Sound exposure of musicians in a pit orchestra

Musicians of orchestra are exposed to high sound levels, that depend on the specific location and instrumental group within the orchestra. Noise induced hearing loss strongly relates to the average daily dose influenced by different circumstances. For one year the sound level distribution for all representative members of a professional pit orchestra have been determined by measurements during most activities. Long term hearing effects of the derived daily doses are expected to be limited, and only for certain groups in the orchestra. Besides hearing loss, annoyance and functional limitations due to high sound exposure for certain orchestra members caused by instruments of colleagues is an important practical issue. Solving the latter problem will also reduce the risk for hearing loss to an acceptable level.