Why Some Restaurants Feel Like They Just Keep Getting Louder

"Is there any escape from noise?" lamented the avant-garde music group Negativland in 1987, and their chaotic sound collages suggested that the answer was "no". That was almost 40 years ago, and the world has only gotten noisier. On a daily basis, we are bombarded with a nonstop flow of information the likes of which Ted Turner could have only dreamed.

And if you thought you could duck into a nice, cozy restaurant — — to take a breather? In the words of one of the artists said restaurant is probably blasting at full volume through the aux cord: "Good luck, babe!" There have been noisy restaurants for as long as there have been restaurants, but it sure seems like the problem is worse than ever ( ). Why is it that every time you go to a local eatery, it only gets louder and louder? The answer: Something called the Lombard effect, which holds that noise begets noise, as well as a legitimate reason to hate those stupid exposed brick walls. Noise is a compounding problem The Lombard effect was discovered by Etienne Lombard, a French otolaryngologist (or an ear-nose-and-throat doctor), in 1911.



In brief, it refers to the fact that when there's even a little background noise, animals have a tendency to speak louder (the effect has been studied in humans, birds, and monkeys). This means that as soon as an element of background noise is introduced in a restaurant — music, for instance — people are going to start talking louder to make sure they're heard, even if the music isn't nearly loud enough to drown them out. This, in turn, contributes to the ambient noise of the restaurant, prompting diners to talk even louder.

You see the problem. Another issue is restaurant interiors. The velvet-lined booths and linen tablecloths of your average steakhouse help dampen noise, if only marginally — the soft surfaces absorb the sound waves.

But if you were to picture a modern restaurant in your head, you won't find many booths and tablecloths. Instead, you'll find unadorned tables, wooden chairs and/or benches, high ceilings, and — of course — the omnipresent bare brick walls, straight out of Williamsburg in 2011 ( , oddly enough). That's how a restaurant goes from zero to high school cafeteria in no time flat.

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