Music Appreciation 101

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By Marshall Chasin, M.Sc.

The human ear is much like any other body part-too much use and it may be damaged. The ear takes about 16 hours to "reset". After attending a rock concert or a loud session at school, an individual may notice reduced hearing and/or tinnitus (ringing) in their ears. If hearing was assessed immediately after the concert, one would find a temporary hearing loss! After 16 hours, however, hearing should return to its "base-line" (hopefully normal) level. After a loud session or concert, individuals who play musical instruments should not practice for 16-18 hours.

This Consumer Corner is a first in a series on the use of ear protection methods and materials for individuals who play musical instruments. The series starts with suggestions for modifications to school music rooms. Each installment, hereafter, will focus on a different set of musical instruments and suggested methods of ear protection.

Several inexpensive modifications can be made to school classrooms which can be accomplished without any special technical knowledge. In addition, other modifications can be made by acoustical engineers. While the second option may be costly, many of the recommendations made by acoustical engineers may yield dramatically improved acoustic environments.

Inexpensive Modifications

Moveable drapes or thick curtains which can be hung over the blackboard (or concrete wall). A highly reflective surface, such as a blackboard, behind the teacher/conductor is the worst possible wall covering. High-frequency sounds tend to reflect off such surfaces thereby adding to the overall intensity level in the room. Moveable drapes are designed to absorb these unwanted reflections. They can be pulled aside when the blackboard is being used.
Carpeting can be used at the front of the room where the teacher/conductor stands. Not only will this absorb some of the undesirable reflections, but it will also allow the music teacher/conductor to stand for longer periods of time without backaches.
Three-D relief art (from the Art Dept.) would make an excellent wall covering for the side walls of the music room. In this location, the art will not be visually distracting and, at the same time, absorb many of the undesirable mid- and high-frequency reflections.
Trumpets and other treble brass instruments should be placed on risers. Most of the damaging energy of the trumpet is in the higher frequency ranges and these high-frequency treble notes tend to emanate from the bell of the trumpet like a laser beam. By elevating these instruments, high-frequency damaging sounds will tend to go over the head of other musicians downwind. In addition, the trumpet players will not need to play as hard for their sound to be heard clearly. By the time the trumpet sound reaches the music teacher/conductor, the levels are not nearly as damaging as for individuals immediately in front of the trumpets.
There are now custom-made, tuned earplugs that many musicians and music teachers are using called ER-15 earplugs. These allow all of the music to be attenuated equally across the full range of musical sounds. That is, the low-bass notes are treated identically to the mid-range and high-frequency trebel notes. The balance of music is therefore not altered. These earplugs have been in wide use since the late 1980s.