people have come and say that they enjoy the event and would like to come back (even many with sensitive ears).
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I'd like to say that, after discussing the issue with the regional director at Philly (who was very responsive) and the sound person I believe we came to an understanding on this. The music the second day was not relentlessly loud, and people could actually hear each other in the stands when talking. The announcing was not painful as it was the day before. Over the course of the day and into the finals the music and announcing built in volume, which increased the excitement level and made for a great show. It never got as painfully loud as the day before, but was plenty loud to get everyone pumped.
As a side effect of the reduced volume the team spirit levels were IMHO much higher the second day (compared to FLR and to the first day) - lots of cross the event cheering (which would not have been heard with the volume as loud as it was the first day), and several instances of the "WAVE" which you could not have heard being organized the day before. And that was before the Semi's started!
I see no problem with either cranking up the occasional tune so the kids (er me too - I have a low dance threshhold) can dance (Cotton Eye Jo or YMCA or Sandstorm or whatever), or to punctuate a pause in the action during a timeout or something, or building to a crescendo into the finals - it was the all-day loud that we got the first day that I was concerned about - going back to the articles - the DURATION of the sound as well as the VOLUME.
I don't think during the actual final anyone could hear the music anyway 114-116 with no penalties, the win literally determined by a ball herded over the line in the final moments of the game. We weren't IN the finals and I was screaming at the top of my voice (with my earplugs in of course
). What a great show. And yes the team is loud - but (unless someone was screaming directly into my ear) never as painfully loud as the announcing was on top of the music the day before.
In any case I'd like to thank the FIRST organizers at Philly for listening to my concerns. I hope that other regional directors will take the time to check the volume in the stands from time to time to be sure we're not doing permanent hearing damage to our competitors, families, mentors and volunteers, and to consider duration as well as volume in setting levels
And I'd like to thank ALL the teams that brought free earplugs to the events and pits - great job.
And for the folks that were talking dB's I've been educated a bit more about this since by several ACTUAL sound engineers (which I didn't claim to be one of
). The sound system in Philly doesn't go much more than 110dB according to the sound engineer there (And I have no reason to disbelieve him). Since it was occasionally distorting I'd imagine it was close to if not at that volume to some extent during day one. I was applying the rules in the OSHA standard to whether it's "too loud" - if you are standing 3 feet from someone and have to raise your voice to be heard it's over 100dB and that should not be maintained for more than a couple hours to avoid hearing loss. The 140dB was probably just my old fart brain saying "man that's loud
". It was not as loud as some of the techno concerts I've been to (Where the entire venue actually vibrated with the bass). Believe me at those concerts I locate FAR from the speakers and wear earplugs. But who can resist a good techno concert eh?