Listening to music is simple - turn on your stereo or, pop in a CD or tune to your favourite radio station. Set it to a volume level (see volume control) you’re comfortable with and there you go, instant pleasure. The trouble with lower volumes is, it often doesn’t sound that great. But, that does not necessarily mean you have to turn it up louder either. What happens at a lower volume is that the speakers loose too much of the top and bottom end. The bass and treble tones are gone and you end up hearing mostly the mid range sounds only, no wonder you think it sounds tinny. Most stereos have a feature to overcome this shortcoming in the sound: the loudness switch. It's designed to boost the bass and treble at low volumes to bring it up to the volume of the mid range sound. It is not designed to get you an extra fifty Watts on the cheap. Equalizers give you even greater control over the "missing" sound ranges. They are especially handy if you happen to have hearing loss at a certain frequency range. When the sound is all there it’s a lot more enjoyable. If your stereo doesn’t have these features maybe it’s time to start dropping hints to Santa. Making music - the enjoyment of listening times a hundred. You get to play what you want and reflect the mood you want. Considering tinnitus, this could be a problem - some instruments are really loud and because of that, they might not get along with your ears right now. Giving up music is a huge sacrifice to make. Not only the enjoyment, but might badly affect your pay cheque. Some instruments are harder to come to terms with than others, most though can be "tamed." These are some of the things you can try:
For most all instruments you can simply change the way you play - less loud. Don’t dig into the strings the way you’re used to, don’t bow as vigorously, don’t blow as hard. "No way, no how is a plug-in gonna sound like my grand." Of course it isn’t and of course it is going to sound different, absolutely no question about that. Several thoughts:
Who on earth would wanna shove a bunch of towels up a five thousand dollar Martin? No kidding eh, but would you really wanna just hang it on the wall? And that little Caz, or Yami, no problem taking that to work to play during your lunch break, is it. Try that with your Steinway eh... Or how about that gorgeous Stelling, there’s always clawhammer, isn’t there. And them soft horns, not quite Louis Armstrong, but mellow is mellow, ain’t it? How about Eric Clapton, sounds mighty fine unplugged, don’t he ever. Good music comes from you, from the heart. It’s the language of the soul, so what if it speaks with a foreign accent for a while. Music is music, regardless of what instrument you play it on. When music is your livelihood there too are things you can do. Not much point to try and fool the audience with Chet Atkins picking when they’re expecting a heavy metal show - musicians ear plugs is where it’s at. Don’t bother looking for them at Harry’s Funky Guitar Emporium, they’re custom fitted to your ears at your local audiologists.’ Look one up in the hearing aid section of the yellow pages. They cost less than a decent pedal and fit only you so you won’t have to worry about the drummer ripping them off. What’s more, they’ll chop off all kinds of noise without cutting out the sounds you need to hear like your monitors etc. While you’re at it, think business and turn down the amps a smidgen - you can’t hustle CDs to deaf fans... If you're doing a studio gig, guess what, you’re wearing headphones - see volume control. Whether just listening to music or whether you play it, it all boils down to this: when you enjoy music you associate it with pleasure. Music is sound and when you associate sound with pleasure, couldn’t hurt could it... Foot note:
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Copyright © 2001 Bart Veerman