absolute pitch

[ed440 at mindspring.com]

There is a hearing distortion called diplacusis binauralis which can be caused by an ear infection.  The ears become "out of tune" with each other!  I contracted this condition through an ear infection a few years ago. At it's worst a tuning fork sounded about 50 cents higher in my left ear than in my right.  
But there's more fun to be had: additionally my hearing became "inharmonic."  The partials of a note did not resolve into a single sound.  Middle C sounded like a hum at C4, out of tune violin and clarinet at C5 and G5, and a bunch of little jingle bells above that.  Nothing sounded musically correct, but in a bizarre way tuning became easier because beats were more "exposed."  It gradually resolved over a few months.
Another technician who had this condition informs me that once it happens, it recurs easily and becomes more severe.
Lesson:  Talk to your doctor or clinic, let them know you need your hearing and make arrangements to get antibiotics if you develop an ear infection over a holiday weekend!!!
Ed Sutton

-----Original Message-----
>From: Mark Schecter <schecter at pacbell.net>
>Sent: Jan 27, 2007 4:29 PM
>To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
>Subject: Re: absolute pitch
>
>Hi, Gregor.
>
>I mentioned the cochlea shrinking because it happens to people in 
>general (though I don't know to what extent), but is not widely known 
>about. So it happens to tuners as well, but, like people in general, 
>most tuners don't have "perfect" pitch, so pitch recognition is not 
>tested, and changes are not noticed. I don't know whether there is a 
>direct relationship between the cochlea shrinking and the perceptual 
>acuity shrinking (sensorineural impairment). But since tuners don't use 
>an internal compass to measure pitch, cochlear shrinkage alone probably 
>wouldn't affect tuning much, if at all.
>
>-Mark Schecter
>
>Gregor _ wrote:
>> 
>> Is it not the other way round (not the cochlea shrinking but the 
>> perception)? Most older tuners have the tendency to tune too sharp in 
>> the trebble. But that could be so due to other reasons: getting older 
>> means not to hear the high treble so good. So you can´t hear the higher 
>> partials anymore.
>> 
>> Gregor
>> 
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