Marshall Chasin

Marshall Chasin, AuD, is an audiologist and the Director of Auditory Research at the Musicians’ Clinics of Canada, Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto (in Linguistics), Associate Professor in the School of Communication Disorders and Sciences at the Western University. He is the author of over 200 articles and 7 books including Musicians and the Prevention of Hearing Loss. Dr. Chasin has been the recipient of many awards over the years including the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Award for service to Canada and the Canada 150 Medal in 2017. He has developed a new TTS app called Temporary Hearing Loss Test app.

Caffeine and Noise Exposure

Marshall Chasin

I love my morning coffee. And my afternoon coffee. Also, my evening coffee. I am not sure how much I drink every day because I usually buy a cup of coffee, take several sips, and then get busy. I may come back to a half full cup of cold coffee several hours later, or not. Although I am not a

Reverberation Time and Wallace Sabine, Part 2

Marshall Chasin

After trying to contact Dr. Wallace Clement Sabine’s spirit for several nights, we were able to re-establish communication with him by way of a séance. Our discussion about reverberation time (RT) continues from part 1 of this blog series… MC: Hello Dr. Sabine. May I call you Wallace? WS: No. MC: May I call you Wally? WS: No. MC: Well, like last time, I

Parlez plus fort, Doc, je suis malentendante – part 1

Marshall Chasin

Par Gael Hannan C’est un fait, les personnes malentendantes ont l’esprit vif de nos jours. Quel est le plus grand défi soulevé par une visite à l’hôpital, chez le médecin ou chez le dentiste? L’examen de la vue alors que vous ne pouvez pas voir les lèvres du technicien, ni même celui-ci? Le dentiste qui porte un masque, sans même

Reverberation Time and Wallace Sabine part 1

Marshall Chasin

The Tragically Hip recently gave their last performance (ever) on Saturday August 20, 2016 in their home town of Kingston, Ontario, just a few hours drive east of Toronto. The event was broadcasted through the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the concert was viewed by a third of all Canadians; many had bed sheets strung up in their backyards with

Singing Stars

Marshall Chasin

Sound, noise, and music analysis can be a confusing thing. It is true that there are now Smartphone apps that can provide a wide range of data concerning the sound level expressed in dB, dBA, and even Leq. There are even apps that can provide frequency analysis replete with Fourier or FFT spectral capabilities. One of the elements of all

Whale behavior due to shipping noise

Marshall Chasin

Whales, dolphins, and porpoises are really neat mammals. They are evidence that our common ancestor exited the primordial sea; some became land dwelling mammals, but a few returned to the sea and re-adapted to their water-based environment. One can think of this as evolution going backwards, or maybe, evolution doesn’t have a direction and we should just be thinking in

Is the human ear canal a cylinder or a cone? Part 2

Marshall Chasin

In part 1 of this blog series, we looked at why a clarinet sounded different than a soprano saxophone. Both are “closed” at the mouth piece end and “open” at the end of the bore. Both are identical lengths, yet one functions as a quarter wavelength resonator and has odd numbered multiples of its resonances (clarinet) and the other functions

Parlez plus fort, Doc, je suis malentendante – Part 2

Marshall Chasin

de Vibes vol. 2, No. 2 Par Gael Hannan C’est une vraie pièce, avec une porte. Mon ORL précédent préconisait le concept de bureau ouvert, un cauchemar pour les patients malentendants. Soudainement, le médecin surgit dans la pièce, en blouse blanche et un médecin interne s’agitant derrière lui. Le médecin s’installe sur le tabouret devant moi et me fixe dans

Why does the clarinet sound different than the soprano saxophone? Part 1

Marshall Chasin

Why does the clarinet sound different than the soprano saxophone? This is an interesting comparison and has implications for hearing, speech acoustics and, oh yes, musical instruments. It is also one of the most misunderstood comparisons in acoustics. Both the soprano saxophone and the clarinet have identical lengths; both are “closed” at the mouth piece end, and “open” at the

Models of how the inner ear works

Marshall Chasin

I must admit that I don’t really know how the inner ear works. And it’s not just me. The ear is a dynamic system with feedback loops that only function well at optimal fluid pressures and biochemistries. We have many theories, but unfortunately (or fortunately for the listener) these are based on dead people, lower mammals, or other species. In