[pianotech] Hearing Protection

[Terry Farrell]

I wonder if that has anything to do with why Glen Gould would hum  
while playing?

Terry Farrell

On Sep 8, 2009, at 3:16 PM, Diane Hofstetter wrote:

>
>
> You may have noticed many performers humming along with their  
> playing. This helps activate the stapedius muscles sooner so that  
> their contraction will stiffen the ossicles, which act like levers,  
> much like a grand piano action.
>
> The job of the ossicles is to transduce the acoustic energy entering  
> our ear into mechanical energy, which is much more powerful.  They  
> do this so that when the energy enters the fluid filled cochlea, it  
> is strong enough to move the basilar membrane thus activating the  
> hair cells, which send the electrical message to the brain, which  
> registers the sound.
>
> Thus, When the ossicles become stiffened, the sound is attenuated.  
> Unfortunately, the impact of the piano hammer on a hard blow happens  
> too quickly for the stapedius muscle to react and protect our hearing.
>
> I've tried humming while tuning, but for some reason it doesn't work  
> too well :-)
>
> Diane Hofstetter