Klarinet Archive - Posting 001025.txt from 2000/06

From: EstradaMC@-----.com
Subj: [kl] A plug for plugs
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2000 04:12:20 -0400

I thought many of you would be interested in this article which was recently
on the orchestra list.

TARA WOHLBERG
Special to The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Wednesday, June 14, 2000

Vancouver -- Heavy-metal stars have been warned about their hearing for
years. And emerging from a thunderous concert stone deaf for an hour or
so, even fans have wondered about it -- including U.S. President Bill
Clinton, who attributed his 1997 hearing-aid purchase to too many nights
of rock 'n' roll.

But it turns out that there may now be a bigger problem playing
Beethoven than Black Sabbath.

Next time you find yourself at a live symphony performance, notice how
many performers have yellow or pink bits tucked into their ears. These
days, orchestra musicians, and not only those within close range of the
ear-piercing brass and percussion sections, routinely employ foam or wax
earplugs. "Especially the string players," notes Gordon Cherry,
principal trombonist for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

But how can they hear?

"Well, you can't hear," says long-time VSO principal pianist Linda Lee
Thomas who tried them -- once. "And how can you make music if you can't
hear?"

She estimates that 70 per cent of her colleagues wear earplugs, a
phenomenon that has been on the rise for the last decade. Concerned with
statistics that show 52 per cent of classical musicians experience
permanent hearing loss as compared with 30 per cent of rock musicians,
most symphonies now provide generic earplugs, gratis.

Theories vary on why this has occurred. Classical musicians think they
are at higher risk than their rock 'n' roll counterparts because, they
say, they play more. They say a classical player may have six to eight
rehearsals or performances a week, plus three hours of daily practice
and a teaching load of three hours a day, while a rocker may play three
or four hours on a Saturday night with little practice in between. Rock
'n' rollers, however, would beg to differ. It's possible that rock
musicians simply took steps much earlier on to protect their hearing,
while classical musicians have assumed they weren't as much at risk.

But the relative size of the orchestra hasn't changed since the time of
Beethoven, so how have sound levels come to threaten musicians'
livelihood now?

We live in an increasingly amplified world. Box-office pressure on
organizations and conductors to put bums on seats has led to increasing
numbers of pop-flavoured concerts to woo audiences used to the
immediate, high-impact sound of portable CD players, surround-sound
movie theatres and amplified Broadway-style shows.

And that's not to mention the challenges of the more standard
repertoire. "Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is extremely loud,"
says Julia Nolan, a professional Vancouver saxophonist. Others cite
Stravinsky and 20th-century composers such as John Adams as particularly
hard on the ears.

Today's halls, in addition to being larger, are not always acoustically
designed for unamplified performances as in Mozart's day. Even
acoustically "kind" halls such as Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre use
amplification for symphony concerts. Solo clarinetist Richard Stolzman's
recent performance with the VSO, for instance, was an amplified affair,
with the orchestra not, as in earlier days, "playing down" their fully
scored accompaniment.

"Why don't they ask us to just play softer?" asks Gene Ramsbottom,
former principal clarinetist, a 20-year veteran of the Vancouver Opera
Orchestra. Ramsbottom is the representative of the Vancouver Musicians'
Association who sits on the local SHAPE (Safety and Health in Arts
Production and Entertainment) committee. He says musicians are cognizant
of the problem but are exceedingly reluctant to take action for fear of
being dismissed for "musical reasons."

Protecting musicians' hearing is complicated. Employment opportunities
are limited, and many work in the equivalent of a one-company town,
especially untenured or extra players. There are always other musicians
waiting in the wings to take their seat if they complain, or report
injuries. A recent incident involving a Vancouver musician who filed
with the Workers Compensation Board is illustrative. The musician, who
was seated near an amplifier, narrowly escaped a perforated eardrum but,
anxious about potential employer reprisals or being labelled a
rabble-rouser, would not discuss the case with The Globe and Mail.

Another local incident involved a musician who simply took a
decibel-meter reading of a trombone at a rehearsal. The musician, who
also asked not to be named, was reprimanded and told it was the most
unprofessional thing imaginable to bring such a meter to rehearsal. The
issue was then dropped, unresolved.

Marshall Chasin, director of auditory research for the Musicians'
Clinics of Canada, is trying to save future ears with his book Musicians
and the Prevention of Hearing Loss. He says the instrument that is the
worst offender is the little piccolo.

"I have measured levels in excess of 126 decibels on the right shoulder
of the piccolo player at the National Ballet." he says. Given that human
conversation registers 60 decibels and a vacuum cleaner approximately 80
decibels, those sitting to the right of piccolo players are at obvious
risk.

Philippe Etter is used to the dangers; this 64-year-old violist sits in
front of the brass section, and can find himself inches away from their
head-splitting sound. But, "I hate wearing earplugs," says Etter,
formerly of the Purcell String Quartet, "It is an alienating feeling."

The earplugs provided by symphonies do not allow for attenuated or
uniform lessening of sound, just an elimination of the high frequencies.
Custom-made ones are better, but are expensive and seldom covered by
insurance plans.

Plexiglas shields, often seen in front of brass sections, are effective,
but only if they are within six inches of the "down-wind" player's ears.
Trombonist Cherry says that the VSO's are 80-per-cent ineffective
because they are not adjustable enough: "They are top-heavy and
unstable. We need sand bags to secure them. They are a joke."

Percussionists alleviate some damage by humming before and during a
cymbal crash or other burst of sound, which contracts the inner-ear
muscles.

Classical musicians are small-muscle athletes spending increasing time
on the bench. "We almost always have someone out," says Cherry. And
wearing earplugs may actually exacerbate overplaying injuries like
tendonitis, as musicians play harder to achieve expected sound levels.

Musicians are now advised to take 16 hours after an intense music
session to "reset" their hearing, which means no lawn-mowing or leaf
blowers. Wearing industrial earmuff protection for these jobs, as
Frederick Schipizky, double bassist with the VSO does, is no longer seen
as an overreaction. He adds, "I plug my ears with both hands if an
ambulance goes by." But the delicate nature of the economics of
performing, particularly for freelancers, does not afford many musicians
this luxury. Most rush home after a gig to teach or practise.

Today's musicians shouldn't be taking the risk of ending up deaf like
Beethoven. Yet desensitizing musical instincts with earplugs can't help
but decrease the quality of their work. And musicians who can't hear
their stand partner's voice or a conductor at a rehearsal are playing
with one arm tied behind their backs. But they deserve more than
earplugs and beta-blockers (anxiety-reducing prescription drugs) to
"survive" their careers.

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