Re: To Ear is perfect?

[BarMusProd <BarMusProd...>]

Dear SAK,

In a message dated 1/20/02 6:17:27 PM, sarakass (at) juno(dot)com writes:

>I get tinnitus after being at the bar too long listening to a group that
>is much toooooo loud....
>
>SAK

You *must* be very careful about this--do not play with your precious 
hearing. Tinnitus (whether it goes away or not) is a sign that you are 
potentially (or have already) damaging (or damaged) your ears. If you are 
walking away with ringing in your ears or the sounds you hear are 
"ragged-sounding" then you actually have damaged your hearing. It may be very 
subtle now, but please be careful. If you are going to someplace that you 
know will be loud, wear earplugs--even the ones that you can get over the 
counter at a drug store will help protect your hearing. I know that it is not 
very sexy to wear earplugs, but we only get one set of ears to last us a 
lifetime.

The best plugs (that I'm aware of) are made by Etymotic Research. But they 
are not cheap--they are called "Musician's Earplugs" and are about $125 plus 
a fitting at an audiologist. They reduce the sound spectrum uniformly at -9, 
-15 and -25 dB (you can choose which ones you want) unlike over the counter 
earplugs which cut off the high end severely and make the sound you hear 
unnatural (but at least do protect your hearing). There is a new 
one-size-fits all variety the Etymotic makes for around $12 that are supposed 
to handle the sound the same way as their more expensive "Musician's" 
variety, but I have not tried them personally (I am not connected in any way 
to this company--I am a record producer and work in audio daily).

Here is the home page URL: http://www.etymotic.com/

and here is the URL for more information on Musician's Earplugs: 
http://www.etymotic.com/pros/er15more.html

Good luck.

Best wishes,
Steve

Steve Barnett
Composer/Arranger/Producer
Barnett Music Productions
BarMusProd (at) aol(dot)com 

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