Concert audiences can briefly experience noise above damaging thresholds

Evidence

However, in many musical situations, the noise level is greater than 90 dBA for short periods. For example, the audience at a concert may well experience brief peaks above this, especially at particular instants in works such as Elgar’s Dreams of Gerontius or Orff’s Carmina Burana. Also, in many practical industrial and social situations, the noise level may be louder than the second action level of 85 dBA, in Europe, for only part of the time. How can we relate intermittent periods of noise exposure to continuous noise exposure? For example, how damaging is a 125 250 500 1000 2000 4000 8000 Frequency (Hz) FIGURE 2. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 682

Categorization

• CANDY: Brief loud passages in classical works like Carmina Burana can push audience noise exposure over the 85-90 dBA action level — a fun fact for music lovers.
• XREF: connects to: Classical concerts expose audiences to brief noise peaks above workplace safety limits; Temperature refraction makes distant concertgoers hear more noise than nearby ones

Broader Connections

• Classical concerts expose audiences to brief noise peaks above workplace safety limits #corroborates (0.96)
• Temperature refraction makes distant concertgoers hear more noise than nearby ones #expands (0.72)