MALIK ARSHAQ
THE
SIGNIFICANCE
OF HEARING
PROTECTION
Whether you're a producer, sound engineer, musician or a
frequent concert-goer, you need to know and understand the
importance of basic hearing protection. A lot people seem to
think that they're impervious or immune to being exposed to
loud decibel levels. Well, you're not, and chances are, at some
in the future you'll be trying recover from the damage rather
than take precautions at an early stage.
Extended exposure to high decibel levels can cause various
problems such as
• Hearing loss
• Tinnitus - Ringing or buzzing noise in the ears
• Diplacusis - Pathological matching of frequency and pitch
that results in some notes sounding flat
• Hyperacusis - A reduced tolerance towards sounds at levels
that are easily tolerated my most people.
Doesn't sound too fun, huh? And there is a common
misconception that hearing loss only occurs in musicians
that play louder genres of music. Truth is that the risk for
cochlear damage and hearing loss exists for all types of music,
especially people that play percussion or brass instruments.
Your immediate solution to this issue would be to get a pair
earplugs from your local store. While this does technically
protect your ears from exposure to high levels of noise, there
are a different set of problems that arise from musicians and
sound engineers using traditional earplugs. It is essential that
musicians and engineers hear clearly during performances
and rehearsals. Using regular ear plugs muffle the sound, i.e
they attenuate the treble more than they do the low end. Also,
deeply inserted foam earplugs can provide 30-40 dB of sound
reduction when far less is needed to protect hearing.
42
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
This may result in the musicians not being perform
comfortably and, maybe, even overplay.
Thus, earplugs that are particularly for musicians were
designed by replicating the natural response of an open ear.
Thus, allowing the user to listen with an even attenuation
throughout the frequency range, i.e exactly what the
music sounds like, only quieter. Based on the loudness of
instrument, these earplugs can have flat attenuation of 9,15
or 25dB. The importance of hearing protection doesn't just
pertain to the health of the musicians or sound engineers, but
also to their careers as their line of work needs them to make
decisions based off what their ears tell them.