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.

Featured image for “Musicians, our medical colleagues, and the dose…”

Musicians, our medical colleagues, and the dose…

Marshall Chasin

I recently attended the Performing Arts Medical Association conference, where I was the sole audiologist among physical therapists, surgeons, musicians and other specialists. The experience underscored our duty as audiologists to educate colleagues in seemingly unrelated fields about our expertise and training. There was a case presented of a drummer with wrist and elbow issues. Various practitioners tried diagnosing the

Featured image for “An orchestral setup that Mozart would be proud of”

An orchestral setup that Mozart would be proud of

Marshall Chasin

Although I have not seen Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart clinically for a couple of years, I know him well enough to know that he was ahead of his time, hated old conventions, and was always pushing the envelope to expand the music, especially when it came to the masses. So, if Mozart were here today, how would he have changed

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Loud Music is the Same as Stress, at the Molecular Level

Marshall Chasin

At the molecular level, the effects of loud noise and music, are the same as that of stress. In both cases, during stress and loud noise exposure, calcium ions rush into the cell causing depolarization and cell death. What was flippantly referred to as the “mind/body connection” in the 1960s actually has a pretty solid physiological basis, at least

Featured image for “What do Paris Hilton and Acoustics Have in Common?”

What do Paris Hilton and Acoustics Have in Common?

Marshall Chasin

The Bernoulli effect is central to how we speak and it, at least in part, defines many of the characteristics of the speech spectrum input to hearing aids. Daniel Bernoulli was a member of a Bach-like family where several generations participated in the family business. Of course for the Bernoullis, it was mathematics and physics, and not music that

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Area over love

Marshall Chasin

This may sound like a cheap romantic novel or a new soap opera but “area over love” is an important acoustic principle that rears its romantic head in a number of clinical scenarios that are encountered almost every day. Also slightly less romantic, the following equation can be helpful: F α Area/LoVe. The frequency of interest is proportional to the

Featured image for “I Went to a Concert Last Night and My Ears are Still Ringing…”

I Went to a Concert Last Night and My Ears are Still Ringing…

Marshall Chasin

We have all had the experience that our hearing felt numb or reduced after a noisy event such as watching a fireworks display or a rock concert. And indeed if one were to have their hearing tested just before such an event, and then immediately after, there would be some temporary hearing loss. After 16-18 hours the hearing typically returns

Featured image for “Hearing Loss Prevention and Music”

Hearing Loss Prevention and Music

Marshall Chasin

Of the many causes of permanent hearing loss, the one that is most preventable is noise and music exposure. Although music and noise appear to be quite different; one being a good thing and the other, less good, both have a similar (but not identical) effect on our hearing. Although recent research have unveiled several parameters that can affect one’s

Featured image for “Hearing Loss Prevention and Music”

Hearing Loss Prevention and Music

Marshall Chasin

Of the many causes of permanent hearing loss, the one that is most preventable is noise and music exposure. Although music and noise appear to be quite different; one being a good thing and the other, less good, both have a similar (but not identical) effect on our hearing. Although recent research have unveiled several parameters that can affect one’s

Featured image for “Best of 2018: Musicians should not retire on my watch!”

Best of 2018: Musicians should not retire on my watch!

Marshall Chasin

Recently there have been news reports about famous musicians who can no longer perform their music and choose to retire. By hook or by crook, that should not happen! There are a multitude of strategies and technologies that can extend anyone’s playing and singing career. I recently saw a few hard of hearing clients with high frequency sensori-neural hearing losses

Featured image for “A Northwestern University study on Diplacusis”

A Northwestern University study on Diplacusis

Marshall Chasin

Lauren Ervin is a current graduate student working towards her Master’s in Communication Disorders at Northwestern University. Her current research is focused on the phenomenon of diplacusis (or false pitch perception) and its effects on the musician population. Her previous academic experience includes a Bachelor of Science at Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY) where Lauren studied Speech-Language