Experiment
Influence of music on hearing
Introduction
Hearing, the essential sense of communication can be damaged by loud and durable sounds, such as music listened through headphones. In this experiment, we will use an audiometer to screen hearing in children before and after listening to music.
Material and method
In order to measure the hearing, we use an audiometer ( ) that is capable of producing specific sounds between 500 and 4000 Hz in frequency, and between 20 to 30 decibels (dB) in pitch. The children selected for the screening are used to listen to music through headphones. They need to bring their own MP3. The children being screened must be healthy and they cannot have a cold at the time of the screening. The experiment takes place in a quiet room
In order to do the experiment, we need 10 students. The first hearing measurement is on each ear. The frequency and pitch that are tested are: (20 dB, 500 Hz), (20 dB, 1000 Hz), (20 dB, 2000 Hz), (20 dB, 4000 Hz), (30 dB, 500 Hz), (30 dB, 1000 Hz), (30 dB, 2000 Hz), (30 dB, 4000 Hz). For each sound, the student shows if she/he heard by a hand sign and we results are noted in a table. When the first measurement is finished, the student listens to music for 30 minutes with their headphones at their usual volume. The user estimates the loudness as soft, average, loud or really loud. After 30 minutes of listening, each person retakes the test. The results are compared and analysed.
Results
All the audiogram results are on Table # 1
|
student #4 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: very loud) |
left ear |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
student #1 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: loud ) |
left ear |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
student #2 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: medium) |
left ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
student #3 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: medium) |
left ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
student #6 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: medium) |
left ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
student #9 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: medium) |
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
#10 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: medium) |
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
student #7 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: low) |
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
student #8 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: low) |
left ear |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
student #5 |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
20 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
30 dB |
|
|
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
500 Hz |
1000 Hz |
2000 Hz |
4000 Hz |
||
|
Control screen |
right ear |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
left ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
|
Screen after music |
right ear |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
|
(volume: very low) |
left ear |
no |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
Out of the ten tested students, only three showed a significant drop in hearing in the low frequencies (500 to 1000 Hz). Two of those three students listened to loud or very loud music. The third one was listening to medium volume. The other seven were listening to medium/low volumes, so the music didn’t have an effect on their hearing.
Conclusion
The experiment proved the hypothesis that hearing will be impaired due to loud music. There is a significant difference between the hearing quality before and after music for the students that listen to loud music. The results would have been more significant if all ten students would have listened to loud music (the Ipod allows 115 dB). During some of the screening, individuals were talking which may have influenced the results. We should have done the experiment in a quieter location.
We have shown that a short exposure to loud noise can cause a slight hearing impairment.