ABSTRACT
Human ears have evolved to handle a wide range of naturally occurring sounds, some quite loud. Our ears include an emergency feature for aurally dangerous situations—the temporary deafness or muted sensation some experience is how the ear rests after being overexercised. But the intensity of man-made sounds has pushed our natural protective mechanisms to their limits. In an increasingly loud world, one with hyperamplified sound, tightly tuned drum heads, and in-the-ear headphone buds, it is imperative to consider the effect sound has on our hearing health and that of our students. Decibel levels correlate to the distance from where the sound is produced. Sound grows less intense as one moves away from the source—double the distance, and the decibels decrease by about six decibels. The unavoidable conclusion is that music is a loud business, capable of permanently damaging our ears. And instrumental music education is not immune to its effects.
