Music and Hearing Aids: A Clinical Approach - First Edition

Marshall Chasin

Details: 146 pages, B&W, Softcover, 6" x 9"

ISBN13: 978-1-63550-395-1

Publication Date: 1/03/2022

Music and Hearing Aids: A Clinical Approach is written for hearing health care professionals working with hard-of-hearing musicians and music lovers. This highly relevant book breaks down the research for how music can, and should, be processed through modern hearing aids and offers the busy audiologist clinically based strategies to optimize the sound of amplified music for hard-of-hearing people.

With an easy-to-read style, this text meets audiologists where they are by providing a primer on wavelength acoustics, as well as walking the reader through the basics of music needed to understand the research available. in addition, this professional resource highlights gaps in the research and technology, offering a clear picture of the room for growth available in the field.

Key Features

• A wide range of information covered in a concise text with 26 figures and 7 tables
• Statements throughout the book of where more work still needs to be done with 12 mini-experiments that could form the basis of student research projects
• A balanced discussion of clinical practice and research
• A chapter on "A return to older technology?” that includes input from many musicians who wear hearing aids
• A PluralPlus companion website with 15 audio files that serve to drive home the points presented in the text

From the Foreword by Dr. Mead C. Killion: “A major feature of this book is the extensive review of the literature. In each case, the relevance of the research findings to their implications for hearing aid design and fitting is emphasized ... A wealth of research is summarized with an eye to the clinical environment and fitting of hearing aids for listening to, and playing music.”

Review

“…Music and Hearing Aids (A Clinical Approach) adds to his long-running series dealing with the various aspects of music, musicians and hearing. This time around the work is directed primarily at audiologists looking to improve the experience of music for their clients, be they musicians or those who simply enjoy music.
Chasin covers the basics in the opening chapters, with a refresher on the acoustic properties of various instrument families and the primary dynamic and spectral differences between speech and music signals. Accompanied by easy-to-access online sound files, revised while clarifying a few questions along the way…
…these introductory chapters prepare the reader well for a more in-depth exploration of the limitations of hearing aids when dealing with both live and recorded music signals, and the impact of speech-specific tools such as dynamic range compression and frequency compression/lowering on musical signals. This is followed by a series of practical tips and tools that can be trialed by audiologists, and this is where Chasin is at his strongest, with decades of clinical experience on show.
Music and Hearing Aids concludes by stepping through a series of practical thoughts and ideas for technology developers to address some of the more critical failings of today’s hearing technology. The final words come in the form of requests by musicians with hearing aids – some of these echo requests heard in clinics across the world, while others give insight to more specific problems, such as allowing more detailed programming options for musicians or enabling connections with recording and music production software…I recommend this book for all audiologist and look forward to Chasin’s next installment.”
–Ian O’Brien, in Audiology Australia (June 2020)

“…The preface provides the perfect pep talk to the hopeful audiologists encountering clients who wish to listen to or play music whilst using amplifications – essentially, it’s a ‘you’ve got this guys’, but the pep talk isn’t empty words; it’s the warm-up exercises before the big show.
The text is concise; five chapters and three appendices provide the ensemble…Chapters one and two provide the background information; this is where that pep talk turns into understanding why music and musical instruments behave how they do and why we need to understand. It draws on what we already understand as audiologists: speech, acoustics, and dynamics. It’s these building blocks that allow musicians, musical appreciators, and audiologists to understand each other’s language. Chapter three draws together and critiques the known literature. Chapter four provides the clinical approach on a very practical level, with chapter five summarizing the future thoughts, whilst leaning on a more successful past. The text is accompanied by sound files to allow a multimedia approach to learning. Very generously, Marshall also provides 11 future research projects that would lend to our understanding – these are a gift for students looking for projects, or practicing audiologist with research time.
This book is very up to date ensuring it covers accessories, smartphones and PSAPs as part of the approach.
In summary, whist this is a very concise text, I would highly recommend to audiologists even if their contact with musicians is low. It will be rare to meet someone who doesn’t wish to enjoy music through their hearing aids on some level and this book will enable you to meet that challenge.”
–Gareth Smith, Consultant Clinical Scientist (Audiology), Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, UK in ENT & Audiology News (September/October 2022)