Sound Level of Drumming

8/8/2019 Sound Level of Drumming

1/6percussive notes 70 AuGust 2007

a ayi o sou-lvexou o dum Bug

co puioitBy DouG presley, phD

theNationalInstituteforOccupationalSafetyandHealth(NIOSH)hasrecommendedstandardsfor

sound-levelexposureinvariousworkenvironments.Thesestandardshavebeenderivedfromdecadesofresearchdealing

withworkersexposuretowork-relatedsound-levelenvironments.Thisresearchhasbeenfocusedonthelong-termeffectsofintensesoundonhearingsensitivity,andservestoprotectworkersfromhazardoussound-levelexposurewhileperformingtheirjob-relatedactivities. Twokeyfactorsindeterminingwhetheraworkenvironmentcontainshazardoussoundlevelsaretheaveragesoundlevel(i.e.,decibels)andthedurationofexposure(e.g.,an8-hourworkday).Together,thesefactorsarecalculatedtoproduceaDosePercentage(i.e.,thedailyrecommended

noisedoseforaperson).Aworkenvironmentinwhichthedosepercentageexceeds100%isconsideredtoplacetheworkeratriskfornoise-inducedhearingloss.Table1providesdosepercentagecalculationswithvariousdurationsanddecibel(dB)measurements.

Deciels

(dbA)

8

hour

4

hour

2

hour

1

hour

30

Miue

15

Miue

8

Miue

4

Miue

85 dBA 100% 50% 25% 12.5% 6.25% 3.13% 1.46% 0.78%

88 dBA 200% 100% 50% 25% 12.5% 6.25% 3.13% 1.46%

91 dBA 400% 200% 100% 50% 25% 12.5% 6.25% 3.13%

94 dBA 800% 400% 200% 100% 50% 25% 12.5% 6.25%

97 dBA 1600% 800% 400% 200% 100% 50% 25% 12.5%

100 dBA 3200% 1600% 800% 400% 200% 100% 50% 25%

103 dBA 6400% 3200% 1600% 800% 400% 200% 100% 50%

106 dBA 12800% 6400% 3200% 1600% 800% 400% 200% 100%

Duraion of Exposure

AsreportedinTable1,forevery3dBAincreaseinsoundlevel,thedurationofexposureisreducedbyonehalf.Sound-levelexposureisanaverageofsoundintensity(e.g.,dBA)acrossaperiodoftime.Table2providesasampleofsoundlevels

fromvarioussources,bothmusicalandnon-musical.Table 2 identies sound sources from

varioussources.Sixtypercentofthemusical sound sources identied in Table2generatesoundlevelsof90dBAandabove.Whencomparedtotheallowabledurations identied in Table 1, these soundlevelsshouldnotbeexperiencedformorethanabouttwohours(91dBA),andforaslittleasfourminutesat106dBA.Typicalrehearsalsand/orpracticessessionswiththeseinstrumentsalmostalwaysexceedfourminutesandcanregularlyexceedtwo

hours. Insituationswhereexcessivesound-levelexposureisexperiencedwithoutobviousdamagetothehearingorgan(e.g.,atearingoftheeardrumoraPermanentThresholdShift[PTS]),effectsfromtheexposuremaysubsideduringaperiodofeffective

tab 1

A mb ab 100% daga a 100% d ad amb a fa bw 100% daga ag ga a100%.

quiet.IncaseswherethereisnoPTS,aTemporaryThresholdShift(TTS)maybepresent;inthiscasetheeffectsmaysubsideoveraperiodoftime.Clark(1992)reportedthatattendeesatarockmusicconcertexperienceaTTSthattypicallysubsidesa

fewhourstoafewdaysaftertheexposure.Therefore,recoveryofthehearingorganmaytakeaslongasafewdaysduringnormalconditions,orconditionswithinthesound-levelexposureparametersprovidedabove. Inallcases,however,anyevidenceofdegenerativehearinglossornoise-inducedhearingloss(NIHL)canonlybedeterminedaudiometrically.Thedurationsneededforeffectivequietfollowinganynumberofexcessivesound-levelexposuresisidiosyncraticandonlydetectablethroughaudiometerictesting.Additionalresearch

ontherecoverytimeamongpercussionistsfollowingperformancesand/orrehearsalswouldbeveryhelpful. Anemergingconcernforhealth-relatedissuesattributedtopercussionperformanceisevidencedthroughtheincreaseofpublishedarticlesandstudieson musicians health and, specically,soundexposuresandhearingconservation.Forexample,in2004,Juman,Karmody,andSimeon,onegroupstudiedthehearingacuityandsound-levelexposureofsteeldrumbandmembers.Duringrehearsaldurationsof68hours,thesubjectssound-

levelexposurerangedfrom97.9dBAto110.7dBA.TheNationalInstituteofOccupationalSafetyandHealth(NIOSH)recommendsthatexposuretosoundlevelsof97.9dBAshouldnotexceed30minutesandexposureto110.7dBAshouldnotexceed90seconds(seeTable1).Jumanet.al.2004alsoreportedthatsubjectshearingsensitivity was signicantly less than a peergroupofnon-musicians. Anothergroup(Cunningham,Workman,Curk,Hoffman,andPride,2005)studiedthehearingsensitivityofpercussionists



Source Sound Level

(dbA)

Guo 140

Ambuae sire 120

car hor 115

Snare Drm 115

Diee truk 100

Piccolo Fle 100

Wind Ensemle 98

Jazz trio 97

Alo Saxophone 96

brass Qine 96

barione Voice 95

Clarine 93

Soprano Voice 91

Insrmenal Ensemle 91

Piano & ta 91

lawmower 90

Horn 90

bassoon 87

Woodwind trio 86

Choral Ensemle 84

Cello 82

ciy traf 80

Piano 80

Violin 79

Srin bass 75

Acosic giar 72

vauum ceaer 70

norma coeraio 60

tab 2

im old df m d.

acrosstwoyearsduringthe2003and2004PercussiveArtsSocietyInternationalConventions.Thisgroupreportedthatpercussionistshearingsensitivitywasworsethanthatofpeersofthesameagewithoutsimilarexposuretopercussion-relatedsounds.Additionally,audiogramsof25%ofsubjectsshowedcharacteristicsofnoise-inducedhearingloss(NIHL). Together,thesetwostudies(Cunningham,Workman,Curk,Hoffman,andPride,andJuman,Karmody,andSimeon)presentdataindicatingthat

percussionistsareexposedtosoundlevelsthatexceedrecommendedstandards,aswellassoundlevelsthatmaydamagehearingsensitivity.Inlightofthesendings, it would be appropriate to

determineifthesound-levelexposurewithinotherpercussionenvironmentsisexcessive.Thisraisesthequestion,ifanenvironmentisfoundtoyieldexcessivesoundlevels,whatcanbedonetoprotectthehearingsensitivityofthosepercussionists? Thecurrentstudyanalyzedthesound-levelexposuresofdrumandbuglecorpspercussionistsduringafull-dayrehearsalof12:15(hr:min).ParticipantsweremembersofaDivisionIdrumandbuglecorps.DatawerecollectedduringtheSpringtrainingperiodinJuneof2004.Theentirerehearsal

daytookplaceoutdoorsonvariousathletic elds. Subjects (N=15)performedonbatterypercussion(n=8)andfrontensemblepercussion(n=7)instruments.Apersonaldosimeterwasattachedtoanathleticvisorthatwaswornbyeachsubjectthroughouttherehearsalday.Thedosimetercollectedandcalculatedsound-leveldatarelativetoNIOSHstandardsfora12-hourworkday(i.e.,anaveragesoundlevelof83dBAfora12-hourduration,NIOSH,1998).Subjectsalsocompletedamusic-experiencequestionnaire. Snaredrumsubjects(n=4)reported

anaverageofthreeyearsexperienceindrumandbuglecorpsactivities;tenordrumsubjects(n=2)1.5years,bassdrumsubjects(n=2)2.5years,vibraphonesubjects(n=3)1.67years,auxiliarypercussionsubjects(n=2)2.5years,andthemarimbasubjectreportedthreeyearsofdrumcorpsexperience.Additionally,60%ofallpercussionsubjectsparticipatedinhighschoolindoor/winterdrumline,47%incollegeindoor/winterdrumline,73%inhighschoolpercussionensemble(non-marching),and67%incollegepercussionensemble(non-marching).Acrossall

subjects,87%reportedparticipationinscholastic-levelmarchingbandandindoordrumlineand/orpercussionensemble(non-marching)inadditiontoparticipatingindrumandbuglecorps.Nosubjectreportedthatheorsheusedhearingprotectionandfoursubjectsreportedknownhearingproblems(e.g.,ringingintheear,worsehearinginoneearthantheother,etc.).

These ndings indicate a substantialamountoftimeofparticipationinpercussion-onlyensembles(scholastic-



level)inadditiontothedrumandbuglecorpsactivity.Itshouldalsobenotedthatthescholastic-levelpercussiongroupstypicallyusethesameinstrumentationasthatfoundinadrumandbuglecorps

(e.g., free-oating marching snare drum,marchingbassdrum,marchingtenors,etc.).Therefore,itispossiblethatthesoundlevelsfoundinthissampleofdrumandbuglecorpssubjectsaresimilartothosefoundinscholastic-levelpercussiongroups. DatapresentedinTable3identifytheinstrument,averagesoundlevel(Leq),durationofexposure,anddosepercentagesforallsubjects.TheLeqistheoverallaverageofthemeasuredsoundlevels,whichincludesbreaks(lunch,dinner,etc.).ThecolumnlabledDurationofExposureTimeincludesthetotalnumber

ofminutesfortherehearsaldayof12:15(hr:min),includingrelativelyshortandextendedbreaks(i.e.,lunchanddinner).Dosepercentagesexceeding100%indicatehazardoussound-levelexposuresthatmayresultinlong-termdamagetothehearingorgan.Forreferencepurposes,theNIOSHstandardsfora12-hourdayarepresentedinthe rst line of Table 3. AsreportedinTable3,allsubjectsexceededthe12-hourLeqof83.0dBA.Asaresult,allsubjectsexceededadoseof100%,andallbutonesubjectexperiencedgreater

Insrmen Leq (Averae Sond

Level)

Draion of Exposre

time

Dose Percenae

NIOSH Standards 83.0 dBA 720 minutes 100.00%

sare Drum 1 102.3 dBA 735 8822.29%

sare Drum 2 102.6 dBA 735 9455.49%

sare Drum 3 103.1 dBA 634 9154.99%

sare Drum 4 100.2 dBA 735 5319.92%

teor Drum 1 99.4 dBA 735 4422.12%

teor Drum 2 98.9 dBA 735 3939.66%Ba Drum 1 99.8 dBA 735 4850.29%

Ba Drum 2 94.4 dBA 735 1392.88%

Aux. peruio 1 93.8 dBA 735 1212.57%

Aux. peruio 2 93.8 dBA 735 1212.57%

vibraoe 1 94.0 dBA 735 1269.92%

vibraoe 2 96.9 dBA 735 2481.83%

vibraoe 3 92.5 dBA 735 897.97%

Marimba 93.6 dBA 735 1157.82%

timai 93.4 dBA 735 1105.53%

tab 3

thantentimestheallowablesound-levelexposurefora12-hourday.Duetoalowbattery,thedosimeterusedforSnareDrum3turnedoffbeforetheconclusionoftherehearsalday.ExposuretothelowestL eq

(92.5dBA)providedinTable3shouldnothaveexceededadurationof120minutes,andexposuretothegreatestLeq(103.1dBA)shouldnothaveexceededeightminutes(seeTable1).However,inthisstudythese

averageswereexperiencedfor735minutes,which is a signicantly greater amount oftimethanrecommendedbyNIOSH. Kryter,Ward,Miller,andEldredge(1966)determinedadamage-riskcriteriarelativetotheamountofpeaksound-level(i.e.,soundlevelsthatexceed140dBA)occurrencesduringan8-hourworkday.Kryter,etal.determinedthatoveran8-hour

period,theoccurrenceofpeaksound-levelsmaynotexceed100,orexceed4.8%oftheexposuretime.Inthisstudy,snaredrumsubjectsexperiencedpeaksoundlevels31%,45%,38%,and39%oftherehearsaltime.Exceptforonebassdrumsubject(whowaspositionednexttothesnaredrums),nootherpercussionistexceeded13%,withmostfallingbelow10%.Althoughthelesservaluesexceedthedamage-riskcriteria,itwasclearthatthesnaredrumsubjectshadexcessiveexposure. Theexcessiveexposurerelativetothe



damage-riskcriteriaamongsnaredrumsubjectsmaybeattributedtoacombinationof the Kevlar-brand bers used in the snaredrum heads and the free-oating snaredrumshelldesign.Thesetwofactorsallow

theperformertostriketheinstrumentwithgreaterforce,thusincreasingthesound-pressurelevel.Thesurfacetensiononthesnaredrumheadmayhavecontributedtogreatersound-levelproductionwhencomparedtotheotherpercussioninstruments.

Twenty-ve percent ofthemeasureddaycontainedfull-corpsrehearsals(i.e.,brassandpercussion),anddinnerandlunchbreakscomprised13%oftheday.Therefore,62%ofthe

percussionistsrehearsalday(7hrs.40mins.)involvedpercussion-onlyrehearsalactivities.Althoughthepresenceofbrassinstrumentsduringthefull-corpsrehearsalscontributedtotheLeq,morethan50%ofthesound-levelexposurecanbeattributedtopercussioninstrumentsalone. Additionaldataanalysiswaspursuedtoexaminetheeffectsofhearingprotectiondevices(HPD)onthereductionofsoundlevelsacrossallpercussionsubjects.TwohypotheticalHPDuseswereconstructedforeachsubject:(a)intermittentuseof

HPD(i.e.,76%oftherehearsalday,or559minutes),and(b)extendeduseofHPD(87%oftherehearsalday,or643minutes).Intermittentuseincludessound-levelexposuresduringsmallgroup(e.g.,snaredrumsonly,bassdrumsonly,etc.),andfullcorpsrehearsalactivitiesonly.Extendeduseincludedallrehearsalactivities(i.e.,smallgroup,largegroup,andfullcorps).BothhypotheticalparametersassumedremovalofHPDduringextendedbreaks(i.e.,lunchanddinner). ThereductioneffectswerebasedontheuseofanHPDwithanoise-reductionrating

(NRR)of30(i.e.,areductioneffectof30dBofsoundlevelswhenproperlyinserted).TheseHPDsarecommerciallyavailableasmusiciansearplugsandtypicallycostaround$120.00.Table4providesdataonthepossiblereductioneffectsofHPDswithin

both Intermittent Use and Extended Useparameters. AsreportedinTable4allsubjectsLeqwouldfallwithinNIOSHstandards(i.e.,Leqof83dBAfora12-hourday)withtheextendeduseofanHPDwithaNRR-30.Althoughthelikelihoodthatpercussionists

percussionists hearing sensitivity was worse

than that of eers of the same age without

similar exosure to ercussion-related sounds.

Sjec Leq w/Inermien use of

NRR-30

Leq w/Exended use of

NRR-30

sare Drum 1 91.8 dBA 79.9 dBA




teor Drum 1 89.2 dBA 70.9 dBA

teor Drum 2 88.4 dBA 70.5 dBA

Ba Drum 1 88.1 dBA 77.0 dBA

Ba Drum 2 83.2 dBA 74.1 dBA

Aux. peruio 1 86.2 dBA 68.1 dBA

Aux. peruio 2 86.0 dBA 68.0 dBA

vibraoe 1 87.7 dBA 67.4 dBA



Marimba 85.6 dBA 68.0 dBA

timai 85.7 dBA 71.1 dBA

tab 4

wouldwearanHPDforthisamountoftimemaybequestioned,theprotectionprovided

by the use of an HPD would signicantlyreducetheeffectsofthistypeofexposure.Intermittentusedidnotindicatethatany

ofthesubjectsLeqswouldfallwithinrecommendedguidelines;however,therewasadrasticreductioninLeqsacrossallsubjectswhencomparedtoLeqsprovidedin Table 3. Under the conditions of thisstudytheuseofanHPDwithaNRR-30woulddiminishtheriskoflong-termeffects

resultingfromtheobservedsound-levelexposures. Inconclusion,thisstudyfoundthatpercussionistsexperiencedsoundlevels(Leq)anddosepercentagesthatexceededrecommendedstandardsfora12-hourday.ThesnaredrumsubjectsexperiencedgreaterLeqs(102.3dBA,102.6dBA,103.1dBA,and100.2dBA),whileVibraphone3experiencedtheleastLeq

(92.5dBA).

These12-hourLeqsincludedalunchanddinnerbreak,andseveralshortwaterbreaksthroughouttheday.Addtionally,

allpercussionistsinthisstudyexperienceddosepercentagesgreaterthan100%andallbutone(vibraphone3)experiencedgreaterthan10timestherecommendedlimit.Snaredrumsubjectsexperiencedthegreatest

dosepercentages(i.e.,8822.29%,9455.49%,9154.99%,and5319.92%).Thesepercentagesarealmost100timesgreaterthantherecommendedlimit. BatterypercussionsubjectsexperiencedgreaterLeqsthanthefrontensembleasawhole.Thiscouldbeattributedtothe

designofthemarchingpercussioninstruments.Thismayalsobetheresultof the specic musicalpartsassignedtoeachpercussionist.Thebatterypercussionsectionmay

haveperformedmorenotesthanthefrontensemble. Subjectsalsoreportedparticipationintypicalseasonalpercussion-relatedensembles(i.e.,marchingband,indoor/Winterdrumline,percussionensemble,anddrumcorps)thatspanacalendaryear.Sincethepercussioninstrumentationfoundincorpsissimilartothatfoundinotherscholastic-levelpercussion-relatedensembles,thisindicatesthatthesound-levelexposuresofpercussionistsfoundinthisstudymaybeexperiencedthroughoutacalendaryear,andnotonlyduringthe



summermonthsofdrumcorps.Thislong-termexposureneedsfurtherresearch;however,itissafetosaythatpercussionistsengagedinpercussionensembleactivitiesthroughoutanentireyearneedtoseriously

considerusinghearingprotection. Theuseofhearingprotectiondevices(HPD)wereshowntoreducesound-levelexposure,andmaypossiblydosototheextentthatsubjectswouldfallwithinNIOSHstandards,therebydiminishingthepotentialforlong-termhearingdamage.ThecommercialavailabilityofsuchHPDscombinedwiththeprotectiontheyaffordpercussionistspresentsfeasibleandsufcient protection during percussion-relatedensembleperformances. Audiometrictestingwasnotadministeredtothesubjectsofthisstudy,

sothepresenceorabsenceofhearinglosswasanecdotal.Futuretestsshouldincludeaudiometrictestingbefore,during,andafterthesetypesofactivitiestodeterminetheimmediateeffectsofthesedegreesofsound-levelexposure.Casestudiesmayincludeapercussionistandthemeasurementofhisorherpercussion-relatedperformanceactivitiesthroughoutacalendaryear,combinedwithperiodicaudiometrictesting.Thecombinationofsound-levelmeasurementsandaudiometrictestingwithinthesamestudywouldprovidesignicant information as to the long-term

andshort-termeffectsofpercussionistssound-levelexposure.

references

Clark,W.W.(1992).Hearing:theeffectsofnoise.Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery,106,669.

Cunningham,D.,Workman,D.,Curk,A.,Hoff-man,J.,&Pride,J.(2005).Hearingloss:Newresearchonpercussionists.Percussive Notes,43:6,December2005,4447.

Juman,S.,Karmody,C.S.,&Simeon,D.(2004).Hearinglossinsteelbandmusicians.Otolaryn-gology Head and Neck Surgery,131,461465.

Kryter,K.D.,Ward,W.D.,Miller,J.D.&

Eldredge,D.H.(966).Hazardousexposuretointermittentandsteady-statenoise.Journal ofAcoustical Society of America,39,451464.

NationalInstituteforOccupationalSafetyandHealth(1998).Criteria for a recommended stan-dard: occupational exposure to noise.PublicationNo. HSM 73-11001.Cincinnati,Ohio.

Dr. Douglas L. PresleyisDirectorofBandsandInstrumentalMusicatLimestoneCol-legeinGaffney,SouthCarolina.Contacthimat:[email protected]. PN

PAS THANKS ITS

INDIVIDUAL FRIENDS

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Sound Level of Drumming

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