Hearing Protectors

[Ron Nossaman]

If it had been old Hamiltons, the noise would have driven the ceilings
level, at  around 15 feet. Why isn't anyone concerned about the students
spending hours each day in milk curdling noise levels? Aren't they
ultimately paying the bills? Perhaps it's time for an electronic practicing
device in the form of a glove-like Waldo to bash the practice room
instruments via the internet. I know this doesn't help the tuner, but you
probably have as good as you'll get short of hiring someone else to go deaf
for you.

Ron 


>Thanks to all who responded to my post.  I am disappointed to find no
>protectors attenuating much over 30db.  I don't sit on jet engines, but
>tune C-5s and P22s in seventy 9'x 6' practice rooms with brick walls
>tile floors and twelve foot angled ceilings.  I wear a 24db headset plus
>29db foam together which doesn't equal 53db attenuation.   I also added
>a piece of backrail cloth to the inside of the headset and bought an
>RCT.  With this, the highest treble tones are mere taps but the bass
>tones are loud as ever.  It is my understanding that treble hearing loss
>is actually caused from loud bass tones.  My concern--Even though I am
>well within OSHA limits is that pounding the same frequencies over and
>over again is more wearing than a steady less shocking white noise? 
>24db protectors seem to work fine for my riding mower but after three of
>these practice pianos, I feel alittle deaf. I've tried the musicians
>type from Westone lab, but this didn't seem to attenuate enough either.
>Also tuning bass unisons with an ETD doesn't do very well, not that
>anyone can hear in those rooms anyway. Ideas anyone?
>
>-Mike Jorgensen RPT
>
>
 Ron