|
Approved 1/11/2016
<br />
<br />OC Board of Adjustment – 11/9/15 Page 23 of 48
<br />
<br />Matt Hughes: I have another question. Again, for completeness, your opinion on 600 or 800 feet away, you would have the sound, 1
<br />the base sound. Most people at night, in the country, are not outside. They’re in their houses. (audience protests) I just want to 2
<br />hear what he has to say. Please. And these signs are not helpful at all. So would you still be hearing… 3
<br /> 4
<br />Noral Stewart: Yes, and in fact it might even be more noticeable indoors. Number one, just like the sound can go through the walls 5
<br />of the barn, homes are typically not designed to block this kind of sound. They’re not anticipating this low frequency base sound. 6
<br />So it goes through into the house. Secondly, in the house the walls have blocked everything else so the only thing that’s getting in 7
<br />is the base, essentially, so it stands out more. Then another thing is, that due to the dimensions of the typical rooms in houses, 8
<br />those rooms have resonances. And they can amplify that base to where it might actually be louder inside than outside. I have 9
<br />experienced that. And, it’s both with music and industrial noise. I remember an industrial client situation with a strong tone around 10
<br />a hundred hertz that was louder inside the neighbors’ house than it was outside. So, that’s an important point. And this is the main 11
<br />thing that we find really is most disturbing to people is, they’re ready to go to bed and thump, thump, thump. It’s an irritant. And, it 12
<br />takes care to control it. 13
<br /> 14
<br />Karen Barrows: Any other questions from the Board? If not, does the applicant have questions? 15
<br /> 16
<br />Sharron Linn: So if the building is carefully constructed was the noise, the large cabin construction or if Kara consulted with an 17
<br />acoustical consultant, the sound might not travel? 18
<br /> 19
<br />Noral Stewart: It’s conceivable that it could be built in a way that can contain the sound. I would have to caution you, it’s not easy 20
<br />and you may not like some of the things you will be told. But, if you can follow the advice of someone who is experienced and 21
<br />knowledgeable then controlling low frequency base sounds we’ve had to it. I mean, I’ve mentioned a church that was shaking the 22
<br />walls. We had to re-design that church to contain the sound. 23
<br /> 24
<br />Sharron Linn: What kind of music produces these low frequency base sounds? 25
<br /> 26
<br />Noral Stewart: Most any music has a strong degree of base in it. Now, you could exercise some control with, perhaps, the control 27
<br />equalization on the loud speakers to tone it down some, if you can get the musicians to do it. Some are more willing to do it than 28
<br />others. But, that may be a part of a solution. But, in order for the music to be balanced, one of the things that drives it is drums. If 29
<br />you’ve got any music that’s got a live drum set, drums are naturally loud. The other musicians have to be loud to keep up with the 30
<br />drum, so that they’re not drowned out by the drum. So, one thing you can do is prohibit live drums. And, use electronic drum sets. 31
<br />That can help the musicians to control it to a lower level. But, that’s one of the things in the bag of tricks to help out. It doesn’t 32
<br />necessarily mean you can’t pay some attention to the building, but it can be one thing to help. 33
<br /> 34
<br />Sharron Linn: So it sounds like this low level base can be controlled. 35
<br /> 36
<br />Noral Stewart: If you know what you’re doing, it’s difficult, it’s tricky. Architects get pulled all the time because they think they know 37
<br />what they’re doing and they’re controlling the higher frequency sound and they’re making the base control worse. Because you 38
<br />have to approach it in a different manner. It’s a different set of rules when it comes to controlling the base than controlling the rest 39
<br />of the sound. 40
<br /> 41
<br />Karen Barrows: Any other questions? Ok, carry on. 42
<br /> 43
<br />David Rooks: Chairman, I would at this point, like to excuse Dr. Stewart so he can go on home. 44
<br /> 45
<br />Karen Barrows: Ok. 46
<br /> 47
<br />James Bryan: Before that happens, we haven’t addressed one housekeeping matter about whether is multiple parties or whether 48
<br />everybody opposition is comfortable with Mr. Rooks as their spokesperson. 49
<br /> 50
<br />Karen Barrows: Good point. 51
<br /> 52
<br />David Rooks: Well, let me tell you what I’m planning to do and maybe that will answer your question. I’m planning to call maybe six 53
<br />or seven witnesses, each having been requested to testify three minutes or less. And then at that point I would tender to you a 54
<br />group who are here to testify, if you wanted to hear them, some of them may still want to testify. But, I was planning only to use a 55
|