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.
Sep. 30, 2014

A city is a noisy place

Marshall Chasin
A city is a noisy place. The Canadian Hearing Society in … Canada… (bet you couldn’t guess that one?!) has some hearing loss prevention promotional material that says that “noise levels are doubling every decade”. While this is a story that sounds alarmist and is sure to grab attention, there are some data to support it. Noise levels do change very gradually
Sep. 30, 2014

Reconnaissance de la Parole en Classe et en Milieu de Travail

Marshall Chasin
Par le liberated learning Consortium Le Liberated Learning Consortium (Consortium Apprentissage libéré) et l’Association des malentendants canadiens utilisent la reconnaissance de la parole pour promouvoir l’accessibilité et l’indépendance. Le Consortium est un regroupement d’universités, de collèges et d’organismes sans but lucratif qui promeuvent l’apprentissage accessible par le biais de la reconnaissance de la parole. Il collabore avec l’AMEC pour offrir
Sep. 23, 2014

Music training even improves cochlear function

Marshall Chasin
In the study of the human hearing mechanism there has been an historic tendency, rightly or wrongly, to divide the auditory system into peripheral (or “just the cochlea”) and central processing. Central processing refers to all of the manipulation of a speech or music signal by the nerves and other central “way-stations”.  The central processing comes complete with neural feedback
Sep. 16, 2014

Politics, Blues and What New Orleans Politicians Had to Say – Part 3

Marshall Chasin
Welcome to part 3 of Larry Blumenfeld’s article from Blu Note magazine.  In parts 1 and 2 he discussed the rocky balance between music and politics, at least at a municipal bylaw ordinance level.  Here is what Larry had to say. During a press conference at this year’s [New Orleans ]Jazz & Heritage Festival, shortly after the city council passed
Sep. 09, 2014

Blues, politics, and music – part 2

Marshall Chasin
In part 1 of this three-part blog, Larry Blumenfeld discusses in Blu Note magazine the politics and the culture surrounding the finding of a common ground for musicians, music lovers, and residents in New Orleans.  In Part 2 Larry discusses some key areas of interest. Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO): In the 1970s, the city passed a zoning ordinance that actually prohibits live entertainment in
Sep. 02, 2014

New Orleans, Blues, and Politics- part 1

Marshall Chasin
New Orleans is a hotbed of music, especially jazz and blues.  Since the early 1970s there has been an uneasy truce between the musicians (especially in the French Quarter) and the residents regarding acceptable levels of noise or music. Recently, as has been reported, this truce broke down when one group began arguing for reducing the maximum permitted noise level
Sep. 02, 2014

Quitter la Maison pour l’université ou le Collège… Avec un Handicap

Marshall Chasin
par Andrea Scott Votre adolescente ou adolescent envisage-t-il de quitter le nid pour fréquenter l’université ou le collège? Pour de nombreux parents, c’est une nouvelle source d’inquiétudes et d’anxiétés. D’une certaine façon, peut-être êtes-vous impatients de voir votre adolescent partir. Mais il est probable que vous vous inquiétiez de la façon dont il se débrouillera sans vous pour le protéger.
Aug. 26, 2014

Should we use #13 tubing in in-ear monitors?

Marshall Chasin
Once upon a time (actually a month ago), I had a client who wanted to get custom silicon earplugs for his in-ear monitors.  Of the many “connectors” for in-ear monitors, the most common is a stem that is on the order of 2.5 mm in diameter and extends  about 8-10 mm in length.  There is no magic in these numbers,
Aug. 19, 2014

Musicians and Diabetes

Marshall Chasin
For this week’s entry, we turn to the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, a wonderful organization in New Orleans.  From time to time, the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic has speakers on a range of topics that are of concern to musicians.  This blog is about managing diabetes.  You ask, “isn’t this a blog about hearing?”  and the answer is yes.  Diabetes
Aug. 12, 2014

What do glaciers and in-ear monitors have in common?

Marshall Chasin
I just returned from an Alaskan cruise.  Much to my disappointment there was no penguin fishing and I never did see an Atlantic salmon, but other than these two let-downs, it was a great trip.  We visited Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan.  “Ketchikan” is a Northwest First Nation word meaning “many-jewellery-shops-for-tourists-near-the-cruise-terminal”. It occurred to me during the trip when I was