Music and Hearing Loss
Like any other sound, music can cause hearing loss if it's loud enough
and exposure is long enough. A person can damage his hearing at a live
concert or by listening to recorded music. Here's a lot more information on
this important topic.
The latest hearing loss culprit is the iPod and similar devices. Here's
the recent coverage of iPods as a cause of hearing loss.
June 2000 - Those of you who have been
"encouraging" your kids to turn their music down to avoid
harming their hearing now have corroboration from the scientific
community. Here is their account of how loud music
causes hearing loss.
January 2002 -
The sound industry is starting to take a look at their contribution to
hearing loss and what liability they might have in cases of hearing
loss. Here's a report on what's happening in that
arena.
May
2003 - The music volume in clubs and concerts is a serious threat to
young peoples' hearing. Here's an article from England with shocking
statistics on the hearing loss threat to young people.
June 2004 - If you operate a jack hammer, you
might expect to be at risk for hearing loss. But have you ever
considered the hearing loss risks for music teachers?
August 2005 - The House
Ear Institute just announced a new program to make kids aware of the
dangers of their music listening habits. Here's the
notice.
January
2006 - Choosing the right headphones can save your
hearing!
March 2006 - ROCK
superstar Roger Daltrey has revealed years of rock music has taken its
toll on his ears.
March 2006 - Phil
Collins Discusses His Hearing Loss
April
2006 - Hearing
Protection for Musicians
April
2006 - Headphones
stir hearing-loss worries
April 2006 - Classical
Musicians May be More at Risk of Hearing Loss than Rock Musicians
April 2006 -
Rock and Roll Hard of Hearing Hall of Fame
May 2006 -
Using proper headphones can prevent hearing loss
May 2006 -
iPod Hearing Loss Protection for Boomers: Five
HearPod Solutions
June 2006 -
Now hear this: Ear `buds' are cool, but the price
may be too steep
September 2006 - Loud Music Takes Toll on Eric Clapton's
Hearing
October 2006 - Creative's New ZEN MP3 Players
Set Volume Limits and Provide Safety Guidelines from Experts
October 2006 - Researchers Recommend Safe Listening
Levels for iPod
November 2006 - Teens Now More Concerned About
Noise and Hearing Health
January 2007 - Noise-induced
hearing loss escalating in U.S.
February 2007 - UNT
takes proactive steps to protect musicians from hearing loss
June 2007 - Apple
invents iPod hearing protection technology
June 2007 - Musician Warns About Hearing Loss
July 2007 - Music lovers face hearing loss
timebomb, RNID warns
August 2007 - Purdue University Audiologist
Advocates Earplugs for Musicians
September 2007 - Musicians: Going Deaf for a Living
November 2007 - Audio gain in volume signals loss for
listeners
November 2007 - Germany to Limit Disco Volume
December 2007 - Law mandating noise limits meeting
resistance
December 2007 - Losing your hearing to rock and roll
December 2007 - Many Musicians Risk Hearing Loss
January 2008 - Musicians and the Prevention of Hearing
Loss: An Introduction
March 2008 - Old rockers pay the price for years of
noise
April 2008 - The quiet revolution: musicians' exposure to
noise
May 2008 - Loud pieces put orchestra musicians' hearing at
risk
May 2008 - Hearing Loss in Sound Technicians
May 2008 - Classical musicians at extreme risk for
hearing loss
June 2008 - The bands played on ... and slowly I went deaf
January 2009 - Come on, feel the noise - but risk
permanent hearing damage
January 2009 - Music teachers are ordered to wear
earmuffs by health and safety watchdog
April 2009 - Making Live Music Safe
June 2009 - Safe-Listening Myths for Personal Music
Players
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2006
What's interesting is that
your choice of headphones can actually help your hearing, as opposed to
damaging it. Consider some of the typical places people use headphones:
on a train or bus while commuting, walking through a city or college,
traveling in a car (hopefully not while driving), or traveling on an
airplane. Many of these places are loud environments, especially those
that involve trains, buses, and airplanes. People who use headphones in
these kinds of places tend to turn up the volume louder than they
normally would, to drown out the sounds around them. They're in even
more danger of losing or damaging their hearing. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March 2006
ROCK
superstar Roger Daltrey has revealed years of rock music has taken its
toll on his ears. The 62-year-old Who frontman's hearing has been worn
away by years of performing on stage. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
March
2006
According
to media reports, 55-year-old singer Phil Collins is gradually losing his
hearing and becoming increasingly lonely in his beautiful Swiss home near
Geneva. The problems are said to have begun in 2000 when Collins first
became aware of a loss of hearing in his right ear and took this as a sign
that he needed to change his attitude to life.
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April
2006
Musicians
need to hear well, and safely, when they play. Standard industrial-type
hearing protectors muffle sound and frequently provide too much
attenuation and occlusion to be acceptable for musicians. This article
describes the selection of high-fidelity earplugs for musicians. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April
2006
Maybe
your kids really can't hear you after all. More than half of high school
students surveyed reported at least one symptom of hearing loss associated
with the use of portable music players, like iPods and other MP3 players,
in a poll by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April
2006
People
who are less familiar with classical music may think of it as calming.
Richard H. Israel, an audiologist and a long-time music lover, had some
other thoughts. And that is why he is serving as consulting audiologist
for the National Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO). Classical music often
reaches dangerous sound levels. For example, in Wagner's Ring Cycle, when
movements such as the "Gotterdammerung" are played, orchestra
sounds of 110 decibels are attained. Trumpeters playing Mahler's Ninth
Symphony produce passages of 112 decibels. The recommended daily sound
maximum is 85 decibels for eight hours a day.
Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April
2006
The
official selection for the 2006 Rock and Roll Hard of Hearing Hall of Fame
(http://www.hardofhearinghalloffame.com) has been made. Selection criteria
are based on consideration of an individual's body of work, and damaged
inner ears because of music amplification and use of headphones.
Initial
Selections for 2006:
Pete
Townshend - Guitar (The Who)
Jeff
Beck - Guitar (Yardbirds)
Eric
Clapton - Guitar (Yardbirds)
John
Entwhistle - Bass Guitar (The Who)
Mick
Fleetwood - Drums (Fleetwood Mac)
James
Destri - Keyboards (Blondie)
Bono
- Vocals (U2)
Phil
Collins - Vocals (Genesis)
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May
2006
People
keep pumping up the volume on their digital music players -- and damaging
their hearing -- because those cheap little headphones can't block out
external noise. When you're walking down a busy street, riding a city bus
or taking the A train, the iPod's volume goes up, up and up when competing
with the ambient noise. Though Apple recently released software for the
iPod Nano and video iPod that locks in volume peaks with a special code, a
pair of noise-blocking or noise-canceling headphones guards against
hearing loss. With external noise blocked, music will seem as loud as
those old earbuds but at reduced actual volume.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September
2006
Eric
Clapton is going deaf - because of his own rock concerts.
The
legendary guitarist has revealed he suffers from mild tinnitus, ringing in
the ears, and is convinced his excessively loud performances with Cream
back in the 60s are to blame.
He
told Britain's Daily Express newspaper: "My hearing isn't ruined, but
if I stop and listen I've got whistling all the time which I suppose is a
mild tinnitus.
"I
probably had two 100-watt stacks at the height of things and I would turn
one on for guitar solos. It was just mad!"
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January
2007
It's
an argument most 50-years-olds can still remember having with their
parents: attend loud rock concerts, they were warned, and risk damaging
your hearing. A generation later, young people across the world were asked
to heed similar warnings about their Walkman headphones. Today, users of
portable music players may be turning up the volume even further to avoid
hearing the same plea from concerned adults. Noise-induced hearing loss is
escalating in the United States among several age groups. Portable music
players and other items that attach directly to the ears are among the
primary culprits. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June
2007
Apple
acknowledges that portable media players, a class of products which
includes the iPod, can cause hearing damage, according to a newly
published patent application filed by the company. The application
describes a method of reducing the risk of hearing loss. The document,
which does not mention the iPod by name, was originally filed one month
before a class action lawsuit which alleges the iPod series' design may
exacerbate hearing loss. Apple has avoided public discussion of the
potential for hearing damage from the iPod, although the manuals for all
its computers and other products include a generic warning about safe
listening levels. In fact, when the company offered a volume-limiting
update for the iPod last year, its official announcement was extremely
unusual in giving no reason for the update - it did not mention the
possibility of hearing damage. Full
Story
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June 2007
Kris Chesky used to press his trumpet to his lips,
fill his lungs and cheeks with air and belt out a string of notes that hit
like lightning strikes. He started playing in fourth grade. After high
school, he attended the renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston. By his
20s, he was a world-class musician. He toured with some of the country's
great jazz trumpeters. But the thunder from those lightning strikes added
up. After practicing all day and performing all night, his ears rang until
he couldn't do anything but try to sleep.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2007
Whether you front for a rock band, filling stadiums
with screaming fans, or you’re first violin at the philharmonic - making
music is your business. And, because your sensitive, inner ear mechanisms
are regularly bombarded by loud resonating sound, you’re going deaf for a
living. It takes amperage and stacks of speakers to hear that guitar solo
over 10,000 screaming fans. And, as a professional musician, you’re standing
right in front of that explosion of decibels. If you play classical music or
pops with a large symphony, you experience the same loss of hearing caused
by the onslaught of the percussion, horns, reeds and string sections. And as
a professional, who’s worked hard to reach the pinnacle, quitting isn’t an
option.
Full Story
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November 2007
Despite serious concerns about their artistic
integrity, members of the Seldon Plan agreed to crank up the volume on their
latest album. The Baltimore-based band had a good reason: They want your
attention. And so does everybody else. That's because studio engineers are
pushing the envelope on technology that makes recordings sound louder than
ever before - ensnaring listeners in an audio arms race dubbed "The Loudness
Wars." "The level of compact discs went up about 20 decibels in 20 years,"
observed Bob Katz, chief mastering engineer of Digital Domain, a sound
studio in Florida. To make this happen, engineers filter out the normal
peaks and valleys of musical performances - and boost the volume of
everything between. The technique also shows up in TV commercials that are
much noisier than the programs they sponsor. In the music industry, it has
produced a generation of recordings that lacks the subtlety of earlier
releases. Some experts also fear that it contributes to long-term hearing
loss.
Full Story
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December 2007
The wake-up call for Jonas came three years ago. The
Montreal rocker, who now cranks out the kind of volume required of a Bell
Centre headliner, was decompressing after a show with his guitarist and
right-hand man, Corey Diabo. "We were in a hotel room, talking, and we could
barely hear each other," said Jonas, 28. "We just heard the hissing and
buzzing in our ears. We were noticing that it would last until the next day
in soundcheck - sometimes two days later. We were tired of it."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2007
Everyone knows that rock musicians are at risk for
hearing damage. The Who's Pete Townshend has suffered partial deafness and
ear-ringing tinnitus from years of performing in what was known as "the
world's loudest rock band." Public health groups have made sundry warnings
about the perils of listening to iPods at high volume via earbuds. But few
people realize that hearing health is an issue for musicians of every
stripe, from tuxedoed symphony-orchestra players to your neighborhood's high
school marching band. College music majors, for example, ensconce
themselves in tiny practice rooms for hours, repeating excerpts over and
over with sometimes deafening sound bouncing off the walls. They may go on
to play in orchestras, spending hours per week sitting in front of the
blaring of trombones, the rat-a-tat of snare drums and the bellowing of
tubas. On game day, young musicians in marching bands may be exposed to
sound levels of above 100 decibels, according to one Duke University study
-- not far from the pain threshold of 120 decibels.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January 2008
Marshall Chasin, M.Sc., AuD, Reg. CASLPO, Aud(C),
Audiologist, Musicians' Clinics of Canada
Editor's Note: Dr. Chasin has provided an excellent
overview of how musicians might effectively prevent music-induced hearing
loss. I would encourage you to download and read the three PDF addendums
provided at the end of this article for more in-depth information of several
topics discussed in this article. - Paul Dybala, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief
Introduction
Hearing loss is a gradual process that may not be
noticed for years. When it does happen, people generally notice that speech
is mumbled and unclear. People may report a ringing (or tinnitus) in their
ears or head. By that time, the only thing that may help is a hearing aid.
While hearing aids have improved dramatically, they are not perfect.
Once you leave work, there are many sources of noise
encountered in everyday life: traffic, loud music, MP3 players, lawn mowers,
snowmobiles, and motor boats, to name a few. Even a noisy hockey arena can
be damaging! Yet, even quiet noise, depending on how long you listen, can
damage your hearing. It is quite surprising how quiet an 85 dBA noise
actually sounds. A permanent hearing loss can be the result of a single loud
blast (acoustic trauma), but more often it is the result of years of
exposure to sounds that one would not normally think of as damaging. Unlike
industrial noise exposure, there are unfortunately some potential sources of
acoustic trauma in the musical venue. These may include feedback squeals
during sound checks, inappropriately-set limiters, purcussive blasts from
cannons and pieces of wood being smashed together, or being seated in front
of a large stack of speakers for an extended performance. While there is
scant research in the literature on this subject area, clinically, hearing
loss is reported (and confirmed) where the source was a single or relatively
short duration blast. Industrial environments are in this sense, a much more
controlled environment than many musical venues.
Full Story
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March 2008
The wake-up call for Jonas came three years ago. The
Montreal rocker, who now cranks out the kind of volume required of a Bell
Centre headliner, was decompressing after a show with his guitarist and
right-hand man, Corey Diabo. "We were in a hotel room, talking, and we could
barely hear each other," Jonas, 28, said. "We just heard the hissing and
buzzing in our ears. We were noticing that it would last until the next day
in soundcheck -- sometimes two days later. We were tired of it."
Clip: Dr. Marshall Chasin, director of auditory
research at the Musicians Clinics of Canada in Toronto, said nine out of 10
musicians he sees -- who have been referred after experiencing other
problems, like back injuries -- have the beginnings of a noise-induced or
music-induced hearing loss. Many are classical musicians, he said, "but we
see rockers anywhere between their teens and their 80s. And we see as many
music listeners as music players."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 2008
As a professional dance critic, and a self-confessed
ballet nut, I have spent my life in thrall to Tchaikovsky. I love the sound
of a big orchestra in a big lyric theatre blasting out one of his big ballet
scores. The louder the better, and The Sleeping Beauty best of all. So when
I had the chance to sit in the orchestra pit during a performance of
Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Opera House it was a fantasy come true. How
better to experience the lustrous wonder of that majestic music than to sit
beside the musicians who play it? I knew the sound was going to be
fantastic, and it was - Valeriy Ovsyanikov and 75 musicians of the ROH
Orchestra saw to that - and it was indeed thrilling to be down there in the
middle of it. But as the Rose Adagio unfolded, and Tchaikovsky's writing
grew ever grander, another sensation began to worm its way into my
consciousness - pain. My ears started to hurt, thanks to the short sharp
shrieks of the flutes, the crash of the cymbals and the blare of the French
horns. Imagine, therefore, how you would feel if you were a professional
musician and you were playing Sleeping Beauty every night, or indeed
Strauss's Salome or any part of Wagner's Ring cycle? A wall of sound may be
exciting for audiences, but it can also mean exposure to damaging levels of
noise for musicians trapped in a pit like goldfish in a bowl.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2008
Our culture likes a big sound. At orchestra
concerts, there's a visceral kick when the brass pours it on or a
percussionist whomps the big bass drum. It comes at a cost, though. John
Kasica, acting principal percussionist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra,
says he has "lost some of the edge" of his hearing. Former principal
percussion Rich O'Donnell has significant hearing loss. One longtime member
of the French horn section wears not one but two hearing aids. Kasica, in
the orchestra 36 years, had a hearing test last summer. "They put the
headphones on you, and they make these sounds." At first he could hear them,
"then a minute went by, and no sounds." Kasica thought the technician was
simply switching to the other ear. Wrong. As it turned out, "I couldn't hear
half of them."
Full Story
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May 2008
Music is ever present in our daily lives,
establishing a link between humans and the arts through the senses and
pleasure. Sound technicians are the link between musicians and audiences or
consumers. Recently, general concern has arisen regarding occurrences of
hearing loss induced by noise from excessively amplified sound-producing
activities within leisure and professional environments. Sound technicians'
activities expose them to the risk of hearing loss, and consequently put at
risk their quality of life, the quality of the musical product and
consumers' hearing. The aim of this study was to measure the prevalence of
high frequency hearing loss consistent with noise exposure among sound
technicians in Brazil and compare this with a control group without
occupational noise exposure.
Full
Story
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June 2008
The audiologist didn't mince her words. 'You've got
the hearing of someone 30 years older than you.' The results on the
audiogram showed that I have 'severe' hearing loss with high-frequency
sounds, she said. It's not what a 44-year-old expects or wants to hear. It
wasn't a surprise, though. I've struggled for many years to hear clearly in
almost every situation: at work, in bars or restaurants, at parties, in
front of the TV, at the cinema, or on the mobile. Partial deafness is very
frustrating. It's also usually irreversible. Unlike most parts of the body,
damaged inner ear hair cells don't regenerate. I've lost count of the number
of times I've missed out on hearing a joke, gossip or discussion of a film.
But for many years a reluctance to wear NHS-issue hearing aids meant I did
nothing. But as of 10 days ago I am no longer one of what the Royal National
Institute for Deaf People says is the four million people who could benefit
from wearing a hearing aid but don't, and am now among the two million who
do.
Full Story
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January 2009
'I want to ask one fundamental question," said Hans
Keller after a Pink Floyd performance in 1967. "Why has it all got to be so
terribly loud?" "I don't guess it has to be," bass guitarist Roger Waters
replied. "But that's the way we like it. It doesn't sound terribly loud to
us." The Austrian-born musician and musicologist's attitude to the group -
severe, like a schoolmaster telling off naughty boys - made him look like
the quintessential square on the wrong side of the generation gap: he just
couldn't get the high-volume psychedelic sounds that the kids were digging.
Wind forward 41 years to the Roundhouse, London, and My Bloody Valentine are
about to play You Made Me Realize. Guitarist Kevin Shields gestures for his
already fearsomely loud guitar to be turned up - into uncharted territory
way beyond 11 - and midway through the song they launch into the 20 minute
"Holocaust" section of guitar noise and trouser-rippling sub-bass . . . .
The Who went on, in 1976, to become officially The Loudest Band in the World
at 126 decibels
Full Story
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January 2009
School music teachers have been warned to wear
earmuffs or stand behind noise screens to protect their hearing. This is
because beginners tend to blast away much louder than professionals. The
most potentially deafening instrument is the cornet, with just one honk
being enough to cause permanent ear damage. And standing in the direct fire
of instruments such as the flute, oboe and saxophone can become risky after
just 15 minutes. Standing next to a school band is even more dangerous, the
Health and Safety Executive warns. 'Sound levels produced by groups of
student instrumentalists are likely to be higher than those produced by a
professional group of players because of less-developed technical abilities
and natural exuberance,' the organisation said. 'Damaging sound levels have
been measured at the conductor's position in school bands.'
Full Story
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June 2009
There's a great article article in the ASHA Leader
that discusses the following 10 myths about Personal Music Players (PMPs).
For the full discussion, please point your browser to http://tinyurl.com/lhnjcw
MYTH 1: Personal music players are a primary reason
for NIHL in children.
MYTH 2: PMP manufacturers have eliminated the risk
of NIHL by providing a means of locking the PMP's volume control setting.
MYTH 3: Insert earphones are worse than other styles
of earphones for your ears.
MYTH 4: The music is too loud if you can hear it
from your child's headphones.
MYTH 5: 85 dBA time-weighted average is a safe noise
exposure reference for children when applied to PMPs.
MYTH 6: Sound levels measured at the eardrum can be
directly compared to damage risk criteria.
MYTH 7: PMPs should never be played at hazardous
sound levels.
MYTH 8: Noise cancellation earphones provide safe
listening because they cancel the hazardous noise.
MYTH 9: A recommended maximum volume control setting
and listening duration for adults is appropriate for children and babies.
MYTH 10: Today's PMP technology puts listeners at
greater risk.
Full Story
