Hi List: A while back I had Marshall Chasin who is a leading audiologist here in Canada do a presentation about piano tuning and hearing protection. It was very interesting to see what the results were. One of the demonstrations was a measurement of the db level in a C7 holding the meter at ear level in a piano tuners position at the piano playing at a forte blow. The results were stunning....way over 95db. So, think about subjecting yourself to years of piano tuning, tuning pure frequencies over a large frequencies range....there is going to be some damage to hearing. Marshall authored a book called "Hear The Music" Hearing Loss Prevention For Musicians. I own a copy of this book and found it to be very educational. I highly recommended to anyone and everyone involved in the music industry. I myself have been using ER-15 plugs for a number of years and I have no problem hearing what I need to hear. As a matter of fact using the plugs makes tuning much easier for me, allowing background noise to be filtered out. The ER-15/25 follows the natural hearing response curve that the open ear does. Therefore allowing you to hear accurately throughout the ear's frequencies range. I believe that musicians/piano tuners (tuning only) should only be using this type of plug. -simone || ||| || ||| || ||| || ||| || ||| SIMONE TUCCI Piano Tuner-Technician Registered Craftsman Member of O.G.P.T. Inc & C.A.P.T./A.C.A.P PTG Associate Member 416.993.6332 tuccisimone at rogers.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Finley" <rfinley at rcn.com> To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 4:00 PM Subject: Re: Hearing Loss and Piano Tuning > 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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