As some may have read here i have recently joined a bluesy rock tribute band none of the band i'd ever met before. So far we have had 5 rehearsals and have my first gig with them tomorrow night. First rehearsal, singer/guitarist, deummer keys, drums and me on bass band was in a small room 2.5 hours Volume was INCREDIBLY LOUD!

Next day I rang the band leader and said, the volume for 'me' is too loud and would be a deal breaker as i had left a previous house band for that reason. He said he would talk to the guys.

Next two rehearsals the volume was a bit less LOUD but still TOO LOUD!!

Tuesday's rehearsal i forgot to bring my moulded -17db earplugs and that was PAINFULLY LOUD!!!.

Wednesday i decided to bring my -22db plugs and even with those it was still INCREDIBLY LOUD.

I rang the band leader again and expressed my concerns about this again. I also said I would honour any gigs I had agreed to. But I need to know if this is the volume you are going to continue with all the time.


I understand the sweet spot on valve amps for driving overdrive/distortion sounds and lead, but the guitarist is using a Boss Katana and a pedalboard controller so in my mind the ability to get the emulation of that sound is available regardless of volume. So we should be able to drop the volume at rehearsals significantly there, drummer says he can't play any quieter and won't use anything but his main sticks. ( I don't know enough about drumsticks to comment on options).
Keys are loud because he sits right in front of the PA which he is plugged into which also has voc and spill from the band.
The other aspect is as a newbie, i need to match my volume to the dynamics through the songs an that is not easy to hear between REALLY LOUD for the verse and PAINFULLY LOUD for the chorus, solos and bridges.

My bass is at a volume i can hear myself and thus far I have refused to turn it up because i know that would cascade the volume up even more. Actually the drummer said he could hardly hear me last rehearsal.

So why am i posting here? well i'm looking for your experience about whether this is the norm or not. Bearing in mind we all have different tolerances to volume.

If this is the norm for rock bands, then I know straight away that this band is not for me. It's their band and whilst i have enjoyed learning the set, i want to keep my hearing.

If this is not, normal how do you advise me to diplomatically get them to lower the volume?

On the lighter side, i could make the subtle point by bringing my two 1600w barefaced cabs, 1x18 dubster and 2x12 Big twin II, driven my my Crown XLS 1502 down to rehearsal.🫣😂

Your experience as usual is welcome even if you think I am at fault. 😂👍🏾

[[[[LOUD]]]] rock bands seem to be a universal issue Jazzy. 🙉

I wore hearing protection in my daily routine at work to save my ears while working around electric motors running, and other dinful machinery, so it wasn't hard for me to get used to wearing it at music venues where it got louder than I wanted to be exposed to. The practice room for the rock band was probably the loudest place I've ever been. I was standing in front of a a speaker stand with a vocal feed, with drum kit on my left, and a guitar setup on my right, keys directly across from me. You could feel the sound pressure. No idea what noise level I would have been exposed to. Harwell-Grice Band are an acoustic group, but every one is plugged-in and amplified... even without a drummer, the high frequency levels after a set is enough to hurt and ring. The louder they are, the louder a room gets too, so I usually wear my discreet plugs until break. 

At (soon to be) 57, I can still hear two separate clocks ticking in different rooms of my house, from a third room, thanks in part to those decisions.

You've done your part politely asking for some relief. I don't think you'll win the volume war either... bringing more cabinetry and power will more likely be seen as an invitation to crank it up. Hope you can work something out... sounds like you would enjoy this gig if it weren't so LOUD.

You are professional in your approach with the band leader.   Play the committed gig and then leave.  

I played in a Milwaukee bar band, blues/rock.   The guitarist was sometimes "on" and more often "off".  When he was off he would turn his volume up to 'cover' his mistakes.   Nightmare.

Call me an old guy, but loud does NOT equal good/groovy.   The world needs good and groovy, not decibels.

A rock/blues band does not have to be overtly loud.  It doesn't sound like they are going to change.  If it's too loud for you then it's likely best that you honor the short-term commitment and bow out.  There will be other opportunities. Sorry it's not working out.  That's my two cents. 

Short answer:  Yes.  Blues-rock bands are almost always too loud.

Long answer:  It almost always comes down to 2 things; drummers who, when you ask them to think about about their dynamics answer "Whadda ya mean?  I'm hitting them as hard as I can!" and guitar players who think that since Jimi, Jimmy, Duane, et al got their tone by cranking huge amps, they need to crank a huge amp as well - never mind the facts that they're not playing rooms the size those guys were, and that those guys were pushing their instrument to the back of those big rooms from the stage, but Alembic & the Grateful Dead invented modern sound reinforcement back in the '70s.

I have done sound for more than one of those drummers, and one guitarist would go into rooms that a Princeton Reverb would overwhelm, set up his 4X12, hang a 57 in front of a speaker by its cord, lay a packing blanket over it (at least he did that), put his 100w Marshall head on top - and dime that fool thing; all knobs to 11.
"Billy, could you turn down a little?  You're killin' me out here."
"I'm just trying to get a sound, man!"
"So buy a smaller amp."
"Huh?"

When I went back to college about age 50, I did sound for a band composed entirely of history professors; keys, bass, & 2 guitars all ran POD6 into the board; no backline.
They were still too loud, because I had to mix to the drummer (see above).

On the other hand, there was an R&B band (not Boyz2Men and that crap they use the term for now; actual R&B - a blues band with plumbing).
Besides the singers, there was a drum kit (a mic on each piece), bass (GK head into a 2X15 with a D)I, B-3 into 2 Leslies - with high & low mics on 1 of them, guitar into a Twin Reverb miced, trumpet, tenor sax, and 'bone.
Everything was in the system; it was loud, yes - but not painfully so.

I would say that it sounds like you have tried to handle it like the pro and the gentleman we know you to be - and these guys just ain't gonna change.
Play the gig and move on.

I will, however, add that I firmly believe that working in music, even with guitar players & drummers taken into account, has very little to do with the hearing aids currently perched on my ears; that was far more the result of driving trucks - first with band equipment and then for far too many years after I left the biz, 2 short stints of factory work, and a youth spent doing things like setting off M-80s & discharging firearms sans ear protection, changing the muffler on the lawn tractor for a 6" length of pipe, etc.
One of Senior Management's brothers-in-law never worked in music, but spent far longer driving than I, and is far deafer; a good friend (and crewmate for 2 bands) did sound his entire working life and is not.

But as I said - sounds like they won't change; too loud for comfort?  Leave.

Peter

TOO LOUD is, unfortunately, too common.  You can ask them to turn down, but I suspect it's a lost cause.   In my experience, even if they try to play at a reasonable volume, it will soon creep right back up.   You might try bringing a db meter to next rehearsal and showing them how loud they are.  A lot of times, people who have consistently played at high volumes have already lost enough hearing that they don't realize how loud it is.

Bill, tgo

i'm in my 70's playing in an 80's cover band. the rest of the band is at least as old as me, some of these guys have been gigging since their teens (myself inlcuded).  we adjust our stage (and rehearsal) volume to our drummer (who's got about the steadiest meter and smoothest playing style i've ever encountered).  our guit@rist has a small marshall combo. i'm rolling with a featherweight bass rig.  our stage volume is conversational level (no IEMs this band).  we let the PA do the heavy lifting at gigs.  after almost a lifetime of playing at high volume in sometimes ugly, grindy, angry bands i've got a profound hearing loss that's become a lifestyle issue. i'm not really interested in making it worse.  so if it's too loud, then get out.  i can tell ya the inevitable hearing loss is not worth feeling yer bell bottoms flap in the breeze generated by that refrigerator-sized stack yer breaking yer back lugging around hither and yon.  imho.  ymmv.

Quote from: BeenDown139 on June 05, 2026, 07:27:45 AMi'm in my 70's playing in an 80's cover band. the rest of the band is at least as old as me, some of these guys have been gigging since their teens (myself inlcuded).  we adjust our stage (and rehearsal) volume to our drummer (who's got about the steadiest meter and smoothest playing style i've ever encountered).  our guit@rist has a small marshall combo. i'm rolling with a featherweight bass rig.  our stage volume is conversational level (no IEMs this band).  we let the PA do the heavy lifting at gigs.  after almost a lifetime of playing at high volume in sometimes ugly, grindy, angry bands i've got a profound hearing loss that's become a lifestyle issue. i'm not really interested in making it worse.  so if it's too loud, then get out.  i can tell ya the inevitable hearing loss is not worth feeling yer bell bottoms flap in the breeze generated by that refrigerator-sized stack yer breaking yer back lugging around hither and yon.  imho.  ymmv.

I long ago came to the conclusion that guitar amps blowing past one's knees & bass amps whose sound wave is so long it largely misses the talent is not what makes rockers deaf; it's mostly those gol-dern cymbals at ear level.
There is a pic in Grateful Dead Gear from the later years of Garcia; between his right ear & Mickey's crash cymbal is a mic stand with a Harley windshield mounted on it.  Brilliant solution (but probably too late by that point.....)

Peter

I posted before and this makes me feel even stronger that you should protect your ears by leaving.  I have never played in very loud bands in 60 years but I have inner ear damage in my right ear.  Even being next to cymbals can do this.
I don't think they have any intention of changing and one of the worries is that the drummer says he can't play any quieter!  That doesn't make him a musician worth playing with.  Of course he can't hear you ... that is because he is too loud!!!! Grrrr.
Sorry to be so forthright,Jazzy, but I think you are right not to match their volume.  Get out before it is too late.  You are a very good player and won't be short of work.
Glynn  

Jazzy,

Yes, that is the norm unfortunately.     I work several gigs a week, and this is to be expected.     I wear earplugs every time.    I use the EarPeace ear plugs, with the changeable filters.    The filters I use are the black ones that are completely sealed.    They block out everything.    Still too loud for me.

I think the issue is guitarists.     In their mind they have to be a a certain volume to get "the sound".   I don't agree.    You can get great tone, send a line to FOH, and not have such an extreme volume on stage.    Then if there is more than one guitarist, they compete.   One will always be louder than the other.   Then the other one will turn up.    And that continues for the entire gig.    I NEVER touch my volume as I know that will just trigger them even more to turn up.    Sorry to offend the guitarists here.   It's just my experience.

My favorite gigs are the ones I have with no guitarists.     I play in two different 3 piece bands which are bass, drums, and piano.   Very controlled sound.    The band I am playing with today is one of the 3 piece bands.    Swamp-pop band.    Google it.  People that are not from around here know what that is.

Michael

If I was in Jazzy' situation I would do the same thing, offer to play the shows I already committed to and then leave the band. If they offered to replace me for the shows I had booked I would accept the offer. Playing music should be an enjoyable experience, when it becomes a job you are just trying to get through to make the money that should send up a huge warning flag. No matter how much money you make you can't replace lost hearing...

I finally started wearing custom musician's earplugs in 2018, now I will not go into any loud environment without them. Should have gotten them many years ago since I already had a lot of hearing damage by the early 70s' from going to concerts and playing gigs. Back in the mid-60s we thought the only volume setting on an amp was 10. I was in one band in 1968 that played a teen disco and nobody could even stand in the same room with us. I swap between using a -9dB and -15 dB filter in my earplugs. On stage I generally wore the -9 but always the -15 for concerts. I started wearing IEMs last year but the custom plugs are in while setting up. With earplugs, or IEMs, custom silicone sleeves are expensive but IMO essential for getting a complete seal so the only sound you hear has to go through the filter to reach your eardrum. My wife has a pair, too, after trying all the over-the-counter ones and not being happy with them. We are amazed at how few of our friends wear any type of earplug. One couple we know can't go to hear live music anymore because the husband has no hearing left in his right ear. 

Just got home from the gig. Thoroughly enjoyed it and the volume was acceptable since the sound guy was in control. I have one more gig inmy diary to honour so will see how next set of rehearsals work out.

Just got home from the gig. Thoroughly enjoyed it and the volume was acceptable since the sound guy was in control. I have one more gig inmy diary to honour so will see how next set of rehearsals work out.

I'm convinced what happens is a lot of us came up in bands in venues with no real PA, maybe vocals only, and the onstage amps had to 'carry the room' (good luck ear-balling that blend . . . . ), only to later encounter proper FOH and a mixer/engineer and it's hard to bring them into the modern world.

I played in lots of those situations, and basically operated under the feeling there was no such thing as too loud, I loved standing in the middle of that hurricane, so I'm probably the wrong person to ask.

I'd simply say, if the gig isn't you, honor your commitments and take the next exit.  

100% ^^^^^^^^^^^100%

Total concurrence from that FOH mixer trying to larn 'em about what I did for them.........

Peter