Wedding venue and noise limit

Is it a listed building? If so, that's why - they have to have one. It seems odd that your band haven't cone across this before, especially if they play weddings often. They should be able to cope with it without resorting to only playing acoustic.

Loads of wedding venues have sound limiters- even the rather new and cool ones tend to have them if they're near a residential area, so as ID says, it's strange that it's something they've never come across before. Can they not work around it in a way other than doing an acoustic set?

We've shot at venues that have sound limiters and bands playing before- ones with drums, keyboards, guitars, the works.

You'll find most venues have a sound limit. Ours is a barn type venue, in the middle of nowhere and still has a sound limit of 95! Not quite sure why but hey ho lol.

Does your band not often do weddings? As I'm very surprised they aren't used to this request.

Find out exactly where the measurement device is. Although the band may go louder at point of position, the measurement device may be some distance from them, which reduces the "effective" dB.

hth

Peter

Good one Peter ?

Aslo that is a peak but you are allowed a few blips into the max before it shuts off, I have seen a monitor on a wall that has a scale of green lights that rise upto a red one at the top and have seen the red one reached momentarily with no issues but if the leavel stays up there it then gets cut off

It's to do with EU and Health and Safety legislation, I believe. Prolonged exposure over 80dB is harmful to hearing. Under the Control of Noise at Work regulations, employers have to take action in industries where noise is regularly above 80-85dB. A noise level of 95dB actually shows a 10x higher level of sound pressure than at 85dB. Just to give it context, the 95dB noise limit is the same as the limit in place at the Nurburg Ring, so it's pretty high. Because bands etc can vary so much in terms of volume, and there's a risk that some bands could exceed the 85dB, it's just easier to set a permanent cut-off at a high level than have to work with each booking individually.

The drummer could switch to an electronic kit where they can control the volume better. My son plays drums and has a Roland TK4 which sounds like a "real" drum kit but you control it via an amp. It plays like normal drums - he switches between the Roland and real drums depending on where he is playing.

I Used to play the drums in a band in my teens but we did not have all that "fancy marlarky" then, if I wanted to tone down the bass I would stuff a duvet in there or put duct tape across the snare drum, electronic skins never gave the same bounce and feel back then as proper ones did,old school drummers may well still feel the same, these instruments are loud on their own without any amps

Ahh makes sense! Thanks for that.

Hi there

Noise limiters are becoming increasingly common. Totally understand why some venues need them and I'm more than happy to work with limiters (although I'm a solo singer / DJ and not part of a band so can tailor my volume to suit). What also seems to be becoming more common though is venues not telling brides and grooms about the limiters before they book their entertainment! If I get to a new venue and the limiter is particularly sensitive, I always tell the bride and groom, just in case they wonder why the volume might be lower than they were expecting, more often than not they have no idea about any volume restrictions!

89db is loud enough for you all to dance to but you are quite right that your band's drum kit may trigger the limiter. Having said this, it depends where the 89db is measured from. If it's way over at the far end of the room to where your band are setting up you may be ok - some limiters are notoriously sensitive, some very forgiving.

It's likely that I've performed at your venue over the years (I'm up to a 500+ running total :?) so if you wanted to PM or email me, I'd be happy to share my experience with that particular venue or limiter if I've been there before.

James

Thanks James, I've just sent an email

Kerry