Artificial Noisemaker?
 

State Playoff VB. Fan brings a large travel water bottle and bangs it on the bleacher floor just as the opposing team serves. Very loud, and more annoying than the thunder sticks we stopped from being used in a previous match.

So, artificial noisemaker, or just annoying?

Take this for what it's worth, but here's what I was able to find:

In sports contexts that prohibit artificial noisemakers, the clearest and most widely accepted definition is:

Artificial Noisemaker — Any device or object that is designed, modified, or used to produce sound through mechanical, electronic, or other non-vocal means, for the purpose of creating crowd noise or distraction.

🔍 Expanded Explanation (for rule or policy use):

An artificial noisemaker typically includes, but is not limited to:

Mechanical devices: cowbells, air horns, whistles, clappers, vuvuzelas, thundersticks, drums, or any other hand-operated item designed to amplify or create noise.

Electronic or powered devices: speakers, megaphones, sirens, or electronic sound machines.

Improvised items used to create noise (e.g., banging on metal signs, bottles, or bleachers) if done intentionally to amplify sound beyond normal cheering.

🚫 What is not an artificial noisemaker:

Normal vocal cheering, chanting, or singing by fans.

Applause or noise made incidentally by stomping, clapping, or reacting naturally to play (unless specifically restricted by venue rules).

Artificial noisemaker. In basketball, there's a case play (or, there used to be) that specifies a cheerleader can use a megaphone to yell through, but can't use it to bang on the bleachers.

For me, it's a gots-to-go situation.

Would be the same as banging buckets in softball/baseball. Go back to sitting on them, but no more banging em.

Does USAV address artificial noisemakers?
I remember looking it up a couple of years ago and drawing a blank…

If I recall correctly, USAV does not address them, but tournaments are allowed to address them on a case-by-case basis.