Music and hotels
PRESIDENT OF the Entertainers of Jamaica Association, Kaestner Smith, is adamant that the entertainment venues and the tourism accommodations sector can peacefully co-exist, and the noise-abatement issue can be resolved without large amounts of government spending. Smith, who studied music and sound engineering at the Royal School of Music in the United Kingdom, said his organisation has made several recommendations during the recent series of meetings staged by the entertainment ministry to discuss amendments to the Noise Abatement Act. Chief among the recommendations are the use of decibel meters and upgrading of the sound system technology, including the use of short-throw boxes and repositioning of speakers. “We had suggested it be renamed the Noise Regulation Act. We had also said that to alleviate this noise complaint, what should happen is that we introduce decibel meters, and before any function is put on 24 hours worth of noise level checks should be done in that area so you know what is expected; you know what you can’t play above, and you set up the environment to feel the same vibe. But that is still yet to come,” Smith said. He said a simple splitting of the speaker boxes instead of grouping them in one area would contain the sound, which would not emanate beyond the desired range. “So instead of you setting up 16 boxes in one corner, you set up one box every five feet around the environment, and I guarantee you that you feel the same amount of vibe as you would want to feel. All you have to now do, is buy some extra cord so that it can reach to wherever. If you are in one little corner, trying to sound the entire space, of course it is going to be loud,” he explained. This expensive fix, he said, that is on the horizon is not necessary when the tools are at the fingertips. It’s about encircling the environment, so the music is not played loudly, “but all who are within that space feel the specific vibration that they are trying to achieve. So all this fuss and all this thing about noise abatement and police want lock off this, we not looking for the fix. I think we are more about the debate than seeking out the fix,” Smith said. He cited Kenny’s Italian Café and Island Lux Beach Park as examples, in Negril, where the strategic placement of music boxes along the property has prevented any noise-pollution issue from surfacing. “Azul has never complained of noise next door and trust me, they are fence to fence with Island Lux,” he said. “It does not matter where you go on the property, you get the same feel; the same vibe.” He noted that Kenny’s Italian Café has live entertainment and people live just left and right of the property. “It’s about 30 square feet and they are filled to capacity every night and the music is blaring inside, but if you come out on the road you cannot hear. If you stay right at the front door, you cannot be disturbed by the music,” he said.