Sound Level Monitoring at Live Events, Part 2—Regulations, Practices, and Preferences

Abstract

This paper considers existing regulations, practices, and preferences regarding the measurement, monitoring, and management of sound levels at live music events. It brings together a brief overview of current regulations with the outcomes of a recent international survey of live sound engineers and evaluation of three datasets of sound measurement at live music events. The paper reveals the benefit of a 15-min time frame for the definition of equivalent continuous sound level limits in comparison to longer or shorter time frames. The paper also reveals support from the live sound engineering community for the application of sound level limits and development of a global certification system for live sound engineers.