Posted on 07/13/2007 9:09:44 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
The Day the Music Died
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Published: July 12, 2007
MICHAEL BELLUSCIS quotation in his high school yearbook was, It aint rock if it aint loud. Growing up in Flushing, Queens, he played guitar and drums, idolized Jimi Hendrix and performed in cover bands. Later, he went on the road as Ringo in the musical Beatlemania.
These days, if his left ear happens to be covered by a pillow, Mr. Bellusci, 47, hears the alarm clock as a faint tick, tick, tick, not a blaring BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. In cacophonous restaurants, he watches peoples mouths so he can follow the conversation.
Years of high decibel noise and trauma from speaker feedback damaged his right ear. Mr. Bellusci, who plays ukulele, recorder, guitar and bass in an acoustic duo, now says, If I could do it over again ...
How many boomers are thinking the same thing.
As more members of the generation born after World War II enter their 60s, and the effects of age conspire with years of hearing abuse, a number find themselves jacking up the volume on their televisions, cringing at boisterous parties and shouting What? into their cellphones.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Does your wife mind that they don’t match the furniture? Mine are in the garage.
I used to play that song in a band. I played lead guitar (although I'm a bassist) on the song, and sang the lead vocal. We had to take it down a full step in pitch (song was recorded in the key of "B", we took it down to "A")and the crowds loved it! It was a keyboards, bass and drums group, with a chick lead singer. I alternated on bass and lead guitar, as the needs of the songs dictated, with the keyboard player playing bass on the keys when I played guitar. We were called "Ivy League". Freepers from the North-Central Ohio area might recall us. You can find out more at www.nobodysfool.org, click on the "Ivy League" link.
The band I play in now is a 4 piece, "Back on Earth", at www.backonearthband.com I'm the bass player....
I have some hearing loss from the music, but most of it was from recurrent ear infections in my right ear when I was a kid. I have some ringing, but in my current band, we work to get our stage volume lower, and let the PA do the work out front. Much easier on the ears, and the sound is better.
Trower has a liking for small venues, where you felt the music and the wah, wah. I’ll spin that one today. I am getting my weekend play list by way of this post.
Four 100W Marshall stacks on 10?! That’s A LOT of sound.
Do you feel lucky?
Wow...
I saw them live at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio in late '69 or early '70. I got to meet and talk with Ed Cassidy, the drummer (and Randy California's step-dad). he was really cool. I loved his drum setup, with the 2 big bass drums on either side, mounted and tilted so he could whack them with his stickls, and the big Chinese gong behind him. They were great live!
The helicopters did mine in.
Balderdash.....
Those of us slightly older than boomers ane now experiencing diiminished hearing. It is the way of the world.
I have listened to very loud music, shot doves all afternoon with no earplugs, and flown full bore in an open cockpit...... I now have difficulty hearing some conversation, especially with background noise.
I have a close friend who is my age, has hearing aids, and led a sheltered life growing up and as a minister’s wife. She certainly did not fit the profile.....accept for being 65.
By the way, did you hear about the guy who came into his office each morning, unwrapped two condoms and put them over his ears?
When asked why, he said he didn’t want to get hearing AIDS.
My good friend built false corners and has 6 corner horns and two subs in his living room. He drives them with one Large McIntoch.
I have that too, but I thought it was the drugs...
Mr. Skin...we know where you been!
L
LOL!
I almost felt like I was stealing one like this from the local thrift store for $40.00; when all it needed was a squirt of contact cleaner...
5.56mm
FU in the ear you stupid old hippies!
“I don’t care WHAT the stations claim, the commercials are clearly MUCH”
standard practice to boost the sound frequencies in the 1 to 4 kiloherz ranges to force the ears to zero in on the product they are selling(especially for those who might have mild hearing loss). The whole commercial “sounds” louder despite the audio limiters used at the tv stations because of the radar stearing effect a boost in those frequencies has on the ears...The hearing apparatii once fully engaged causes the listener to experience the full effect of the sound coming out of the speakers all in an instant. The over all sound is not “louder” in terms of total amplitude...it’s the sudden increase of amplitudes in the 1k to 4 k ranges that end up “blasting” you!
I believe loud noises of any kind can caouse it.
104 dB at 1 watt? Now that’s an efficient speaker!
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