Dangerous Decibels in Lafayette!

Hi Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda! 

This past weekend, I got out and enjoyed the Lafayette Art and Wine Festival by volunteering and checking out the many wonderful vendors.  Great food and music!  While eating by one of the music pavillions, I couldn’t help but notice that the volume of the live music being played was quite loud!  I took out my trusty phone app and measured 81 decibels where I was sitting.  While loud, that is a safe listening level.  I was measuring at 100 feet away from the live music.  The closer you get, the louder it gets.  What kind of exposure are the people up front getting?  How about the people dancing right by the speakers?  What about the musicians playing?  They have large speakers on the stage pointed right at their ears.  These are turned up loud enough to hear over the noise of the crowd!  The closer one gets to the source of the sound, the louder and more damaging it gets.  I didn’t get up and disturb people enjoying themselves, but I would imagine that up front, people were likely experiecing sound at 94 decibels.  At that volume, hearing damage occurs after one hour.  Dancing by the speakers?  Maybe up to 100 decibels.  Damage occurs after 15 minutes.  Speakers pointed directly at the musicians?  103 decibels would cause damage after 7.5 minutes!  How important do you think undamaged hearing is to a musician?  Quite a lot I would think!  None that I saw and asked wore hearing protection.  You don’t have to plug your ears to enjoy music.  There is hearing protection that exists that does not muffle the quality.  It lowers the over all volume to allow for safe listening.  If you are a casual live music listener, there is universal fit musician’s hearing protection.  Play or attend regularly?  Custom fit is available.  Invest in your hearing.  Protect what is most precious to you, and enjoy life!

If you have any questions, call or email me.  I am always happy to answer questions!  As always, consultations are FREE!

Your friend in Audiology,

Dr. Breitling