Due to hearing fatigue , music written late in the evening is perceived differently - it sounds like something ingenious and new , but when listening to a composition in the morning , there is a desire to send it to the trash . All of the above is true for any work with sound and listening to music . But it should be understood that this factor is more psychological than physiological .
How to know when your ears are fatigued ?
Ear fatigue is not physically felt in any way , but you should pay attention to secondary factors - eye fatigue ( everything is interconnected in the body ), drowsiness and lack of concentration , headache , and irritability .
For example , you decide to play the guitar for two hours - everything went well , and you feel an emotional lift . Next , you decide to record the newly created riff - initially , it seems to you that it is perfect , but after a while , with more painstaking and cyclical work with sound ( mixing or sound engineering ), it becomes difficult for you to determine the required volume level of the guitar , other instruments and their place in the mix . In total , you cannot decide on the final option and evaluate it objectively .
It is at this stage that you should understand that your hearing is tired and it needs a rest . How to recover from ear fatigue ? Sound is information that reaches our brain , consciousness , and , in some cases , soul . If there is no information , but there is sound , it is noise . Noise has a negative effect on ear fatigue as well as human fatigue in general . Due to the presence of noise in manufacturing plants , workers are required to wear ear protectors or use earplugs , which increases worker productivity .
Unfortunately , noise is found not only in production but also in the subway , it comes from highways and talkative employees at your work .
Therefore , to protect your hearing , we recommend using earplugs or ordinary headphones , which will reduce the negative impact of sound pollution and protect your ear ’ s delicate parts from damage .
If you are embarrassed by “ hearing everything like a barrel ”, then replace the uninformative noise with informative sound - audiobooks , music , podcasts , and so on . However , it should be remembered that such a sound can cause fatigue as well . Therefore , before working with sound , it is recommended to be in relative silence for a couple of hours .
Can you work indefinitely if the volume isn ’ t high in the studio ?
No , you can not . You must clearly set the limits of working hours . You will destroy your ears if you have endless jam sessions . If you feel tired and the deadlines are not burning , return to the project the next day . If the deadlines are on , take a break for a few hours or wake up early , then finish the project and send it to the customer .
Do not allow thoughts like “ you need to finish quickly ” - in this case , the result of your work will be deplorable , and you still have to redo it .
In short :
• Do not allow hearing overload , try to be in silence longer ;
• Take breaks ;
• Use references ;
• Monitor the volume .
The Score Magazine highonscore . com
47