Lets all go down the pub

I haven't been in a Wetherspoons pub for a long time but on Friday night I found myself in there on someones leaving do and was immediately struck by a sound that was instantly familiar, the sound of Wetherspoons.

Walking in from outside is like stepping into a filtered world where all of life's sonic nuances are stripped out and replaced by an echoey din, a high pitch whir that is at once disconcerting.

At first it is easy to think that this is just what it is like in pubs when they don't play music, but it isn't, I've been in plenty of pubs that don't play music and they are full of intricate creaks and vibrations, not standardised white noise.

The reason that Wetherspoons sound like they do is of course partly to do with not playing music, but it is equally because they all have the same carpets, chairs, tables, fittings, cutlery, and glasses, and they are almost always large glass fronted buildings. Their pricing policy also attracts a certain type of clientele, particularly at the weekend, and encourages fast, heavy drinking which brings with it it's own noise in the shape of glasses constantly banging on the bar and tables, and also in the form of loud and boisterous conversation.

People spend a lot of time acoustically designing bars and restaurants these days to encourage people to eat and drink quicker with loud music and bright reverberant rooms, or to slow them down with soft fabrics which soak up the din and make you more relaxed. It's worth thinking about this the next time you're in a pub or restaurant, what does it sound like and why? Is this what attracts you to it?

As for Wetherspoons, well for a pub that doesn't play any music it's a pretty intrusive sonic space, and from everyone I know its not somewhere you go for more than three drinks if you can help it, whether this is because of its sonic makeup is for you to decide.