If you’re not a musician, you might not care about amplification. But it might surprise you that you carry a tiny little amp with you on most of your commutes: your headphones.
You’ve probably heard, “you should be careful with the volume of your headphones”, but you might not be aware of the potential damage. Most headphones are tuned to 105-110 decibels, and it’s common for listeners to turn their music up to the maximum volume as they compete with other surrounding sounds.
Busking volume vs street noise
But how much is 110 decibels? What even is a decibel?
A decibel is a unit used to measure the intensity of a sound, ‘db’ for short. 120-140db is generally considered the threshold for pain and immediate hearing damage. A jet engine nearby can range between 110-150db.
So, listeners with their volume on max are nearing the volume of a jet engine, plugged straight into their ears. At 110db, damage to your ear can be caused after just five minutes.
How about a band? According to the EU, the safe limit is 87 decibels. At this volume, you might still feel the urge to cover your ears, but you’ll be safe. Unless you’re exposed to it repetitively, this will not damage your hearing permanently.
How about volume restrictions for buskers? Most busking licenses will limit a performance to about 70-75 decibels. This is where the conversation gets complicated.
Reframing amplification
Most residents who listen to buskers on a regular basis will say that restricting a performer’s level is essential. However, if you stand on any busy street in the UK and take a reading, it will display somewhere between 70-75db, just with the sound of the passing traffic.
We can debate whether the sound restrictions are fair, but unfortunately that’s not even where most people are on this issue. Right now, buskers are losing access to amplified pitches in some of the most historic places for busking in the UK.
Take Leicester Square, where Global radio pressed charges against Westminster Council and a judge shut down all amplification there. Most buskers were already performing volume to the level of pedestrian traffic, and our busking licences mean that there is a regulatory framework holding us accountable.
Why does this matter? The cultural value of busking is paramount, but there’s more.
Early in the campaign, we spoke to local businesses and they all told us that busking helps with footfall. Some signed statements in support of what we were asking for. Yet this only scratches the surface of the importance of amplification.
Amplification as part of the instrument
Take a guitar; before the existence of amplifiers, a musician had one choice of how to express their volume, they either strummed hard or soft.
The value of an amplifier, in this context, is the enhancement of a musician’s expression. Amplify that same acoustic guitar—suddenly, it can sound like anything.
Strumming softly, sounds and feels very different to strumming softly with an amplifier turned up loud (think Jeff Buckley’s cover of ‘Hallelujah’). Place the right effect on it and now there are two guitars playing at once. One musician can sound like many, doubling their potential income (busking is, after all, a meritocracy).
The same can be said for a singer. With their voices amplified, they can speak softly into a microphone and still be heard.
The emotional value of amplification
Picture this: you were passing by on the way to meet a friend and suddenly you feel like you’re being spoken to intimately… A second ago, you were in a busy street corner, now it feels like you’re in the same room as this performer. The world fades away for a split second of bliss that is so rarely experienced in the capital cities of the world. You feel lighter. For a moment, you forget what you were worried about.
In a parallel universe, you walk past the same performer and you don’t even notice them, because they were whispering sweet sounds into the non-amplified cacophony that is a busy street. In this reality, you aren’t moved. Nothing changes you. And you carry on with your day. The emotional value of amplification cannot be overstated.
We need to shift the perspective on this argument against musicians and their amplifiers because the better you sound, the more you can potentially earn. The better you sound, the more you resonate with your fans. Central busking pitches, which give access to that potential fanbase are essential, and these pitches are where this argument becomes the most relevant.
Everyone has to start somewhere and amplifiers are the foundations of what modern musicians rely on.
Back your buskers!
Over 2,500 people have signed the petition calling on Westminster Council to back its buskers, add your voice to the call!
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