Low frequency sounds from entertainment and exercise venues: Methods for prediction, measurement, and annoyance assessment
David S. Woolworth · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2019
The advent of inexpensive low frequency reproduction has made the subwoofer loudspeaker ubiquitous and has in turn driven an increase in low frequency content in many forms of popular music. The result is music played in entertainment and exercise venues contains a lot of low frequency information at high sound levels, while prediction for design, ANSI testing standards, and U.S. ordinances do not properly address the full frequency spectrum in question or the pulsing nature of low frequencies. Furthermore the proliferation of lightweight mixed use construction and development of entertainment districts to revitalize urban areas puts these low frequency sources adjacent to or near residences, creating the need for a more comprehensive set of methods for assessment. This paper provides a compiled set of methods and techniques to assess low frequencies from entertainment and fitness venues, drawing on various standards, industrial noise methods, and the author’s experiences and sample data.