How loud is the inner Black Rock City?

[mooserider]

My art group just got their placement, somewhere around 6:30 and C. As a burgin, I'd like to know: just how loud is it going to be around there when I'm trying to get some sleep?

[Captain Goddammit]

In my experience, it actually tends to be pretty quiet at night around Center Camp. I've stayed at camps located right on the Ring Road and had no noise issues at all.

[DrYes]

That's a very quiet neighborhood at night. I've camped right around there a couple times and it's been great for sleeping.

[ygmir]

IIRC, that will be near the DPW ghetto and the Black Hole........

[Sham]

I had one night last year right in that same area with music blasting. Every other night was absolute quiet. Who ever was blasting that music was most likely warned to go someplace else.

[Jovankat]

Within the city the sound regulations are that a system should be no louder than 90db at 20 feet.

[Eric]

One thing you can't understand until you've actually been is that "quiet" is a relative term. Most of the 5:30 - 6:30 area tends to be quieter than other areas of the city, but that doesn't mean it's like sleeping in a rural area with no noise. It's also going to be louder at 10pm than it will be if you go to bed at 4am. If you're a light sleeper, take advance precautions: earplugs, sleep-masks, etc.

I've camped in that area all but 2 of the times I've been, most of them very near Esplanade. I sleep fine, without earplugs, every time I go to bed - which tends to be 6am-ish (but I like the white noise of the event around me).

[trilobyte]

I'm moving this over to Shelter & Camping, since that's a better fit for camp noise levels in different parts of the city.

If you're concerned about noise levels and sleeping, you should definitely bring earplugs. Regardless of the text you read on the screen, actual noise levels and real life can vary widely

That said, here's generally how the noise levels work in Black Rock City. The 2:00 and 10:00 streets at either side of the city are generally the loudest. It's where the high wattage sound camps are placed (and for what it's worth they are instructed to point the speakers outward). Next up is Esplanade. While not completely unrestricted, they generally tend to be bigger, louder, and more likely to have at least some aspect of the camp running 24/7. Think of those areas as the bustling downtown of BRC. While there are exceptions, the bigger and bolder and noisier camps tend to want to be closer in towards those areas, and then as you get further away from Esplanade things become progressively more quiet. The first couple letters of the alphabet tend to be like suburbia (to me, anyways), and then as you get further out it feels more like quiet residential streets.

Of course, Black Rock CIty is an incredibly diverse and random place, and there are always exceptions... and exceptional camps! That's where the earplugs come in. It's also worth pointing out that when I'm at Burning Man, I have a much easier time falling and staying asleep than I do anyplace else. Because when I'm going to sleep it's almost always out of sheer exhaustion, and not because I have to go to bed earlier than I'd prefer because I have to get up early for something the next day. Good luck getting your shuteye, and congratulations on your camp's placement!

[pink]

Same with me; I sleep better there than anywhere. And go to bed earlier. Exhaustion definitely has something to do with it, especially after spending 3 or 4 days building camp.

[pretty_monster]

i find that i acclimate to the noise and it's when things go dead quiet that i wake up because it means something's wrong. then whoever tripped over the DJs power cable plugs it back in, everyone cheers, and i go back to sleep.

i still bring earplugs and a sleep mask but i've never actually used them. as pink said, you're usually dead fucking tired by the time you get to bed.

also: lots of people sleep in 2 shifts so getting a solid 8 hours at night isn't necessary. i do 5 or 6 at night, then have a nap in the afternoon.

[maladroit]

Most camps deep in the city will quiet down around 2am. Mutant vehicles usually turn down/off their systems when traveling through sleepy streets. But there's always something happening...sound camps and Esplanade will more than likely be loud and busy all night.

You'll be out until 3, 4, who knows. You'll stumble back to camp and collapse.

Around 8 or 9 am, you'll pop back into consciousness, not knowing where you are, or why your teeth are vibrating. It'll only get louder as the art car passes by, playing some horrible song that is somehow awesome when combined with the smell of bacon wafting in through your tent flap. Your neighbors are waking up in their tents, you'll probably hear rustling, a tent unzipping, and a tired "Woooo" from them followed by an answering "Hoooooo!" from the people on the mutant vehicle. If you're tired enough, you'll fall back asleep, at least until the sun starts to cook you.

[[jim]]

we were placed at 5:45 & D last year, and with the exception of DPW's party on Saturday night before gate opening... it was very very quiet.

Quieter than Hushville (we camped there two years ago)... center camp isn't a late-night destination, so fewer art cars driving through in the middle of the night.

However, one can't predict an art-car route-selector's creativity, so one can trundle by at any time, no matter where one's camped.

This is a big city... full of big-city noises.

[ACfromSAC]

Heat will likely be the bigger impediment to your ability to sleep. Ear plugs will be a huge help to block out noise if you’re a light sleeper… but there’s no plug to stop the morning heat if you don’t have a cool place to sleep once the sun rises.

[DoctorIknow]

I only sleep in my body, so it hardly matters for you what works for me, but:

For me, when I'm sleeping or falling into it, most of the sounds outside of my domicile at BM I process as I did street sounds coming from 2nd Avenue and St. Marks Place in New York City when my windows were open to all the cacaphony. People shouting/screaming/vomiting/crying, cars honking, fire engines, garbage trucks, firecrackers.... I heard them as ambiance; akin to sounds of waves breaking and water rolling up the shore over dried seashells. Or a farm with different animals making sounds all night.

The asshat spewing nonsense with a megaphone walking past my tent at 5am no different that roosters doing their thing.

In fact, I sometimes wake up when it is absolutely still, with any perceptible sound far off in the distance. It's very creepy and agitates me.

Most of the loud music either passing by or coming from a stationary source nearby is not my taste and somehow just becomes like thunder, wind and leaves rustling... However, sometimes, rarely, a piece of music will break thru my filter and I'll wake up and listen intensely, even rushing out to see the source and even jump on my bike to follow it.

I've even made tapes of ambient at BM, as have others, and I've used it to fall asleep a few times back in the default world.

[FIGJAM]

Untill one of Espresso Dudes fire poofers goes off within 100' of you and almost shakes your domicile into the dust!!!

[Elderberry]

Untill one of Espresso Dudes fire poofers goes off within 100' of you and almost shakes your domicile into the dust!!!

I like that sound. It's something that you only (or I only) hear at Burning Man.