<HTML>In a message dated 12/31/00 10:59:43 AM Central Standard Time, maria.arnelof@spray.se writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Hi folx. I wonder if any of you tuners use any kind of ear plugs when tuning? </BLOCKQUOTE> I've long heard it recommended and have used them for some 15 years to aid in sleeping because like Terry, any sound will wake me easily.  One day when shopping at the drugstore for some new ones, I saw something new called "Hearoes" (a play on the word, "hero").  It had a little tubular case to keep them in so I decided to get some for my toolkit. Once I tried them while tuning or doing anything else with the piano that is loud such as vacuuming or driving tuning pins, I never wanted to work again without them.  The high tech type which are specially fitted and may filter selected frequencies are probably best but you have to go for an appointment, pay many times over what a disposable pair would cost and they may also be easily lost.  So, even if you decide to go that route, trying a disposable pair first makes sense to experience what the basic difference they can make will be and also to have a back up pair in case the custom made ones are lost. The fact is that the piano is very loud and it is generally accepted that you must make hard, loud test blows in order to tune with reliable stability.   The beats that occur when tuning are actually a pulse created by coincident partials being alternately in phase, then out of phase.  Ironically, the soft part of this pulse occurs when the two frequencies are in phase and the loud part when they are in opposition.  This is why bad unisons may sound louder and a generally out of tune piano sounds loud and offensive. This pulse can be heard even with ear plugs that severely reduce the noise level, particularly during a rough or pitch raise type tuning.  I use an SAT to help in my tuning most or the time but still do parts of it by ear and certainly do the unisons by ear.  When using the SAT, I simply push those plugs in all the way.  I can still hear the pitches and tune according to the display.  If it is a rough tuning, I still can hear the beating of the unisons well enough with the plugs fully inserted. When doing fine aural tuning, I pull them out just a bit, leaving them loosely in place which seems to permit the higher frequencies to be heard a little better while still shielding my ears from the full force of the sound.  I am also the lead vocalist and percussionist in a band and even though we usually play the unplugged, acoustic style, percussion instruments are loud and can easily cause hearing damage.  I have taken to using them while performing and particularly when performing with amplified instruments.  I also use them when attending a music function where the music is very loud whether it is live or recorded. On the subject of ear disease or infection, this is the most serious matter for any piano technician or musician.  Any abnormal condition should be seen by a doctor immediately.  There are cases of Sudden Hearing Loss where the victim loses all hearing within a matter of hours due to an infection of the inner ear.  I don't know what kinds of conditions may precipitate this kind of condition, however. Other disturbances may have their cause in the vertebrae of the neck where the nerves involved with hearing can become constricted through normal living patterns or activities.  It sounds like a craking and buzzing when loud sounds are heard or when speaking in a loud voice or while singing.   Chiropractic treatment can overcome this.  My chiropractor showed be how to bend and stretch each morning to relieve this constriction. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>