I occasionally visit the other piano forum. Yes, it's the one started by the banned PW member. I do not post there as the general tone of the board seems to be rather insular and self satisfied. I don't think my rather unlearned opinions would be welcomed. I do read it, though, and have learned a few things of value from the discussions there. Today there is a discussion about whether hearing loss from today's noisier society has affected our preference of piano sound. The premise, I guess, would be that people would prefer a brighter piano with less overtones today because we cannot hear as well as most people from previous generations.

There was a link to an article on hearing loss posted which led to this blog.
Out of curiousity, I downloaded the NCH tone generator, and found that I apparently have 18-24 year old hearing, at least according to the chart on the blog. I am 46. I am able to hear tones up to 16,900 hz. Anything higher is inaudible to me, although I'm not certain if the limitation is my ears or my cheap PC speakers.

I am looking for opinions regarding this premise. Does one's hearing affect one's choice of piano? Since the highest piano note is what, around 4000-5000 hz or so, would upper hearing loss affect one's perception of the sound of a piano art all? I guess that we lose the highest overtones or something.

I know this is somewhat off topic, but I wonder if anyone has opinions on the subject or if you find it interesting as I did. Oh, here is the link to the thread on the other board.

--Dennis

Interesting argument, Dennis. I don't read the other board (I get in enough procrastination trouble keeping up with THIS board), but I guess I don't buy the argument that we would want a brighter piano with fewer overtones because we cannot hear as well... The brighter part I buy, but not the fewer overtones, because if we can't hear the overtones, it doesn't matter whether or not the piano has them... right?

I'll have to download that hearing test program and try it out for myself. I don't think I've had any hearing loss, but I will acknowledge that one of the reasons I picked the M&H is that it had a loud, in-your-face tone that I didn't hear in other brands, such as Yamaha or Boston. But the M&H also has lots and lots of harmonics and overtones that I find appealing, which doesn't square with the hearing loss/bright preference/ fewer overtones hypothesis.

I personally think the biggest factor in affecting one's choice of piano is experience listening to and playing pianos. It's really not until you've played a whole lot of different pianos that you can appreciate the subtle nuances among them. The very first grand I played I remember feeling disappointed and thinking "is this all there is? I thought it would sound more SPECIAL!" The more I shopped, though, and the more I studied them, the more I realized that they really did sound special.

i dont know anything about this subject, but i could hear all of those tones and that last one was a humdinger and brought tears to my eyes:( it hurt. so i am not quite sure that is accurate to say adults cant hear these things as i am 31 and i could hear them all.


i would think if one suffered hearing loss they would want a bigger louder piano so they could hear what they are playing. or maybe play a smaller piano they could barely hear and pretend they are in a silent movie:)

It's funny this should come up. I just went to an audiologist for a hearing test this week and showed loss at the top and bottom frequencies. I began to notice problems hearing about six months ago, and then this semester (I'm a HS teacher)I had several situations where people's cellphones went off in class, with the whole class turning around to look at it. Even the other teacher whose room I use could hear it, and I couldn't. It was a little embarrassing; plus, I think I'm a little young for hearing loss (I'm almost 46). Anyway, I'm on the borderline for hearing aids, which means I'm definitely not getting them. They're a lot of trouble, so I will wait until they'll be worth the effort. I do like a bright piano, though, and bought a Yamaha upright that was the brightest and loudest one in the store. I've found, though, that it hampers my ability to play loudly with my body since it naturally just thunders forth with little provocation on my part. I've had it voiced and now have pillows stuffed behind it.

Hey...maybe that's just the excuse I needed to upgrade to a grand!

Nancy

The other board wouldn't make your procrastination much worse, Monica. There are only 3 or 4 posts a day over there as a general rule.

There probably is no real way to answer this question. I just thought it was interesting. I must be weird or something.

--Dennis

OH, NancyM333, HAPPY BIRTHDAY![/b]

--Dennis

Thanks--isn't that birthday cake such a cute idea!

Last night when I posted I was "almost 46," I really meant almost!

Nancy

Yes, definitely. I have very acute, bat-like
hearing and thus piano playing in general
is agonizing, since the piano has a compromised
tuning that is not exact. All the discords
in even a perfectly tuned piano grate on my
ear and quickly produce fatigue when I'm
playing--this is why I'm convinced that
the best concert pianists have average
or below average hearing; they simply could not
practice the longs hrs. that they do
if they had very keen hearing.

Thus, I will always prefer a digital
piano for practicing since it's tuning
is perfect and never deteriorates.
On an acoustic I can hear the tuning
gradually deteriorate after it's tuned.
Even if I had a big house with room
for several grands, I would still do
almost all of my practicing on a digital.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thought that. I'm convinced it's my playing (translate: lack of ability to play) and not the piano.

Well I certainly have poor hearing on low frequencie notes or speech. This is worse on some telephones and in a crowded room with everyone chatting away.

I can easily hear the slightest resonance emminating from certain notes on the piano and as mine is virtually brand new my Technician asked me to have it tuned 3 times this year. I will do that.

I may play jazz but this does not mean I'm a heavy handed player, quite the opposite.

The Yamaha I played on the cruise ship in the Caribbean recently, certainly was too bright for me.

I would not complain about my piano as it's suberb and the acoustics and tone fantastic.

Alan