Re: PT hearing revisited (long)

[Extremus@aol.com]

>why can he not
>simply play loud electric, only not as loud as the famously loud Who were in
>their prime?  Has anyone ever read an interview with, or spoken to, PT about
>the hearing question which goes in- to the matter in any real detail?
>Finally, how loud was the volume of PT's electric at the recent U.S. shows?<

Hopefully, a techie can give us some detailed info on the monitor vs. PA vs.
stacks behind the player issue.  From a medical and hearing p.o.v.:

Pete has tinnitus, (aka "ringing in the ears") caused by long exposure to
high decibels.  The tiny hairs lining the middle ear normally wave with
sound, helping us to distinguish different tones; they become less sensitive
and eventually inert through repeated short exposures to very high volumes
(i.e. gunshots) or longer exposure to lesser decibels or irritating sounds.
 The ringing is the inner ear's version of hearing the sea in a
seashell--even quiet sounds the brain normally ignores become audible as a
continuous tone.

Tinnitus can also be caused by certain drugs.  [To get a taste of tinnitus,
eat a handful of aspirin for a few days--it'll last a week or two--just long
enough to drive you crazy.]  Pete's is primarily from wearing headphones
during recording/editing/listening, rather than concerts.  [Nothing like the
volume cranked up through the 'phones, especially if your recreational intake
of whatever prevents you from noticing the pain.]

The sound can actually be ringing, or buzzing, or other tones; it's constant
and incredibly irritating.  High pitches or loud noises make the discomfort
worse (children's and women's voices are particularly bad).  Obviously,
having a stack of speakers behind you is impossible, which is one reason he's
been running his guitar direct to the PA system for a while now.  An electric
guitar has a more metallic sound than an acoustic, therefore is more painful
at the same decibel level.  "Dirty" signals (distortion) is also
significantly more painful than clean signals at the same level.

Tinnitus can improve over time, if the individual avoids further irritation,
and if the middle ear structures aren't totally destroyed.  This is why PT
now says his hearing has improved; he's been careful the last several years.

He can probably tolerate other performers' sounds because he's hearing them
indirectly, rather than straight at his head from a stack behind him.  Since
the monitors are coming up from ground level, the sound is spread around more
before it reaches his ears--and doesn't have to be particularly loud since
it's not being amped for the audience.  And the equipment he's used (at least
since '89) has been much much cleaner than previously.  (My hearing damage
made me most sensitive to dirty sound and high pitch.  In '89, the decibel
level on the stadium floor was running 120-125db; I was temporarily deafened,
but there was no pain.)

At the Supper Club, Pete's electric playing was no louder than the acoustic,
and both vocals and instruments were super clean.  By contrast (and I don't
know why there was a difference) Bob Mould's guitar was clean, but his vocals
were painfully (to me) distorted.  In other recent shows I've heard, Pete's
guitar levels were essentially the same--if anything, the acoustic was a bit
louder. 

Mick Noland