The influence of audience participatory noise on sound levels at live events

Although the importance of audience participation at events, in terms of verbal and non-verbal appreciation, is well recognised, the by-product, noise, primarily in the form of applause, cheering and whistling, has been subject to little study in terms of its impact on sound pressure levels. This paper presents findings from a preliminary study in this area, where the specific impact of audiences on overall sound levels is analysed using a dataset from real-world large-scale events. Results indicate that an audience is capable of significantly increasing an event's overall sound level, even though their active participation only constitutes a small proportion of the event duration. Since sound level limits do not distinguish between noise sources, this notable influence from the audience can prevent compliance with imposed limits and should be considered in future updates to sound level monitoring systems and standards/regulations.