Favorite/least favorite room for acoustics

[Craven Sound]

Here's a couple I like: Glenn's in Claysburg; Louie's on short mountain; (and the wait-staff is unbelievable). Both rooms have almost no slap-back.

Here's a couple I hate: Penn National- A giant cavern with no 220. Magoo's- A great place to play, but boy is that a hollow room. Anyone else?

[wake up drumming]

my all time favorite place to play and a room which I think sounds excellent no matter what is City limits. Obviously Crowbar in State College sounds awesome all the time as well. I could go on and on.

a couple that aren't so good in my opinion: Banana Joe's - Pittsburgh (it's a big, wide open concrete warehouse deal) No matter who ran sound it usually was a nightmare. A big complaint of mine is Bryce Jordan Center! (never played there, but saw enough concerts there to say it sounds God-Awful!) they couldn't even get Ozzy to sound good, the acoustics blow! Does anyone agree or is it just me??

[songsmith]

I used to love playing the VFW hall in Clearfield... not because of the clientele, but because of the acoustics. They NEVER opened the doors to the outside world, so it smelled like 40 year old cigarette smoke and old people, but the walls are covered in old wood paneling, and the middle of the room is carpeted. It's totally by accident, but man, does live music sound great there.
The Ferris Wheel is very live, but with some drapes and carpeting, it could sound amazing. There's an acoustic loading problem around 2.5K or so, some "dead cats" would cut down on the standing waves and slapback. Otherwise, I love that room... it's like a trip back in time. I used to marvel at how good the Hurricanes sounded playing with minimal PA at City Limits... that's how the blues should sound, to me. That room sounds best at moderate volume, but Zilly can really get it to rock at higher SPL's.

My least favorites would be the UHVA club in Bellwood (small, square room with cathedral ceiling, hellish natural reverb and loading) or McMurtrie's Tavern near Huntingdon (very small log addition on a great original log tavern, fun crowd but low ceiling and bad overhang cuts off high-end to main room).

[Ron]

A big complaint of mine is Bryce Jordan Center! (never played there, but saw enough concerts there to say it sounds God-Awful!) they couldn't even get Ozzy to sound good, the acoustics blow! Does anyone agree or is it just me??

Gotta agree with that one, but there was one exception for me. I saw DMB there in '02, and had seats in the aluminum fold-out sections close to the floor at the back of the arena, dead center. Dave's sound crew had flown a set of stereo speakers above the sound board, about 20 ft. up, putting them just above our ear level, and 20 feet out in front of us. That gave us beautiful clarity and imaging, and covered up most of the natural reverb. Meanwhile all of the power of the main PA was bringing it up to the next level, and added more depth of field. It sounded fantastic, but that was the only show out of the many I've seen there.

I have a friend who saw the Eagles there, sitting near the front rows, and he said it was one of the best shows he'd ever heard.

[onetooloud]

Wow forgot about glenns place if its the room I,m thinking of It's absolutly
dead quite. Almost to much if thats possible. I think if I remember right yrs ago they had problems with the sound police.

Worst rooms yep I,d put the pony up their not so much for sound quality as much as the layout. Last time I was in there I had to run from side of stage. People tramping all over monitors breaking 1/4 jacks you name it. Poor power and not a good mix postion in there that I'm aware of at least not that they'll let you mix from. Never again too big a pain.

Johnstowns Blvd Grill was Horrible, probably now surpassed by the new shooters too bad the old shooters was a great room.
Another good and easy Johnstown room ace's lounge.
Yesterdays Party is fairly good. Just don't get too loud.

I kind of like the Wildwood very easy people to work with, a plus in my book. Another resonably good room Punxy's shooters. Pelly's also tops my list, sounds good, lots of power and Harrys good to ya.

At the Gateway Clipper in Pittsburgh the stage is over the engine room or some other noise maker, and the noise travels up the mic stands.

And everyones favorite at least mine is always outside, jump at the outdoor shows.

[Jim Price]

I've heard both good and bad sound in the Bryce Jordan Center. I think it boils down to how well the sound companies understand the dynamics and acoustics of that venue, and also where your seats are at a given BJC concert. I thought the Springsteen, Clapton and Yes concerts sounded good; their respective sound people figured out the room. Journey, Styx and REO Speedwagon all sounded good there this past summer. I agree with Wake Up Drumming, Ozzy sounded horrible there (the sound was so bad early on that I couldn't even understand the name of the first opening band!). And Bad Company's sound crew couldn't remedy the rumbling bleacher seats, which underscored the whole concert. I know the BJC was designed chiefly as a basketball facility, but you would have thought the designers of that venue - particularly with Penn State flipping the bill - would have looked at the acoustic issues there better before building it.

[facingwest]

A big complaint of mine is Bryce Jordan Center! (never played there, but saw enough concerts there to say it sounds God-Awful!) they couldn't even get Ozzy to sound good, the acoustics blow! Does anyone agree or is it just me??

At least 5 years back, I saw STP at the Bryce and thought they were one of the best sounding bands I've ever heard. It could've been because we were so close to the mains and didn't get any reflections of the room. A few years after that, we caught Kiss during their Psycho Circus tour and was off to the side. I thought the mix could've been a little better, but the overall sound wasn't that bad. I also saw Don Henley within the past two years and again, thought it was a great sounding show. I'm just curious to what was wrong with the acoustics in that place.

Shooters has to be one of the worst places to play because of the acoustics and size of the room. It's a great place to play though. Something that I noticed with the Pony Lounge is a mix can become muddy very quickly with the way the room is set up.

All in all, you're going to have obsticles with just about any place you play, as far as the acoustics, and just have to adjust to deal with what's thrown at you.

One place that I miss playing in is Davey's in Hastings. We recorded a live show years ago and the sound turned out surprizingly very well. I think we still have a recording of it somewhere.

[songsmith]

I feel the acoustics problems in clubs usually stem from the fact that they weren't designed for sound, but for drinking. The cheapest, most structurally sound way to build is a square or rectangular box. That, sadly, is a bad thing for acoustics... parallel and perpendicular surfaces mean that sound waves get reflected from wall to wall and floor to ceiling, and the 90 degree corners make things worse. Sound absorption helps, but a dead room can be just as bad as a really live one (vocals stand out better, and ear fatigue is cut, but drums and guitars sound sterile). If you have a good sounding room, it was probably a fortunate accident. Studio rooms are usually acoustically tuned, with non-square ceilings and walls, and an analyzer like SMAART decides the "just-right" amount of sound absorption so that no single frequency builds up (acoustic loading) too loud. All that is incredibly expensive, and the acoustic treatment would probably smell like ass in a week in a bar.
I forgot a type of building that always makes me cringe... skating rinks. Jeez, huge, empty block buildings with hard surfaces everywhere... there's the measure of a good soundman. Great thread!---->JMS

[wake up drumming]

I never had great seats at the BJC, but they weren't awful either; however, maybe it does depend where you sit, but that's unfortunate too. I saw Bush, No Doubt, Steve Miller Band, and the Oz there and never was happy with the sound. I almost felt that I was ripped off it was so bad at times. I haven't been there in a couple of years so maybe some improvements have been made. I'd rather make the drive to the Civic Arena, never had any complaints there!

[witchhunt]

What about the Coca Cola Amp (starlake)? With the exception of some of the crappy bands at some of the Ozzfests, I've always been impressed with the sound there. Without a doubt the best sound I've ever heard was a few years ago when I saw the Pink Floyd Pulse tour at 3 Rivers. But then, that WAS Floyd.

[Craven Sound]

I was a stage-hand at the BJC while I was a student and saw tons of shows. The loudest: Family Values tour when Limp Bizkit was the headliner. Crystal Method's bass was so loud, it vibrated my chest at the furthest spot-light booth at the rear of the building. The best sounding was Billy Joel; he was using a Clair Bros. S-4 rig, (the old "black cloud"). I was about 50 feet away from the upper speakers on the light truss during the show. I had ear plugs and a double-muff intercom on, and it still sounded amazing.

[onetooloud]

On the subject of bad sounding rooms. Everybodies walked into some rooms that you could drop a dime on stage and hear it in the parking area. Just kinda stands your hair on end.
But you know what after some hair pulling some of those (bad) rooms end up sounding pretty respectable.

[Ron]

but a dead room can be just as bad as a really live one

Has anyone here ever been in an anechoic chamber? Since the echoes get absorbed, when you talk all that you hear is the vibration of your vocal chords through your own skull. You can hear other voices OK if they are looking at you, but your own gets lost unless you hold your hands up to echo the sound back to your ears. It's actually uncomfortable to speak.

[DMFJ03]

Sounds like a good way to torture someone, Ron. Get them all hopped up on caffine or something to make them talk a million miles a minute and just let them lose.

[Hal]

I saw Godsmack/Staind a few years ago at the BJC. It wasn't that great of a show and the sound was horrible. Left early to catch Stept On at the Crowbar. That show was kick ass and sounded great. Must have been that drummer and bass player!! What up Jim and Adam? Can't wait to catch a show.

[wake up drumming]

Thanks Hal !! Come out and check us out some time!