Vibration

A curator has contacted me with a question concerning possible
detrimental effects of musical instruments played in the galleries
of his museum. He has not noticed any problems with the collection
(which includes both oil on canvas and panel paintings, sculpture,
and works on paper), but is concerned to avoid any possible damage.
He says the instruments in question are

   "Not amplified. Various instruments from piano, to strings
    (cello, viola, violin, harp, etc), to horns and reeds of various
    sorts.  Generally no percussion or very modest (i.e., not rock
    n'roll drum sets).  The Museum's galleries are often used as a
    recital areas for small concerts of one to seven or eight
    instruments played either by faculty or graduate students in
    Music in front of an audience of twenty to forty people."

I am not aware of any research in this area. Does anyone else have
thoughts, suggestions, or observations on the subject?

Laura Downey


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 13:56
                  Distributed: Wednesday, May 10, 2000
                       Message Id: cdl-13-56-009
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