Sound
By Paul Tiddlerz Tighe

Sound. One of the most important elements in any good clubbing experience. Also one of the things that was always of utmost importance to the revered originators of the scene, audiophiles such as Mancuso and Levan and technicians like Richard Long who helped make their 'lofty' sound aspirations come true.

But nowadays does anyone in this scene actually really care about sound quality? As anyone who has had the misfortune of listening to me rant about this subject on a recent night out will know, my answer is undoubtedly 'do they fuck'.

After spending the last fifteen years sessioning in clubs around the world, I have had to resort to the dreaded squarism of wearing ear plugs. Truly a sad time in any raver's career and certainly a time to reflect on the sound systems and, more importantly, the sound levels, in the clubs which I frequent.

The general public perception that 'loud equals good'. The belief that you can stick a Funktion One soundsystem into a random warehouse, turn it up full blast and that the resulting sound will be good. Bullshit. Perhaps it might be, but more often than not it will be rather shite, as good quality sound requires a system which is a bespoke fit for the venue and not just a big stack of speakers at one end of the room.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the sound equation, is the role of the djs who despite the fact that they are 'professional', seem to not care, understand, or perhaps even comprehend their role in delivering an enjoyable experience to the dancers on the dancing floor. Just as the red traffic lights on the street mean it's time to stop your car, the red light on the mixer means it is time for you to adjust your sound levels because once the mixer shows red it means you are sending a distorted signal to the amps and thus to the speakers.

Yet everywhere I look, in almost every club, it's fucking amateur hour, mixer driven into the red, turned up as loud as possible, monitors never turned down to actually check how the music is sounding out there on the mf dancefloor. Did your mom never teach you the basics kid?

These problems become especially apparent in Berlin clubs due to the extended opening hours. Although, like most people, I am loath to utter a bad word about Panorama Bar I feel it gives a real example of the problems with excessive sound in Berlin clubs. As the club is open for such an extended period of time the amount of people in the room ebbs and flows, however early on in the night, when the club first fills, the sound is turned up to the max. From then on the sound is pumped out full volume even though the crowd will be at small levels during the course of the session. What happens is that at certain points when the room is not full there are not enough bodies to absorb the sound and the bass becomes omnipresent leaving the feeling that you are listening to house being played through a reggae system at Notting Hill Carnival!

So even if you never payed attention in class, pay attention in the club, check the levels, check the sound on the floor, turn it down and give me one less reason to rant.

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Taken from SLIM Mag December Issue