Professional musicians are almost four times more likely to suffer noise-induced hearing loss than other people. But many musicians with some hearing loss can hear better in noisy situations than the rest of us. That’s right – musicians with hearing loss hear better than people with normal hearing. 

It was controversial rocker Marilyn Manson who succinctly said, “Music is the strongest form of magic”.  But the magic makers, the musicians, often pay a price for imparting their gift; professional musicians are almost four times more likely to suffer noise-induced hearing loss than other people. Little wonder, when you consider the fact that 85 decibels is the peak recommended noise safety level and a concert or symphonic orchestra can easily reach and exceed 120 decibels.

As we age our hearing naturally starts to decline. Add to this the effects of noise exposure, and the ear can easily fall ‘out of shape’. When this happens you might find everything is too loud, words are distorted, background noise is a problem and once soothing music sounds like disorienting noise.

Musicians with hearing loss

The Who’s Pete Townsend, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Cream’s Eric Clapton, are just few of the musicians publicly spruiking hearing protection, imparting the wisdom of hindsight to a generation hell bent on avoiding earplugs while simultaneously plugging their ears with damaging ear buds.

These musicians so passionately convey their warnings because they know personally how profoundly hearing loss can affect one’s life.

The secondary implications of hearing loss form an extensive list – depression, isolation and dementia are just some of them. Professional musicians with hearing loss are additionally overwhelmed by consequences to their career. They often undergo a very real grieving process. For example, it’s well known that Beethoven composed some of his greatest work almost completely deaf, but it’s lesser known that he wrote a suicide letter in the midst of despair over his condition.

Musicians hear better in tricky situations

Still, studies show classical musicians with hearing loss hear better than non-musicians without hearing loss. Musical expertise has been shown to kick start neuroplastic changes throughout the nervous system, which helps sharpen early sensory processing, and  improve linguistic ability, working memory and source segregation. This is why musicians usually possess enhanced auditory perception skills (meaning they have a superior ability to differentiate speech from background noise).

Music training could help you communicate better 

This remarkable finding offers everyone who suffers hearing loss a beautiful opportunity for hearing rehabilitation. By studying music, and using good hearing aids that enable quality sound stimulation, many people will dramatically improve their hearing ability, especially their ability to decipher speech from background noises, one of the biggest challenges for people using hearing aids.

As singers and voice teachers can attest,  listening ability can be moulded. We hear better when we concertedly engage our brains – the physical ear works as a conduit.  If there is a problem with the ear itself, hearing aids can activate lost frequencies and you can teach your brain to reprocess sound. This has been likened to discovering music anew.

Hearing aids and music

Advances in hearing aid technology means that musicians who find themselves living in an altered world of sound can continue to make music. That said, many digital hearing aid users report problems when listening to music, such as acoustic feedback and reduced tone quality. This is because many hearing aid manufacturers still use what is known as Wide Dynamic Range Compression technology, which compresses all sounds and can result in distorted or unnatural sound quality, especially when listening to music. Conversely, digital hearing aids with Adaptive Dynamic Range Optimisation technology (as used in Cochlear implants and Blamey Saunders hearing aids) only adjust sound levels if they become too loud or soft for a user’s settings, providing maximum comfort and audibility.

Further, the amount of channels in a hearing aid determines the quality of signal processing, just as the number of pixels in a picture determines how clear it appears. More channels mean greater control over sound quality, especially in background noise.

Are you a musician with hearing loss? Do  you wear hearing aids? How do they affect you when you play?

Share your thoughts and experiences below.