"pounding" and ear-plugs

[Susan Kline]

>  This temporary condition makes it harder to hear soft
>notes for the next hour or so.
>
>I really should investigate professional ear-plugs.  But, just like my
>current desire to avoid ETDs until they are much less cumbersome, I'm
>holding out until someone can assure me that the plugs won't interfere with
>my ability to hear ALL of the partials, but without the impact on the ears.
>
>Cheers,
>Brian Henselman

Hi, Brian

I don't think you should hold out. If you're getting rattles and reduced 
hearing, and have to tune bright pianos in dinky little practice rooms, 
damage is getting done. I would say that continuing to tune under these 
conditions _will_ interfere with your ability to hear ALL of the partials, 
_permanently_.

So, why don't you go to an audiologist, have them test to see how your 
hearing is doing, they'll probably inspect for other conditions, and then 
have them take the molds for the musician's plugs.

If you get them, I think you'll find that you can tune the Hamiltons just 
fine with them in ... then if you're worried about the upper partials, take 
them out, play the newly-tuned piano softly to test it, and to reassure 
yourself that your tuning with the plugs works okay. They take an even 15 
db off the sounds, from the bottom to the tippy tippy top. It's quite 
remarkable, really, how well they work.

Susan