 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Bill G
Date: 2016-11-29 19:48
'm going for a hearing test today, and expect to be told I need hearing aids. I'm 89 years old and have never been through this process. Do any of you have any suggestions?
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2016-11-29 22:17
The hearing test is painless. You listen for the softest sounds you can hear, not the loudest. The only annoyance is being shut in a soundproof booth for about 15 minutes, wearing big headphones.
The technicians have given these tests many times. Just go along with the instructions. There's nothing to be afraid of.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Wes
Date: 2016-11-29 23:59
The hearing tests 35 years ago said that my hearing had deterioated. It's true but I still find music easy to play. The sounds I have difficulty with are the elided words of non native talkers, such as in fast food places.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-11-30 00:34
Have you ever been given a visual field test to check the nerve function in your eyes? Hearing tests are very similar. The only problem is tedium and the tendency to hear sounds that aren't there because you're concentrating so hard on trying to hear everything you can. You might ask the test administrator (doctor or tech) if you can ask for a short rest at any point during the test, in case your concentration begins to flag.
Karl
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-11-30 01:23
While the hearing test is painless, paying for hearing aids can be quite painful, especially if you need a set that is good enough to use while playing clarinet. If you do play and plan to use the hearing aids while doing so, make sure they have a "music" setting that does not do artificial things to the sound based on pitch or volume, and plan on getting one of the higher grade models rather than one of the cheapies.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2016-11-30 03:40
I have used hearing aids on and off for 3-4 years
I find that with a "music setting" they work fine on flute and basson but for clarinet (my primary instrument) they just do not work for me.
I think the particular harmonic structure of clarinet sound and perhaps the intensity of sound so close to the aids produces an unpleasant distortion
I manage now on clarinet quite well without them.
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Author: dorjepismo ★2017
Date: 2016-11-30 19:25
I've had good luck with Widex, though I had to go to the top of the line. Others in a previous thread liked Phonak a lot. If you can do without them and your hearing loss is relatively flat over the range, that's best, of course, but I wouldn't be able to get the balance and tuning in chamber music without them. Unless you do double lip, I think the main difference between clarinet/sax and other woodwinds is bone conduction.
Norman Smale wrote:
> I have used hearing aids on and off for 3-4 years
> I find that with a "music setting" they work fine on flute and
> basson but for clarinet (my primary instrument) they just do
> not work for me.
>
> I think the particular harmonic structure of clarinet sound and
> perhaps the intensity of sound so close to the aids produces an
> unpleasant distortion
>
> I manage now on clarinet quite well without them.
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Author: Roxann
Date: 2016-12-01 19:20
I wear hearing aids, but not when I play for a couple of reasons. Primarily, the thought of amplifying the sound gives me chills as the trumpets behind me are already loud enough!!!!! More often than not, I use earplugs! (This could be an unfounded concern as a friend who also wears hearing aids told me that there's a "maximum" loudness setting on them.) Secondly, and especially when I wear them when I practice at home, it changes the sound I'm hearing and I haven't "learned" what I should be hearing because it provides a different feedback than what I'm used to.
After reading the threads above, I think I'll call my hearing aid provider to find out if mine have a "music" setting and give that a try.
By not using the hearing aids, my problem then becomes hearing the conductor when s/he is talking. Not good.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2016-12-01 19:35
Roxann wrote:
> By not using the hearing aids, my problem then becomes hearing
> the conductor when s/he is talking. Not good.
At 69 years old, I'm sure I have some upper end hearing loss, but so far not enough to send me to an audiologist (I have had routine hearing tests as part of physical exams). But your comment makes me chuckle a little. I know many very good players of many different instruments whose only real sign of age (other than gray hair and an arthritic limp) is the number of times they make conductors repeat their instructions. "Where are we starting" is a constant chorus in the orchestras and bands I play in where many of the players are of my age cohort, people I've grown up with as a musician.
They can hear their instruments and the surrounding music without help. It's speech they have trouble with.
Karl
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Author: Roxann
Date: 2016-12-01 20:13
Karl...I've noticed that myself a LOT. One of the bands I play with is full of college kids with no hearing loss. Even when I'm playing 1st clarinet, I can barely hear the conductor because he feels no need to speak loudly as almost all "the kids" can hear him without any trouble. Another band I play in is composed of almost all 60-somethings and the conductor speaks extremely loudly so everybody can hear...not good when you're sitting in the front row directly in front of him!!! Oh, to have perfect hearing once again:)
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