Klarinet Archive - Posting 001132.txt from 1998/07

From: Dodgshun family <dodgshun@-----.nz>
Subj: Re: [kl] re: Loud Brass
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 01:24:28 -0400

At 03:37 AM 27/07/98 +1000, <f.williams@-----.au> wrote:

>I don't remember the exact percentages, but in some survey I read
>recently re this problem in orchestras, it found that c.8-10 per cent of
>string players, 20-25 per cent of wind players,50-60 per cent of brass
>players, and 100 per cent of percussionists suffered from hearing
>loss(for their age).

Where was this survey done? Here in NZ, we're pretty careful about hearing.
All our percussionists learning from recognised teachers (ie, all the good
percussionists) wear musician's earplugs when playing cymbals, bass drum,
timp, drum kit, gong etc etc (OK, marimba and glockenspiel don't really need
it!) and from what I can gather, very few of them have serious hearing
problems. Second violins I can understand - piccolo right there! We always
use soundshields between brass and wind, and often between percussion and
brass. Brass players I see wearing earplugs sometimes too. I would say
that down here, the percentages are far smaller. Bands are not quite as
careful, but our band drummer ALWAYS has his earplugs in, no exceptions, and
the bassist usually wears them too (I'm talking big bands here). My
brother's a bassist, and no matter whether he's playing with his high school
big band or the rock band he's in, he never goes near rehearsal without his
earplugs. One of the guys in his year has been playing with a band for
three weeks, and he reckons that 25% of his hearing is already gone.
Apparently this band is painful to listen to OUTSIDE a soundproofed band
room. Mind you, my brother and I are very conscious of it because our
father's a sound engineer, and is always warning us about the danger.
People here, particularly of the student age, are very aware of the danger,
and usually act on it. We've all seen too many players with wrecked hearing
to not do anything about it.

Anna

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