Hearing Loss and Piano Tuning

[J. R. White]

Live music doesn’t produce nearly the “acoustic thump” that speakers do.

J R W

 

jrwhiteltd at msn.com

(253) 922-2372

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From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Robert Finley
Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 6:54 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Hearing Loss and Piano Tuning

 

I have been reading the interesting article about tinnitus and hearing loss
in the Piano Technician's Journal. This is something that concerns me since
I am just starting out as a piano technician, and I am also a classical
musician (concert pianist) who gives frequent recitals and plays in
competitions. 

 

I have been wondering whether musicians could also suffer hearing loss and
what the difference is between tuning a piano (where the notes are played
loudly to set the strings) and playing  music that has loud passages in it
such as a Liszt's Transcendental Etude 'Mazeppa" or Rachmaninoff's Prelude
in G minor Opus 23  and practising pieces like that for several hours a day.
In a large symphony orchestra for example, the sound level must be quite
intense at times (such as the finale of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony),
although there are large dynamic variations from pianissimo to fortissimo
depending on the piece being played, and the sound level would not be not
constantly very loud. Would the conductor and orchestral players ever have
problems with tinnitus and hearing loss? 

 

Do the ear plugs that piano technicians use make it more difficult to hear
the beats, or do they make it easier? I guess they attenuate the sound level
of the notes and the beats as well, but maybe the attenuation of the lower
frequencies is less so the beats can still be heard. Where can one get
suitable ear plugs for piano tuning use? Thank you for your comments. 

 

Robert Finley

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