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- Title
ASSESSMENT OF AN ACOUSTIC SCREEN USED FOR SOUND EXPOSURE MANAGEMENT IN A PROFESSIONAL ORCHESTRA.
- Authors
O'Brien, Ian; Wood, Judy; Ackermann, Bronwen
- Abstract
It has been shown that orchestral musicians risk damage to their hearing from workplace noise exposure. Personal, administrative and engineered control measures strive to reduce exposure to the musicians while having minimal impact on the musicians' ability to produce music to the highest standard. Acoustic screens form part of a range of controls used to manage sound exposure, but their construction and placement needs to be carefully considered in the orchestral setting. Existing acoustic screens for use in orchestras have been shown to be ineffectual, to exacerbate risk of injury to some players through qualitative and quantitative changes to the acoustic environment or suffer other practical limitations such as obscuring sight lines. This study reports on an acoustic screen currently in use designed to protect musicians in front of high volume instruments while having minimal impact on players of these high volume instruments through the use of appropriately arranged diffusive and reflective materials. Sound level testing was carried out with the screens in various positions in the orchestra pit with both pink noise and high level instruments used as a sound source. Additionally sound levels were monitored during orchestral performances to assess the impact of the screens on actual exposure levels. Results indicate the screens effectively reduce exposure to those in front of high-level instruments while having a negligible impact on those producing these high sound levels.
- Subjects
NOISE (Work environment); AERODYNAMIC noise; ORCHESTRAL musicians; ORCHESTRA; NONLINEAR acoustics
- Publication
Acoustics Australia, 2013, Vol 41, Issue 2, p146
- ISSN
0814-6039
- Publication type
Article