Now if only I could attenuate my darn voice as well!

Eugene,

I see what you mean about the variables. The volume will sound different based on the environment (furnishings, etc). And the “standing waves.” Something is definitely happening here that wasn’t happening before. I’ve been playing the same piano for 20 years now. I need to see if I changed something that’s causing those waves to stand out?

I’ll experiment somewhat with moving things around and see if the sound changes any.

More important, I’m going to spend every day this week playing pianos at my local piano shop (they’ve invited me in in the hopes of selling me another piano) and also I forgot that the hospital down the block has a Steinway in the lobby, so I’ll be playing on there too. The Steinway I’ve played before. They tune it regularly and I was on it last week. No problem that I remember afterwards, but I’ll watch closely this week.

Yes, he tested my hearing and found only a slight hearing loss typical of someone my age. He also suggested this A-B test ($107) where they place sensors on your head and read them while introducing sound waves into your ear to test the inner ear (I think that’s what he said….I’ll inquire again on Tuesday).

Thanks, for this ear plug info should I elect to buy them. I should have realized that you get them through an audiologist if you want to have a proper fit. I think you just saved me wasting $160 there. I’ll pay more, but at least they’ll be comfortable and effective. And you said I’ll “get used to the low sound level….and start to enjoy them.”

“I think tuning the piano will obviously make it sound better, but I don't think it will improve your loudness sensitivity.”

I think tuning this piano would be an exercise in futility. It will sound a little better, but it should have been put to rest a few years ago. I keep putting off buying one, because I want to move from where I am now and I’d take a big loss on it. Possibly this will be the catalyst to get me to move more quickly as I absolutely love playing piano. Hope this ear situation clears up. I’m more concerned about this then I let on.

I will also take Diki’s advice about the “heavy blanket” over it for now. And maybe try and do something temporarily with the hammers. But I’ll first find out if I get this problem on other pianos and if I don’t, I won’t waste any more time in trying to figure out what’s wrong on mine. I’ll just give it the “heave” before my ear falls off.

I really appreciate your interest and if you want I’ll let you know how it’s going in a few days.

MC

Diki,

You make more sense than the doctor does. I thought “infection” also. There is a clear indication that my left ear has discomfort in it that my right ear doesn’t have. I told the doctor this, and again he reassured me “no infection.” My own thoughts are: If it’s not an actual infection, there is definitely something going on that’s causing sensitivity in that ear.

The piano is at home and beyond tuning because as I mentioned I want to move and maybe get a baby grand if I can fit it in the new place.

The 70+ db measurement was taken while I was practicing boogie woogie and rock riffs (heavy left hand) and walking bass. That’s how the whole thing started…after a few weeks of this! Since my head didn’t move, I took the reading where my ear was most of the time. But as Eugene said, although my ear stayed stationary something else in the room could be “backing up” the (overabundance of) sound waves.

I’m going to ask the technician if he CAN quiet it down somewhat and maybe I can go without the ear plugs for now. I’ll definitely do what you said with the blanket…and otherwise muffle it as much as I could.

To you and anyone reading this, please…..take a lesson here. If you’re not already doing it, monitor what’s going into your ears closely. I think many of us take our hearing for granted and don’t realize the ears are as irreplaceable as our fingers. I should have watched more closely when this first started and maybe I wouldn’t be going through this now!

“Hope some of this helps.”

Yes, it DID help. I got good ideas from both you and Eugene that I could work with. Trying to explore this thing by yourself could be very trying and very unproductive!

Lucky, yes, keep us posted!

Eugene

(Also, on my earlier post, it should read 'decreased sound tolerance', not 'increased sound tolerance.' Duh, brain not working...helps if you proofread!)