<html> <body> Robert, The plugs from "DIANE HOFSTETTER" <dianepianotuner@msn.com> actually make focusing in on the partials easier as they subdue a lot of the attack phase noise.  I take them with me when I go to services at some churches and concerts that I'm not sure of.  When your ears are your living you become sensitive to these things.  Some people are a little too proud of their sound reinforcement systems. Andrew Anderson   At 08:54 AM 5/5/2006, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">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</blockquote></body> </html>