In case it’s not obvious by the long span of time between now and the last time an article was posted here, Austin Noise has been retired. I’ll keep this website up for archival purposes for as long as I feel like paying for the domain name. I’ve moved from Austin and so am not …
Hi Joshua, I am a professional touring musician (drummer). I recently purchased a house in Round Rock. I have been sound checking and playing for the last few weeks. All I can find on the laws here online is that between the hours of 7am and 10:30 pm “reasonable noise levels are acceptable” in residential …
Item 14 of February 2nd’s City Council meeting was discussion and approval of a resolution to change the name of the existing Music Venue Relocation Program to the Music Venue Assistance Program, and to provide $40,000 from the Downtown Development Fund for a music venue noise mitigation case study. The action items in the resolution are …
Continue reading ‘The Music Venue Assistance Program and Noise Mitigation Case Study’ »
Simply put, this level of performance is terrible for any type of residence.
Building an apartment with huge windows downtown might provide for outstanding views that people are willing to pay a lot of money for, but it’s absolutely not sensible for anyone to expect such an apartment to be quiet at night, unless they’re willing to pay a lot of money for high-STC windows. It’s unfair to expect downtown music venues to turn things down to accommodate such poor design.
In November of 2009, I set up a sound level meter near a home in the vicinity of the Nutty Brown Cafe (NBC) in Dripping Springs to take measurements during a show. I did this in response to the public discussion about some of the Nutty Brown’s neighbors being upset by music from the amphitheater. Like …
Continue reading ‘The Nutty Brown Cafe – Review of Analysis and Mitigation’ »
Noise from cars on the under-construction Circuit of the Americas race track are expected to cause noise impacts at surrounding residences. A complete noise analysis should be performed to identify impacts and develop effective mitigation.
Laura Morrison, Toby Ryan, and Eric Rangel were asked to describe the aspects of Austin’s Noise Ordinance that they like, do not like, and want to change. Of these three Place 4 Austin City Council candidates, only Laura Morrison replied. Her answers to Austin Noise’s questions are shown.
Presented here is a proposal for a system to determine sound level limits specific to music venues applying for outdoor music venue permits. Limit levels are developed according to an objective, repeatable methodology that examines a venue’s potential for noise impact exclusively. Sound level limits calculated in the analysis are then attached to the venue’s OMV permit. The benefit of this system is that music venues which are located, built, and arranged with the intention of reducing residential noise impacts are implicitly rewarded with higher limits for in-venue sound levels. Being a better neighbor is automatically incentivized.
The list of sound permit holders for this year’s SXSW week are posted on the PACE website. You can find information about the locations, the dates, the start times and cut-off times, as well as the “decibel limits” set for each venue (either 70 or 85). Here is the complete list on one pdf. These …