Hear The Music

Try this experiment.  Poke or drill a hole lengthwise in one of those yellow foam earplugs that are worn for hearing protection.  They can be obtained from your local audiologist or even a pharmacy.  For those technical people out there, the hole should be about 2.5 mm in diameter.  Then place a standard #13 piece of hearing aid tubing through

This is the last in a four-part series touching on some of the problems associated with selecting the right programming features for a “music program”.   Over the last three weeks (actually four since we took a break for the holidays, and I hope you all had a pleasant and relaxing time), I talked about the features of speech and how

Welcome back from the Christmas break.  I hope it was peaceful and relaxing. This is Part 3 in a four-part series that touches on some of the problems associated with selecting the programming features for a “music program”.  Two weeks ago, I talked about the features of speech and how they may differ from those of music, as well as

This post is a Reader’s Choice selection for 2013.   Actually audiologists are macho and not afraid of anything.  They wear super-audiologist capes when not in the office and fly around unaided like Superman.  (Audiologists do not wear their capes in the office since they may snag on expensive pieces of equipment or trip up clients who inadvertently step on

Dear Readers: During this holiday season, the editors at Hearing Health & Technology Matters (HHTM) are taking some time off. However, we are not leaving you without anything to read on our blog this week. Instead, we are publishing a special holiday edition filled with what we call our Readers’ Choices. The Readers’ Choices are the posts published on each

This is the sec0nd post in a four-part series that touches on some of the problems associated with selecting the programming features for a “music program”.   Last week’s post talked about the features of speech and how they may differ from those of music.  Part 2 (this week) and Parts 3 and 4 (to be published after a one-week break

This is part 1 of a four-part series that touches on some of the problems associated with selecting the programming features for a “music program”.   This part talks about the features of speech and how these may differ from those of music.  Parts 2, 3, and 4 will talk about the various characteristics of reeded musical instruments, stringed instruments, and

Hey, stupid DJs, listen up! Actually that’s a really stupid way to begin an open letter to DJs, or for that matter to anyone else.  And I apologize for that, especially if you are bigger than me.  But it did get your attention. DJs are amazing people who have a memory that is probably unlike that of the vast majority

After last week’s post was published on this blog, I received a deluge of emails about the phenomenon that I had mentioned called the Missing Fundamental.  I had discussed this in the context of saying that even though there is a significant amount of very low-frequency energy in music–essentially the entire left side of the piano keyboard–we don’t need to

Audiologists are understandably concerned with things that they can do something about.  Typically this means adjusting the programming software to the extent that they can in order to optimize a signal for speech and for music.  In some cases this is all that can be offered to a particular client.  This isn’t a criticism, but just a description of the