I have been mostly playing a low whistle lately the high ones seen to bother me. Just learned I have about a 30% hearing loss-most likely from age and a very barkie collie-not whistles. I am thinking about putting away everything except my low D. I don’t want to make things worse. I am not sure I still can keep in tune anyway. Anyone else deal with this?
Yes. I do. A lot of us have the same issue, I expect. I would not stop playing. Just start actively managing it. I spent too many nights playing in front of large, loud amplifiers when I was young - took its toll. I do tend to play lower pitched whistles at home and for personal playing time for the same reason. I have a real nasty issue when I play in larger groups, especially at whistle workshops. There might be as many as thirty high D whistles playing the same thing at the same time in a workshop. There are a couple of ways to deal with high whistles in this case.
First, every whistle can be made to play quieter. Muting is a matter of reducing the width of the airstream that hits the blade. That reduces the volume. Search the forum on “whistle mute” and you will get the myriad solutions to making a whistle play quieter. Some are very simple - like a small blob of putty/wax/gum on the whistle’s blade/ramp. Muting does effect tuning a bit. Some whistles are made with built in mutes - such as some from Gary Parks.
All whistles can be played using the “whisper method”. The whisper method basically involves blowing over the top of the mouthpiece instead of into the end of the windway. You’ll hear a whisper of a tone. It may not seem satisfying at first but give it a chance. Sorry, no two octave range with this method but it can save the ears.
If you don’t want to fool with either of those methods and just play the whistles as you always have then get a set of ear plugs. The soft, squishy foam type do work IME. They are available everywhere from pharmacies to hardware stores - and they are very inexpensive. The hifi type of earplugs (Hearos, Dubs, EarPeace, etc.) work too if you want to spend more money on them.
As is the case with things like this - YMMV.
Feadoggie
I agree–keep playing, but make some adjustments: play something lower than a high D, and use earplugs.
Ironically, Susatos–well known for their robust volume–make great quiet whistles. Make a Silly Putty ‘worm’ and lay it over the ramp/blade, wrapping it around the sides of the head to hold it in place. Then adjust the shape to get the tone & volume you like.
The foam earplugs work, but they don’t have a flat frequency response, so I like these better for music: http://www.etymotic.com/consumer/hearing-protection/er20.html
And here’s an interesting/alarming read on sound exposure: http://www.larrykrantz.com/flutesor.htm Granted, (high) whistles aren’t normally as loud as piccolos, and they don’t normally play in the third octave, but still…
I do, but I have to take out my hearing aid. It’s set to amplify the higher frequencies that my ear has lost, but while playing a whistle it’s too much.
I’ve had significant high-frequency hearing loss my whole adult life. Sure, it can be a handicap at times, but life goes on and I still enjoy making and listening to music. When playing, I manage fine without hearing aids. Sometimes it is difficult to tune up in a noisy room (electronic tuners help there). Sometimes it is difficult to hear myself in a session, but I don’t play in many sessions anyway.
I used to like high-end audio equipment; now I realize it doesn’t sound any better than middle-of-the-road stuff to me, so I save some money for instruments now.
Focus on the aspects of your music that you can do and improve on, and enjoy them to the end of your days.
Thanks for your posts! It helps to know that carrying on is doable. I am not that great of a player but it’s been part of my life for some time. I will be picking up some earplugs and using them when I play and with my Border Collie, too, she according to sound app I have has a 70-80 db bark which after 10 years has had an impact (I think). Never thought about that until I realized I no longer could hear things that well.
Another option is industrial ear muffs, which are meant to dampen machine sounds.
These work well with our instruments, I find, are reasonably comfortable, inexpensive,
and good for practice. Another advantage is that of course one can take them off in
a flash if you need to hear someone talking, etc. And put them back on quickly.
Harder to do with ear plugs.