Threshold shifts and restitution of the hearing after different music exposures

Abstract

Human hearing is sometimes exposed to such high levels at modern musical events that the danger of acute damage cannot be ruled out for musicians, disc jockeys and listeners, even if the exposure time is limited. In order to examine at least basically the hypothetically expected different effects of various musical styles, 10 volunteer test subjects were exposed to three types of music with equally loud lower levels. In a change-over test design over several days, quite different exposures (European and Chinese classical music, house music) with a mean level of 94 dB(A) and a limited exposure time of 1 hour were chosen for ethical as well as for pragmatic reasons. Pieces by Bach and Handel, with passages that are dominated by wind instruments, and pieces of the culturally different Chinese music were selected that are fairly similar to European classical music in terms of rhythm and melody, yet completely different with regard to pitch and instrumentation. Since nowadays, many young people prefer music with an emphasis on rhythm to classical music, a medley of monotonous, downright hammering and penetrating house music was used. After the exposures, the maximum hearing threshold shifts (TTS₂) were measured and the entire restitution course was recorded audiometrically. With regression-analytically determined 13.5 dB (house music), 12.1 dB (classical music) and 9.8 dB (Chinese classical music), the TTS₂ values were not substantially different between the three exposures. Based on these results, the aural effects of house music would have been comparable to classical music. However, the restitution of the hearing after house music (with more than 2.5 hours) required a substantially longer time period. After both types of classical music, the resting hearing threshold was once again reached within less than 1 hour. Moreover, the accumulated hearing threshold shifts were substantially (more than three times) lower than the overall physiological costs associated with house music.

Keywords:

• Sound exposures
• House music
• European and Chinese classical music
• Temporary threshold shifts
• Physiological costs of the hearing