Health and Safety

[musicus]

Thank you, SC. I have marked the link accordingly.

[Psalm Project]

What an interesting subject - and very close to my heart!
I know lots of musicians (not all church based) who have significant issues with hearing.
I have worked for the past 30 years as an organist and choir director. I have hearing loss - which I have been told is a result of prolonged exposure to high levels of sound.
I have lost almost all of my hearing in my right ear. My left is holding up well and I can manage fine with it - don't ask me to comment on stereo seperation anymore!!!
My son and I have to retain a sense of humour when we listen to iPod music... I point out that I only need one ear bud! Hello, Apple people?! Any chance your engineers could make the output into mono (as a configuration option)

I suffer from constant tinnitus - I manage. It is not life-threatening. I was diagnosed with Meniere's Syndrome about 15 years ago - Google it if you are not familiar with that condition...
Lot's of musicians have this debilitating ear-related condition - not many want to publicise it!

Health and safety is a huge area in our present times. Ear-splitting volumes from choirs and organs will become a big issue. I know what it is like to come away from a loud organ with ringing in my ears - I should have heeded that signal years ago. My choir of over 30 members practices in a relatively small room - I regularly have ringing in my ears after the rehearsals.
So, what can one do? It's part of my livelihood. Ear defenders are not the answer.

Anyone want to feed into this thread?

[dunstan]

Alas, I can't offer any suggestions for a choir singing in a small space. But sudden noises cause far more damage than ones which increase over time - metal working, dropped scaffolding poles etc are generally thought to be the most damaging sort of noise.

But preventing damage is always a far better idea than suffering afterwards. In a different sphere of life, people often say to me "you pick up heavy objects as if you'd hurt your back" to which the reply is "that's because I don't want to hurt my back."

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[docmattc]

I know lots of musicians (not all church based) who have significant issues with hearing.

The 1' sifflote on the Allen I play doesn't break back at all along its register, which means that the top end could be used by bats for echo location! I've done the experiment with the choir to see how high they can hear it and they do (as we all know) loose higher frequencies the older they get (There are other ways of telling the age of a chorister- but counting their rings would involve chopping a leg off). I can hear all but the top three or four notes but our flautist, a professional musician six years my junior, is missing about an octave more than that. She puts it down to spending much of her time very close to a flute.

[Southern Comfort]

(There are other ways of telling the age of a chorister- but counting their rings would involve chopping a leg off)

Hilarious!

[organist]

My Dad had meniere's and he took Sanatogen for it which helped. I don't think he had tinnitus but I do get that. the worst was before a Sons of the Clergy service at St Paul's cathedral with organ and everyone talking loudly. I do have hearing aids but only wear them at meetings as I manage quite well without them and they make my ears hurt after a while.