Earplugs to Hearing Loss

[ATodd@UH.EDU]

Ken,

RE:   As the years go by, I know that my hearing is not what it once
was, especially in the higher frequencies. Does this mean that I am going
to be producing bad tunings and not be able to tell the difference?
      My feeling is that I know what I need to hear and I pound until I
hear it but I don't know about the accuracy of things I cannot hear.

   My understanding is that most of us begin to lose a little hearing in the
extreme ranges. Some more than others. When I lived in Biloxi, MS I used to
occasionally follow an older tuner there who invariably stretched the top
1/2 octave or so, so much that it was a wonder strings didn't break. My
assumption was that it was an attempt to hear the notes.
   I also tuned once for a lady, probably in her 80's plus, whose piano
hadn't been tuned in years and years. It was about a step low + and VERY
dissonant, especially in the upper treble. After pitch raising, tuning and
re-tuning the treble I was finally finished. I got a call back the next day
with her accusing me of doing something to her piano. She couldn't hear the
treble any more. I imagine the extreme dissonance enable her to hear
"something" and when it was no longer there, she couldn't. Talk about an
impossible situation!!
   I hope that if I ever begin to lose my hearing in the top (or anywhere
else), someone will be brave enough to tell me. I've often thought about
having a comprehensive hearing test so that I can have something to compare
it to in future years. It's one of those "I just never seem able to "get a
round to it" things.
   If I'm not mistaken, I believe George Defebaugh used an Accu-Tuner in the
last octave or so his last few years.
   Just a few thoughts.

Avery Todd, RPT
University of Houston
atodd@uh.edu