Why Does Metal Have To Be So Loud?

Metal has always been one of my favorite genres, and like most metalheads, I've never listened to it quietly. Turning the volume down on a brutal metal riff feels almost sacrilegious, like it's disrespectful to the music to hear it at anything but full volume. But why? Many genres can be enjoyed perfectly fine at a nice, comfortably quiet level, but metal resists that, and metalheads reject those efforts. So what's going on? Why does metal only work when it's loud as hell? 0:00 Intro 0:41 Fletcher-Munson Curve 4:04 Listener Collapse 7:33 Imagined Loudness 10:46 Noise Occupation Patreon:   / 12tonevideos   Merch: http://standard.tv/12tone Discord:   / discord   Facebook:   / 12tonevideos   Twitter:   / 12tonevideos   Twitch:   / 12tonevideos   Email: [email protected] Last:    • Understanding Everybody Wants To Rule The ...   Dr. Heller's paper: https://tinyurl.com/5b7w92va Script: https://tinyurl.com/27vvyaty Huge thanks to our Elephant Club members: Susan Jones Jill Jones Duck Howard Levine Brian Etheredge Len Lanphar Ken Arnold Elaine Pratt William (Bill) Boston Chris Prentice Jack Carlson Warren Huart Christopher Lucas Andrew Beals Dov Zazkis Hendrik P Thomas Morley Jacob Helwig Kevin Wilamowski Grant Aldonas Davis Sprague Alex Knauth Braum Meakes Hendrik Stüwe Kelly Christoffersen Dan Bonelli Kevin Boyce Donal Botkin Stephen Cook Scott Howarth Luke David Bartz Dhruv Monga Ken Jones Obadiah Wright Carlos Rendon Aleksandar Milojković Kylie McInnes Jody Daniel Reaman Tom PhilRosas Reiji Kobayashi MISLS Catherine Berry Neil Moore Yahir Perez And thanks as well to Henry Reich, Gabi Ghita, Gene Lushtak, Owen Campbell-Moore, Eugene Bulkin, Logan Jones, Oliver, Anna Work, Adam Neely, Rick Lees, Dave Mayer, CodenaCrow, Arnas, Caroline Simpson, Michael Alan Dorman, Blake Boyd, Charles Gaskell, Ian Seymour, Trevor Sullivan, Tom Evans, Lamadesbois, JH, David Conrad, Ducky, Chris Borland, Todd Davidson, Elliot Burke, Jake Lizzio, Tim S., Elias Simon, Jerry D. Brown, Aaron Epstein, Chris Connett, Ohad Lutzky, Symmetry, Peter Leventis, Kenneth Kousen, James, h2g2guy, W. Dennis Sorrell, James A. Thornton, Professor Elliot, Stefan Strohmaier, Shadow Kat, Adam Wurstmann, Angela Flierman, Richard T. Anderson, Andrew Engel, Kevin Johnson, Joshua La Macchia, Peter Brinkmann, Ryan, Rodrigo "rrc2soft" Roman, Jeremy Zolner, Patrick Callier, Danny, Francois LaPlante, Volker Wegert, Britt Ratliff, Darzzr, Alex Keeny, John Bejarano, Gary Butterfield, naomio, Alex Mole, Steve Brand, Rene Miklas, Red Uncle, Doug Nottingham, Betsy, Tonya Custis, Dave Shapiro, Jacopo Cascioli, Nicholas Wolf, Rafael Martinez Salas, Walther, Robert Beach, Jason Nebergall, Graeme Lewis, Jake Sand, Mathew Wolak, Aditya Baradwaj, S, Lincoln Mendell, Sam Rezek, Destros, Lucas Augusto, Jim Hayes, Evan Satinsky, RaptorCat, Scott Albertine, Jigglypuffer, leftaroundabout, Jens Schäfer, Mikely Whiplash, Austin Amberg, Francisco Rodrigues, Elizabeth, Michael Tsuk, רועי סיני, Conor Stuart Roe, ThoraSTooth, Brandon Legawiec, Dragix PL, Evgeni Kunev, Hikaru Katayamma, Gary Evesson, Kottolett, Dylan Vidas, Rob Hardy, Patrick Chieppe, Eric Stark, David Haughn, Gordon Dell, Byron DeLaBarre, Matty Crocker, anemamata, Brian Miller, Lee-orr Orbach, Eric Plume, Kevin Pierce, Jon Hancock, Jason Peterson, Peggy Youell, EJ Hambleton, Bryn Davis, Pamela O'Neill, Jos Mulder, Daryl Banttari, J.T. Vandenbree, Thomas Morgan, Ludwick Kennedy, John Castle, Wayne Robinson, Gabriel Totusek, Ridley Kemp, Mark James, Mnemosyne Music, AkselA, Adam Ziegenhals, Mark, Amelia Lewis, sonicolasj, Sam Plotkin, David MacDonald, Nellie Speirs Baron, Charles R., Joshua Lewis, PatSandmann, Sam, DialMForManning, Wayne Weil, Michael Wehling, Kristofer Hill, William Merryman, Ryan Mayle, Brandon Peckham, Justin St John-Brooks, Mark Lacey, James, David T Peterson, Bryan C. Mills, Jaren Tilford, XCompWiz, Michael Blaby, Fernando Felix, Joseph Satin, Piush Dahal, Matthew Moore, Bean, A Devoted Servant, Milan Brezovsky, Edmund Horner, NinoDoko, M. Bock, Daniel Joseph Moynihan, Andrew Wyld, JD White, Josh Witkowski, STOP, Graham Orndorff, Jeffrey Mann, Michael Sacksteder, Jason McPherson, Chris Robson, A.J. Yates, Matt Moulder, Leander Tietjen, Joe Johnston, Jordan Friendshuh, Alex Tafur, Chris Davis, findRED, Howl’s one-handed, Gary Backaus, Hakim C, gunnito, מתן אריאל-הברון, Claymore Alexander, Dixon Roberts, Eugen Lounkine, Fernando Gros, Geoffrey Barnett, OVB_2nd, William, Joe Molloy, Jay Wilson, RoxyPop, Pär Nord, Paul Tanenholz, Lev, Chris Breault, Julio D, Justin Zboyovski, Adam Poata-Smith, J.R. Hyde, A, Daniel Sim, David Wagner, Jo Müller, Christopher Beattie, triskadecaepyon, Abie, Charles Jordan, Lyriian, Kelly Walker, and derFunkenstein! Your support helps make 12tone even better! Also, thanks to Jareth Arnold!