Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Noisy Hearing Aids

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Kathy S
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Joined: 8/21/04
Location: United States
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Topic: Noisy Hearing Aids
Posted: 2/02/05 at 9:46pm

On a semi-related topic, at a recent performance in our theatre, a patron's hearing aid started whining....screeching...howling. I didn't know what to do. There really was nothing that could be done. But later, I mused that often prior to the curtain opening on a show, someone will remind the audience to turn off cell phones, pagers, etc, etc, (you know the speech) but never is there anything said about out-of-control hearing aids. I know, it wouldn't be PC. But the fact remains that it is very distracting to others...is there a way to deal with such a problem? May of our patrons are of the elderly persuasion and that can be the segment of the population which often use sound augmentation devices. Any ideas?

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Gaafa
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Joined: 3/21/04
Location: Australia
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Posts: 1181

Posted: 2/02/05 at 11:06pm

G?day Kathy

Have a word with your local Audiologists or hearing centre, there is possibly something simple you can do, like ensuring that you cabling is shielded &/or the power & audio cables cross at a 90 degree angle, not higledy pigledy installed, resembling a dogs breakfast! Also there is sufficient air gap between your AC & audio cables. In most cases the offending cables are in the ceiling over head! Under floor tends to give better insulation & gives less permeability of E/MMMF.

But being a mere sparky, I tend to put this in the Audio Techs pigeon hole. I found audio & refrigeration techs to be much of a muchness, they always give 49 999 reasons why it doesn?t work, when in most cases a screwdriver &/or a big hamper will fix it!

Disclaimer;- I don?t suggest using the my latter method on your ?Blue Rinse Set? punters! As this invariably involves a lot of paper work & diminishes your percentage of bums on seats demographics. - ?n River City just ain?t that big!

One other thing that might be a possibility? Does it occur on lighting cue changes, via the dimmer racks!

If it does my friend, then you got trouble - Terrible terrible trouble ?. With a capital T & that rhymes with E that stands for Electric Motive Force & other things?

But that can be fixed with a wave of the hand!

?Cause it ain?t the lights but the audio - which obviously don?t help you one bit!

Get advice from your local boffin!

Actually there is a very simple way & that is to drop the earth from the audio system powere feed, but get a qualified sparky to do it & check it first before attempting, to make sure it is safe to do so or just purchase a cheap audio power filter, which plugs in to the main general power outlet feed to the audio system

I don?t know if this helps your situation, but it is possibly better than being stuck up a gum tree!

Let me know how you get on Kathy!

As always Yours in Theatre

chookas!

Joe
Western Gondawandaland
turn right @ Perth.
Hear the light & see the sound.
Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"}
May you always play
to a full house}

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Gaafa
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Joined: 3/21/04
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1181

Posted: 2/03/05 at 2:29am

One thing I should have mentioned to all those, other than the black ducks on the board, is that there is nothing magical in an electrical system, it all comes down to just one main thing!

This you will realise, after a while, if you gain any electrical qualifications.

Electricity is very simple & it is not based on electrons & all that mystical stuff!

There is just one thing!

Smoke!

That is all it is!

To prove this out, this will manifests it?s self, on occasions, especialy when electrical equipment starts smoking?

What this means, is that it must be working & it is only being fed too much smoke!

Thus proving out the point

Joe
Western Gondawandaland
turn right @ Perth.
Hear the light & see the sound.
Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"}
May you always play
to a full house}

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Chris Polo
Admin Group

Community Theater Green Room

Joined: 10/01/03
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 166

Posted: 2/05/05 at 9:43am

While there may be some sort of electrical/audio problem in play here, we've found in our theater that hearing aid feedback is mainly due to one thing -- a patron can't hear the lines very well, so they turn up the volume on their hearing aids. When the volume onstage increases, they get feedback. We take hearing aid feedback as a sign that the actors need to work on their projection!

Chris Polo
Visit Community Theater Green Room Originals at www.cafepress.com/ctgr
"The scenery in the play was beautiful, but the actors got in front of it." -- Alexander Woolcott

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Gaafa
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Joined: 3/21/04
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1181

Posted: 2/05/05 at 10:55pm

Chris! As I?m just a mere male, I bow to your logic!

While bowing, I?m reminded of my situation here!

My wife & son both have hearing aids, which give impromptu whistling duets on cue, while we are ensconced in watching the goggle box, always at the punch line or interesting bits!

Sean has now bought a new digital hearing aid recently. While the old type, that Joyce has, keeps whistling along merrily!

I think Sean definitely needs to take his back under warranty, there is something wrong with it & it needs to be fixed!

He must have got a dud one! Because the whistle is missing or it don?t work properly?

What is weird about it, is when the whistling occurs, she doesn?t seem to hear it, until I mention that she is out of tune again!

I may have to get her fitted with a noise filter!

Joe
Western Gondawandaland
turn right @ Perth.
Hear the light & see the sound.
Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"}
May you always play
to a full house}

IP Logged

Gaafa
Celebrity

Joined: 3/21/04
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1181

Posted: 2/06/05 at 10:00pm

I would like to thank Kathy S for prompting the topic & Chris for her simple logic, forcing me to get off my aft end & go looking further in to something, which I normally have just brushed over, even with my own family, for years & years!

. Not yet being hearing impaired myself, I seen, knew, played lip service to it by forgetting to listen!

There is really no need for me to rabbiting on and over looking the reason for it happening!

I knew the answer from my own waffling & empirical experience!

It simple about hearing aid whistling, I think?

Most older ear aids are analog, thus the sound wave volume is controlled manually, therefore are subject to the punter factor! [spot on Chris!]

The new ones are digital & the sound wave is converted & processed in a digital format, which is level controlled & filtered automatically, then the sound wave is transmitted into the punters ear, without adjustment or getting involved, beyond listening & enjoying!

As Chris mentioned, when the warm props try & project from their throats or beaks only, the Twurlies adjust their ear piece volume & try switching into Teleciol &/or Microphone modes ['T' - 'M' or 'M/T'], which will pick up any & all magnetic frequency from any weird & wonderful things, such as speaker ciols & other electrical magnetic sources.

This is like putting a live microphone too close to a speakers magnetic coil field - resulting in squealing feedback!

So if we give it at least another decade or more, until the analog ear pieces are phased out & digital takes over, the squealing noises are part of the features of the bums on seats world!

What we can do is what Chris suggested, in ensuring our actors project properly, from the diaphragm & up out of the parrots beak! Also when possible install & shield electrical reticulation system in a suitable manner, that will reduce the erroneous magnetic fields!

Thus looking after the comfort of all our punters!

Also if we take into account the human factor of the impaired person, who may still believe although they might be impaired in both ears, that only one hearing aid is needed & they will magically hear in both ears, which is another myth!

The only excuse for me being impaired, is I?m of the male tribe!

Chookas Chris P & Kathy S!

Joe
Western Gondawandaland
turn right @ Perth.
Hear the light & see the sound.
Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"}
May you always play
to a full house}

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Russell E Williams
Guest
Guest

Posted: 2/28/05 at 6:26am

Elsewhere in this discussion board JDHaller asked about "Assisted Listening Devices". Check out my comments there about installing an inductive loop system for hearing-aids.

Cheers

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Author	Message
Kathy S Celebrity Joined: 8/21/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 303	Topic: Noisy Hearing Aids Posted: 2/02/05 at 9:46pm
	On a semi-related topic, at a recent performance in our theatre, a patron's hearing aid started whining....screeching...howling. I didn't know what to do. There really was nothing that could be done. But later, I mused that often prior to the curtain opening on a show, someone will remind the audience to turn off cell phones, pagers, etc, etc, (you know the speech) but never is there anything said about out-of-control hearing aids. I know, it wouldn't be PC. But the fact remains that it is very distracting to others...is there a way to deal with such a problem? May of our patrons are of the elderly persuasion and that can be the segment of the population which often use sound augmentation devices. Any ideas?

	IP Logged

Gaafa Celebrity Joined: 3/21/04 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1181	Posted: 2/02/05 at 11:06pm
	G?day Kathy Have a word with your local Audiologists or hearing centre, there is possibly something simple you can do, like ensuring that you cabling is shielded &/or the power & audio cables cross at a 90 degree angle, not higledy pigledy installed, resembling a dogs breakfast! Also there is sufficient air gap between your AC & audio cables. In most cases the offending cables are in the ceiling over head! Under floor tends to give better insulation & gives less permeability of E/MMMF. But being a mere sparky, I tend to put this in the Audio Techs pigeon hole. I found audio & refrigeration techs to be much of a muchness, they always give 49 999 reasons why it doesn?t work, when in most cases a screwdriver &/or a big hamper will fix it! Disclaimer;- I don?t suggest using the my latter method on your ?Blue Rinse Set? punters! As this invariably involves a lot of paper work & diminishes your percentage of bums on seats demographics. - ?n River City just ain?t that big! One other thing that might be a possibility? Does it occur on lighting cue changes, via the dimmer racks! If it does my friend, then you got trouble - Terrible terrible trouble ?. With a capital T & that rhymes with E that stands for Electric Motive Force & other things? But that can be fixed with a wave of the hand! ?Cause it ain?t the lights but the audio - which obviously don?t help you one bit! Get advice from your local boffin! Actually there is a very simple way & that is to drop the earth from the audio system powere feed, but get a qualified sparky to do it & check it first before attempting, to make sure it is safe to do so or just purchase a cheap audio power filter, which plugs in to the main general power outlet feed to the audio system I don?t know if this helps your situation, but it is possibly better than being stuck up a gum tree! Let me know how you get on Kathy! As always Yours in Theatre chookas!
	Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house}
	IP Logged

Gaafa Celebrity Joined: 3/21/04 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1181	Posted: 2/03/05 at 2:29am
	One thing I should have mentioned to all those, other than the black ducks on the board, is that there is nothing magical in an electrical system, it all comes down to just one main thing! This you will realise, after a while, if you gain any electrical qualifications. Electricity is very simple & it is not based on electrons & all that mystical stuff! There is just one thing! Smoke! That is all it is! To prove this out, this will manifests it?s self, on occasions, especialy when electrical equipment starts smoking? What this means, is that it must be working & it is only being fed too much smoke! Thus proving out the point
	Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house}
	IP Logged

Chris Polo Admin Group Community Theater Green Room Joined: 10/01/03 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 166	Posted: 2/05/05 at 9:43am
	While there may be some sort of electrical/audio problem in play here, we've found in our theater that hearing aid feedback is mainly due to one thing -- a patron can't hear the lines very well, so they turn up the volume on their hearing aids. When the volume onstage increases, they get feedback. We take hearing aid feedback as a sign that the actors need to work on their projection!
	Chris Polo Visit Community Theater Green Room Originals at www.cafepress.com/ctgr "The scenery in the play was beautiful, but the actors got in front of it." -- Alexander Woolcott
	IP Logged

Gaafa Celebrity Joined: 3/21/04 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1181	Posted: 2/05/05 at 10:55pm
	Chris! As I?m just a mere male, I bow to your logic! While bowing, I?m reminded of my situation here! My wife & son both have hearing aids, which give impromptu whistling duets on cue, while we are ensconced in watching the goggle box, always at the punch line or interesting bits! Sean has now bought a new digital hearing aid recently. While the old type, that Joyce has, keeps whistling along merrily! I think Sean definitely needs to take his back under warranty, there is something wrong with it & it needs to be fixed! He must have got a dud one! Because the whistle is missing or it don?t work properly? What is weird about it, is when the whistling occurs, she doesn?t seem to hear it, until I mention that she is out of tune again! I may have to get her fitted with a noise filter!
	Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house}
	IP Logged

Gaafa Celebrity Joined: 3/21/04 Location: Australia Online Status: Offline Posts: 1181	Posted: 2/06/05 at 10:00pm
	I would like to thank Kathy S for prompting the topic & Chris for her simple logic, forcing me to get off my aft end & go looking further in to something, which I normally have just brushed over, even with my own family, for years & years! . Not yet being hearing impaired myself, I seen, knew, played lip service to it by forgetting to listen! There is really no need for me to rabbiting on and over looking the reason for it happening! I knew the answer from my own waffling & empirical experience! It simple about hearing aid whistling, I think? Most older ear aids are analog, thus the sound wave volume is controlled manually, therefore are subject to the punter factor! [spot on Chris!] The new ones are digital & the sound wave is converted & processed in a digital format, which is level controlled & filtered automatically, then the sound wave is transmitted into the punters ear, without adjustment or getting involved, beyond listening & enjoying! As Chris mentioned, when the warm props try & project from their throats or beaks only, the Twurlies adjust their ear piece volume & try switching into Teleciol &/or Microphone modes ['T' - 'M' or 'M/T'], which will pick up any & all magnetic frequency from any weird & wonderful things, such as speaker ciols & other electrical magnetic sources. This is like putting a live microphone too close to a speakers magnetic coil field - resulting in squealing feedback! So if we give it at least another decade or more, until the analog ear pieces are phased out & digital takes over, the squealing noises are part of the features of the bums on seats world! What we can do is what Chris suggested, in ensuring our actors project properly, from the diaphragm & up out of the parrots beak! Also when possible install & shield electrical reticulation system in a suitable manner, that will reduce the erroneous magnetic fields! Thus looking after the comfort of all our punters! Also if we take into account the human factor of the impaired person, who may still believe although they might be impaired in both ears, that only one hearing aid is needed & they will magically hear in both ears, which is another myth! The only excuse for me being impaired, is I?m of the male tribe! Chookas Chris P & Kathy S!
	Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house}
	IP Logged

Russell E Williams Guest	Posted: 2/28/05 at 6:26am
	Elsewhere in this discussion board JDHaller asked about "Assisted Listening Devices". Check out my comments there about installing an inductive loop system for hearing-aids. Cheers
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Topic: Noisy Hearing Aids( Topic Closed)