Influence of music genre and composition on entertainment noise limits

Liquor licensing authorities across Australia typically require an entertainment noise test to be conducted before a venue can host amplified entertainment. The purpose of this test is to simulate live entertainment in order to determine the maximum permissible noise source limits allowed for the venue. In this paper, several disadvantages of the current method used for entertainment noise testing are identified and discussed. It was found that the choice of music can affect the resulting source noise level limits. An alternative approach has been suggested which involves playing band-limited pink noise across the 63 to 2kHz octave bands. A correction is then applied to determine the source noise level limits associated with different genres of music. The advantages of this method are that it reduces the time required to conduct the test, the nuisance caused to neighbouring premises is reduced and the variance in source noise level limits caused by different choice of test music is eliminated