I have some hearing damage left over from too much shotgun shooting when I was a youngster (of course nobody used earmuffs back then). It’s mostly in my left ear, which is of course closest to the fiddle. Hearing aids have been very helpful to me for a number of years.
The loud tones of the fiddle in my left ear often seem bothersome to me, sometimes enough to distract me from my playing. I got to thinking about this because I noticed myself frequently playing with a mute. But playing with a mute takes away some of the overtones and complexity of the violin’s tone -- that’s unfortunate because wonderful and expressive tone is one of the fiddle’s great attributes.
I understand hearing problems are quite common among professional violinists, and I further understand that loud (“fortissimo”) violin notes can reach 100 dB. That’s just 5 inches away from the left ear so there is clearly a potential for hearing damage.
So I invested $20 in acoustic ear plugs from D’Addario and I have started using a plug in my left ear while I’m playing. The sound seems a little strange, but it is not terrible.
Now I’m wondering if the ear plug will hurt my intonation. My ability to play the right notes depends on my ability to hear the notes and their relationships. As we all know, very small mistakes in placement of our fingers on the fingerboard can make a good tune sound seriously goofy.
I wonder if others have dealt with the issue of hearing protection and potential effects on performance.
The many intonation problems I've faced have never been exacerbated by ear plugs. It's only tone quality that's suffered.
Since I got tinnitus, I found that high overtones from the fiddle and other instruments, like flute, clarinet, horns, trumpets, are very disturbing. I use a couple of loose pieces of cotton in each ear. While it does very little to reduce the overall volume, it does cut out those high frequencies I find disturbing (a modest damper).
Orchestral violinists sometimes suffer from hearing loss. Some of it comes from having the violin beer the ear, but it’s equally common to be a result of being in the “line of fire” of other instruments in the orchestra, especially the horns.
The use of specialized hearing protection has increased a bit, but it’s still not commonplace. I haven’t used it myself, so I can’t speak to its impact on tone quality, but my understanding is that high quality earplugs are designed to simply reduce the intensity of certain frequencies ringing in your ears. They aren’t canceling sound or eliminating it. That being said, putting any item into the ear has to have some effect on hearing, whether that’s a muting effect or just a modification.
Mutes for the violin change the fundamental tone of the instrument because they add mass to the bridge and cut down on its modes of vibration. While most orchestral mutes add only enough mass to alter the character of the sound, practice mutes tend to be heavy enough to make much more substantial changes to the mechanics of tone production.
I don’t think there is a silver bullet to this issue, unfortunately. One thing that can be helpful is to play in a setting where you’re not being bombarded by reverberations. You can accomplish this by playing in a room with decent space for projection or you can decorate a smaller room with sound absorbers to limit reflections off of hard surfaces.
I use a combination of wire mute and a relatively cheap generic ear-plug in my left ear; not the cheapest, but of the foamy variety, and it's flesh-coloured, so it's "discreet". They come in a package of twenty or so, and one lasts for awhile; when it doesn't seem to be working, I throw it out and take out a new one. Hasn't interfered with my intonation or my enjoyment.
What has interfered with my intonation is age - when I listen to recordings I made when younger, I find my intonation right on; now it's not, but I don't hear that when I'm playing, only when I listen back. I have to be more conscious of finger placement now than I've been since I was just starting out.
I wonder if this is one reason some old timers played with their instruments lower down on the chest or in the crook of their elbow. It just sounded better there.
I use Etymotic ear plugs. I guess they're more for rockers, but they work OK. They're supposed to knock the total down 20db.
I hate mutes. I think they can mess up the tone of a good violin. But I've run across a fiddle that needed to knock down a certain eq range.
Most violins are not near as truck- like as mine. A cowboy hat can really do a job on my ears if I play with one on.
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Originally posted by DougDI wonder if this is one reason some old timers played with their instruments lower down on the chest or in the crook of their elbow. It just sounded better there.
I don't play down low like that, but I do angle the fiddle out towards the "audience" away from my face. It makes a big difference in the volume in my ears. I know it does because in a large group l or if I'm next to a loud fiddler I occasionally can't hear myself without making it angle back up towards the sky/my face.
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Originally posted by DougDI wonder if this is one reason some old timers played with their instruments lower down on the chest or in the crook of their elbow. It just sounded better there.
I love hearing mine at that position. Tonal reasons and volume!
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Originally posted by The Violin BeautifulOrchestral violinists sometimes suffer from hearing loss. Some of it comes from having the violin beer the ear, but it’s equally common to be a result of being in the “line of fire” of other instruments in the orchestra, especially the horns.
Oh, those other instruments.
When I played rock and roll, I was an exception (so I've been told by many a sound man) because my guitar amp was the quietest instrument on stage. But standing in front of crash cymbals for 2 decades takes its toll. Eventually I rearranged the stage layout to put myself as far from the drums as possible. Still lost some high end hearing.
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Originally posted by DougDI wonder if this is one reason some old timers played with their instruments lower down on the chest or in the crook of their elbow. It just sounded better there.
I would play like that if I could, for the sake of my hearing, but, as I've mentioned before, I just can't keep hold of the fiddle lower down, or over to the right; it just slips away like a greased pig.
Yes, I like the idea of playing with the fiddle on my chest, with the sound projecting forward rather than upward. I have seen numerous pictures of old-time fiddlers playing that way, but I have never been able to figure out a way to make it work. I do try it from time to time, but then I remind myself that it took me a while to learn how to play without ergonomic problems so maybe it’s best to leave well enough alone.
I use the Etymotic in my left ear and my hearing aid in my right ear on its music setting. I'll never hear like I used to but this is usually tolerable or better than tolerable. If I do any less my hearing is affected for at least the rest of the day. That's mostly tinnitus but also a dulling of higher pitches and everybody on television mumbling.
Stood at the side of screaming monitors for my fiddle, drummers tuning their snares (thats the worst..CRACK!!!), banjo's plinking away with gay abandon at massive volumes, and amplified accordions playing with all 4 sets of reeds, and basses that took the wind out of my chest , in plastic Irish pubs that needed earplugs just walking in to them before the racket (music?) had even started. I'm surprized i only have tinnitus in only one ear. But that is not good at all. sometimes i want to take a cordless drill to my tab to get rid of it. Amplifiers should come with a health warning.
Trouble is, now i have learned my lesson and do not attend amplified gatherings. Even acoustic music evades me . The more i try to listen, the louder the tinnitus and the loudly mumbling crowd gets. Ditch the Amps!!! Wear earplugs or give gigging up all together it ain't worth the 50 quid a gig or so you get for it.
I like to practice with a mute on my violin to lessen the intensity of the sound. I have found that I need to use a mute on my violin when playing with friends in small places so my violin is not so loud in comparison to the guitars and singing. In larger room, I play my violin unmuted.
I wear ear plugs when operating mowers, saws and other loud equipment. I wear ear plugs and ear muffs when operating a chain saw.
I've tried to use ear plugs when playing on stage with loud instrument, but then it is hard to hear my own fiddle playing.
