Subject: Re: hearing sudden distortion effect From: William Hartmann <hartmann@xxxxxxxx> Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2016 10:09:19 -0400 List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>Jim, Sorry about your bad experience. Possibly related: I remember a performance at IRCAM on amplified flute by Pierre-Yves Artaud. Intense impulsive tones were accompanied by popping sounds in my ear. Colleagues attributed those to middle ear reflex. Bill James W. Beauchamp wrote: > Dear List, > > In 2009 I acquired chronic low-level high-frequency tinnitus. > Tests rhowed that it was at approximately 11 KHz 10 dB above > threshold. Most of the time I'm not concious of it and it doesn't > affect my enjoyment of music. > > Friday night I attended an orchestra concert where they played > Beethoven's "Overture to 'Eqmont'", Bruch's "Scottish Fantasy", > and Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 12" in that order. I enjoyed it > all, but the last piece was especially loud, and near the end of > the last movement I suddenly experienced a loud distortion effect > on certain very loud notes. It had two attributes: 1) It was very > sudden, almost like an amplifier clipping; 2) I perceived the > sounds to be localized very close to my head, rather than coming > from the stage (I was seated about 20 rows from the stage.). The > effect was very disconcerting because it ruined the musical > experience. > > This is the first time I've experienced this effect at an orchestra > concert. I remember experiencing something like this in 1978 when a > certain electronic piece by Xennakis was performed at the > International Computer Music Conference at Northwestern Univ. It was > played very loud, and I remember sounds were swirling around my head. > Others had the same experience. This was way before my tinnitus onset, > and I didn't mind it because it seemed like the strange localization > effect was just part of the piece. > > Has anyone else experienced this effect? What is the effect called? > Is it related to tinnitus or is it a cause of tinnitus? > > Thanks for your help on this question! > > Best, > Jim > > James W. Beauchamp > Research Professor > Professor Emeritus of Music and Electrical & Computer Engineering > University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign > email: jwbeauch@xxxxxxxx (also: jwbeauch@xxxxxxxx) > WWW: http://ems.music.uiuc.edu/beaucham > http://www.ece.illinois.edu/directory/profile/jwbeauch