Klarinet Archive - Posting 000358.txt from 1999/12

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] attenuation
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 07:36:20 -0500

At 08:21 PM 12/13/1999 +1300, Anna Dodgshun wrote:
>I don't think that the loud music phenomenon is restricted to rock, though.
>If I'm listening to the 1812 Overture, any of the heavy Wagner (Ride of the
>Valkyries!), Berlioz "March to the Scaffold" or the John Williams "Star
>Wars" soundtrack, I have to turn them up to a good loud (and probably, if
>prolonged, dangerous) level. It's just not the same if you don't! The
>thing with this is that it's not for long periods of time and it's not every
>day.

You are correct. Hearing loss is primarily caused by overly loud sound
over sustained periods of time. There are plenty of loud passages in
classical music, but they are interspersed with much softer stuff. This is
inherently less damaging than rock, which tends to be very compressed and
loud ALL the time. You might as well be listening to a jackhammer all day!
(Actually, from an artistic standpoint, the jackhammer would probably be
better!) There was considerable interest given to the potential for
hearing loss in my previous life in the Air Force (earplugs, proper helmet
fit, etc.). Jet noise is NOT a good thing to be exposed to for hours at a
time! I am thankful for that concern every time I walk into a room with a
noisy computer monitor whining away at 15 kHz and I can HEAR it! It's so
nice to know that part of the spectrum is still there!

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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