Code Of Practice

Complementing this already broad picture was an overlay of Google maps revealing the locations of the stages and monitoring stations.

With all data stored to the cloud, Erevu had no problem providing its client with a legally-defensible document at the end of the event that would stand up in court should a question of compliance come up.

Lab-style measurement mics were chosen for the remote measuring stations, all of which were equipped with a LAN connection to facilitate the transmission of information via TCP/IP to the production office, as well as to the cloud-based data archive.

Twenty-one-inch monitors were placed at each of the festival’s house mix positions. Erevu’s recommended trim heights and loudspeaker/sub placement strategy, combined with the Miner Family Winery Stage’s VUE Audiotechnik line arrays, allowed Poux to drive the sound cohesively across his intended area of coverage and keep it there.

“The VUE rig was a very clean sounding PA,” Poux reports. “We had a nice, well-rounded sound. Adding the Erevu monitor to my mix position out front let me keep constant tabs on my levels, and provided a constant visual confirmation of what I heard in front of me and all around at every level. I was also constantly monitoring every other stage location, looking at the Leq in other spots, the weather…it’s all useful and brings a whole new dimension to how I think about my job.

Another screenshot showing measurement and weather data at BottleRock 2015, joined by a Google map showing the site’s boundaries.

“Hearing what’s going on around you – especially in a festival situation with multiple stages all going at once – is one thing, being able to see it too, that’s another. With sound bombarding you from 360 degrees around, sometimes it’s hard to tell just by listening what’s going on. Now all I have to do is look at my screen and I can see that the guy over there is hitting 105 and that’s what I’m hearing. If something has to be done or said to someone, this system gives me a straight-up answer.”

A New Norm
In the not-so-distant past (and even within the present for some), Wilson notes, the idea of noise monitoring and compliance to community standards was something many engineers didn’t know anything about, or simply didn’t care to know about.

“That’s rapidly changing in this country,” he says with the same passion that has fueled Erevu’s conviction to mediating the situation. “In Europe there’s a well-entrenched concern for monitoring our industry’s performance, and going beyond simple compliance with local sound level ordinances to insure that everyone in the community can coexist in harmony.

“It will soon be the norm here, and we’re happy to supply the tools that will make it all happen.”

Gregory A. DeTogne is a writer and editor who has served the pro audio industry for more than 30 years.