Where Should the Stage Face?

On an outdoor site with a sound limit at the nearest homes, stage orientation and layout decide whether the show can be loud enough to work.

This guide shows how a sound limit at the nearest homes shapes an outdoor site plan. It covers finding the homes, pointing stages away, using distance, ground and structures, keeping two stages apart and planning the last hour before curfew. It ends with what a noise management plan needs before the license goes in.

Outdoor event noise limits are set at the nearest homes, not at the stage. So the first sound decision is a drawing decision. Where the stages face, how far they sit from those homes and what stands between decide how loud the show can be. This guide works through that order. It ends with what a noise management plan needs before the license goes in.

A year-one site with a 55 dBA limit

Take a made-up site in its first year. It hosts 5,000 people for one day of electronic music on two outdoor stages. The music must stop at 11 pm, and the license allows 55 dBA at the nearest homes. The team has to decide what to fix first.

Fix the stage positions first. Almost everything else can be tuned on the day. Once the stages are built and the speakers are hung, their direction is set.

A dBA figure weights sound the way the ear hears it, so it counts bass for less than middle tones. That means a show can meet a dBA limit while the bass still thumps through a bedroom wall. Ask whether the license also limits low tones, often written in dB(C).

Many councils in England still refer to the Noise Council's 1995 code of practice on concerts. It measures music noise over 15 minutes, one meter from the front of the nearest noise-sensitive building. Your license sets the real numbers, so read it before you draw anything.

Map the receivers first

A receiver is any place where the limit applies or where people may complain. Mark every one on the site plan. Start with homes. Then add hospitals, care homes, hotels and places of worship. Mark where the council will measure, if it says.

Then measure the distance from each possible stage spot to each receiver. In open air, sound from a single source drops about 6 dB each time the distance doubles. Here is a made-up example. A level of 70 dB at 250 meters falls to about 64 dB at 500 meters. Ground, wind and the shape of the speaker system all change this, so treat it as a first guess. An acoustic consultant can model the real site.

Mark the wind too. Sound carries farther downwind. On a still, clear night, a layer of warm air above cool ground can bend sound back down and carry it farther still. That tends to happen late, just as the curfew nears.

Point the stages away from the homes

Speakers throw most of their sound forward. Behind and beside them it is quieter, at least for middle and high tones. So put the stage between the crowd and the homes, with its back to them. The crowd faces away from the houses, and so do the speakers.

Bass is harder. Low tones spread in every direction. Ask the sound company about cardioid subwoofer setups, which cancel some bass behind the stage. Aim the main speakers down into the crowd, not over it. In a deep crowd, delay towers help. They let the main system run quieter while the back of the crowd still hears well.

Use distance, ground and structures

Distance is the cheapest tool. Every extra stretch between the stage and the homes buys level. On a large site, the best stage spot is often the one farthest from the nearest receiver, even if it is not the prettiest.

Ground helps next. A bank or a hill between the stage and the homes blocks the direct path. A stage set in a hollow, with the crowd on the slope, keeps more sound in the bowl.

Structures help least, but they help. Containers, the stage's own back wall and nearby buildings cut middle and high tones. They do very little to bass.

Keep two stages from fighting

Two stages make two problems. Each one bleeds into the other's crowd. And at the homes, their sound adds up. Two sources at the same level add about 3 dB. So each stage must run a little quieter to keep the total under the limit.

Face the stages away from each other, or at right angles, with as much ground between them as the site allows. Never put one stage's crowd in the other stage's line of fire. Plan the running order so a quiet moment on one stage does not land on a peak on the other.

Plan the run-down to curfew

A hard 11 pm end means the show ends at 11 pm, not one song later. Plan the last hour as carefully as the first. Book a final set that works at a lower level. Agree who can cut the sound, and give them the power to do it. Set the limits on the desk before the last act starts.

Then plan the crowd. When the sound stops, 5,000 people leave at once. Car doors, shuttles and voices are noise too. Route people away from the nearest homes where you can, and light those routes.

Sound checks count as well. Hold them in the day and tell the neighbors when they are.

What the noise management plan needs

The council will want to see the plan before it decides. Put these in it.

• A site plan with each stage, the speaker positions and the direction each faces.
• Every receiver, with its distance and the limit that applies there.
• Predicted levels at each receiver, from an acoustic model, with its assumptions.
• Monitoring points, who measures, how often, and how readings reach the sound desk.
• Who can order a level cut, and how fast it happens.
• Sound check times.
• The curfew plan, from the last hour to the last person leaving.
• A phone number for residents, answered during the show, and a complaint log.
• A letter to neighbors before the event.

The rest of the site plan, from zones to welfare, is in space planning for festivals and outdoor events.

Fix the stage first

In year one, fix the stage positions first. A loud show in the wrong place cannot be saved by turning it down.

Frequently asked questions

What does a 55 dBA limit mean for an outdoor event?

It is the highest sound level allowed where the limit is measured, usually at or near the nearest homes. The A weighting counts bass for less, so check whether the license also sets a low-tone limit. The license also says how long each reading lasts and where it is taken.

Which way should an outdoor stage face?

Away from the nearest homes, with the stage between the crowd and those homes. The speakers then throw their sound toward the crowd and away from the houses. Bass still spreads in every direction, so pair the direction with distance and a cardioid subwoofer setup.

How far does sound travel from an outdoor stage?

Farther than most people expect, and farther still downwind or on a still night. As a rough guide, sound from one source falls about 6 dB for every doubling of distance. Real speaker systems, ground and weather change that, so have an acoustic consultant model the site.

Who writes the noise management plan?

Usually the organizer, working with an acoustic consultant and the sound company. The consultant predicts levels at each home and sets monitoring points. The sound company sets up the speakers and limits. The organizer owns the plan, the phone line for residents and the power to cut the sound.

Stage position is a drawing decision indoors too. For shows inside a venue, Monet lays out the stage, crowd and routes to scale on the venue plan, and re-runs its exit clearance and crowd-flow checks after every move.