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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks a lot for your comments Andrew. I will
defintely look into getting ear plugs. Not only do I want to prevent any damage
to my ears as a result of tuning pianos, but I don't want my hearing to be
degraded as a musician either since I play piano recitals and attend lots
of concerts. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robert Finley</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=anrebe@sbcglobal.net href="mailto:anrebe@sbcglobal.net">Andrew and
Rebeca Anderson</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, May 06, 2006 11:07
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Hearing Loss and Piano
Tuning</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>Robert,<BR>The plugs from "DIANE HOFSTETTER" <<A
href="mailto:dianepianotuner@msn.com">dianepianotuner@msn.com</A>> 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.<BR><BR>Andrew Anderson <BR><BR>At
08:54 AM 5/5/2006, you wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><FONT size=2>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.
<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>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? <BR></FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>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.
<BR></FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>Robert
Finley</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>