Health Information for Musicians

• The Effects of Loud Noise on Musicians - New Orleans Musicians' Clinic & Assistance Foundation

• Protecting Your Hearing Health: Student Information Sheet on Noise-Induced Hearing Loss - NASM/PAMA

• Protect Your Hearing Every Day: Information and Recommendations for Student Musicians - NASM/PAMA

• Occupational Noise Exposure - U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

How Loud Is Too Loud?

The amplitude (or volume) of a sound is measured in decibels (dB). As decibels increase, so does the risk of hearing damage. For every 3dB over 85dB, safe exposure time is reduced by half:

80 dB = 8 hours per day before hearing damage

83 dB = 4 hours per day

86 dB = 2 hours per day

89 dB = 1 hour per day

92 dB = 15 min. per day

101 dB = 4 min. per day

107 dB = 1 min. per day

• PAINFUL & DANGEROUS (use hearing protection or avoid): 130-140 dB

  • • Threshold of pain (140 dB)

    • Custom car stereos at full volume (140 dB)

    • Fireworks (140-150dB)

    • Gunshots (140-150 dB)

    • Jackhammers (130 dB)

    • Ambulances (130 dB)

• UNCOMFORTABLE (dangerous over 30 seconds): 120-129 dB

SOUND OVER 120 dB FOR ANY PERIOD OF TIME CAN CAUSE PERMANENT HEARING LOSS/IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE TO THE COCHLEA

• • • Loudest possible sound (190 dB)

    • Eardrum bursts (160 dB)

    • Chest begins to vibrate (150 dB)

    • Rock Concert (140-150dB)

    • Jet planes (during take off) (140 dB)

    • Full Symphony Orchestras (at loudest sections of standard rep) (120-137 dB)

    • Amplifier (rock) (@4-6 ft.) (120 dB)

    • High-hat cymbal strike (120 dB)

    • Nightclub with music / Loud bar (110 dB)

• VERY LOUD (dangerous over 30 minutes): 80-119 dB

  • • Smartphones and .mp3 players at full volume (110-115 dB)*

Note: Earbuds can produce sound up to 9 dB louder than on- or over-the-ear headphones at the same volume setting on smartphones and .mp3 players. You should NEVER listen to your smartphone with headphones with the volume set beyond 75% of the default maximum level.

You can limit the volume level on your smartphone:

iPhone

Android

• • • Marching Band (115 dB) - permanent hearing damage possible in 30 sec. with no earplugs

    • Drum Line (110 dB) - permanent hearing damage possible in less than 30 sec. with no earplugs

    • Concerts (of any genre) (110 dB)

    • Sporting events (110 dB)

    • Tympani and bass drum (peak) (106 dB)

    • Orchestra Pit (100 dB)

    • Oboe (peak) (95-112 dB)

    • Motorcycle (95-110 dB)

    • Concert Band (average volume) (93 dB)

    • Flute (peak) (92-103 dB)

    • Piccolo (peak) (90-106 dB)

    • (French) Horn (peak) (90-106 dB)

    • Lawnmowers and power tools (90 dB)

    • Hair dryers (90 dB)

    • Trombone (peak) 85-114 dB)

    • Cello (peak) (85-111 dB)

    • Clarinet (peak) (85-114 dB)

    • Piano Fortissimo (84-103 dB)

    • Violin (peak) (82-92 dB)

SOUND OVER 85 dB FOR EXTENDED PERIODS CAN CAUSE PERMANENT HEARING LOSS

• Alarm clocks (80 dB)

• Freight Train (@ 110 ft. away) (80 dB)

• Chamber music in small auditorium (75-85 dB)

• LOUD: 70-79 dB

  • • Traffic (70 dB)

    • Noisy restaurant (70 dB)

    • Vacuums (70 dB)

    • Fortissimo singer (@ 3 ft.) (70 dB)

• MODERATE: 50-69 dB

  • • Piano practice (60-70 dB)

    • Normal conversation (60 dB)

    • Dishwasher (60 dB)

    • Moderate rainfall (50 dB)

• SOFT: 30-49 dB

  • • Quiet Library (40 dB)

    • Soft Whisper (@ 5 ft. away) (30 dB)

• FAINT: 1-29 dB

  • • Leaves rustling (20 dB)

• SILENT (Threshold of Hearing): 0 dB

• Protecting Your Neuromusculoskeletal Health - NASM/PAMA

• Protecting Your Neuromusculoskeletal and Vocal Health Every Day - NASM/PAMA

• Repetitive Stress and Strain Injuries: Preventative Exercises for the Musician - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America

• Protecting Your Vocal Health - NASM/PAMA

• Taking Care of Your Voice - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Teachers: Taking Care of Your Voice - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• Vocal Disorders - American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

• Medications and Adverse Vocal Effects - Nemr, Kátia, et al. 2018. Journal of Voice, 32(4), 515.e29-39.

• Check your medications: do they affect your voice? - The National Center for Voice and Speech (NCSV)

Environmental Noise Can Lead to Vocal Strain and Damage

Be aware of the volume of your surroundings - the louder a space is, the louder you must speak (or yell) to be heard, which could lead to vocal damage. The scale below describes the ease with which a conversation at arm's length can occur:

• 0-60 dB: Easily hold a conversation without raising voice

• 25-80 dB: Conversation possible, but you may need to raise your voice to be heard

• 50-95 dB: Conversation difficult, and you may need to shout to be heard

• 75-95 dB: Conversation very difficult and may become painful after a short time

• 100+ dB: Conversation nearly impossible

• Infection Control and Musical Instruments - Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals (Infections Disease Epidemiology Section)

• Instrument Cleaning Guidelines and information - National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM)

• Instrument Hygiene - University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV)

• Music Perfomance Anxiety in Classical Musicans - What We Know About What Works - Matei & Ginsborg, May 2017. BJPsych International, 14(2):33-35. (NIH)

• Overcoming Performance Anxiety among Music Undergraduates - Zakaria, Musib, & Shariff, 2012. Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences, 90(2013): 226-234.

• Smoking Cessation for Musicians - New Orleans Musicians' Clinic & Assistance Foundation

• Dental Health and Musicians - New Orleans Musicians' Clinic & Assistance Foundation

• Analysis of Wind Instruments on Orofacial Anatomy: A Review of Literature - Dixon and Chavez, 2019. Virginia Commonwealth University - VCU Scholars Compass. Poster.

• Binge Drinking and Musicians - New Orleans Musicians' Clinic & Assistance Foundation

• American Federation of Musicians

  • • Shreveport Chapter

    • New Orleans Chapter

• Artist Relief Fund

• Freelancers Relief Fund

• Healthcare.gov - Affordable Care Act Marketplace

• Health Insurance Navigation Tool (HINT) - Future of Music Coalition

• MusicCares - Recording Academy (Grammy)

• Music Health Alliance

• New Orleans Musicians' Clinic

• Sweet Relief Musicians Fund