LESSONS LEARNED THE HARD WAY
PERSPECTIVE – STEVE FERRONE Just ask Steve Ferrone , the Grammy Award-winning drummer with credits that include 24-years touring and recording with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers , as well as working with George Harrison , Chaka Khan , Eric Clapton , Anita Baker , and many others . Ferrone reveals that he has suffered some hearing loss , and it was a gradual decline .
“ Ear damage , it ’ s just something that we have , you know ?” says Ferrone . “ You don ’ t really notice it coming on . It just happened over the years for me .”
He described an event that occurred while touring with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers : “ We were playing in Boston , and in the heat of the battle I used one in-ear monitor headset , with a click , and that was about it . And , I ’ m sitting up there and playing , and all of a sudden , I hear this noise in my ear ,” Ferrone remembers . “ I could still hear the click and I ’ m like , ‘ Oh , there ’ s something wrong with my headset . And , I ’ m always hesitant to turn around and tell my roadie , ‘ Hey , there ’ s something wrong ,’ because he starts unplugging stuff , and he unplugs everything … So , I just thought , you know , I ’ ll just live with it . And when we finished the song , I said , ‘ Hey , there ’ s something wrong with my headset , it ’ s making a horrible noise .’ But then I pulled my headset out , and the noise was still there !”
Ferrone continues : “ I went over to Massachusetts General Hospital and I came out of testing and the guy said , ‘ Well , you ’ ve lost like 40 percent of your lows off the bottom end , and 30 percent of the highs .’ And what that meant for me was , I know I have problems . So , for a descriptive , medical term for what ’ s going on : my hearing is screwed !”
Luckily Ferrone says the noise did go away after some time , but musicians often choose to practice , rehearse , and perform at volumes
that could cause injury to their ears . This could alter their careers and affect their health . It may also cause difficulty in their day-to-day ability to hear family , friends , and spoken word . Thankfully , the injury can be averted .
PERSPECTIVE – DAVE KOZ Dave Koz is an 11-time Billboard number-one and platinum-selling contemporary jazz saxophonist and humanitarian . With me , he shares his stance on the need to develop logical steps to protect hearing in order to prepare for an extended career in music .
“ For any musician starting out now , your ears are your life . If you don ’ t have your hearing , you ’ ve got nothing , you can ’ t play music ,” says Koz . “ And so , starting good practices and good habits early in life will help keep your hearing at optimal levels , you hope .”
Koz likens the process of being a professional musician to being a professional athlete – you have to be mindful of your body . For professional musicians , the ears are the most crucial part of a critical system that allows them to perform at the highest level .
“ You only have two ears , and you can ’ t trade them in for new models . So , it ’ s like every other part of your body , you have to really focus on it ,” says Koz . “ I think , sometimes , we are kind of taking our bodies for granted , but as musicians we have to approach our bodies not unlike the way professional athletes would approach their bodies .”
He adds : “ All the mechanisms of your body are working , and helping you achieve what it is that you want to achieve as a musician , as a recording artist , as a touring musician .”
Koz recently watched and recommended a movie for musicians to watch titled Sound of Metal . The Oscar-nominated movie starring Riz Ahmed was released in 2019 and tells the story of a heavy metal drummer who loses his hearing . It does a good job of addressing the potential for rapid hearing loss caused by overexposure , and does so in a powerful and thought-provoking manner .
“ It ’ s one of those movies that for any musician to watch , it ’ s like , ‘ This could actually happen to us too .’ So , that freaked me out ,” he reveals . “ I think if there was anything else that could kind of put the fear of God in all of us about our ears , it was that movie .”
Koz says one of the hardest things he ’ s had to witness was a close friend and musical collaborator suffer significant hearing loss .
“ The best learning for me has been watching him , and how he ’ s been dealing with it ,” he says . “ And when you see somebody that you know and love lose a significant part of their hearing , and what it does to their lives , it ’ s a wake-up call .”
PERSPECTIVE – OLA KVERNBERG Ola Kvernberg is a Spellemannprisen Award-winning Norwegian jazz violinist and composer . He provides some suggestions for stage performers to consider .
“ Take note from the experiences that make your ears ring and avoid them as much as you can . Approach any stage situation pragmatically , avoid cymbals and other high-pitched instruments , especially amplified , directly to the ear ,” Kvernberg advises . “ Also , work with angles — it can be as simple as rotating your position on stage with just a few degrees .”
Kvernberg also reveals that , “ After my first four years of intense touring , my reintroduction to silence made me realize I had tinnitus .” Musicians and performers are not the only ones that have to consider their level of exposure . Recording engineers , mixers , and producers must also be aware .
PERSPECTIVE – KEN CAILLAT Ken Caillat is a Grammy Award-winning recording engineer and producer for Fleetwood Mac , David Becker , Taj Mahal , Lionel Ritchie , and many others . He gives a closeup view into his own tinnitus symptoms , and into the symptoms of others he works with . He also notes that some exposure couldn ’ t be prevented , due to perceptions about having the music at quieter levels .
PHOTO : IAN COHEN
PHOTO : COLIN PECK
PHOTO : ANDRE LØYNING
STEVE FERRONE DAVE KOZ OLA KVERNBERG
PROFESSIONAL SOUND 39