Sound limiters are devices that are wired into the main electricity supply in venues. They pick up sound / noise from the venue and raise an alarm and switch off the electricity if the noise is greater than the limit set. They measure decibels (dB).

Here are a few examples:

50 – 75 dB air conditioner
50 – 80 dB electric shaver
55 – 70 dB dishwasher
60 – 85 dB vacuum cleaner
60 – 95 dB hair dryer
65 – 80 dB alarm clock
75 – 85 dB flush toilet
80 dB ringing telephone
110 dB baby crying
90 – 115 dB subway
130 dB jackhammer, power drill
130 dB percussion section at symphony
140 dB airplane taking off (next to you)
95 – 110 dB motorcycle
110 dB symphony concert
110 dB car horn
110 -120 dB rock concert
112  dB CD player on high
117 dB football game (stadium)
150 dB firecracker
157 dB balloon pop
162 dB fireworks (at 3 feet)

Why have them?

They were originally designed to be installed if noise has been a problem, for example if neighbours have complained about noise because they live close to a venue, but increasingly we find old Manor houses, Barns, and Farms and ‘Halls’ where flats are being built or converted within the actual grounds or even in the same building above the room your event / wedding is taking place and a caveat added to the building or council regulations means noise must not exceed a certain level. Sometimes a building is so old that the owners worry about vibrations in old glass windows etc. too.  The Wedding Industry is above all a money-making machine and many owners of old buildings or disused Barns have converted these into Wedding Venues up and down the country and have installed sound limiters to pacify the locals who don’t like the idea of their once peaceful surroundings now holding parties and creating noise – and who would blame them.

Here comes the crux of the matter…the limit set on these devices is often between 80-90 decibels. Now as a prospective Bride or Event planner, or average Joe – this means nothing and is very quickly mentioned in your tour around the premises, and then not mentioned again. Lots of folk would even forget about it.  The problem is that the average kettle or food mixer makes between 60-80 decibels and the cry of a single baby also is approx 80-110 decibels! Amazing isn’t it?

Our experience of sound limiters is that our system is hardly on (making about as much noises as a kitchen radio) when a handful of guests start dancing and singing along and the limiter switches everything off. Our speakers or laptop is left damaged and your party atmosphere is deflated. Our equipment is of the highest quality Theatre / TV sound, it is not a Base-Boomy Pub DJ system it produces clear amazing clarity of sound (if switched on) but once you turn it below a certain level even the best performers in the world would sound weak. I have even triggered a limiter recently by singing solo ‘Happy Birthday’  in a room without a microphone being turned on.

This is the point where the venue mention their ‘In-House DJ’ (not necessarily an ‘A’ rated professional) who apparently has no problem adhering to the limit : beware!!

To have a great party you need the right ingredients, you need a professional, you need the right mix of music, you need lights, energy, excitement… and above all you need to be able to hear the music above people talking. Can you imagine a party where the disco is making less noise that the kitchen ovens? Put it another way, can you imagine this senario…you save up and stretch to afford the best chef who creates a beautiful menu for your special day, he arrives at the venue to be told he cant use the oven to cook the food. Impossible to imagine right? Well the same goes for Parties and Sound Limiters.

Many professional entertainers refuse to play if a sound limiter is present.

A final piece of advice

Before you book a venue, check if they have a sound limiter, check the level they tell you it is set at. When you visit the venue,stand near the device and look at the traffic lights flickering on it. (If there are no lights then they have turned it off for your visit). The lights will flicker from green, to amber, to red. Once it reaches red for more than a few seconds it would cut of a DJ or Singer, or Band at your party. You can clap your hands, or if brave enough shout out and see how the noise you make effects it, then imagine 50-150 guests all laughing, talking, dancing, children crying or laughing, people enjoying themselves and then music on top of this…then make your decision about the venue.

Good Luck

Kirsten x

Q – Are set / song lists useful?

Well folks, we often get asked what type of music we play, or if we can supply a song list. The best way to answer that question is to advise clients to listen to our demos on the demos page, and view the videos on our news page. We don’t usually supply a play list.

 All music you hear and see is performed by Kemistry, Yes… Graeme plays the drums, bass, piano, keyboards, guitars, sings and ‘creates’ all the music you hear along with Kirsten singing lead vocals, harmony vocals, choir or backing vocals etc. When Live we sing and play as many instruments as we can live. It’s a bit like making a beautiful and time consuming cake and we have all the right ingredients!

There are duo’s and bands (I use this term loosely) who buy pre-programmed music and sing over the top, mime guitars – or maybe strum a few chords or play a few bars on the piano along to these tracks. With the development of super-duper technology you can go online and buy pretty much any song you want – a bit like karaoke – and fool the audience that you are actually a real band and with the x-factor generation we are now living in, anyone can have a go, and be successful. With that statement comes the useful adage ‘you get what you pay for’. So be mindful of cheap imitations!

Bearing all this in mind, we do perform a little bit of everything and if you click on our testimonials you will see we know what we’re doing! http://www.kemistryduo.com/testimonials.html

Getting back to song lists. Of course we can supply a basic list but this changes over time as we add new songs, stop playing some songs, change some songs, its organic…and as we offer a proper DJ service along with the live music we perform, if there’s a song we don’t play live, we can always play it in the Disco. Naturally if you have a handful of special songs, always let us know what these are in advance, and also if there is a song you don’t want played – tell us that too.  However, be wary of trying to control the music element too much. You need to be aware of your guests taste in music, so rather than dictate what songs you want and when, let us gage the floor and the room, and let us build the evening for you. After all, you may tell a chef you like chicken, but you won’t be in the kitchen cooking it yourself!

The other thing to consider is a strange thought. When you read down a list of songs in the cold light of day, it’s very easy to think “oh I don’t like that one”or “I don’t like that Artist”. I have done it myself. However when you are dancing and having fun and the song is played in that moment you realise “oh what a great song” or “I forgot what a good song that was”.

So in short, song lists are useful but not imperative – we dowork to a set list that is tried and tested, and have a basic framework of songs we perform, and our repertoire is far reaching from Evanescence Rock to effervescent Pop, but if you have any questions at all, please give us a call!

Until next time….over-and-out,

Kirsten

For more information on Prices, Terms & Conditions and Booking requirements please call Graeme on 07875 646469

Well what a fantastic year Kemistry had in 2012 playing live music at some really special events, weddings and parties nationwide! A big thank you to everyone involved for their enthusiasm, hospitality, and frankly some superb dancing and here’s to a brilliant 2013….

We would also like to raise a glass not only to all our clients, but the staff at the venues who work so hard along side Kemistry to ensure your event satisfies your wildest dreams!

Finally thank you to all the well wishes I have received after breaking my leg this year! As they say in the business “The show must go on” and it certainly did, even with me in a leg-cast, and on crutches in some cases.  I am still hobbling around and hope to be back performing those dance routines in heels very soon…

Lots of Love, Kirsten xxx

25th August 2012, Fanhams Hall, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 7PZ

“Hi Graeme and Kirsten!!We wanted to say a MASSIVE thank you for your wonderful performance at our wedding on the 25/08/2012!! What can we say? You were absolutely outstanding! We had our reservations about booking a duo solely on what we heard on your website (as I’m sure with the right technician even we could sound as amazing as you do lol), but we are delighted we “took a chance on you” and would never look back!!!

Kirsten, you have the most beautiful voice which you manage (somehow) to adapt to every style of music. And Graeme, you are one mean musician!!! And you work amazingly together! The perfect duo!There were so many points in the evening when we thought we would come over and have a chat with you, but each time we looked, there you were belting out another fabulous song. We couldn’t tell whether it was you performing, or you were dj-ing! FAB FAB FAB!! Everybody has commented on how amazing you were! And the dance floor was heaving the whole night, catering for both the younger and older generations! We couldn’t have asked for any more!

The only thing we regret is not being able to talk to you on the evening and thank you for all your efforts in person!! So we apologise for that! Hope to see you both soon, maybe one of our guests will snap you up for their big day and we can finally have that chat we missed out on!!

 Hope Kirsten’s foot makes a speedy recovery!  Thanks again,

 Lisa and Adam”

The Happy Couple who booked Kemistry for their Wedding at Fanhams Hall

Well we’ve played at some fantastic wedding venues in Essex, East Anglia, Herts and the Southeast so far this season and tonight is no exception. Kelly & Mark booked us to play at their wedding some time ago to play at Prested Hall in Feering, nr Colchester Essex.
As I write this Graeme is loading up the van with our state of the art gear, lighting rig and equipment ready for a morning set up. The sun is shining…I have a feeling that in the words of The Black Eyed Peas, Tonight’s Gonna be a Good Night!

Hi Guys,  It was pointed out to us recently that we haven’t updated our blog for a while. So just for the record we haven’t taken a sabatical to outer mongolia!  We have actually just been flat out with performing and due to the frequency of gigs haven’t featured any on here for a while.

This year has already been lots of fun so far and with our diary booked out for lots of summer events all we need is the sunshine!   

See you soon,

Graeme