In preparation for a book that will be (hopefully) published in the spring of 2022 called “Music and Hearing Aids” (Plural Publishing, working title), I conducted a literature review of previous research regarding the programming of hearing aids for music.
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After over a year away from typical concert volume levels, the hearing of band members and sound engineers has “adjusted to a controlled listening lifestyle.” This means that “getting the band back together” will require some extra care when it comes to the ears.
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Signia announced it is partnering with Songs for Sound, a 501c3 charity, for its 10th annual Hear the Music Gala, taking place on May 22, 2021. The partnership “further promotes Songs for Sound’s mission to raise awareness around hearing loss solutions, increase access to hearing loss testing and treatment, and encourage action for those suffering from hearing loss and deafness.”
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Fitness center instructors often turn up music volumes significantly during classes sometimes loud enough to cause hearing damage based on an assumption that participants will work out more intensively when volumes are raised. A new University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) study—a summary of which appears on the UMSOM website—however, found that those who attend indoor cycling (“spinning”) classes do not lower the intensity of their workouts when the volume is reduced to a safer decibel level.
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First proposed by Wallace Sabine, critical distance is the physical distance where the sound arriving directly from the source would equal the reverberant or reflected sound level in the room. This critical distance is proportional to the physical size of the room and inversely proportional to the reverberation time which can vary depending on the acoustic qualities of the room. This article looks at the concept of critical distance for choir members and musicians, and debuts a new amplification device, HearHooks, as a possible strategy for addressing spacing concerns.
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The researchers used a machine learning algorithm to map which brain regions are activated when the different music-induced emotions are separated from each other.
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Could there be more to mastering music? Is there, as some have suggested, a developmental period early in life when the brain is especially receptive to musical training? The answer, according to new research published in the journal, “Psychological Science,” is probably not.
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The music business can be a feast-or-famine endeavor, with gigs waning for a variety of reasons, including the effects of the global pandemic. But regardless of their economic situation, musicians need hearing care (enhancement or protection) in good times and bad.
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Are there specific frequency transpositions that would be acceptable? As it turns out, more may not necessarily be such a bad thing.
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For speech, frequency transposition works very well, but music is not speech. Music is made up exclusively of notes and their harmonics.
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The Musicians’ Clinics of Canada announced the latest update for its Temporary Hearing Loss Test app. Among its updates, the app is now free and is available for iOS and Android platforms.
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After friend and Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford showed Lukather the small, in-ear hearing aids he wore (“I couldn’t even tell!”), Lukather was ready to take the next step and chose Widex for his first set.
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The volume and timbre of music have a significant impact on how people perceive the acoustics in a concert hall, according to two recent studies carried out by the research group of Aalto University Professor Tapio Lokki.
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In an article published recently in the journal “Behavioral and Brain Sciences,” a team of anthropologists and psychologists argue more evidence supports music coming from the need for groups to impress allies and foes, and for parents to signal their attention to infants.
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Trained musicians showed greater powers of rhythmic prediction compared to nonmusicians, with more subtle differences between those trained in Japanese or Western classical music. This research has implications for studies of cultural impact on learning and brain development.
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