SPL Request

So I received a call from Chris this last Friday, guitarist from Shotgun. He is working on putting together a campsite jam in Ramona. There is a stage setup with AC power. The question was regarding the limit on SPL that the campsite allows. It is 90dB SPL measured at 50', A-weighted average. This certainly sounds pretty low for a hard-rock band, especially at 50' away from the stage. Maybe we can play some games with turning the PA speakers outward a bit for example. Of course the limiting factor is the drums, which you can't really turn down the volume without losing the energy of the music. We may have to scrub the campsite idea.

I have an SPL meter just for this reason, which I purchased prior to a party at a residence where the next-door neighbor was a chronic complainer. The idea was to have the meter handy to perform some measurements to show that the party was not exceeding the limits defined by the City of Poway. More on this later.

Anyway, I told Chris that we could set up the system and do some measurement using recorded music (a.k.a. DJ mode) next weekend because I was already booked this weekend. Another idea would be to take some measurements during our next rehearsal at EXP Studios in Escondido. The sound system there is about the same as ours (for now :-) and would give us a good idea of how loud 90dB SLP at 50'. I have a feeling we'll be very disappointed...