Sound limiters are one of those things that wedding DJs learn to work with.
They are not necessarily a problem. Some venues need them because of nearby residents, licensing conditions or the way sound travels through the building. If I know what I am working with, I can normally adjust the system, control the bass and make it work perfectly well.
But recently I encountered a sound limiter that reminded me there is quite a big difference between limiting the volume of the music and limiting the party itself.
A beautiful room with one small box on the wall
The wedding was taking place in a beautiful Georgian ballroom. It was exactly the sort of room where I knew my setup would look fantastic, and I had brought my new gold mirrorballs which suited it particularly well.
During setup, the venue coordinator mentioned that they were very conscious of sound travelling through one particular wall.
Initially I was asked to set up in the corner of the room to help with this. From both a visual and practical point of view that seemed an odd place for the DJ, particularly when there was an obvious central position available, so we agreed on a compromise.
I would set up centrally and put my subwoofer nearer the corner they were concerned about.
That was fine. Managing where the lower frequencies were coming from was something I could work with.
Then the coordinator pointed out the sound limiter.
It was a tiny traffic-light-style unit on the wall with green, amber and red indicators. I was told the limit was somewhere in the 90-decibel range, which did not immediately concern me.
I have worked with sound limiters many times before.
Usually you learn where the threshold is, keep an eye on it and adjust accordingly.
The first dance suddenly went silent
We gathered everyone around the dance floor. The couple cut their cake, we moved into their first dance and everything was going beautifully.
Then I picked up the microphone and invited the guests to come and join them.
Everything went off.
Not just the music. The limiter had cut the power to the equipment.
For a moment I genuinely wondered whether we had suffered an electrical fault. Then I realised what had happened.
The sound limiter had tripped.
What surprised me was that it had not happened during an enormous bass-heavy section of music. It appeared to have happened while I was making a very short announcement on the microphone.
There had also been virtually no useful warning.
Instead of gradually seeing the limiter approaching its threshold and having time to respond, we had gone from a first dance to silence.
So there I was, halfway through what should have been a lovely transition into the party, restarting equipment while a dance floor full of wedding guests waited.
We laughed about it, got everything running again and carried on.
But from that point onwards I was watching that little box very carefully.
What happens when the guests are louder than the DJ?
Later, I played a familiar singalong track.
The guests did exactly what wedding guests tend to do when a song they love comes on.
They sang.
The power went off again.
That was the moment the problem became much harder to solve.
If a sound limiter is reacting to the bass from my speakers, I can do something about it. I can reduce the subwoofer level. I can change the balance of the system. I can keep the overall energy of the room while making technical adjustments behind the scenes.
But I cannot turn down eighty wedding guests.
Nor would I particularly want to.
If people are standing together singing their hearts out, that is usually evidence that the party is going rather well.
The same thing happened again later in the evening, during another big communal singing moment.
At that stage, the limiter was no longer simply restricting how loudly I could play music. It was affecting things that were outside my control.
Sound limiters themselves aren't the problem
I don't think the lesson from this is that couples should avoid every wedding venue with a sound limiter.
I've worked very happily in venues that have them.
A sensibly configured system with a clear display gives the DJ something measurable to work with. Once I understand its behaviour, I can set my equipment appropriately and get on with the evening.
Sometimes that means using less bass than I would elsewhere. Sometimes it means positioning speakers differently. None of that necessarily stops a wedding from having a brilliant atmosphere.
The difficulty comes when the system behaves unpredictably or when its threshold affects normal guest behaviour as well as amplified music.
A DJ can manage their sound system.
They cannot manage the volume of somebody's auntie singing Oasis.
It's worth knowing before you book
The couple told me afterwards that they had not been aware of the sound limiter when they booked the venue.
I think that's the part couples should perhaps take away from this.
If music and dancing are important to you, it is perfectly reasonable to ask a venue about its sound restrictions before booking.
Does the venue have a sound limiter?
What is the limit?
Does reaching it simply give the DJ a warning, or does it cut the electrical supply?
How frequently does it cause problems during weddings?
Those questions do not mean that a venue with restrictions is automatically unsuitable. They simply give you a much clearer understanding of the environment in which your evening celebration will be taking place.
Because there is a big difference between a venue saying, "We need to keep the music at a sensible level," and discovering halfway through your first dance that the entire sound system can suddenly disappear.
The party should still be allowed to be a party
Weddings don't need nightclub levels of volume to have atmosphere.
Some of the best dance floors I have worked have not been particularly loud at all.
What matters far more is having enough energy in the room for people to relax, sing, dance and enjoy themselves without the technical restrictions becoming part of the experience.
Ideally, guests should never even know that a sound limiter exists.
It should be something the venue and the entertainment quietly work around in the background.
Because once everybody on the dance floor is having to think about whether singing too loudly might switch the music off, the sound limiter is no longer just limiting the sound.
It is starting to limit the party.
