Decibel levels in museums

Suzanne Hargrove <shargrove [at] toledomuseum__org> writes

>Does anyone know of a conservation source for establishing
>decibel/vibration limits for music?  I have often thought, and been
>asked about loud music causing damage to art where music is
>performed at special events.

Several years ago, when I was at English Heritage, I asked a similar
question about vibration caused by dancing (Conservation DistList
Instance: 15:6 Tuesday, June 26, 2001 and Conservation DistList
Instance: 15:15 Wednesday, August 8, 2001).

The thing to bear in mind is that ears are very sensitive, so even a
loud sound corresponds to a very small change in air pressure.
Vibration transmitted through the fabric of the building may be more
significant than the direct effects of sound pressure.  As Ian Gibb
points out (Conservation DistList Instance: 23:33 Wednesday, March
3, 2010), the effects of sound and vibration may be magnified by
resonance--this may be significant for glass window panes, display
cases and for easel paintings.  The resonant frequency of an object
depends on its dimensions and its stiffness, so for a small glass
window pane it will be high, whereas for a large, loosely-stretched
canvas it will be low. The effects of sound and vibration on easel
paintings will be reduced by glazing and backboarding, which is
another good reason for taking these measures.

Dr Barry Knight
Head of Conservation Research
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
+44 20 7412 7229
Fax: +44 20 7412 7658


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 23:34
                 Distributed: Thursday, March 11, 2010
                       Message Id: cdl-23-34-005
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