Music, musicians and hearing loss
Whether you are a musician or just a music lover, playing music too loud on a regular basis can lead to hearing related problems. For example, if you are one of those people who likes to drive a “soundboard car” with the music blaring, you might want to consider turning the volume down a bit. Those “boom box cars” can generate up to 130 decibels of sound, which is very close, if not above, the human hearing pain threshold. A typical value for this pain threshold is 120 decibels. To put things in perspective, a soft whisper is about 30 decibels, while a train is about 100 decibels. The average rock concert hovers around 120 decibels, right on the pain threshold. Personally, I wear earplugs to all concerts I attend as a precaution, as prolonged exposure to sound pressure levels above the pain threshold can cause physical damage, possibly leading to impaired . It is important to note that induced hearing loss is permanent.
Hearing impairment is measured by the amount of loss level in what is called hearing level (HL) in decibels (dB). Decibels are like degrees on a thermometer. As the temperature increases, the number of degrees also increases. As the volume of sound increases, the number of decibels also increases. A normal conversation usually ranges between 45 and 55 dB. A baby’s cry drops to around 60 dB and heavy downtown traffic can be almost painful at 90 dB. If she can hear sounds between 0 and 25 dB most of the time, her hearing is fairly normal and she most likely won’t need an aid, although it might improve her abilities in some situations. If you only hear sounds above 25 dB HL, your loss may be mild, moderate, or severe. These terms will be discussed in more detail in the next paragraph.
Hearing loss can basically be classified in four ways: mild, moderate, severe, and deafness. Slight loss is considered a loss of up to 40 decibels, which will generally cause trouble hearing normal conversation. Moderate hearing loss is a loss between 40 and 60 decibels. This usually means that voices must be raised for the disabled person to hear them. Severe loss, which is a loss of more than 60 decibels, would require people to yell for the disabled person to hear. According to the World Health Organization, the term “deaf” should only apply to people who are so severely disabled that they cannot benefit from sound amplification or the aid of hearing aids.
Even the slightest hearing loss can make life difficult. Although speech is audible at low frequencies, which generally means lower-pitched voices, it’s much more difficult with higher-pitched voices. This is because with typical loss, the ability to hear high-pitched sounds is the first to go, which means it will be more difficult to hear birds or women’s voices. As the problem worsens, loss of reception of the lower tone soon follows.
A major problem with hearing loss is that 90% of the time the loss is so subtle and gradual that people don’t always notice it until it is too late and some loss has occurred. Additionally, musicians are most likely not only suffering from hearing loss, but also from ringing in the ears and pitch perception issues, which could cause them to inadvertently play a high C note instead of a straight C note. . Some musicians, especially those who start young like violinists, start to lose their hearing as early as the age of 10.
Many musicians now use in-ear monitors to keep down the sound levels they pick up onstage while playing, he said. These monitors look like little headphones with wires attached to them, and allow each musician to precisely control how loud it is in her ear. Oddly enough, musicians who play classical music have been found to have greater hearing loss than rock musicians. This is based on the fact that classical musicians tend to give more concerts, teach several hours a day, and then practice several hours a day, so in most cases they put in more hours than rock musicians.
Music lovers should moderate the amount of time and level of loud music they expose their ears to.
