Mad about music: Turn down the volume

Krabbe K. Piting, Contributor, Jakarta

Am I the only person who absolutely, positively detests live music in most public places?

I am not talking about buskers harassing you (although I assure you I'll write about them one of these days), but those deafening, mediocre noise pollution trying to pass off as live entertainment that assaults your eardrums at food courts, malls and restaurants. God knows where they are going to crop up next.

Picture this: lunchtime at a busy food court. The place is already noisy as it is, when suddenly you hear the ominous sound of a microphone check.

Then the inevitable kicks in: a very loud, very live rendition of Evergreen Love Songs or Now That's What I Call Music 105.

People love music. Yes, I get that. But do they need to hear a rendition of that stomach-churning Titanic song at full blast during lunch hour at a busy food court? I don't particularly enjoy having my friend shout at me in between mouthfuls of beef yakiniku, spitting bits of possibly mad cow-infected imported beef on me.

Dinnertime is even worse. You feel like you are eating in the front row of a Justin Timberlake concert instead of a restaurant. At a relatively small, newly opened mall in the city center, you will be better off if you know some sign language. During the weekend, they have not one, not two, but three spots that have live music.

And before any of it starts, just in case your ears need to be prepped for the upcoming racket, they'll crank up a mixed CD at such volume it can wake up the dead.

The entertainers themselves -- God bless 'em -- treat the venue as their very own Wembley Arena, or worse: an audition for American Idol. They pour their hearts out into those microphones. Unfortunately, pouring their hearts out means earth-shattering noise in such a confined space.

The proprietors seem to like it; the louder, the better. It is live music, after all, right? Wrong. If they plan to have live music on site, they can at least plan the building acoustics carefully. Some instruments, a microphone stand and a couple of amplifiers do not a live music venue make.

It is so hard to have a long, leisurely lunch or dinner -- even coffee! -- these days without having your eardrums perforated. It seems prerequisite to have live music on site of every new restaurant, mall, whatever. Which is a shame, because when I'm with company, I prefer to talk during and especially after meals.

When the entertainment is really good, though, I'll be more than happy to watch or listen to it. But this is rarely the case. Most of the time the live music is so blah, the usual cafe fare, you just don't bother.

I know some people disagree on this. There are lots of people out there who enjoy listening to Crazy In Love over and over again and shout whenever they have something on their mind. I have witnessed a couple walking out of a restaurant because it had no live music.

I am not against all venues that feature live music, I just wish there were more places where I can meet with friends and catch up without straining my voice to do so. I do love music. I sometimes even wish that everyday life had its own soundtrack, just like in the movies.

But in Hollywood, the soundtrack dies down when people talk.