ME.HarpDoc
180 posts
Aug 17, 2016
5:11 PM
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A couple of recent posts referred to forum members relatives having tinnitus and being bothered by the upper register playing on high key harps, e.g. D and F.
Interestingly, I have had significant tinnitus for many years (possibly caused by pressure while scuba diving) which is quite prominent when things are relatively quiet but does not seem to bother me during any range or intensity of music. I certainly have no problem playing or listening to the high holes on the F harp, acoustic or amplified, bad player or pro (from a tinnitus standpoint that is, not quality of tone).
Do any of you who may have tinnitus and play have such issues, or is it only your listeners? If you have tinnitus and play at a jam or with a band, do you use earplugs? Does it help your tinnitus?
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indigo
270 posts
Aug 17, 2016
5:49 PM
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I have 24/7 tinnitus but i can't say that it has ever affected my hearing in anyway.
But i'd like to share one way i have found to help the condition if like me you have any sinus problems as well.
Start humming quite loudly up and down the frequencies,you should at one point find your sinus' natural resonance and you will feel the bone actually starts vibrating.
This can free up the sinus passage ways and the result is a trickle of liquid at the back of the throat.
Then do some deep gulping as to suck it down and swallow.
As a by product of doing this i found that my tinnitus sometimes eases off a bit as well. Bliss.
Might not work for everybody but it's worth a try.
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2plankr
84 posts
Aug 17, 2016
9:12 PM
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Indigo. How long do you have to hum for to relieve the sinus congestion?
Thanks.
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mlefree
736 posts
Aug 18, 2016
1:44 AM
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I too have chronic tinnitus. Loud rock concerts, shooting guns and sitting in front of a 1970s-era mini computer mainframe for 8 years.
It's annoying in a quiet environment but that isn't the real problem.
The real problem is that you are essentially deaf at the frequency of the tinnitus ringing in in your ears. Mine is a high frequency hearing loss with accompanying high frequency tinnitus. So I can't hear high frequencies. I'm totally deaf to many daily sources of high frequency sound. The alarm on my watch. Bird songs. A whining computer disk drive. I'll be sitting oblivious in a group of people who wonder why some idiot won't turn off their watch's alarm. I have no idea what the tiny Pine Siskin's song sounds like. Not good.
The issue is compounded when listening to music. I am haunted by the knowledge that I simply cannot hear some high frequencies in the recorded music I listen to. But I am even more bothered by the knowledge that I am missing not only some other musician's sounds, but also some of my own in a live music setting.
Consequently I wonder whether I am responding appropriately to other musician's contributions, but even more worrisome is the unanswerable question of whether I am hitting those high blow bends too hard or not hard enough.
Tinnitus takes an especially big toll on musicians and music lovers. Fortunately, modern hearing aids can boost the incoming frequencies to partially compensate for your inability to hear "over" you tinnitus. Unfortunately, I'm too poor to afford them.
Michelle
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SilverWing Leather - Custom leather creations for musicians and other eccentrics.
Last Edited by mlefree on Aug 18, 2016 1:45 AM
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indigo
272 posts
Aug 18, 2016
2:12 AM
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@2plankr
Mate you just find the right frequency where your sinus' resonates (vibrates), you'll immediately feel it. Then you just continue on or around that frequency until the the sinus' release their fluid into the back of your throat.
30 seconds or 2 minutes who knows,you try it it an see, there is no one rule for everybody.Try it at the lowest hum (but at a loudish volume) you can get and slowly work your way up, at some point you will feel that trickle of thick liquid at the back of your throat.
And if you are lucky,apart from relieving your sinusitis(guaranteed) it may help with the tinnitus(as it does with me)
Good luck.
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KC69
534 posts
Aug 18, 2016
4:34 AM
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Like Michelle I have high frequency hearing loss. I am also a scuba diver, responding from the Fla. Keys. Doc says I don't need hearing aids and also couldn't afford them. Don't think diving pressure has made worst and high notes don't bother me. But it sure is a nuisance. Most people without Tinnitus will never understand.
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And I Thank You !!
KCz
Backwoodz
Bluz
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nacoran
9196 posts
Aug 18, 2016
11:51 AM
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We had a long thread about this once, 40-50 posts I think. It seems harp players spend too much time next to the drummer!
I seem to remember someone there had figured out what pitch their ringing was at and could use it for tuning! Probably not worth the tradeoff, but if you already have it might as well use it.
I'm lucky so far (and pretty careful about hearing protection) but, like I said in the other thread, my brother can't listen to my higher harps.
I think about half the people in the old thread said they had it. It may have been a self selecting sample size, but it seems one of the cruel ironies of playing in a amplified band is that your love of music can lead to a loss of hearing.
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ME.HarpDoc
181 posts
Aug 18, 2016
4:14 PM
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@mlefree
I attended a seminar last year on tinnitus. There are a few causes and if hearing loss accompanies, sometimes it can be reduced with hearing aids, but in general, there's not much that can be done for most of us..
Not everyone who has tinnitus has hearing loss at the frequency of a he tinnitus. In fact, following a sophisticated hearing test, my hearing is fine right up past the frequency of my tinnitus ( just short of what my dog can hear). Years around the whine of a high speed turbine (I'm a retired dentist) also doesn't seem to be a contributing factor and has not affected my hearing. So maybe that lack of hearing loss is why the high end doesn't seem to bother me and I can detect volume changes quite well. However I've been playing at some loud jams so we'll see how my hearing does in the future ( hence my question about ear plugs).
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mlefree
740 posts
Aug 19, 2016
10:08 AM
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ME. HarpDoc, on purely technical grounds I may have misspoke. The presence of a ringing at a specific frequency may obscure incoming sounds at that frequency such that in effect, you are deaf at that frequency.
And if you can hear almost as well as your dog in spite of abusing your hearing all those years with the dreaded sound of those dental drills, your hearing is in a class all by itself. Do you whine when you hear those pesky high end blow bends? ;^)
Michelle
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SilverWing Leather - Custom leather creations for musicians and other eccentrics.
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ME.HarpDoc
182 posts
Aug 20, 2016
9:32 AM
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Michelle,
Yeah, here's me whining, "Last month I heard John Hammond at an outdoor concert. He's a legend but I just didn't like the tone and timbre of his high end playing"
On the other hand, he was followed by Johnny Sansone, who may have been the best performance of the festival, whose high end notes were spot on.
Two weeks later I saw Jason Ricci (indoors) who had probably the sweetest high end sound I've heard. He's a master of hitting all notes, including blow bends, with great tone.
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