That's very interesting Diane. I wonder where this study can be found? I remember when I was a student at university going into the student's union building during a rock concert, and I couldn't stand the noise. It was so deafening that I couldn't speak to the lady I was with without shouting and making my voice go hoarse, and we had to leave because it was painful. I did have a ringing in my ears and didn't go to any concerts like that again. I guess that the players in the band gradually go deaf, and to compensate they turn the volume higher and higher. As far as a symphony orchestra is concerned, in some pieces, the volume is loud during the fortissimo passes even at the back of the auditorium, so I wonder what it must be like for an orchestral player or the conductor in the middle of all of that. For a busy orchestra that plays almost every night, rehearses and goes on tour, I wonder what the effect is on the conductor and the players. I have never heard of a conductor going deaf (except Beethoven, but I think that was due to an illness) or members of an orchestra retiring due to hearing loss, but I wonder. As far as I know I haven't heard whether any of the famous pianists such as Vladimir Horowitz ever had tinnitus or other hearing problems. He played some thunderously loud pieces. I guess some people are more vulnerable to this than others. Robert Finley ----- Original Message ----- From: "DIANE HOFSTETTER" <dianepianotuner at msn.com> To: <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 1:53 PM Subject: RE: Hearing Loss and Piano Tuning > > > >>From: "Robert Finley" <rfinley at rcn.com> > >>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 t>hat 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. > > > > According to one study: > > 90% of musicians exhibit the initial stages of a hearing loss. > 52% of classical musicians have a permanent hearing loss > 30% of rock/pop musicians also possess an irreversible hearing loss > > > The official theory as to why classical musicians tend to suffer from > hearing loss more than rock musicians is amount of exposure; rock > musicians tend to listen on weekends and classical musicians practice, > teach and have rehersals throughout the week. ( The IPods will probably > change all that.) > > > > Savy orchestras are starting to wear earplugs! > > Diane > > > >
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