At the kind of venues I play, the goal is to keep the volume at a level that is at once engaging, i.e. you can pay attention and know what is being communicated, but not too loud if you want to you just want to hang out and talk with friends.
There are a lot of subtleties involved with this endeavor!
There is no point to a venue having live music if it can't be enjoyed by those who want to enjoy it.
And yet I get the feeling sometimes that some folks are annoyed that live music is happening at all. Oh, boy . . .
When an establishment is known for having live music several times a week . . . hmmm?
Really, such is the life and concerns of a gigging musician.
And, of course, maybe I care too much. But I don't think so . . . I think I must care.
I want the night to go well. I want the venue to be successful so they'll continue to hire me! I want to help retain customers. I want to attract customers AND audience members.
This is the pull.
Volume.
Every room has different acoustics and the acoustics change as the evening progresses as folks come and go and the conversation levels ebb and flow.
Is it about volume?