Pianotech

  • 1.  hearing aides

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-30-2024 14:27

    I just had my hearing checked at Costco. I've had it done there every two or three years for the past 15 years. While I'm still within a suitable range, my upper register is getting close to the range to where the technician told me I should consider getting hearing aides. On a scale of 1 - 10, with 1 being no need at all, and 10 being almost deaf, my upper range is close to 6 or 7. The rest of my hearing is in the 2 - 4 range.  I have two questions for those of you who have them.

    1. At what stage of your hearing loss did you get them?
    2. How long did it take you to get used to wearing them all day? 

    Thanks

    Wim



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    Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
    St. Augustine, FL 32095
    Tnrwim@aol.com
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  • 2.  RE: hearing aides

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-30-2024 15:07

    Got them a lot earlier than my mother. WHAT! Quit mumbling. Got used to them real quickly. I reduce the top range of frequencies or it gets too jangly



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    Larry Messerly, RPT
    Bringing Harmony to Homes
    www.lacrossepianotuning.com
    ljmesserly@gmail.com
    928-899-7292
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  • 3.  RE: hearing aides

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-30-2024 21:29

    I think you need to take into consideration that the average hearing test only tests frequencies in the normal spoken word range. If you want to test above or below that you will need to go to a specialist, like a clinic that also deals with singers and musicians. 

    At what stage do you get them? I'd say you should trust your own instincts about this. Whenever it becomes an actual problem. For the most part, even with the very expensive hearing aids where you can adjust the frequency response, the A/D-D/A electronics are not going to do a very good job of improving your hearing when they are forced to decode all the information contained in a piano note. You may wind up not wearing them when you tune. How many customers do you have that have to take out their hearing aids before they sit down to play? Probably most. Of course, I could be remembering older technology but that's what I remember as being the case. It appears you can now buy pretty decent hearing aids, that include an app for you phone that will assist you in fine tuning them, from Amazon without a prescription. 



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    Geoff Sykes, RPT
    Los Angeles CA
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  • 4.  RE: hearing aides

    Posted 10-01-2024 07:12
    About 2 years ago I lost hearing in my right ear-almost 90%- due to nerve damage. They say it doesn’t happen to very many people, I happened over night. They ended up giving me a steroid shot in my ear… through my eardrum… would not recommend that to anyone. My left ear had normal degradation which mostly affects consonants more then vowels, which makes it hard to understand most words. My wife got tired of me asking “what”? Went to COSTCO and was able to purchase just one earring aid this year. In daily conversations it helps immensely, but for stringed instruments there is way to much noise, this includes my guitar and piano. Removing the hearing aid resolves the issue. I think it doesn’t know how to handle all the partials. I do remove it when I tune. Ymmv




  • 5.  RE: hearing aides

    Posted 10-01-2024 08:14
    I tune for a musician of note who wears hearing aids. His Steinway has horribly hard hammers. Upon suggesting revoicing them he said that he liked it as it is (OUCH!) as then he can hear it without his hearing aids.

    This poses a horrible dilemma not just as we tune but as we want to voice if we have progressively deteriorating hearing and a choice as to use of hearing aids and or settings

    Best wishes

    David P

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    David Pinnegar, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.
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    +44 1342 850594





  • 6.  RE: hearing aides

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 10-01-2024 11:53

    Found this

    https://grandpianopassion.com/chasin-optimize-hearing-aids-music/



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    Larry Messerly, RPT
    Bringing Harmony to Homes
    www.lacrossepianotuning.com
    ljmesserly@gmail.com
    928-899-7292
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  • 7.  RE: hearing aides

    Posted 10-01-2024 16:50

    Wim, I suggest that you go for the hearing aids. They have worked great for someone like me with poor hearing. My current aids are Phonak and are about 4 years old – there are certainly other good brands. I suggest you include warranties in comparing brands. Good hearing in a complex speech environment is tough for most of us who are hearing impaired. But with appreciating music, with working on piano tone and voicing, and with doing aural tuning of pianos, I find I certainly can hold my own with our colleagues. I suggest use of an audiologist and continuing with your regular checkups.

     

    You will want to have bluetooth control of your hearing aids from an app on your phone. When I start a tuning I decrease the noise reduction to avoid algorithmic confusion for the lowest and highest notes. Sometime, depending on room acoustics, I increase the gain by one notch. (Be careful not to increase it by much to preserve your hearing.) Algorithms will be built into the app for common aural situations, like speech in noise. For use in multi-speaker environments there also are some external microphone accessories that can be nice. And in some cases there can be an advantage in selecting hearing aids having more than one aural bluetooth channel. Regards, Norman.



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    Norman Brickman
    Potomac Piano Service
    Potomac, Maryland
    potomacpiano@verizon.net
    https://potomacpiano.com
    (301) 983.9321
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