This is an interesting point/suggestion.
I think all of us who record the natural world know just how noisy we reall=
y
are as humans, even quite a distance from populated areas! It would be nic=
e
to communicate that to the rest of the less attentive listeners.
I think if the some people had to listen to how we are adding noise to the
wilderness, they might consider their actions more carefully. I think they
would be amazed how hard it is to "get away from it all". I suspect there
are many people who rarely experience being out of the range of
anthropogenic sound.
Chris Harrison
San Antonio, TX
From:
On Behalf Of vickipowys
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 6:58 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [Nature Recordists] measuring noise levels - help needed
Klas,
Many sympathies on your constant parachutists' airplane noise. I
agree even at 20 miles it is a problem. People who make legislation
will not understand there is a problem until they are constantly
lobbied to the contrary.
How often and for how long - yes indeed that is taken into
consideration in Australia, but there are no specific guidelines.
Yes, let's start a movement to try to lessen constant background
noise however soft or loud, around the world! And without having to
go to court. I suppose that gathering real-life experiences and
having an idea of what noise regulations may be working, or not
working, around the world, could be a start.
best wishes,
Vicki
On 27/09/2012, at 2:05 AM, Klas Strandberg wrote:
> Vicky, I think your claim is perfectly just.
>
> There are limits in Sweden for how loud a motor bike can be and the
> Swedish police has the proper equipment to measure and the training
> how to use it.
> Still, when i Harley owner (! only) wants his bike to be loud, the
> police cannot do anything. 1/ The driver claims that the bike is
> broken and that he is heading for the nearest garage to fix it, 2/
> the driver demands to have the decibel meter calibrated on the spot,
> 3/ the driver claims that the policeman holds the measuring equipment
> in a wrong way... e.t.c.
> The laws don't work.
>
> Another way is to measure as we measure neighbors partying: How OFTEN
> and for how LONG.
> If a person has too long parties, too often, it doesn't need to be
> very loud. The landlord will give him a few warnings, after that he
> will be forced to move.
>
> My own case is the parachute jumpers. They have a strip about 20
> miles from here and I can hear the plane just after take off. They
> have two planes.
> Every fine day between end of march till end of October, is filled
> with sounds from one of these airplanes about 70% of the time between
> 8 am and 8 pm, weekdays and Sundays. The 30% off is when the pilots
> are having lunch and coffee.
> It's not very loud! Also, they claim that they have bought low noise
> turbojets and run them only to 70%. Which is true. But it doesn't
> help. The sound is there, all the time, more or less, unless it is
> windy or rainy and nobody want to relax in the garden anyway.
>
> Before the parachute club, this was an area which was about 90%
> intermittently quiet, that means, you could hear a distant train for
> 30 seconds, then quiet for seven minutes, then a distant truck for 10
> sec, e.t.c.
>
> So what can be done? Nothing, as far as I see it. "We" don't have the
> arguments and the awareness needed.
>
> If there is interest to start a movement focusing on "time and how
> often" please get in touch.
>
> If you need a decibel meter, Vicky, I would be happy to lend you
> mine, but I doubt that it is "properly calibrated" or something.
>
> Klas.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> At 15:20 2012-09-26, you wrote:
>>> My legal advice is that I have 'an entitlement to the quiet
>>> enjoyment
>>> of my property' and that the 2-stroke motorbike noise constitutes 'a
>>> legal nuisance'.
>>
>> Vicki,
>>
>> To quote a noise level legally you need a calibrated sound level
>> meter
>> and accurate distance measuremnts. Motorbikes in particular are
>> difficult to pin down legally.
>>
>> I had a listen to your recording, and it sounds as if the owner has
>> knocked out the inside of the silencer in order to make more
>> noise. It
>> has a typical rasping noise which moronic riders enjoy. If the
>> silencer has been damaged, this is grounds for a complaint and a
>> possible prosecution.
>>
>> However, to reproduce a nuisance, what you need to do is to get
>> comparison recordings, preferably from your property, of normal
>> traffic and the motorbike, preferbly in a single recording session.
>> You will need to note the recording details, especially the mic and
>> level setting and avoid any form of compression or level control by
>> peaking well below maximumm. If you can, do without a bass cut in
>> spite of my previous advice. :-) You can then submit a direct
>> comparicon of the motorbike noise as compared with "normal" traffic.
>>
>> If you are not making a case for exceeding a legal noise limit, an
>> edited track should be acceptable, especially if you have your own
>> "standard" noise (your car horn?) which can establish a common level
>> across the edit.
>>
>> As for decibel levels, you can read off peak levels from acceptable
>> and unacceptable noises like the bad motorbike compared with a
>> similoar unmodified model or other motorbikes. What could be
>> useful is
>> comparing the noisy one with normal motorbikes. Just keep the peaks
>> well short of clipping.
>>
>> David
>>
>> David Brinicombe
>> North Devon, UK
>> Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum - Ambrose Bierce
>>
>>
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