Sound leve in classical music

[SteveC]

Very interesting. It's a long time since I did any hearing and noise exposure work, but I wondered whether they had published or done any further work? For instance, did they have any dosimeter studies of the equivalent 8-hour exposure? A Canadian study in an orchestra pit found that exposures stayed below a safe limit of 87dB(A) 8hr-LEQ, IIRC. Peak measurements are interesting but not necessarily a good guide to hearing damage unless very high impulses.

 

[pianoman]

Interesting info. Its a shame that it seems to take insurance companies to get involved before people might consider doing anything to help.
As a pianist I have little experience of playing in orchestras, but when I practised piano at music college in the tiny little practice rooms, I did notice that those rooms left more of a ringing in the ears after a long practice session than larger rooms. And also that the rooms which had been treated for noise reduction were easier on the ears. It would be interesting to know if there was any acoustic treatment in orchestra pits. The amount of sound coming out towards the audience is one factor (i.e., how much sound is reflected towards the audience). But the amount of sound bouncing around in an orchestra pit that only reaches the ears of the players must be quite substantial. If this was damped by acoustic treatment it might reduce the sound levels in the pit without affecting the volume the audience heard.