by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
In the last e-zine, I wrote about a man that was having trouble hearing his piano on key, and how my wife hears two different pitches—one in each ear. They are not the only ones with this problem.
The day the e-zine came out, Joyce wrote:
I was most interested in your article “When Your Piano Sounds Bad,” especially your wife’s experience with different pitches in each ear. Despite my being born with a moderate-to-severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, I was also born with perfect pitch—the ability to identify musical notes without a reference.
I have been involved in numerous music-related jobs (playing the piano, directing choirs, directing or playing handbells, etc.) up until a very bizarre change took place almost overnight. My perception of pitches has changed.
When this first happened, I would hear the song being transposed up a half or whole step even in the middle of the song (as I turned the page). It was maddening. Then it seemed to “settle” to the point that it only seems “off” when I’m a certain distance from the source of the sound. When I am in the congregation looking at the hymnal, the hymns sound as if they are in a different key than they are written. But when I go up to the piano, organ, or whatever instrument, it is in the correct key.
I can still play the piano, but always fear one day that even the piano will be in a different key as I’m playing it. I don’t sing anymore, as I never know if I’m hearing the correct key as they’re playing. I truly wish I understood this difference in perception of pitch. If you know of any research in this area, please pass it on.
If anyone else has problems with pitch because of their hearing loss, I’d love to hear from you. I’m curious as to how common this problem really is, and if you’ve found ways to overcome it, Also, if you know of any research on this subject, please let me know.
Since I wrote the above, I’ve found four other drugs that can cause messed up pitch perception.
The drug Carbamazepine (Tegretol) causes music to typically sound a semitone lower that it really is. You can read about several people’s experiences in my article “Carbamazepine and Lowered Pitch Perception“.
Also, the beta-blocker, Propranolol (Inderal) also causes pitch distortion. See my article “Propranolol and Distorted Pitch Perception“.
Another beta-blocker, Atenolol (Tenolin) can also cause hearing music in the wrong pitch. For example, a man found that when he took Atenolol at higher doses his ears heard music at the wrong pitch. When he lowered the dose to 12.5 mg. this pitch distortion didn’t occur.
Another man reported, “I take Atenolol daily for hypertension and it seems this contributes to my loss of pitch (strangely bass notes only) when gigging in my rock band?”
The anti-convulsant drug Pregabalin (Lyrica) can also cause pitch distortion. For example, a man found that sometimes when he took Pregabalin his ears would hear music at the wrong pitch.
Very interesting article and posts.
I am a female 59 year old lifelong musician/singer. I have a cookie bite hearing loss at the moderate/moderately severe level (on the border between the two). I’ve also had tinnitus for decades. I’m used to it. Have had Diva in-ear hearing aids for four years. I needed them long before I got them. I started singing flat more and more about 4 years ago — due to my faulty hearing and maybe allergies. I don’t know why my pitch detection sensibilities diminished then when I’d been able to match pitch when singing most of the time before that.It had not been an issue.I got hearing aids, thinking that would help. They helped me in daily life quite a bit, though I still don’t have “20-20” hearing. Things are loud enough! Anyway, several months after I got hearing aids, my band and I recorded several of my vocals, which all turned out a quarter tone flat. This was over more than one day, several session. Embarassing. We had to fix the vocals with a pitch fixing program (I call it Fix A Flat). So I had my hearing aid volume boosted, which may have helped temporarily. Then I took a group voice class, in which I was told that I had NO pitch issues. Well, I guess I didn’t in that setting. But the issue has resurfaced, and I’m told I’m singing erratically flat 1/4 to almost a whole tone frequently. This occurs if just one guitar is playing, or if the whole acoustic band is wanking away with me singing. The other singers say it’s too hard to sing with me. I don’t know what to do. A recent audiological followup test showed minimal changes. Singing is something I’ve always been able to do. I can also hear a pitch then go to the piano and hit the key for that pitch. Occasionally music we’re playing in the band will sound off-pitch to me. It’s because of my faulty hearing, as no one else will be wincing. Most of it sounds on-key to me, though. When I tape myself singing, sometimes I can hear discrepancies, while much of the time I am not hearing any. I don’t know if it means I am missing it when I listen to myself on tape. I think that I am not off-key all the time. My audiologist and I think it’s worth trying Oticon hearing aids which don’t plug up the ear canal. So, sound will travel and resonate more naturally. Meanwhile, I am pretty depressed over this turn of events. I am still able to play my piano or accordion and be on key — thank goodness. But not to be able to sing on key is devastating to me. Any ideas out there? Vicki
your story is so similar to mine. I am 59 and teach acappella choirs.. i have been singing out of tune and it has zapped my confidence, until today i didn’t realise other people has this problem. i have hearing loss and have recently got 2 v good quality hearing aids but have noticved only recently that more and more music is sounding out of tune I feel desparate this is my love life and passion and how I earn myu living? any ideas any healo greatly appreciated? my name is chrysvoice and it’s now 2016.. are you still there. ?
three weeks ago i have started having the same problem playing my guitar.I also had perfect pitch but now a CD even sounds flat.I also have had tennitus for years.I have to play a reunion gig with my old band and i am dreading it.
I so very much wish you well. This phenomenon hit me a few months ago, and has me not singing nor attending concerts, due to the fact even the best bands sound terrible! Has anyone seen a reduction in this off-key malady?
I am currently experiencing a double ear infection and have been on antibiotic, Ciprodex drops and prednisone. My infection has lasted 10 days with only pain decreasing. I have decreased hearing/blockage, vertigo and major tinnitus. I have had 3 tympanoplastys (2 in left ear and 1 in right). At the onset of this infection, the left ear was draining a blood tinged liquid and I have thought the drum must be perforated again. Waiting until later this week to have ENT determine whether or not it is. My hearing is high pitched and everything sounds sharp. My phone ringtone, people’s voices, and my own recorded music. I am frightened that this is the beginning of the end of my music career as I am a self-taught pianist and singer playing solely by ear and relying heavily on my perfect pitch. I am fearful that I now will no longer sing in key. Praying for a resolution and healing. I had many battles with ear issues in my youth. Now at 41, this is the longest I have endured an infected ear with no change. I am relieved to find some people here who have experienced something similar and to know I am not alone, but I am deeply saddened as to what this might mean for my passion.
I have also had a sinus, eye and ear infection for the last 7 days or so. Have been on amoxicillin pills, flonase, eye drops (Polymyxin B sulfate/trimorphim antibiotic) for 5 days. The initial terrible head pressure disappeared after two days, but pressure in one ear remained (plugged) and hearing reduced 75% (est.). I then started noticing that ear was hearing tones (mostly trumpet-range) about 1/2 note higher. Plugging of ear may slowly be getting better (I hope).
I hope your ear infection has cleared by now. Mine is the first I remember. Did the off-pitch issue decrease or disappear after the infection subsided?
I am 68 and not really a musician, but have listened to music over the years many hours a day.
Did you find relief? I am experiencing the same things. Every note is sharp and/or dissonant. Everyone’s voices are high-pitched and almost cartoon-like. Flying last week was tolerable but I couldn’t walk a straight line for an hour after landing. Plus, my ears are very sore. I have been on meds for 10 days and see my ENT tomorrow.
I played the piano since 5 guitar since 10,
And spent my adult career as a recording and texhnical engineer
A few years ago I had a bad bike wreck, I s wearing my helmut but hit my face flat on the cement. It caused me to forget how to play, write everything music related. It has taken me 4 years to relearn guitar, but I’ve noticed I now hear everything off pitch same in both ears.
Has anyone else experienced this? I’m adjusring and rely on tuners.
I just play until someone says I’m off pitch.
Weird
I am a pianist. 18 months ago I realized every note from C above middle C sounds sharp. Musical instruments sound distorted. I have been to top specialists in Los Angeles and Stanford. None know how or why it happened. Virus? Medication? mini-stroke? There is no cure. I am still playing but only for myself. Sounds horrible. Perhaps the brain will heal – this I have been told.
Oh, goodness….I’m glad I found this discussion so easily – I’m 75 years old. Have played piano and sung all my life. Just got hearing aids a couple of months ago due to moderate hearing loss that was affecting communication. Suddenly my piano sounds are all distorted – just started in the last week. I wondered if I was imagining it, and now know I am not. Weird what the body does when things aren’t quite right. Now even when I take the hearing aids out, the distortions continue.
I am experiencing the same problem. I have auditory hallucinations, sometimes really loud. In the last year, I can’t recognize a song unless the volume is really loud, and even then, I have to listen closely to the song and think about the song, finding one recognizable note or part that is familiar. Music sounds out of tune, I am afraid I will be singing and be flat or sharp and not realize this.
Same thing hear. My right ear started hearing a higher pitch. Music notes sounded different in each ear. I’m a guitar player for 50 years. I had trouble tuning my guitar which I’ve done for years by ear. Scary. See my doctor this week. Hope it’s just an infection or something
I am recovering from a ruptured eardrum due to a middle ear infection and, the first sounds I’ve been able to hear again in this left ear are coming through out of pitch. For example, if I listen to piano, higher pitched notes come through the left ear as horridly out of tune, though they are not.
Has your hearing returned to normal, Billy? I’ve been experiencing distorted high pitches as well but don’t know the cause. I may have had a sinus infection about a month ago that initially caused days of loud ringing in my ear. The ringing is gone, thankfully, but has been replaced by the odd “harmonies” that move up or down in pitch in accordance with what I’m singing or listening to, but they vary from sometimes being something like a major 6th above to a minor 2nd (or anywhere in between).
i thought that a transposer picking up the music, placing it through ear buds, adjusting the key level until you hear the music in a different key, but your voice would then blend with the band? I just read of two types of hearing devices, that might help, but i get lost in technicalities of their descriptions! anyway Starkey’s “Spectral IQ”
Phonac’s “Sound Recover”
might be of some help?
I have no idea! I just try to make things better!
I’m 57 years old and I can relate to this problem. I feel the same discouragement and emotional frustration that others have commented about. I am a music major and have led choirs, orchestras and worship for years. I play guitar and piano and was a vocal major in college. I have worn hearing aids for about 20 years and have been able to lead and enjoy music until now. Almost overnight, I began to hear music that sounded off key and it even sounds like it changes key in the middle of songs. I have discovered that I can hear pitches if it’s only 1 note or 1 voice. It’s when their are multiple pitches played at once, like the chord on a piano or guitar or multiple instruments at once that distinguishing the correct key becomes difficult. If instruments play an introduction, I can’t hardly find the correct key. But once someone starts singing, I hear that single voice and can usually go from there. I wish I knew what was happening. It has brought so much emotional pain to think that I may not be able to sing and enjoy music the way I have my entire life.
Hi Eric:
What happened in the month or so before you began hearing music in the wrong key? Did you change or start any medications. Certain drugs can cause this effect. Things don’t normally just occur “out of the blue” without any cause. The trick is to find the cause as once you know that, maybe it can be fixed.
Cordially,
Neil
I haven’t been taking any drugs all of my life other than an occasional Ibuprofen. I do take a few vitamins daily but have all my life. I have been a musician for 70 years sang professionally in a Bacall jazz quartet for many years and have done countless gigs all my life. Two years ago I was practicing the piano and it was off key I called in a tuner and after two tunings I called a second tuner who came twice and said it’s not the piano it is you. Another musician friend said let’s try an electric piano with head phones and it helped a good deal , however
I still not hearing music especially live music as I should . I attended two live gigs this week and both were sorely off key and I am desperate to find a cure.
Hi Eric:
At your age, your ears and brain don’t work as well as they did when you were younger, so you can expect some hearing problems.
Listening to an electric piano via headphones let’s you hear the higher frequencies better and those are the frequencies that are the first to fade out as you get older. Thus you hear the music better and as you found out, it can help correct how you perceive pitch.
If you’ve been around loud music all your life without ear protection, you have almost certainly damaged your auditory system. You may find the best solution is to listen to music with headphones or earbuds. I don’t know of any sure cure.
Cordially,
Neil
I was a semi pro bass player for 40 years in rock bands and had to stop playing in 2016 because I would hear every song flat for the first 20/30 seconds until something in the music gave my brain a clue and the pitch would ramp up to where it should be. I kept trying to play the wrong notes to correct what I was hearing. This happens now with all loud concert music despite having hearing aids. Sometimes it doesn’t correct at all and I go through a whole well known number unable to identify it. Music has always been a huge part of my life and I find this both distressing and depressing
Hi Brian:
Your experience just proves, once again, that our ears are not designed to be exposed to excessively loud sounds, nor for long periods of time. The result is that they are permanently damaged. This damage results in hearing loss, and for some people, messed up pitch perception, hyperacusis, tinnitus, etc., etc.
That is why I tell people to listen to music at more or less the same volume as you hear people talking. Then you will never damage your ears in this way.
Cordially,
Neil
Vicky:
As an electrical engineer, I can tell you how to fix this with some special hearing aids. Call me at 610-356-61832pm to midnight.
Neil Lipson, PE
Music is so off pitch I can’t recognize it. Total distoerion.
Am deaf without Widex and hear spoken words well enough. Desperate for help. Miss music terribly!
I suffer exactly the same problem. Have been told there is nothing that can be done. Unable to enjoy music anymore and having to pack up playing my cornet. Will be seeing a private hearing consultant very soon. This will be my last chance to find a solution. Can’t bare the thought of no music in my life.
Hi Sue:
Don’t give up your music yet. How long has this been going on for? What happened in the month or so before you noticed your pitch was off? Figuring out the cause gives clues as to the best way to treat it.
For example, if you began taking a new medication, or increased the dose on an existing one, it could have caused this pitch distortion. Thus, stopping that drug (with your doctor’s permission of course) could be all you have to do and your pitch will return to normal as numbers of people have discovered.
Cordially,
Neil
I had a molar tooth extracted and the dentist damaged my jaw. Suffered with TMJ after which managed to find an osteopath who realigned it. This happened 18 months ago and I’ve suffered problems ever since with the jaw. Suddenly lost my hearing in my left ear six months ago and treated unsuccessfully with steroids. I now can’t identify a song being played as the sound is so distorted. I can’t help thinking that this is as a result of the trauma I experienced at the dentist
Hi Susan:
It’s always possible, but how do you explain the 12 month delay in the hearing loss showing up? Something must have changed six months ago to have caused the hearing loss. Any ideas?
Cordially,
Neil
I am a 71 year old and have had success singing for most of my life. Of late, I have on occasion had trouble with pitch. For example I know I am a step or so flat but I cannot correct it. It isn’t for every song but it really throws off my confidence. Usually it happens when the band is loud. To me, the band sounds like they are playing in two different keys. I have tinnitus, can this be a factor? WHat could help?
Hi Frank:
Two likely culprits for your pitch problems are either you have a hearing loss–worse in one ear than the other, or you are taking one of the drugs that cause you to hear out of proper pitch. Given your age and the fact it happens most when you are around loud music suggests the first scenario.
You should have your hearing tested, and if necessary try hearing aids and see if that fixes the problem.
Tinnitus shouldn’t be a factor–but it can be (and often is) indicative that you have a hearing loss and thus the pitch problem.
Cordially,
Neil
I have a situation where bass notes sound sharper than they should do at lower levels, and in the dame way, treble notes sound flatter that they really are. This happens at lower levels, and gradually sorts itself out at higher levels. My hearing was damaged by a very loud concert, and it also gave me tinitus. Typically, a ‘chord finish’ to a tune causes the frequency to gradually rise a couple of tones, as the sound fades! Very annoying.
This sounds like me. I have bilateral but uneven hearing loss – so different levels of different frequencies in each ear. My husband says I’m lopsided! Always been able to sing and have done a lot of it! Now I can’t hear if I’m in tune – I’ve appologised in church and told them to nudge me if it’s awful but I’m not not singing! I’ve always had to transpose instrumental parts in band as I play as I often pick up parts of missing players I can no longer just do this without thinking as I’ve always done because I can’t hear the key anymore. I thought it was just me – I didn’t know this was a ‘thing’
Wow. It’s so encouraging to know that i’m not alone!
I’m 28yrs old, I’ve been playing the piano for around 10 years and perfect pitch; i had great plans for a career in Music – i guess i still do if things work put.
It’s been 4 months now since i started hearing distorted notes/key on my one good ear – (since the other has been clinically deaf for like forever.)
It’s so frustrating now. Music doesn’t sound the same when i hear it or play it. I’ve visited some of the top doctors in our area and they didn’t quite know how to deal with it since it’s not conductive hearing loss.
When i think of all i wanted to do, it’s a bit painful – but i’m still hopeful.
Right now, i’m just about to try a detox program – maybe it’ll help – i pray
Thanks and God Bless You All
[It’s very hard to find anywhere on the internet where they talkabout this]
I find it questionable that The powers to be, will allow Cochlear Stem cell therapy for infants that have an acquired hearing disorder, but do not seem to entertain any thought of Cochlear Stem Cell THerapy for adults, and especially Musicians, that their hearing disorder is creating a quality of life crisis, that will render them unemployed and unable to earn a living in their preferred work environment?
I hope more info surfaces on this problem. I noticed it about a year ago. I teach piano and at first I thought the pianos were out of tune, the kids was playing the wrong notes, the radio was playing the music at the wrong speed. Then I realized it was me. I think I might have to give up teaching because of this problem.
I just had a thought that may help some? look into seeing if you could get a transposer that could place the key of music, through earbuds that would have you haer the song, in a key, that would blend your voice to the key being played?
For Your Consideration
I also have had problems with pitch distortion. I am a flutist and I was diagnosed with autoimmune related hearing loss. Over about 15 years I have had several sudden losses of hearing in my right ear.
About 2 years ago, one day when I started practicing my flute, everything sounded wrong. I thought there was something wrong with my flute, but everyone assured me it sounded fine. My regular ENT didn’t know what to do with me, so I found another specialist.
I had a series of steriod injections into my ear. I’m not sure if these helped, but about 6 weeks later, my hearing gradually normailized.
Then about a year later, I had another episode of pitch distortion. This one lasted 8 months, but now I am hearing normally once again. Now I see a rheumatologist who has me on medication that is supposed to help with the autoimmune aspect.
When I wasn’t hearing pitch correctly, it was so frustrating and depressing. I couldn’t really describe it except that music didn’t make any sense to me anymore. I could barely recognize the simplest melodies and when you added in harmonies, it was like complete junk. It was difficult because I felt like no one could imagine what I was hearing, and also the doctors had no test for pitch.
One thing that helped sometimes was to wear an earplug in my good ear, because that one seemed to be where the distortion was happening. However, since my hearing in my unplugged ear wasn’t great, things sounded muffled but more in tune.
I am thankful that my hearing eventually returned, especially because my doctors were not hopeful that it would after so long.
I taught myself to play Organ and Piano by ear, and one day while attempting to play a familiar tune, when my finger played the “E” above middle C, my ear heard it as a B Flat?, and as my left hand chording grabbed the appropriate chord for whatever notes i was playing with my right hand, my left hand, is now confused, as the notes don’t form with the appropriate chord, As a result, I can no longer play, and all music just sounds like noise to my ear, and i no longer, can get any enjoyment from the many voices, and music i loved, from tiri tekanawa, t and her mio bambino charro? and to w2illy nelson’s guitar, barbara streisands songs, are just noise? I used to go to music to get an inspirational lift!
I no longer have that access?
I hope someone finds the cause, and is able to develope a remedy, for everyones benefit, in and out of this forum! best wishes to all
Recently I have started to notice the same problem as Keith. I am also a piano player and its frustrating to hear distorted notes.
At first I thought I was going crazy and my digital piano was going out of tune. But with a headset plugged into my digital piano and the balance set to either 100% to the left or right, it becomes very obvious that my right ear is perfectly fine. However, my left ear hears the E (key 56) and F ((key 57) as being distorted. Something about the frequencies 659-698 that is causing me trouble.
I am at a loss to what I can do.
I’ve been a professional entertainer for 40 years. Last year I aquired “Sudden Hearing Loss” in my right ear.,
Now I sing flat. It sounds perfect to me while I’m singing, however when I hear a recording of myself I sound awful. I feel like my life is over. I’ve tried a “Pitch Corrector” and it only corrects some notes, not all. By the way, when I do sing I can only hear my head voice, not the voice coming through the PA. Also tried an IN EAR Monitor and that didn’t help either.
Would really appreciate any feed back on this,
Thanks!
I am so glad to find these postings. I am a pianist and also music director/organist for a church. I was diagnosed with Meniere’s disease about five years ago which has caused major hearing loss and damage in my left ear. About two months ago, I noticed while playing for a choir rehearsal that I was hearing my own notes on the piano incorrectly. I though my own piano at home was going out of tune, after a recent tuning. Not all keys, but certain pitches were sounding flat to me. It went away after a few days but has recently resurfaced. I am trying hearing aids for my hearing loss, but seem to make the problem worse. My ENT and audiologist seem to have no idea what causes this. It is very frustrating. Are there any other good sources of information any of you have found on the web?
Thanks for any input you might have.
For some crazy reason I have the same problem. Mine only happens when playing through a PA system though. I’ve noticed that if I take an ibuprofen in the morning that it doesn’t act up for some reason.
I just had my piano tune today and could hardly wait to try it out as I have not played recently.Oh dear, disaster from middle c up an octave, every note is flat. I played music I have known for years and could hardly recognize it. It was if i was playing in the minor. I wear 2 hearing aids and tried changing all the settings, but no improvement. With 2 daughters with major health problems, I have to recharge paying the piano. Wonder what I can do….Does not help one bit to play without the hearing aids…. any suggestions?
I wonder if “Bone Conduction Headphones, might be of some help??? in your case, and possibly some others?
Hi Grant:
I don’t know how to make your ears hear on pitch. Mine never have so I just enjoy the “funny” music my ears hear . My hearing also recruits at certain frequencies so the volume of adjacent keys may be double if you are going up the scale. Sounds really distorted, but that is just the way it is.
Anyway, if your hearing remains consistently off pitch–one octave sounds flat–and if you just play for your own enjoyment, you could have your piano specially detuned so it sounds right to your ears. Then you could enjoy playing again–but no one would ever want to listen to you play!
Neil
I’m so glad to have found this!
I was a music minor in college, and although I haven’t been doing much with music per se, I used to play the piano all the time until I had to move and sold it. My hearing, since age 6 or so, when I started to study music, had perfect pitch.
Several years ago, I noticed that I started hearing known pieces in a different key. I was wondering what wa going on. I got to a piano and confirmed what I was hearing: every key sounded 1/2 tone sharp: E sounded like F, F like F#, etc.
I asked my doctor and he said maybe the piano was off key (No, that wasn’t it, it happened on EVERY musical instrument I hear.) An ENT checked my hearing and said my hearing was better than average for my age (around 50), and he had never heard of what I was talking about. I asked some music professors I encountered about it, and they never heard of it either, and told me the same thing the first doctor told me (maybe the piano was off key, the orchestra was playing in a different key, etc.)I told them it had happened on every musical instrument I hear, and they had no idea of what could be causing it.
After sveral years with this problem and without a piano, I decided to buy a new piano. I kept on hearing the wrong notes, but kept forcing myself to keep going. This was really hard, as when I tried to play some things from memory I would get confused with the sounds I was hearing vs. the notes I was supposed to be playing. I kept on telling myself what notes I was playing as I was playing them, to see if my ear would adjust back to it, but it just made me more confused. Now I didn’t know if I was “transposing” what I really heard, or what the heck I was hearing. Practice did not seem to help, and I’m still stuck with hearing the wrong key.
It’s ben really frustrating to consult with professionals who have no idea what you’re talking about.
I’m really glad I found this post. It verifies that I’m not imaagining things.
If anyone hears of a cause and possible solution I would be really interested in knowing about it.
Best to all,
Pete
PETEHEMAIL1-INFO1@yahoo.com
PS:
In my case, it’s every single note, not just some notes.
Listening to music has become a problem for me in the last few years as my hearing has deteriorated. Piano especially is affected more than other instruments. As well as losing the frequency range,in my favourite Alfred Brendl Schubert Impromptus the thing wanders maddeningly off key at crucial moments.
I play classical guitar but I do not encounter the same sort of problem with that instrument. Is it just the piano that’s affected for some reason?
Your Guitar notes are Single Strings in tune!
your piano, each of most notes are 3 string notes, and when in tune are uniform to each other, but if one string is not perfectly in tune, it will reverberate on the other two strings, and your ear may be more sensitive to one pitch than the other on a piano note,
Your guitar notes are single string sounds, however, on a piano, most all notes in the trebland soprano range each note is composed of three strings, tuned together to the same pitch,if one of the three strings, becomes lower in pitch, depending on your particular hearing loss, it may draw all string tones on the piano key to a lower pitch, or to a higher pitch?
just how it makes any sense to me!
best of luck to all!
Finally — proof that it’s not only me that has this debilitating problem…. If you love to play music like I do (did), you will understand why this particular problem is so devastating. This is also why I hardly ever want to pick up my guitar or go to jams any more. This off-key business would just occur every now and then, and I couldn’t really play with the band during those periods wondering whether my guitar was out of tune or someone else was out of tune, or what was going on. For example the song may be playing in the key of G, but every note or chord in the G scale sounds flat, so I might plunk a note in the A scale just to test the waters, and the A scale notes would sound closer to the actual key being played to ME, but in actuality that’s when the guys would wince and give me THE LOOK. At that point I would just quit playing. After the next song or two, the problem would go away. In the mean time I would try to follow in the correct key, although it sounded off to me. As long as nobody gave me THE LOOK, I figured I was OK even if it sounded horrible to my ears. I would pass any of my lead work off to Ronnie or just shake my head “no” when it came time for any solos. This whole situation sometimes makes me almost cry because I really love to play music.
I also run into this phenomena quite a bit when listening to music on the radio or TV, especially while driving my car. It makes the songs sound so bad, I just stay tuned to talk radio. I’ve sometimes thought it was another band covering a familiar tune and they were doing a bad job of it until I listened really hard and figured out it was the original, but I was just hearing it wrong. Drives me absolutely nuts.
I have about 50% hearing loss and I’ve had severe tinnitus since 1995.
Right on target for me as well.
I’m glad I found this site.
It’s been a nightmare for me since once-familiar music now sounds terribly distorted. I’ve been involved in music for over 40 years (teaching and performing) and now with hearing loss related issues, not even hearing aids can correct all the pitch distortion which is occurring. It’s become for me a very sad, frustrating and depressing time in my life.
I am 75 and have had hearing loss in both ears for about 15 years. Several years ago I got Oticon behind the ear hearing aids. Hearing has been much better but not perfect.
Ten days ago I went to a 2+hour Elton John Concert. I hears his piano off-key the entire time. Other instruments (not dominant) sounded ok.
Tonight “The New World” sounded marvelous in the first half. Garrick Ohlsson played Beethoven in the second half and the piano sounded off-key to me.
Any suggestions.
It is 2 years now that I am wearing my Otican hearing aids because I have moderate to severe hearing loss. I used to play the piano by ear. I love listening to music but everything is off tune for about 2 mos now. Then while listening, it all comes back and then goes away. The closer I get to the source of music, the better it sounds. I thought that maybe I ought to see a neurologist, but relieved to know it is happening to others with hearing loss.
hi jackiem just found your post and this site.. relieved to know I am not alone.. feeling really daunted. am professional musician working with voice.. have 2 choirs… got 2 hearing aids recently very good ones but noticed last nighht that music at the end of a film was really off key to me… is there in research into this and any help?
I experienced the same concert at a Santana concert I attended last night.
When I listened to the concert live Carlos sounded off key yet when I listened to a couple of the same performances that I videoed on my mobile he sounded perfect. Are there any listening devices that can help with this?
It might be of interest, if we include our age, as something, we may relate to?
What I am trying to find out is what happens, or has happened in the inner ear to make note sound off-pitch and wrong. People give their problems, yet no anwser has been posted why the notes are heard distorted.
Hi Rolf:
I’d love to know the answer too. Many things about our ears are still mysteries at this point. If I ever hear the answer, I’ll post it so all can know what’s going on–and hopefully what you can do about it to “fix” it.
Neil
I experienced Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss in my left ear (good ear!) 2 years ago. I am a church musician/choral director. I, too, am hearing things off key – for example when I dial a phone and wait for the person to answer, the ringing tone is a perfect 4th lower in my left ear than my right! It is so difficult for me to discern and correct the choir. The organ and piano sound weird. I also have diploccusis and tinnitis in that ear. I am sooo frustrated and have been anxious since all of this happened. One ENT said it was likely due to the damage in the cochlea and nerve (probably due to a virus) and there was nothing they could do to help me with the pitch problem. I’m trying hearing aids (for the loss in both ears) for the first time and after several visits with audiology, I’m meeting with the PHONAK rep today, too. I’m armed with questions and lots of info from musicians trying to successfully use hearing aids that I have found on a variety of places on the web! So far, the aids work great for conversation but I’m not anywhere close to being satisfied with the musical results. Thanks to all of you for postings. I certainly have felt I was crazy lately and felt very alone. The best to all of you in your journies…
had severe hearing loss in left ear, and minimal in right ear, i got a coclear implant, and was hoping it might help, cochlear is great for voice, can hear most people anywhere, music is not very good on cochlear, however, it is said, they have a software that can be programmed to your processor, that makes music more enjoyable? I haven’t tried it yet!
for interest sake John is 80 Years of age, with hearing loss beginning at age 71!
This is a really old set of comments, and may have been superseded. But I have the problem, and have come up with a theory on it. I think that hearing loss isn’t linear, but spotty–and what may be happening is that one is hearing fundamentals reduced, and emphasizing hearing of first and second overtones. Problem is, these are PERFECT intervals, not tempered–and hearing them against an octave in the same chord, which will be TEMPERED, could cause the sense of “out of tune”.
Kirk H
Now this comment makes sense. I’m sure my distorted hearing is due to losing some frequencies more than others. As a bluegrass bass player, I can’t hear the note G properly – which is the note I use most. As the cochlea has many hairs tuned to different frequencies, I guess the hairs for G are damaged more than the others. And playing a chord on a guitar sounds distorted, whereas one note is better. And a pure tone sounds better than one with lots of harmonics. I can’t think of any solution for a cochlea that has more damage at some frequencies than others. I’m a 78 year old retired electronic engineer with hearing loss going back 20 years- and continuing to get worse.
I too am a 72 year old who has played bass (electric and standup) for many decades.
In the past 10 years I have developed an issue where I can not longer hear most bass notes at the pitch I know they are.
Check my tuning with a tuner, and I still can’t tell a low G from a low C for instance.
I can PLAY because I know the patterns. If the instrument is tuned and I am playing the correct notes I know that it sounds fine to others, but sounds TERRIBLE to me.
This happens not only with MY playing but when I listen to other bassists the same thing happens.
I should mention, I have profound hearing loss (like -110db below 3KHz) and wear hearing aids. THey allow me to understand speech but music is still messed up with them on. If I take them off I am almost deaf, but bass notes still sound wrong to me.
I experienced this the other night while playing in a band. What i was playing sounded a half step higher than what I was actually playing. Although a potential explanation hasn’t been spoken of here, it’s somewhat comforting to know that I’m not the only one.
My case is slightly similar to yours, mr. Fred. However, everything I hear, from music to voices to sound effects, sounds exactly one semitone higher than normal. I believe it’s just hearing loss in my case.
Hi William:
I rather doubt your hearing everything a semitone high is due just to your hearing loss because typical hearing losses vary greatly across the frequency spectrum. The most common kind of hearing loss has little hearing loss in the low frequencies and very significant loss in the high frequencies. So if the faulty pitch-perception was due to hearing loss you’d expect it to be much more pronounced in the high frequencies and not really noticeable in the low frequencies.
Are you taking any drugs that might be the culprits?
Cordially,
Neil
I am so “comforted” to know there are others out there who are going through this agony of loving music and having it become so distorted that listening to music or playing the piano is difficult and confusing. My problem is mostly in the upper register of the piano. I can now understand why (3 strings tuned to each other). But I’m afraid to sing in a choir again because I can’t tell if I am singing on tune! Help, please. I wear hearing aids and turn them off to play the piano. Singing in church, I must wait until I hear the melody clearly before I dare start to sing.
Hi Charlotte:
Are you saying that when you wear your hearing aids sounds are off key, but when you take them off, you are on key again?
Do both ears hear in the same key, or in different keys?
Cordially,
Neil
I am experiencing virtually the same problem as Marilyn: sudden sensorineural hearing loss in my left ear (overnight) with tremendous distortion of all music except very high pitched solo instruments. I was also treated with prednisone and, when that had no effect, an steroidal injection directly through my ear drum. Nothing has helped. Everything else sounds like a jumble of distorted, out-of -tune notes in which I can discern no melody. This is especially true of instruments with complicated sound production such as an organ or piano. I cannot distinguish a starting pitch in order to sing unless I start it myself and sing a capella (I have been a musician for over 50 years). When I listen to my own compositions, which generally contain close harmony and some dissonance, I cannot distinguish anything that compares to what I wrote of remember. This is frustrating and depressing. The music is evocative of specific feelings and times in my life which are now inaccessible. I am profoundly deaf in my right ear with a constant mid-range tinnitus that, before, I was able to ignore most of the time. A major part of my life has been taken from me and, if you have any ideas, know anyone who specifically works with this type of problem, or know of any effective supplements, please let me know. I am presently taking magnesium aspartate, Vinpocetine, and a fish oil supplement but, so far, no luck.
This is me too. Sudden hearing loss in right ear then a year later same overnight hearing loss in left ear. Some success with prednisone treatment but now severe in both ears. I can identify an octave but sometimes struggle with semitones. Consistently quarter tone out on middle C. Frustrating doesn’t describe it! Working on a solution. ..
I have read with great interest the many e:mails from people with problems hearing ‘off key’.And like some others am glad that ‘it’s not just me’!However,I have yet to find any information as to what may cause this condition and what,if any,remedies may exist.I feel as if something has ‘broken’in my ears but my audiologist does not seem to think that a scan will show anything up.Any suggestions as to what I might do?.
I have had the problem of hearing all music as if it is out of tune. Although I am not a musician I am devastated. I have now completed my second session of acupuncture and hope to improve since no one else has any idea how to help me. I will let you know!
It is such a relief to know there are others suffering with this problem. My pitch distortion started with one note – the A an octave and a-half above middle C. Of course I thought my digital piano was out of tune, which of course is not possible. That was about 5 years ago and I could still go to concerts for a few more years. I am a classical music lover. Now, however there are so many wrong-sounding notes I cannot listen to music at all – it’s agonizing noise. An additional conplication in my case: my hearing was bad enough that I was approved for a cochlear implant. The implant alters the quality of the sound which I knew, but kind of hoped that bypassing the damaged hair cells and feeding sound directly to the audio nerve might somehow correct the pitch distortion. That didn’t happen – so I’m wondering where does the problem exist?
Hi Ann,
There are Cochlear music processing formats that can be tuned to many cochlear processors, look on the internet.
Good Luck
the cochlear processor would not be as helpful as I first thought!
my theory indicates that the sensor hairs in the cochlea are sensed to certain frequencies, and i feel that it may be a shortening of a frequency hair that may throw a note off key!
on digital piano’s i believe that each note, is a composition of frequencies to retain that note, at that sound?
if anyone has access to an original hammond tonewheel organ, each note is created by it’s individual tone wheel, where acoustical piano’s utilize three strings for most notes, any one string not in perfect pitch, your hearing may be dragged to that note?
any experimental results, most appreciated!
Good Luck, All!
That’s interesting. It suggests that, instead of just damage to the the cochlear hairs, the brain’s perception of pitch is also part of the problem. I had the same problem with my eyesight when I had an egg sized pituitary tumour between my eyes and my brain. So the optic nerves were being compressed. My eyes were physically OK, but my vision was funny and certain wavelengths of light were so bright, they seemed as bright as the sun and dazzled me. When the tumour was removed, my eyesight was perfect.
I have hearing problems (reduced volume) which is corrected with good hearing aids. However, after a visit to the shooting range (where I wore ear protection), I’ve not only lost a good deal more hearing in my right ear, but also in the left. I am a pianist, organist and choir singer (all amateur). Furthermore, certain notes in the high range now are heard off-key in the manner to the descriptions in previous comments. It’s also the case that many heard (high) frequencies are “noisy,” and some appear to be “amplified.” I can hear the shrill tones of the highest pipe organ pipes, in spite of having the usual taper-off of high frequency sensitive due to age and inheritance.
I haven’t been in this condition very long, but I am observing that listening to music which I know (and now hear parts of it off-key) tends to move my pitch perception in the right direction after a few minutes. However, this has to be relearned during every musical session. I hope this is “brain-retraining,” and I hope that if I retrain enough, it might tend to become more permanent.
Boyd Murrah
It’s very interesting to see the amount of people who struggle with hearing
Loss . My father has been a proffesional drummer for years , he hasn’t traveled for years and to make ends meet he bought a truck to deliver freight during the day. While it made him a great living and gave him the oppurtunity to play his music and keep his job as Minister of Music at his church , however at some point he has lost some of his hearing. My thought is because of the loudness of the music from the clubs and the church and the truck is just as loud, well he has starting singing flat and he ask me work with him on pitch , I just pray that it helps him and that he doesnt get discouraged. He plays jazz on Friday and Saturday evening with a great band and just want him to be ok..I don’t know where I would be with out my piano or my voice but I’m grateful to know that he isn’t the only one..
I am 31 years old and I can hear certain frequencies other people cant seem to hear. For example if I’m around fans or dishwasher, washer, dryer, freezers in the store.. ect. I can hear a high pitch whistle type nose come off of certain things. Running water causes like a slight echo type effect in the background. I have the echo effect and on some things and a whistle noise that only I can hear on others. When listening to the tv or radio depending on the song and the musical tones with it I can hear certain frequencies very strangely.. I have this in both ears..this problem is almost as troubling as my tinnitus. This is very hard to live with. Does anyone else have or have had this issue??
seems like a lot of people with this problem also have tinnitus.I just figured out my left ear is hear notes better than my right.So this weekend ill play with my right ear plugged up and pray for the best.This problem just started three weeks ago for M.I am still searching for answers.Good luck everyone out there.
My situation seems similar to Pete. I’ve had perfect pitch since age 4 when I began playing piano. Since I can ever remember I’ve always been able to immediately identify a pitch when I’ve heard it played on an instrument.
I am 46 years old, and in the past year or two, I have been noticing more and more errors. When playing in my band, I think I’m hearing certain notes/chords and when I join in I often find I’m in the wrong key.
When I am wrong I am almost always 1/2 tone out.
It is affecting my playing and also how I hear and experience music. Individual pitches no longer seem to have the same unique qualities and flavours that they always used to have.
I’ve read that perfect pitch goes with age just like vision. I lost my 20/20 vision in my late 30’s and now have trouble reading close up, but there are glasses available to help with this, so I’ve found that less distressing.
Anybody else experience a decline in perfect pitch with age?
I want to know what I can do to prevent it from getting any worse. I read something about Gingko Biloba, Magnesium, and Vitamin B12 as helping.
Has anyone tried these?
This is an interesting thread. I have been having some issues with this type of thing myself. I am going to try an experiment. I have two iPod touches with the “dog whistler” app. It is a frequency generator basically. Well….I will try taking a headphone from each iPod and go through the frequencies on each one and see if there are any discrepancies between ears. Put both on the same frequency and see if they sound the same, if not, adjust one till they do and see how far off on hertz each ear is and see if it is consistent through out the frequency range. Just a shot in the dark but…seems like i read about some hearing aids that can transpose frequencies. Maybe there could be a solution on that road. BTW I have reverse slope and tinnitus and at this point not sure how much my hearing is affected by this “hearing in a different key ” issue.
Also…I suspect the problem lies in the brain and is affected heavily by tinnitus….Maybe in the same vein as the ” phantom music” people here have mentioned. It could be the brain trying to compensate for the constant ringing in the ears…which the brain thinks is real but in reality it’s not and it is affecting the sound that that your brain perceives to be hearing.
There could be some medications that could improve this.
THC or maybe Xanax, Valium. I know thc affects my hearing tremendously.
I don’t think Xanax helps; I’ve had the half-tone or whole tone higher problem for 15 years, been on Xanax for at least 12 and don’t see any difference.
I am a musician and composer. I’ve had a mild cold for about a week. Yesterday it got to that stage where your head feels very big and heavy. I woke up, today, in the middle of the night with an ear-ache on one side, and even my jaw on that same side was a little sore. I took some decongestants and went back to bed. When I woke up this morning I had less pain, but noticed that the music playing on the radio was distorted. It sounded like it was passing through a ring-modulator, if you know what that it is. If you don’t, listen to early Stockhausen music. Especially his piece “Mantra”, and you’ll understand how I was hearing music.
Upon closer inspection, it seems that the affected ear, my left, is perceiving pitches a little flatter than the right — similar to many on this board. I hope some positive news comes soon.
dear john,
i hear these frequencies too.
get back to me here.
it’s worse than the tinnitus. in a bad place right now.
did it stop?
I wrote the last time on June 13 and, since that time I have seen a number of specialists (from Yale New Haven and from Johns Hopkins) who do not know what causes the problem I am experiencing with pitch. The last person I saw is a highly regarded musician as well as a well-published ENT, and at least we agreed on what I was actually hearing, if not the cause. On low to medium range notes, I seem to be hearing the 2nd overtone instead of the root note. On notes above C4 on the piano, I hear pretty much the correct pitch, though it is sometimes flat. Our conclusion is that the reason I’m not hearing as much distortion on the higher notes is that the overtones are less evident than they are on lower pitches. I think I am able to hear my own voice internally in tune, but of course I have my doubts…
I am profoundly deaf in my right ear with relatively bothersome tinnitus, and moderately to severely limited hearing in my left ear. The last couple of experts I spoke to surmised that I may have a fluid build-up and pressure in my left ear which is causing the distortion, so the suggestions were that I take a diuretic and start a low sodium diet to see if I notice any difference in my hearing. It will take 2-3 months to experience an improvement according to the people I spoke with. In addition, I am taking a number of supplements (Vinpocetine, Gingko Biloba, Acetyl-L-Carnitine and Vitamin B-12) which are supposed to have the effect of dilating blood vessels in the brain, so as to supply more oxygen. So far I have not heard any improvement, but I do seem to be able to “will” certain pitches temporarily back to being perceived as correct, but only occasionally and never with more than one pitch at a time. I hope this helps, and hope you all get a great New Year’s present of restored hearing.
I agree with you about the brain retraining as i play an octave to tune my ears in to the sound which i would have easily heard previously. No hard facts though.
I have been a church organist for some years, and the first thing I noticed was that when I was trying to set up a notice for the organ technician, while I could tell that some notes on the organ sounded out-of-tune to me, when I went through the notes with the various stops, it seemed that the out-of-tune notes were following a relationship pattern that couldn’t have just been so consistent by coincidence! I decided to test my hearing on other instruments besides the organ, and found that the piano and voices sounded out-of-tune in the same way as the organ had! I then concluded that it was my ears! It isn’t that bad yet, but I have noticed that for some time, it just is not as enjoyable to do my work in music as it was in the past. I have retired now, and I will probably go in another direction. I keep trying to make things sound right, or not to be bothered by the distortion, but I think it’s getting worse.
It is very hard NOT to be bothered, isn’t it? I am finding out some interesting things when I play and sing. Although I’m hearing incorrect pitches on the piano, when I sing along, on something I know extremely well, I seem to be hearing correct bass notes or at least they conform to what I know is the range of my voice. The whole thing sounds generally cacophonous, but I seem to be “making” it sound somewhat more correct than it did previously. I hope that my brain is adjusting a bit to what my ears are sending. Good luck!
I last posted on July 19th 2011.my audiologist says the I hear notes “off key” because the micro hairs that line the coclia are damaged (ie..flattened)so if you imagine these hairs being like piano keys then it is like having some of the keys missing when you hear sounds.I play an arranger keyboard on which I can select the sounds with frequencies that I can hear fairly accurately.The more I play,the more I find my brain compensating….so I believe it is possible to “train my brain” .This is of course OK with music/songs/melodies etc.that I know,but new pieces are very difficult if not impossible to interpret.So I think I just have to persevere and hope that this problem does not get worse!
Very interesting thread.
I am a professional singer in my 50’s and teach voice. While in mid-career during my forties, I started to have pitch problems. Having first been tested while in college, I was aware that I had minor hearing loss, the deepest being 30db at 4hz. I went to Toronto to the Listening Centre which is based on the work of Dr. Alfred Tomatis who is considered the Christopher Columbus of the ear and took a 60 course of listening training which helped me tremendously. A decade later, I experienced the onset of tinnitus quite suddenly and now wear two Phonak hearing aids. Curiously, my ENT did not recommend them to me since- on paper – my hearing loss should not warrant them- or so he thought. However, wearing them has made it possible for me to continue my career, giving me a sense of ‘stereo’ back. My point here is that even a small degree of hearing loss has an effect on how the voice and other instruments are perceived.
What I am trying to say here is that the medical profession really doesn’t understand or do much research into performance and musical ability with regard to hearing and audiological concerns. I know this because I attend voice conferences where the main interest is still in issues related to the larynx and the vocal tract. The ear is not considered very much. It’s role is singing and hearing of music is still not very well understood.
Back to Tomatis. His work – I believe- is revolutionary and could be helpful to many people to pitch discrimination issues. He wrote a book titled “The Ear and the Voice” which gives the reader an excellent sense of his work.
Suffice it to say, I credit the training I received in Toronto with giving me back my career- and- I hasten to note- my voice.
While I cannot speak for him, I believe Tomatis would say that the inability to hear ‘in tune’ is related to the ability of the two muscles within the ear to function at their optimum. And this speaks to a great truth: most audiologists and ENTS don’t understand that hearing and listening are not the same thing. One is an passive matter while the other is active.
Tomatis’ Listening Training exercises the muscles of the ear, and helps them to learn to focus again. It is however, not a cure for deafness. It is worth considering re this discussion.
Hi Daniel, your post is most encouraging Where can I get help in the Uk I am also a voice teacher and run choirs. I feel desparate! i I recently accquired 2 phonak emials which have been great for speech. yoday I had the music programme installed
I want to make my point as clear as possible.
My experience tells me that hearing loss is one issue, while the other is the ear’s ability to focus on sound. (This – I know from my word with singers- can be trained.) All too often audiologist’s believe these two functions are the same.
Hearing aids my boost the sound, but they can’t get the muscles in the ear to discriminate. This takes time and training, and is very much the work I do as a voice teacher. It is what Tomatis’ Listening Training helped me do.
Thanks for your insight, Daniel. I have also been looking into Tomatis training because the theory makes a lot of sense. The idea of exercising the damage hair cells and the two muscles you speak of is a positive move that I can make, rather than relying on passive means. I am certainly willing to put in the time, but I want to make sure that I am working with a reliable practitioner. I live in Connecticut, within fairly easy driving distance of NYC. Anybody have a suggestion?
I discovered this forum about a month and a half ago. Right after I had my go around with five doctors. Three EMt’s and an audiologist and nurse and my dentist. All didn’t know what was going on with my hearing .. The tinnitus has had me on the ropes for over ten years and I’ve learned to live with it. Most of my life I’ve been a mechanic(now retired)cars, Heavy equipment and fork lifts . Some times I was involved in many situations with loud banging ,hammers, explosions and on and on. But here is the problem,I’ve also been a musician and singer for well over 40 years.I’ve been in numerous bands and volume never really seemed to bother me, until a party we played(with my band) new years eve. It seems I picked up a middle ear infection(sinus) and all turned south after that,the tinnitus kicked up louder and when we had the next band job we started to play and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing . Everyone sounded off key. To loud ,my guitar sounded out of tune and my voice was off pitch. I was devastated. ,the night dragged on , I couldn’t explain it and people just looked and Whaaa.But since the doctors had no explanation of what was going on, as an ex mechanic I decided to try and fix this problem or find the cause.. As it turns out through many hours of fishing around I have hyperacusis. This describes what all in this forum may have. No one told me what to do for this ,so I’m self prescribing. I’m on T-Gone for Tinnitus (a homeopathic)and I’ve started Universal Sound Therapy ,For tinnitus and hyperacusis.These are cd’s and all you do is put on the head phones and listen . It all seems like witchcraft I know ,but of all the studies that have been done the last 50 years. I think these guys have something . So I’m going to give it my best and try to get back to square one.If things improve I’ll make another entry. Good Luck B.B.
About a week ago i began to develop a head cold. It started with a sore throat and coughing and got worse and i then developed ear pain. Saturday night April 7, into Sunday morning, at about 2a.m., I experienced the worst ear pain, and worst pain in general that I ever had in my 20 years of living. A nurse once told me for ear ache to pour a little peroxide into your ear and lay on your side for 10 minutes to clean it, then flip over to let it drain. Since I did that, my ears have been fine but about 2 or 3 days ago, either Monday or Tuesday, I noticed that the song I was listening to on my iPod sounded higher than it usually did. I listened to a couple other songs to see if I was right. They all sounded about a half step higher than what they are supposed to. I thought maybe it was just my headphones but through out the passed couple of days I noticed that I have been hearing everything in a higher key. (my computer, the door bell, the microwave). It is harder to tell with human voices but everything that always sounds exactly the same each time sounds higher. I have not looked into it yet but I plan on it because I am a singer and this is becoming a problem for me. Good luck to everyone with the same problem, Julianne.
I’m 63, have read almost all of the comments above and can say that, for years, I’ve been experiencing the same sensations: out of key pianos, violins, flutes and even some singers, mainly females. I used to go to classical music concerts, but, today, the orchestra’s instruments seem to be out of tune one to another, I loved to hear my records of Trisha Yearwood and Bonnie Raitt, for instance, but it seems to me that, today, the same records and performances don’t sound as good as yesterday.
I have a hearing loss in both ears, mainly due to been working in noisy environments for years (steel plate equipment factory). Never tried hearing aids cause I don’t think they would fix the problem. I have a band, sing and play base guitar and, often, I don’t like some passages or riffs of my friend’s guitar solos. In some musics I’m affraid of singing out of tune.
I was born and live in Brazil and never was successful in explaining this problem to doctors (nobody knows what you’re talking about!).
Finally today, I had the idea of search in english in Google an found this site. For the first time, I’m telling of my problem to people who, I’m sure, will understand. If you know of someone in Brazil that reads this lines and could help me, please write to me. Thank you so much. Ricardo
Firstly, please excuse if this rambles or gets overly-wordy at any point; I’m typing very much train-of-thought-ish.
I’m a part-time jazz singer/musician and also suffer the problem where my right ear hears about a half-step below my left (my heart goes out to those of you who have it far worse!). I’ve had the problem for some time now, although I find that my brain generally filters it back into a coherent note when I hear music in both ears (a bit like how it can resolve the stereo eye images into one, I guess). I’m uncertain whether it has improved ever so slightly or not over time (I think it may have), but it’s definitely still there. Sometimes I do find myself wondering if I’m hearing differently on each side when on a singing gig or a separate bass gig, particularly if I’ve got a foldback speaker on one side and Front of House speaker feed hitting me on the other but again, if I concentrate on hearing the overall sound in both ears at the same time (as opposed to the two separate signals), the problem is less of an issue. I also find the more I worry about it, the worse the problem; sometimes it’s better to just go on instinct and throat muscle memory. I find I notice it most if I’m listening to audio from a speaker or a live source in one ear and a headphone signal of the same in the other, as there’s isolation between the two so I don’t get to ‘blend’ the signals.
In terms of treatment, I relate to the frustration expressed here. Most ear specialists I’ve been to just ran hearing sensitivity tests (ie, for detecting hearing damage) but when it came up as no problem, they were stumped (apparently diplacusis can be a symptom of this (or possibly vice versa?), but I suspect they were running those tests by default as opposed to chasing a relevant lead). Having said that, none of them tried anything that would look in to measuring the actual problem itself, such as mapping the problem across the frequency spectrum in either ear. Having done very simple tests at home using a tone generator and different harmonics of A, I’ve found it’s most pronounced for me in the 220-440Hz range and less so continuing upwards. 110HZ seems either too low to pick a pronounced difference or the effect is diminished in that range too (interestingly, when on a singing gig, I reference my pitch off the bass (which is playing the harmonies); perhaps this makes it easier because they seem less affected?). I find it interesting that the problem is not a consistent % shift across all frequencies, but targeted at a limited range; I’m assuming that there’s some kind of physical factor in my ear/sinuses etc that’s causing some kind of phase interference primarily in that wavelength range and harmonically less so in the others. I’ve also noticed that my right ear generates a harmonic overtone when listening to simple sine tones, whereas the left does not; it would be very interesting to try to find out if there’s a most significant key at which all these problems occur (and at which pitch).
I also suffer a very, very mild tinnitus at a very high frequency; it’s like hearing the really soft high-pitched whine that the old CRT TV’s used to make, but I’m not sure if this is related or not.
Like everyone else, I wonder about the cause too and one question that I think is worth asking is: did you notice any other physical changes for yourself around the time the problem started to appear? Or perhaps an accident? The only ideas thrown up at me by the specialists was that it was allergy based (ie, resulting in swelling of the sinuses & Eustachian tubes) and that it would fade, but this seems unlikely (unless I’m permanently reacting to something; not impossible, I guess, but anti-histhamines had no impact, so I’m guessing that’s not it). The various articles on-line mention that physical trauma could be a cause; unfortunately I didn’t know this when I was seeing doctors about it, as I would have mentioned there are two physical traumas that I believe may have/are contributing to my state: (i) I fainted about 5 yrs ago and banged the left hand side of my head on concrete (from a standing position!) & (ii) I clench my teeth rather tightly at night from stress which causes me terrible headaches and I’m sure a minor swelling in the jaw muscles (which are very close to the ear). I use a mouthguard to take some of the pressure off, but it only helps a little.
I’m also now wondering if my condition is not Meniere’s Disease, given the various references to one accompanying the other. I do experience very occasional spells of the rotational vertigo referred to in articles on Meniere’s (interestingly, most commonly after a particularly bad night’s teeth-clenching), so now that’s got me wondering.
Daniel (Post #33 above) mentions muscle re-training for the ears, and I’m also wondering about whether brain re-training isn’t also a possibilty (as per the notions of brain plasticity discussed in Norman Doidge’s book: “The Brain That Changes Itself”; if the brain can be re-trained to create new brain-maps for body movement after stroke damage, perhaps we can do the same with hearing?).
I’ve found that when comparing simple tone pitches alternately in each ear using headphones (ie, where only one ear is ever getting the tone at any one time), by remembering the tone I just heard in my good ear, I can ‘focus’ my brain to adjust what the bad ear’s saying that it’s hearing and cause the perceived pitch-offset to diminish a bit so that it’s harder to pick the difference. I also suspect that the regular singing I do on gig helps, as it forces me to focus on and tune both aurally and mechanically into the correct pitch.
I’m also curious about post #17 (Kirk): interesting theory, will have to look into that.
Incidentally, here’s an interesting article I found online; haven’t finished digesting it yet, but if someone makes full sense of it before me, let us all know!
http://www.isa-audiology.org/periodicals/1962-1970_International_Audiology/InternatAudio,%20%20Vol.%202,%20%201963/No.%202%20%20%28159-270%29/Gotze,%20%20InternatAudio,%20%201963.pdf
Best wishes in shared frustration,
Paul
Wow–Paul’s description above nailed my ears if in reverse. I hear a ring tone in my cell phone a whole step flat compared to the right. Seems to come and go. Am a church organist. Was worst with softest stops–loud stops did not bother me. Middle C and B below middle C greatly distorted. Has mostly cleared up now–at its worst I was hearing notes of the lowest octaves far off in the distance, if at all. ENT thinks it is Meniere’s but I do not have dizzieness. Am having an MRI tomorrow to rule out other possible problems like MS.
I have the same problem, but hearing is like the other senses, we don’t taste the same food like 30 years ago, we don’t touch the things like 30 years ago and so on.
I used to play guitar and singing harmony, also I am a song writer, I have some songs need to be recorded, but no chance, I try to work with my doctor about this problem, again no chance.
But I have a suggestion , if you like to play an instrument like guitar put it on distortion mode, then you hear every things right!
Only in the last two weeks have I experienced this. Even Metropolitan Opera on Syrius has soloists singing sharp – awful, and orchestras sound tinny and chaotic. I am seeing my hearing doctor on Monday to investigate this, which has accompanied my loss of hearing acuity – but, as a music lover and former concert pianist, I am devastated at the distortion I hear in all recorded music.
I have been singing in Church since around age 2. In the last couple of years I notice when I hear a song played back with me singing that I have a tendency to go flat. I do not hear this while singing. I worry about it to the point that as I sing I try to sing what I think is sharp on purpose. Needless to say, this isn’t the answer. What seems most strange is if I sing with a soundtrack, I do fine. It is mainly with live music that this happens. Anything???
This sucks so much… I just turned fifteen, I’m in choir, the school band, I compose my own piano music, and I’m in a garage band with my friends. But now everything I hear seems about seventy cent sharp. Just the past week I completely lost my perfect pitch. I don’t think I can play anymore… It’s really hard because I wanted to major in music, but I don’t think that’s a realistic opportunity for me now.
I’ve been experiencing distortions randomly in both ears for about a year now. It comes on suddenly and sounds tinny and off-key, the way everyone else here has described it. It’s mostly treble octaves that sound a whole step flat, while bass tones still sound relatively alright. I’ve found that heavy metal music is the least affected by it, since it’s already so distorted. My love of loud heavy music is probably creating the distortions to begin with, as I’ve been in rock bands for 10 years. I’ve gotten around the pitch issue by playing a distorted bass (distortion pedals and pitch shifters) with a drummer, so we never have to address a pitch misfire. That obviously won’t work for many of you, but I just wanted to throw it out there. Try seeking out distortion and see if it helps. You can even sing in a metal band, since you’re belting most of the time anyway. I feel for you classical lovers, though, that must be torture.
I got a middle ear infection about a week ago, and I noticed that my left ear is now about 1/4 tone flatter than my right ear. I am also a musician, and this is very frustrating. I’m not sure which ear is in pitch, so I don’t feel comfortable singing right now. I’m on Nasonex to clear my tubes and help the liquid drain from my middle ear. The hearing is improving, and I hope the pitch problem will resolve itself. It’s very frustrating since music is such a big part of my life. Hard to listen to it right now, so I usually plug my left ear when I watch a movie, so as not to hear the dissonance with the pitch differences.
Most musicians have very acute hearing, so I hope this goes away! Ugh!
I found this article after searching for “pitch problems with loud music”. I experienced an embarrassing situation this past weekend on a gig where I could not reconcile the pitch/key of the music I was playing. The chord progression was Fm to F#6 -my ear wanted it down a half step, but neither sounded right. Like others that have posted comments, I am a professional musician, have always been able to hear and play/sing pitches (although I have never considered it “perfect pitch”, just good relative pitch) I have more trouble “hearing” pitch when there is loud indistinct bass (as in standing behind or near a p.a. subwoofer or loud bass guitar rig.) I also suffer from ear issues -earaches as a child, tinnitus, reduced hearing in my right ear (although it always “tests” fine), and recently after having some sinus congestion my ears were “stuffed up” and my right ear seems to have some slight pain. I often experience difficulty singing in pitch on loud stages and generally try to wear earplugs (though I haven’t as much recently) I also noticed years ago that I can alter the pitch of my hearing by opening and closing my mouth/jaw (first noticed while yawning listening to the car radio)? I am primarily a guitarist and notice that Eb-E-F-F# range has been giving me the most trouble. A cancellation or lack of audible harmonics apparently plays a role.
I am 19 years old and a musician and very concerned about what has happened to my hearing in the past week. I had a cold and my ears kept popping every time I blew my nose. After I came back from a ski trip, everything sounded very out of tune. I realized that almost every sound had two pitches. One ear hears a half a step lower than the other. It doesn’t usually happen with voices, but all pianos and other bright sounds like guitar and violin are painful to hear. I can’t tell if I’m singing the right note anymore when I sing along to songs, and I can’t even listen to music anymore. Every music professional I’ve told this to has never even heard of this, so this page has been very helpful. I just hope this goes away.
I last posted in January 2012 and continue to suffer all the ‘off pitch’and distortion issues as indicated by all the others herein.If Dr.Neil looks at these posts,can I ask him…does he know of any research being conducted into the cause and possible rectification of these problems?.
Has anyone heard or read anything about whether use of carbamazepine or other drugs can affect ability to hear pitch correctly?
Hi there, my name is Harry Allan and i’m a 25yr old musician and am currently suffering from similar if not identical symptoms to many of you. I’ve just recovered from german measles and the pitch in my left ear is slightly lower than my right and is making it incredibly difficult and disheartening to play guitar. There are not a lot of recovery posts on here and am not feeling very hopeful so if anyone has read or knows of any positive articles or recovery stories please do post them as this really seems to be the only place that discusses this HORRIBLE predicament we’re in.
Regards
I’ve been a musician for over 35 years. It really is the only joy I get out of life.
In 2007 I lost hearing in my right ear, suddenly, and lost my balance control as well. I was out of work for a week. The doctors called it idiopathic sudden hearing loss. They didn’t seem to give a damn that half of my musical tool was destroyed. Neither did anyone else. I leaned to cope with the constant white noise that I have in my right ear and my inability to hear any speech or tone at all.
Now, 6 years later, my left ear is going. I hear double tones or I hear flat or sharp tones below middle C. I’m going to the doc tomorrow about it but I expect I’ll get the same treatment as I did last time…nothing.
So now, I’ll be totally deaf, will eventually lose my job and means of income, and nobody will give a good goddamn about it. I guess since musicians are for the most part poor and struggling and without influence where it counts, this crap will just continue to attack us and nobody will do anything about it.
I have had hearing loss for several years which affects my ability to make sense of what people are saying. I can hear the sounds but the words themselves often seem muddy. To some extent this can be corrected by using a hearing aid. Unfortunately, over the past few years I have also experienced increasing difficulty in listening to music. My hearing loss seems to result in enough pitch distortion to make music often appear to be out of tune (including my own piano) and severely affect my ability to make musical sense of what I am listening to. Bach can end up sounding like some contemporary work, for example. My piano never seems to be really perfectly tuned. My hearing aid does nothing to make it easier for me to listen to music meaningfully. I have almost given up on going to concerts or listening to music on the radio, and am very afraid that if this continues to get worse I may have to give up piano playing as well which would be a calamity to me since it occupies a central place in my life. I would be very interested in knowing whether others have had the same kind of problems listening to music and if they have found any kind of hearing aid to be of real help.
I am a 73 year old amateur musician. Until recently, I sang with my church choir, men’s quartet, men’s chorus, community chorus, and played hand bells. It was social center of my life. 6 weeks ago, at the beach I put too much air into a bicycle tire that was apparently dry rotted, and it exploded when I started to ride it. As a result I now have tinnitus, which I am learning to deal with, and problems with pitch, which is most frustrating. I have had to drop out of all singing groups. I still play with the hand bells but cannot tell when I play the wrong bell. I first realized I had a problem when I tried to play a scale on the piano and it was out of tune. Lower register seem to be worse and harmony is impossible. All melodies sound like minor key. I had to leave symphony concert after enduring one piece. I have been to two different ENT doctors and was prescribed 12 days of Prednisone. Hearing test showed I have reduced hearing in left ear. Second doctor said I probably damaged Cochlea in my inner ear which causes my hearing to be distorted. He prescribed ear plug for the ear with the hearing loss and I am going to audiologist today to have a plug made. But I don’t understand how both inner ears would be damaged the same to cause tone problems.
I already had a hearing aid programmed for high frequencies. But it was purchased at Costco, doctors don’t want to even talk about it. I talked to technician about re-tuning them but he wants me to wait a while to give my ears a chance to heal.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi Kent:
Unless you had a high-frequency hearing test, you don’t know whether you have a hearing loss in the higher frequencies in your right ear. So you can have significant hearing loss and it won’t show up on a regular hearing test. Furthermore, sudden loud sounds can cause tinnitus as you know, but also cause other damage that shows up as hearing distortions (like you have with pitch) and with loudness (hyperacusis).
What I can’t understand is why your doctor wants to plug you worse ear. What does it hope to have happen by doing that? In my mind, it is counter-productive. You want to let this ear hear normal sounds–but definitely protect both ears from loud sounds while they “heal”. This could take a number of months.
Both ears heard the explosion so both are likely damaged to some degree, thus causing your problems with pitch.
Regards
Neil
Thanks for your reply and for this web page, it has been very helpful. I visited the audiologist who seemed to agree with you and advised against an ear plug. She suggested that I get my hearing aid adjusted for my left (bad) ear using the results of the hearing test that they did in their office so that I will hear normally in that ear. She explained about probable damage to the Cochlea much clearer than the ENT doctor.
Again, thanks for your help,
Kent
Hi Kent.If you read my previous mails you will see that I have almost identical problems as you (off pitch music etc).Can I make the following suggestions which I find help with playing and listening to music.1.Try and play/listen to pieces that you know well (your brain will listen rather than your ears)sounds daft I know..but it happens!
2.Piano and bell notes are ‘multi harmonic’and will be very difficult to hear accurately in terms of pitch.I now play an electronic organ because I am able to select many different orchestral and instrumental sounds that I can hear more accurately.
3.However frustrating I know it will be for you,try to play/listen to known pieces every day even just for 30mins as this will help to ‘train your brain’ which is very good at compensating.Finally,I can say that over the past couple of years I have found some slight improvement (healing)? in my pitch perception but I stess..only slight.I hope that in your case the situation will improve over time and that eventualy someone (Dr Neil?)may come up with a cause/ cure for this horrible problem.
Good luck!
Paul Martin
I am so happy to have found all of you! I am a pianist, just purchsed a 6′ grand and can’t play it at all. It’s really the middle two octaves that bother me most. I also have terrible tinnitus and hyperacusis, so this is a maddening problem, to say the least. I haven’t read all of your emails yet, but I intend to do so today. It seems like almost all of us are musicians. Either there is a connection or we are the only ones who can articulate what we hear. Bless all of you. This is not fun.
Thank goodness there seems to be other people that are having the same issue.
I’m only 15 years old, but I do listen to music a lot with earphones, more for my left ear. After coming home today I noticed that everything started to begin sounding off, I thought it was just my laptop playing up but when I went to the piano I realised that it sounds around a quarter tone flat. I know it’s not that big of a deal, but for someone who’s had perfect pitch all their life, it’s terrible. It doesn’t seem like one ear is different from the other – feels like both ears are just hearing wrong.
I have read that there is a certain pill that when some people take they have a chance of hearing strangely, called carbamazepine. I haven’t heard of this, but today I had a piano competition so I took some beta blockers – could this be the issue? Please help, I beg you – I am absolutely freaking out.
I don’t know what is wrong with me but whatever it is, it better heal soon! I have major exams that will basically determine my fate for my future – and without this advantage I am pretty much back to square one.
Message me at my website (yes, I know it’s tumblr, but i have nothing else) if you have any advice.
Sarah
Hi Sarah:
Whatever possessed you to take powerful drugs just because you have “butterflies in your stomach”? This is not the way to treat your body or your ears. Don’t you know that most drugs including the Beta-blockers can affect your ears causing hearing loss, tinnitus and various balance problems? Some people get weird problems from taking drugs. Carbamazepine is not the only drug that can cause this. Hopefully, your diplacusis was the result of the drugs you took and will be temporary once the drugs clear your system. Unfortunately, I don’ know anything specific you can do now to reverse this.
If you get uptight before competitions (or any other time), you need to practice relaxation techniques rather than popping pills.
Regards
Neil
Hi all, I’ve read what’s here and it sounds like a familiar issue .. Seems odd, but I don’t see much help for this elsewhere. I’m 62 with tinnitus in both ears. For me, soft low notes (i.e. through a wall /low-pass filter) seem a full step sharp or so, high notes C4 and above go progressivly flatter with higher pitches (‘scaling’ is narrow), mid-bands in and around A440 are fine. I’m a writer/arranger with perfect pitch and recall- doing scoring and parts without instrumentation (internal ref /memory good)- so this affects perceived audio coming at me on both sides equally at lower levels. Performance at room-level seems unaffected (yet) .. In my experience, flipping cue-send /headphone phase 180 degrees one way or the other /or a slight cue-return delay has helped vocalists having delivery issues during tracking .. I’ve heard nothing practical, eventful or exciting with regards to progressive old age; total bummer- but it’s really all it’s cracked up to be … Hope this helps. –
I’m 65 and have had tinnitus for several decades, after a lifetime of loud music, gunfire and other noisy hobbies. My hearing has been getting progressively worse for a decade, plus hearing musical pitches a whole tone sharp over a fairly narrow band of pitches, three-quarters of the way up a piano keyboard. It only affects around half an octave. Above and below this narrow band, I hear pitches in tune. A month ago I got tested and was prescribed a pair of Oticon aids. Amazingly, the tinnitus disappeared immediately I started using them, but the pitch problem remains. It began during a period when I was suffering repeated ear infections. I believe it’s caused by a small area of Cochlea hairs being killed off in the section of the Cochlea that corresponds to this band of pitch. I’ve read that the hairs don’t ever regenerate if they are damaged. I play the sax. I’m not sure if playing in a band will be possible as I haven’t tried for several years, but tomorrow evening, I’ve got a jam session lined up. I’m nervous that it’s not going to be possible to hear the band properly, pitch-wise. The effect is most pronounced listening to recordings. I occasionally go to classical concerts and the pitch issue isn’t to dominant, except when I put my attention on the flutes and clarinets. It doesn’t seem to be getting any worse, but it’s not improving either.
Well, I’m also a composer/arranger/musician/singer. This hearing loss has really affected me emotionally and financially. I’m experiencing most of the same problems as many people here. I hear the pitches on an acoustic piano and electronic piano one half step higher. Cannot listen to music on the radio and now when I play the piano I have to remove my hearing aids. The hearing aids don’t help at all when listening to music or playing the piano, in fact they make it much worse. A very frustrating thing especially for a musician. More than one audiologist has told me that hearing aids are made for speech not music. And they also say that with hearing aids your hearing will never be perfect. It’s amazing, I just tried a new pair of hearing aids (price $6500), can you believe this price, and they were just barely better, not enough to justify that price. My regular doctor said to me you’re paying for technology not perfection.
I don’t think there is any real answer to this problem. Maybe sometime in the future they will be able to make hearing aids that are compatible with music, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon. I guess hearing loss is a problem as you get older although I’ve spent many years in the recording studio with very large speakers literally blasting away. It sounded so great then…when I was younger and I’m sure this contributed greatly to my hearing loss. I’m 73 now and not an “old man”…..yet. Hang in there guys and gals.
Hi Peter,
I Wonder if anyone has tried the “Bone Conduction Headphones”?
I have ordered a set, and am just waiting, to get them, my thinking is it may bypass the cochlea, and not allow that interference?best of luck to all,
Hi John:
Bone conduction headphones bypass the MIDDLE ear. They do NOT bypass the cochlea.
Cordially,
Neil
I was born with a hearing loss in my left ear but still well enough to hear music. At the age of 20 I realized that I was losing my hearing in my right ear while conducting rehearsals of an orchestra. I simply could not hear some of the high frequency instruments well enough. I continued to compose music only for a few more years. Since then, I left the field entirely. However I was able to still enjoy concerts and recordings. I never had perfect pitch but excellent relative pitch.
I am now 57 years of age and still healing from brain surgery almost 1.5 years ago. Peculiar things have happened since then. The one relevant to this forum is the strange phenomenon of hearing tones about a quarter tone off in my right ear. It was as if I was listening to Charles Ive’s 3 Quarter-Tone Pieces! I thought perhaps it was the hearing aids I was testing. This was not the case as I went back to my old aids to no avail. This all happened about one year after my surgery. I endured this agony for about 2 weeks when everything went back to normal. Well, at least back to my “hearing loss” normal.
My biggest fear is that this will happen again. My best guess as to why this happened is a steroid that was prescribed for me to alleviate a medical issue. I’m thinking the steroids might have caused my issue but hard to say. Any thoughts?
I too have suffered from intermittent distorted pitch for about the last 7 years.(My father, also a retired musician, had the same problem and eventually gave up listening to music.) I am a retired classical musician who has played in orchestras and taught, and have worn hearing aids for 7 years, though likely needed them for quite a while before that.
The single greatest help I have found in correcting distorted pitch when listening TO RECORDINGS, is to use a Bose Headset attached to e.g. an iPod Touch or a Bose Radio or some other equipment which can emphasize the low frequencies sufficientlly. A Bose Headset, because it emphasizes the low frequencies, which are so important for music perception for most people with hearing challenges. It is important that the headset especially and preferably the recording output it is plugged into both reproduce and emphasize the low frequencies enough, again because that is what is helpful for many or most hearing challenged people.
When one listens this way, the sound is going directly into the ear canal, so that the issue of distance which can contribute to pitch distortion is not there. This is a very important point.
Listen to known, simple music first if necessary, and be VERY sure to sing along with strong musical involvement, either vocally or in your head if you ear is good enough for that. Listen and sing along very actively, and be aware of trying to “fill in the blanks”.
Then do immediate repetitions of the selection, and with subsequent immediate re-listenings, your pitch perception may improve quite a bit. I will repeat listening to the selection anywhere from e.g. 3-20 times in a row. (So it is better to pick a piece or movement which one, you really like, and two, is not more than e.g. 5 minutes long.)
My pitch perception has definitely improved, using the above methods.
**I have also been told by my audiologist to do this WITHOUT MY HEARINGS AIDS ON, and I do find that the sound is then a little more immediate and clearer that way.**
Do this on music that you can recognize in some manner. If it is all ugly, scratchy noise and cacophony, then pick another piece of music. But relaxedly, give it a few minutes first, to see if the music starts “coming in” (being recognized at least in part) within a few minutes. This has also happened with me. Again if not, then go onto another piece, and try for more luck then.
Here is another important point. Certain recordings will give you better sound reproduction and tone quality than others. E.g. if you are listening to selections on You Tube, you will find that certain recordings of a piece give you much more aurally pleasing tone quality, so search around for alternate recordings of the same piece (briefly listen to from 8-10 different recordings if needed) until you find the one that sounds the best to you.
I super hope this info will help many people, and if it does, I would encourage you to write back to this website, telling of your success, in order to encourage others.
There has not been enough research done on this issue, and what has been done does not seem to be available at one source, and we are all at a big disadvantage because of that. This is a great need.
Use it or loose it, and fill in the blanks, do lots of immediate repetition, and really sing along, but this also has to be done with equipment that gives one a running chance at success, so that is why using a high quality headset like the Bose Headset which emphasizes the low frequencies, and that is attached to e.g. an iPod Touch or a Bose Radio or something that emphasizes the low frequencies is so important, and cuts out the distortion which can come from hearing from any distance.
Have patience and try to approach this with optimism, and my suggestion is to really enjoy and be thankful for those times when you are hearing things OK.
(Dr. Neil: I was so happy to be told about this article by someone the other day. You have done something very needed by opening up this whole subject on your website. I know that there is a great need for this.
If there are any responses to what I wrote, is there a chance that you could notify me of this?
Thank you, and keep up the “good work”!
Best,
~Judy)
Absolutely agree with you. I have been filling in the gaps as you say, for a while. Now I’m working on improving my pitch and will try singing along. Thanks for your insight.
Hi Neil,
Thanks for all these helpful posts. I’m very interested in learning more about the Tomatis method and wonder if it would be possible to get in touch with Daniel who seemed so knowledgeable about it. Naturally, I’d be interested in whatever you know too! Is there a way to put us in touch? You can certainly feel free to share my email with him.
Thanks again,
Carol
I would like to thank Judy (7th Oct)for her most informative message.This is so similar to the problems (off pitch and distortion etc.) and partial rectifications that I have experienced (as per my previous messages to this site).I have had similar results using a graphic equaliser with my audio system to increase the levels of low frequency sounds.I also play a Hammond organ that allows me to form sounds that I can hear more accurately using the harmonic drawbars.I also would request that Dr.Neil consider a way of putting us in touch with some of the other respondents to this site,I think this could be very beneficial to some of us (especially the many musicians both professional and amateur)who subscribe to this site.
Paul
Hi Paul, Judy and everyone that has posted comments to this blog article:
Some of you have requested a forum so that you can email each other about the problems and solutions you have with hearing distorted music of all kinds.
I have just set up a Yahoo group for you. That way you can post your ideas to the group and all members can read your solutions. You will also see the email addresses of each person posting so you can contact the person privately if you so choose (but I hope you will keep most postings public so we can all learn what works and doesn’t work.
This group is for you so talk as technical (or otherwise) as you choose.
It is a moderated list for all new members (to keep out spammers).
To join this list, if you are a Yahoo member already, you can search for the group “DistortedMusic” (without the quotes) or you can join by simply sending a blank email to
DistortedMusic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
The group home page is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DistortedMusic
Members (only) will be able to read all the archives so when you join you can read everything that has been posted before.
This is a brand new list–I’m the only member at the moment–so join and introduce yourself and post your situation and solutions if any.
If you are a Yahoo member, then you can post pictures and files, etc. so this can be a collection point for information that you find on all aspects of hearing distorted music.
I hope to see you there.
Regards
Neil
To Paul Martin and others who have had problems with Music Pitch Distortion:
I would like to point out that the October issue of the Hearing Journal (available free to anyone to read on-line) has a very important article this month in its Hearing Matters column on new discoveries for adjusting hearing aids on a much higher level than available or known before, for better tonal quality and minimizing distortion, when possible, within a particular person’s hearing problems. These discoveries came about, after my pleas to Dr. Dennis Colucci, my audiologist, and then after much study on his part, and then experimentation with me.
So these new style of adjustments to hearing aid MUSIC LISTENING PROGRAMS stand alongside the equally important need for listening to music with the right equipment and modi re music listening rehab.
SUPER KUDOS TO DR. NEIL ALSO, for starting the above Yahoo moderated list. Unfortunately, I find keeping track of so many lists to be overwhelming, and I therefore find I have to unfortunately avoid and not join them, but I will be checking back here from time to time, to see people’s comments.
Paul, it was great to read your comments, and I want to make sure that you and others are also aware FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBJECT, of the very important organization, Association for Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss, http://www.aamhl.org. They have a Big Tent forum which people can join, to exchange thoughts on music-related hearing loss matters.
Here again, I am not part of that Big Tent, because I find it overwhelming, but I cannot say enough about the importance of that Association.
I hope that those of you reading this will find the new info in here helpful.
Again Dr. Neil, thank you so VERY much for your sensitivity, interest and these new initiatives and contributions to those of us grappling with music-related hearing problems. It is highly appreciated.
Best wishes to everyone,
~Judy
I love music and I sing in a good choir. This afternoon I suddenly began hearing extra, tinny off-key sound in my left ear. It has continued, and it makes listening to music quite unpleasant. I’m so glad to have found this extensive discussion – to “hear” from others dealing with this. Thank you all for sharing!
Here is what has worked for me:
1 Hearing aids with multiple settings
2 an audiologist who truly understands the needs of a musician and has the patience to keep trying things over and over
3 finding out exactly which ear is doing what, having that knowledge can help you reprogram your brain to work where your ears don’t
It’s been an ongoing process for many years but I’ve been determined to try and salvage my career as a singer. Around 2008 was when my hearing took a terrible turn. I didn’t realize I was hearing pitches incorrectly until maybe a year or two later. I thought my pitch issues during performances were just due to hearing loss.
I started wearing hearing aids which was already a challenge in itself to transition on stage with loud floor monitors. The background noise was mind numbing, but my brain got used to it and tuned it out. My performance didn’t improve much when it came to pitch referencing though. Music still sounded distorted. When I got my hearing aids, they had multiple setting capabilities. When I would press the button to change the settings a tone would play in each ear. I heard them at different pitches from ear to ear. My husband put them in his ears and said they were playing the same tone. We got out a tuning fork. Played it in my left ear and I sang to match the pitch. That was fine. But when we played it in my right, as soon as I sang I could tell I was not matching pitch. This was what helped me get started on the path of improvement. Knowing exactly what my ears were doing.
I’m fortunate that at least one of my ears hears pitches correctly. My audiologist and I began working on a stage setting for my hearing aids. We keep more volume in my ear that hears pitch correctly and bring everything down in volume for the ear that hears incorrectly. We have taken a lot of time working with the EQ and frequency settings to get it just right. I have ambient holes in my ear molds for my hearing aids so that I’m not completely isolated. We tried isolating but when I would sing, all music and other vocalists would disappear and all I could hear was myself. Fully isolated molds may work better for instrumentalists.
The other main thing I had to do was just try and train my brain to always think left to go with my better ear. With a ton of practice I was able to work through this. I unfortunately had to go through this in front of large audiences everyday and there were many embarrassing moments and a ton of emotional breakdowns. Some of which likely ended up on YouTube. (Ugh, technology in the palm of everybody’s hands can be a bummer sometimes)
Outside of my main job, I always use in-ear monitors when I’m singing with bands. Once again I have to “think left” to get the correct pitch. Panning slightly left also helps.
I’m not always perfectly accurate, and I have some bad days still, but I’ve come a long way. I’m much more confident now than I was for the four or five years while I was working this out. Despite the fact that I thought my career was over, I still sing professionally everyday. Hopefully this can help speed up the process for someone else.
Kathy: That was a really VERY inspiring story to read about on your part. To Kathy and all reading this: Isn’t it amazing what can be done with inspiration, good brains and perseverance?! Congrats Kathy. You more than deserve every and any pleasure you are getting with your musical involvement and career. Bravo, bravo!!!! With big cheerleading for your continuing successes, Judy
Hello everyone,
I picked up my guitar after getting back from breakfast a few days ago and realized everything sounded way lower than it should be; the just-tuned guitar, my music, my phone’s random sounds. Naturally I googled the problem and found my way here; I have the exact same problems as many here, however, I have found the solution to me.
I am an epileptic, and I recently decided to try Carbamazepine to see how I reacted to it versus valproic acid. After the 2nd day, I noticed that my hearing was going back to normal, and then it suddenly got worse. I knew it had to be something I had sometime, somehow taken since it was fluctuating so rapidly; sure enough, I found what I was looking for.
This type of audio distortion is a very rare side effect of Carbamazepine, typically only noticed by musicians since they depend on having a good ear and perfect pitch. Of course, I doubt many of you are epileptics, but this medication is used for many other conditions (and even more off-label). If you know you’re taking this medication, stop taking it and you should rapidly see improvement in your hearing.
What a blessing it was finding this thread!
I’m a songwriter… which makes this all so ridiculously frustrating. I have publicly joked about the fact that I’m not really performer… but I write real pretty.
I carry JUST enough of a tune where I can, with a little “digital help” lay down my own demo tracks. My engineer and I have laughed about how until VERY recently I was consistently a half semitone flat on the way up and a half sharp on the way down.
One day in the car I was yawning and heard the song on the radio CHANGE!!! I rocked my jaw about a bit and was able to get it to happen consistently. Was THIS the problem with my singing?
Depending on the position of my jaw and muscle tension in my jaw and face, tones sound different to me.
There is no FIX for this from what I’ve been told… I would love to hear ANYTHING to the contrary. LOVE IT!
I have spend countless hours trying to correct this using a tool that I used to HATE. I started singing scales… yes scales… voice lessons 101. But what i did was bring up some software where I could WATCH my vocals and see where they landed as opposed to the tones I was trying to match.
The thought process here was to basically take my voice “to the gym” and start building muscle memory. What I’v found NOW is that as long as I stay relaxed and don’t push the limits too hard, I’m starting to land far more consistently ON the notes.
My studio guy and I also joke about how I get to “cheat” with country music and how I can bend notes… sometimes almost to the point of breaking them LOL.
While my vocals are sounding better and require less post recording “surgery”… the problem still remains when I hear them… even “perfect” notes can sound just plain wrong if the muscle tension or jaw position is off. It makes singing live a sometimes painful experience… Do I sing so I sound good to myself? Do I count on my muscle memory? Or do I panic thinking about how even if it sounds perfect to me, that it may be off?
In the end, I am just glad that I identified the problem as a HEARING problem and can hope that someday technology and some hard work will help me get past this all… but for now… for this moment… it’s just good to know that I am not alone in all of this
THANKS EVERYONE… you made my night
I’m so pleased to have found this as I have felt very alone with the problem of hearing piano music and whistling ‘out of key’.
For me it is only the higher notes and particularly bad with whistling.
I’m so glad to have identified the problem that I have just learnt to live with.
What a relief to have found this site. Im totally deaf in my right ear and have limited hearing in my left ear . I wear a Phonak behind the ear hearing aid.
Ive been playing guitar for 40 years performing and teaching and recently (6 months) ive noticed if i play a high G note (1st string 15th fret it sounds G sharp).
It doesnt happen if i use acoustic guitars and only happens using electric guitars at volume. Now i tend to keep my improvising limited to the lower registers.
regards Phil
I’m a singer, have tinnitus, which doesn’t seem to affect singing. But lately on several occasions (sometimes concerts) I simply can’t hear, or feel, pitches. It’s not that I’m singing off pitch, or hear things sharp or flat, I look at the score and I know the note, but can’t sing it. I have a sensation of being underwater, sounds seem blurred. Singing in a chorus I usually feel rather than hear pitches, but now especially when approaching the lower passagio suddenly I can’t do either. Any other singers notice this?
I’ve realized something about this for few days. When we’re playing in studio loudly, after a while my ears enough but not correct. expample; especially when i playing solo on guitar, i know on keyboard i play cprrect notes but sound that i hear not correct. it caueses the play solo wrong. What is this? is there any solve for this? What can i do?
This is a nightmare as i am a guitarist and bass player for the past 45 years and i have a studio and am playing better then i have ever played. This problem started about 2 weeks ago and is very strange as it feels like water in my right ear yet no water is in there and the doc says all looks good.I am at a loss and LORD willing we will all get answers and help ASAP
GOD BLESS and hang in all.
Guy
Hi Guy:
Are you on any medications at present? Many of them can cause weird things to happen to your ears.
Regards
Neil
Hello Neil,
Only meds i am on are flovent for asthma and that has never bothered me
I have detected a possible mold problem in the house my wife and i rent and i have been very clogged in my sinus and for the past few weeks it feels like there is fluid in my right ear.I did see a doctor and he told me to use nasal spay and lots of it and it seems to have done nothing to help except it was very itchy feeling in my nose.
Doctor looked into my ears and said no infection just a bit of wax build up.This happened a few years ago and lasted about 3 weeks and suddenly vanished.
I have a beautiful recording studio and nothing but the best in instruments and can no longer tolerate playing at the present time
Hi Guy:
Flovent (Fluticasone) is associated with fluid in the middle ear so it is possible that you have never made the connection. But if you have clogged sinuses if could be the mold, or the Flovent, or a combination of both, or something else.
One way to find out if the mold is causing your problems (and it could very well be the culprit) is to take a vacation for a couple of weeks and see if your problems clear up. If they do and come back when you return, you know that the house and you are just not compatible.
Regards
Neil
I began suffering from Meniere’s Syndrome about five years ago. The nausea and vertigo were extremely debilitating, but the incidents are very rare now (low caffeine, and regular allergy shots seem to help). What remains is 30% hearing loss in one ear, which is helped with a hearing aid. Crowds and noisy places still make it hard to make out conversations though. And saddest of all is my pitch perception is off.
I used to sing regularly with choral groups singing classical music, but stopped because music no longer sounded good. Familiar songs on the radio or from my own CD collection sounded distorted, as if played with damaged speakers. Headphones are still the best way for me to listen to music. Live concerts always sound disappointing. I figure that my two ears hear differently, and the brain can’t make sense of the different signals it’s getting. Plus, I’m missing all sorts of overtones, so it’s hard to hear the tonality accurately.
I built up the courage to take voice lessons again, after several years of not singing, and my teacher told me I sing well and in tune, although it’s harder for me to match pitch in the lower register. But when I auditioned for a local choral group, although I did very well musically and vocally, their feedback was that I had intonation and blending issues, which I’d never experienced before my hearing loss. It’s a deep sadness that I can no longer sing in a group, and that music sounds distorted oftentimes. But I think I’ll just have to find another avocation. At 52, I’m not sure what, but I enjoyed music for many years, and I guess I’m just grateful for what I had.
Let me echo what many have said, the comforting feeling that I am not alone. My story is very similar to Randy’s, although the vertigo was never too severe. Despite the medicine to control Meniere’s, my ears do seem to be worsening, especially in the lower register. I play tuba, and large interval changes sound totally wrong (an octave sounds like a 7th). Choir singing is getting much more challenging. It is depressing.
2 weeks ago I noticed that my right ear heard the right sound + a pitched version of that sound. ENT hearing tests show good hearing (only minor low frequency hearing loss on the affected ear). The pitch is most annoying one octave up and down from the middle C. Voices are tough – especially babies and high female voices. 2 weeks after it started I’m noticing that the affected ear is very sensitive to normal sounds (grocery shopping, rooms with many people in it, running water, AC, the fridge etc. I think it’s hyperacusis. Have any of you experienced both pitch and over-sensitivity to sound. It’s like my right ear is listening constantly. I’m scared what it is. Will see the ENT again on Tuesday, hopefully I can get an MRI so I can exclude anything bad. Yes, I’ve been googling too much the past 14 days, but at least it led me to this place. Thx for all your comments. Hope everybody gets better, or at least get better at living with the issue.
Hi Andreas:
Are you taking any drugs or medications? A number of drugs can cause hyperacusis and hearing changes. If you have made any changes to the drugs you take or the dosages in the past month or so, that’s where I would start. You can email me a list of what you take privately if you’d like and I’ll be able to tell you if any of them are known to cause such ear problems.
Regards
Neil
Thanks for your quick reply. I haven’t been taking any drugs (besides from the steroids the ENT prescribed). It didn’t really change besides from the fact that I’m now more aware that all sounds (especially very low ones like the fridge). I’m so afraid that it’s AN, but I don’t know if hyperacusis is a symptom of that. It’s only in one ear. I hear the real sound + a pitched version of the same and on top of that it’s like my ear is listening all the time (except for nights where it’s quiet — this is the only time I feel normal.
Thanks again!
Andreas
Finally back to normal
MRI came back. All is good. Still hearing a small pitch (overtone) but not as evident as before and there is a bit hyperacusis but besides from that I’m happy and not as worried as before. I will schedule a time with the doc in 3 months and see if it passes. Good luck to all of you out there.
8 days ago I developed a nice loud tinnitus in my left ear. After 4 days went to a Medicenter where they flushed the ear. A day later high pitched sounds developed an echo/reverb and then music went off key (just in the left ear). 8 days after the initial occurence I saw an ENT (focus on the E), Dr. Ian Storper, who after some questions and a hearing test proceeded to inject my inner ear with steroids to try to reverse the damage to the cilia. There’s a 50/50% chance to regain the hearing. IF YOU HAVE THESE SYMPTOMS SKIP THE INTERNIST AND GO STRAIGHT TO AN ENT. You only have 4 weeks from inception to halt or reverse the hearing loss.
Hello. I’m glad to know that I’m not alone. I’m 31 years old, by the way. A few years ago, my perfect pitch hearing started to go bad. My hearing in both ears is now a half-step higher than what I used to hear many years ago (C’s now sound like C sharps, E’s are now E sharps, F’s are now F sharps, G’s are now G sharps, etc.). It may have been because I damaged my hearing because I wore both earplugs and headphones all the time. I had to take off the earplugs because of my damage to the hearing. I’m still waiting a long time for my hearing to return to normal, but I have a sad feeling that my hearing may never return because I may have permanently damaged it. I hope I can find the answers soon.
I am just blown away by this site. I see a lot of musicians so I will speak as I would to one to try and explain my year long battle and some things that have helped. There is so much I relate to in what you all are saying and some things that are different. My story brings up more questions than answers, but some mitigating solutions I found.
I got tinnitus a year ago in a noise related incident. I am a professional piano player and singer- was playing with a band that was too loud and forgot my earplugs. Oh how I regret that day.
About a week or two later, out of nowhere as I was trying to fall asleep I became aware that I was hearing multiple ringings. I then became aware that when I played the piano, when I played a straight c chord I was hearing a Cmaj7 chord. Like a theremin came on as the sound on the piano naturally decayed, there would be a “B” note that would whistle high above. I went to an ent who tested my hearing which came back very good and he said that I had Tinnitus. When I told him about the chord on the piano, he said that it is Tinnitus. Which I do to a minor degree. I hardly notice it. HOWEVER! this PHANTOM tone that I started to hear in music made me INSANE. And when it began it was worse. Overnight if I went to hear, specifically a guitarist play (acoustic or electric) I would hear this whistle ringing high above. I am very good with relative pitch and also play guitar and noted that when the guitarist was playing an open G chord, I was hearing the major third pitch of “B” whistle high above. But when he went to an F chord, I heard the fifth “C” whistling. An A chord was a ninth “B”. I am insane and took a melodica to a lounge later that week when I met my friends. The music had an echo due to the size of the lounge which gave me this bizarre sense of the relative pitch. All my friends were musicians and some have tinnitus, but I was showing them that I could identify the key (within a half step) of any song. I have never had perfect pitch and BOOM every song I could identify the tonic key. I was not amused and knew this couldn’t be good. When I went home all the chords in the center of the keyboard has consistent phantom notes that would move. Low bass notes would ring the worst! Panic attacks set in. My life changed a bit. I became very very very very protective of my hearing and got professional musician ear plugs from my ENT. Those changed everything and I have some theories as to why – these particular earplugs cut all the bad frequencies. Mine are 11 db reduction and they go up to 25 or 30. But even if they were zero db, the benefits were from the filtering of the sound more than the db reduction. I played a loud show with a band that week with these ear plugs and then next day my tinnitus was GONE! This lasted for a two weeks. The phantom note was greatly reduced. It disappeared from the low bassy notes on the piano and less so on the chords in the middle. The tinnitus came back, not nearly as bad and the phantom notes have stayed the same. It has been gone from all the bass notes except for low “A” which rings a faint “b” pitch.
A year has passed and it has not seemed to get any worse. I hear BOTH the real note and the Phantom note. I do not have pitch issues with my singing. I sometimes hear the phantom note in such a way that it moved like a theremin. If I play certain songs it will move to adjust and sometimes it will disappear. It really particularly like to sing along with an A major chord as a B pitch and C major as the major seventh, but if I make it dominant it will go to Bb and match. Other chords less so. Music still sounds in pitch. Most music sounds fine, but particularly THE ROLLING STONE’S “Waiting on a friend” is horrible. The “B” pitch pops up in the most annoying way, it’s too distracting to listen to. However if I listen to a cover of it or another recording of them playing it I do not hear it, but their album recording has it bad for me – so strange. Most songs sound fine, but some have the phantom tone, but I can usually tune it out. Sometimes I worry what will happen if and when this gets worse. I highly recommend those ear plugs I mentioned. Every time I wear them and listen to music, it all improves – this is my experience and I would love to know if anyone relates to this. First time I’ve heard anyone talk about it.
Also, I have found that apple cider vinegar seems to help chill the phantom tone down.
I have no pitch change in my hearing when I move my jaw.
If anyone has advice or thoughts please let me know, I am eager to try whatever I can.
I have read EVERY comment in total fascination. I am sending you all strength in this bizarre affliction.
For me when I played piano with my old “in the ear canal” hearing aid, I didnt have any issues but when I got the new more comfortable behind the ears type, I could no longer play piano with it sounding honky tonk. (Maybe I should change genre?)
I mentioned this problem to the folks who sold them to me but they just dismissed the issue. (Gee…thx for no help.) I think that all of us should print this out and give it to sold us the hearing aids. Try new ones out and if there is still a problem send them back and look for someone else.
Hi folks,
Browsing through all the comments here it seems I’m in the right place to talk about my problem.
Have had a cold/virus (more like some sort of virus) the last week and went to a concert on Friday night. At some point in the gig there was a sound issue and an over powering blast of energy was being sent through the FOH (front of house PA) system. It was only for a about half a minute but it was towards the threshold of pain level.
Went home with really bad tinnitus and a woolly feeling in my head. Next day was watching the World Cup soccer on the TV and started to hear some robotic features in the sound of one of the commentators. To my shock when I picked up my electric guitar and played the higher notes clean they sound like an added pitch and sound off key.
I’ve also had feelings of vertigo and slightly nauseous all weekend.
I went to my GP today and he thinks I have a middle ear infection caused by the virus and put me one a course of ‘Stemetil’ for one week.
I’m so afraid. I’m a keen musician and also started making some headway with my sound engineering business.
I wish I had thought of my earplugs on Friday night, but for some reason I just never thought of it…
I pray for everyone here who are going through this.
Can you offer me any advice Dr Neil?
Hi Gary:
I’m sure the loud blast didn’t do your ears any good. Hence the tinnitus and woolly feeling (what I think you are talking about is the muffled feeling that indicates a temporary threshold shift–temporary hearing loss). It seems both went away overnight.
The distorted hearing, vertigo, etc. sounds more like viral activity rather than the results of the concert.
Your doctor may be right that it is a middle ear infection, however, I feel it is more likely is viral activity in your INNER ear. As you get over this virus, hopefully your ears will return to normal.
Regards
Neil
This has been amazing to read these comments. A former classically trained musician I suffered mild hearing loss which just got progressivley worse over the years. Tinnitus set in. Then in 2012 due to a bout of sciatica I was on all sorts of drugs for a solid year and hearing simply deteriorated.
Most amazingly though is that if I sing I am accompanied by another pitch in perfect harmony. Overtone? It is perfectly matched and actually sounds good but I notice when I go to concerts I can barely make out the melodies. With pieces I am familiar with I do better as my brain does the listening, as one of your readers noted. My brother plays French Horn and the first time I noticed the phantom sound was when he was practicing long tones. I thought he was practicing a special technique whereby you play one note and hum another and they both sound. It’s a bit avant garde and so I questioned him. He thought I was nuts. He was playiing just the one pitch but I heard two. Well when you are listening to an entire orchestra and your ear is picking up all those extra overtone series notes its not very pretty!
I am being encouraged to get hearing aids but am reluctant as most of my friends with them have not had much success. Does anyone else hear the overtones? I noted one person heard an acutal chord while playing a single note. Is that just your brain “filling in the blanks?”
My tinnitus is quite extreme with one pitch solid, a separate hissing noise and often moving notes that just go back and forth and drive one mad. That would be 3 things sounding all at the same time!
This site is great. I’m computer illiterate so hope this goes through! It just helps to vent. I do warn everyone to beware of drugs! Many of them affect your hearing adversely.
Barb
Like so many I am so happy to know I’m not alone. I have been singing in a pop rock band for 30 years and I’m now 48. My issues are that everything will be going fine and out of nowhere I just lose pitch. The louder we get the worse it sounds. Its like when I’m in the car with the radio on quiet and a window open. I just can’t hear a clear pitch. Of course the confidence drops and panic sets in. I.have gone to an ear monitor but only in my left ear as I don’t want to lose the feel of the room I’m singing in. For what it’s worth I also suffer from vertigo and anxiety. Not sure if that’s common but any symptoms might help in a diagnosis and a possible fix.
Hi,
It is bittersweet finding this thread. I am 36 years old. I’ve been writing, playing guitar and singing since the 6th grade. In 2010 I began experiencing a muffled feeling in my left ear. Went to the ENT and they conducted a hearing and pressure test. The pressure test revealed dizziness when applied to my left ear. They immediately sent me to a super specialst where I was diagnosed with otosclerosis. I believe I read 1% of peoe in the US has this condition and it’s typically hereditary. If you are not familiar with this condition it is where one of the conductive bones becomes cemented in place, causing hearing loss. As a result, I can no longer sing on pitch in less I am in a quiet place with just my guitar. Even then, my pitch is not near as on as it used to be. I recently started a new project and sing a few of our song. It’s so bad that I am ready to throw in the towel and just play guitar and forget singing. I have some hope…a surgical procedure to replace the diseased bone with a titanium prosthesis. It’s risky like all surgeries–it could make my hearing worse or significantly improve it. I would say the worse feeling of a is the rattling in my head when I try to hit high notes. I know it sounds weird, but it’s just completely uncomfortable. Well, I am glad I am not alone. It definitely sucks to have this issue, but at least I can still write and play guitar:-)
Thanks for reading!
Stephen
St. Joe MO
This page makes me glad I’m not going nuts!
As many here, I’ve been diagnosed with perfect pitch, and I’m a musicologist/music critic. The first time my pitch distortion appeared was in 2006, before a viola examn, and I noticed that B, regardless of the octave, was lower in my left ear compared to my right. Afterwards, my right ear had the same problem and in came the pain. I had otitis.
I spent a good two weeks using ear drops and plugging my ears, making me almost deaf, but the issue didn’t end there. Sometimes, it’d come back, I’d use ear drops and plugs again, sometimes even for three days. I knew I was getting better because my hearing would be doubled (like talking through a fan) and that’d be the end of it. I had an audiometry which threw out normal results.
I decided to use headphones, rather than earphones, and that was an effective, albeit temporary solution.
Now, it’s been two days where my left ear’s offkey by approximately 1/4th of a tone, which drives me crazy. My boyfriend wonders if I may have an underlying neurological condition (since I also suffer from excessive déjà vu), but I think it’s a signal of hearing loss. I hope it’s not, since I’m just 28!
Hi Andrea,
I have exactly the same problem from 3 days. Did you recover from it?
I’ve read through this entire thread and am most interested in those people with perfect pitch who now hear music in a different key.
I was a classical pianist and blessed with perfect pitch, but about 5 years ago I noticed that I was hearing music a half step sharp. It has not changed since then, and, needless to say, drives me nuts at times, making my appreciation of music so much less enjoyable. Every pitch/tonality has a certain timbre (or flavor if you will), and hearing the Waldstein Sonata in C sharp major (instead of C major that Beethoven composed it in) is extremely frustrating!
I’ve also had tinnitus for many years, a condition I’ve just learned to deal with. (I used to play in loud rock bands when I was younger and didn’t wear any ear plugs)
What I find interesting is that most everybody in this thread with similar issues now hears music a half step sharp, not a half step flat.
I can only come to the conclusion that the hearing capability that we are born with is very sensitive, and wears out or gets damaged over time. Until science comes up with a way to repair or cure these ills, we are left to only cope and/or suffer with these mostly age related degenerative conditions (just like eyesight).
Hi All, and thank you ALL so much for helping me to not feel so alone and psychotic. I have the above – the musical distortion – and it can’t be unrelated I have a form of tinnitus, I believe coined by Neil, known as Musical Ear Syndrome. It consists of NON-PSYCHIATRIC auditory hallucinations – Strangely almost unanamously hearing patriotic songs, choir music, Christmas somgs and big-band singing. I can usually ignore it when it is low and in the background, but at times it gets VERY loud I can”t even think straight! Other times, almost exclusively upon waking up, there are the typical tinnitus screeching and buzzing, but mine often come with very loud very distorted heavy metal (a music I never liked or listened to. Non of the music on the internet, radio or tv sounds normal anymore – It all sounds so twisted. I am 58 years old with mild hearing loss in my left ear.
As of about a month ago, I noticed when I’d talk on the phone in my left ear, the voices sounded more “bassy” than when I listened in my right ear. As if some of the treble had been stripped out. Then I noticed when listening to music that my left ear was hearing a harmony on top of the normal tone of the sound — four half-steps up from the actual note. Like an echo. Testing further, when I put my earbud to listen to music in my left ear, it’s less noticeable, but on certain notes, that harmony is prominent. And some notes seem to flatten out — as if the pitch becomes momentarily unrecognizable or flat. My right ear is fine. Normal. So it’s the left ear. Something’s going on there. In addition to those flat notes, the singer’s voice has that somewhat more “bassy” quality to it than normal.
Hi everybody
I started to notice this a week ago that record tracks would suddenly drop in pitch usually 30 seconds or so into the song I thought at first it was a marketing ploy for streaming music sites but then quickly began to understand that maybe is was my own sensory deception. The idea of the music my only real true passion outside the love of my family becoming almost unbearable to listen too is devastating, it was music that gave me my career, introduce me to wife and children to follow you could say it was like a mother/father figure. All is not lost I don´t know what the outcome of this will bring about but I think diet and rest and exercise could be an answer as its not just the ears its the psyche and general wear and tear of mind body. I would say take a look at your life and see where theres room for improvement ……
I am only 12 years old almost 13 I had many ear infections when I was a kid I can not hear music on the right pitch I play the cello but I don’t know if I’m playing the right note because I can not hear the difference I can not sing with out messing up the pitch I’m scared I’m going to loose my hearing I can’t listen to music I can not understand it
Contributor David Hardie (post number 76) described almost exactly my symptoms. I’m 69 now and have had slowly progressing hearing loss since first diagnosed around 1996. In 2007 I was equipped with hearing aids which helped significantly. I have what I think are the normal hearing loss issues with understanding conversations in crowded restaurants, etc. and the aids don’t help much in those situations though.
Around the beginning of 2014, I went to an outdoor shooting range with some family members. I had done this before with no ill effects. When we initially started, I noticed that each time the person on my left fired, I would hear a ringing sound with maybe a one second decay. After several shots I went to check my hearing protection (full ear muff style) and discovered that the left ear wasn’t sealed completely against my head due to a cap I was wearing. I continued to shoot for a while longer with the muffs securely on after removing my cap.
On the way back from the range I noticed that voices of the people in the car sounded different to me than they ever had before. I also discovered that when family or friends would call me on my cell phone I could no longer recognize their voices – they sounded almost like different people. There was kind of a “Alvin and the Chipmunks effect”. I also began to notice that well known songs on the radio or listening to CDs sounded different and if I hadn’t been familiar with the recording I would not have recognized the artist. Then I happened to also notice that when I whistled, up to a certain frequency of fundamental tone, it was normal, but if I attempted to whistle any notes higher, they sounded way off key and I couldn’t tell if I was creating the correct pitch or not.
I immediately went to my ENT and audiologist. There were no obvious signs of damage, and the results of the hearing test as compared to one that had just been done five months earlier showed essentially no change. My left ear had always been better than the right and no change there either.
I have been involved in music my entire life, especially playing piano and synthesizers (although not professionally) and have been an avid listener, especially to Jazz. Some songs now sound distorted while others seem pretty much the same. But whenever a recording has any whistling or there’s a piano in the upper two octaves, it’s very distorted in pitch.
I have been on medications for hypertension since the mid-90s and one of these is a beta blocker. I have also been on an cardiac anti-arrythmic since 2012. And I have experienced episodes of positional vertigo lasting approximately 24 hours maybe two to three times a year for maybe five years. But no changes in any of these meds.
The sudden change coincident with the shooting range incident clearly points the finger at noise damage. But why did the hearing test show no change? I’m also an electrical engineer familiar with signal processing and my theory is that because the standard hearing test only uses single frequency sine wave signals, which by definition contain no harmonics, they’re useful for audiologists to get a clear picture of the sensitivity to individual frequencies but can’t measure harmonic distortion. Is there a test that measures hearing in the presence of harmonic distortion? There was also no change in my ability to recognize the spoken word test. The ear-brain system makes heavy use of the harmonic content of sounds and at least in my case, as probably for many of you in this blog, when you modify the harmonic content of a sound, weird things happen in the hearing experience. Research is needed I think into why/how this distortion creates the sense of a change in pitch.
I can only imagine the sadness and panic those of you in the music profession must feel.
For the most part I have gotten past the person-recognition issue and this is probably due in part to re-training the circuits in my brain so I now recognize everyone’s “new” voice. This would also be consistent with other comments indicating you can possibly re-train your brain to hear the correct sounds by beginning with music you’re very familiar with and effectively telling your brain “ok, it sounds like this now”.
I can only imagine the sadness and panic those of you in the music profession must feel.
Sorry for the long post but as already said many times here, I’m glad to have found I’m not alone in this condition. While I don’t doubt their competence or interest, my ENT and audiologist didn’t offer any satisfactory explanation of these symptoms. I do plan to point them to this blog however. Given the rapid pace of technology, perhaps someone will invent a mechanism in which sounds, particularly music, can be sent through some kind of process where the pitch can be corrected for each individual’s distortion and it will sound like it used to again – effectively a smart hearing aid/audio equalizer which doesn’t just modify the amplitude of pitch ranges but actually modifies the pitch much in the same way that auto-tune does. Come to think of it, from what I’ve heard of singers using auto-tune, that might not be such a good idea. Good luck to all and I’m very interested in hearing of more successes with fixing the problem.
Hi Tom:
I want to comment here on just one point you make where you wrote, “I immediately went to my ENT and audiologist. There were no obvious signs of damage, and the results of the hearing test as compared to one that had just been done five months earlier showed essentially no change. My left ear had always been better than the right and no change there either.”
So the question really is, “Can standard hearing tests miss ear damage due to noise exposure?” And the answer is a resounding “Yes”. Here is an excerpt from an article posted by audiologist Patty Johnson, Au.D. She wrote:
“It’s time to discard our old assumptions, beliefs and practices regarding noise exposure, and adapt healthier beliefs and practices. We used to believe that Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS) was, well…temporary. Sure, our ears would ring and our hearing would be muffled after those big social events at professional conventions. But that was just temporary. Or was it? Research on noise exposure by Kujawa and Liberman (2009) challenges our old assumptions and begs us to rethink the concept of TTS. Kujawa and Liberman found that while outer hair cells do recover from noise exposure after a period of rest (with a corresponding recovery of hearing thresholds and otoacoustic emissions [OAEs]), other changes in the basal region of the cochlea do not recover: they found dramatic degeneration of both pre- and post-synaptic elements of the inner hair cells and spiral ganglion cells. Not only is this damage undetectable using current test protocols (pure tone thresholds, OAEs and auditory brainstem response [ABR] testing) but the loss of spiral ganglion cells is not seen until weeks or months post-exposure. Kujawa and Liberman suggest that noise-induced hearing damage has progressive consequences that we cannot clinically measure, and that may not be evidenced until much later. This damage is likely to be eventually expressed as difficulty hearing in noise and/or tinnitus or hyperacusis.”
Along with the hyperacusis, I think you also often get distortion of sound.
You can read the rest of this article, “We can’t always measure a hearing loss” posted on January 15, 2013 on Dr. Marshall Chasin’s website at http://hearinghealthmatters.org/hearthemusic/2013/we-cant-always-measure-a-hearing-loss/
Cordially,
Neil
Hello,
I have experienced problems with playing jazz guitar, every g note sounds flat even on a $4000.00 acoustic guitar. Doesn’t happen when playing an archtop guitar. Driving me nuts. Help
Thank you for this thread. I am age 72, mild/moderate hearing loss, some tinnitus. I acquired hearing aids 3 months ago – which help life generally, but not playing the piano (amateur) the sound of which is really only tolerable when they’re switched off.
I’m sure my hearing has in the past definitely been affected by aeroplanes and I’m surprised this does not seem to be mentioned by any previous contributors. I have experienced acute pain whilst flying on several occasions, and the incidence of what I realise was hyperacusis (fortunately temporary) at least twice after flying. It badly affected pitches, and since reading this column I realise that in fact I’m not hearing the same pitch in both ears. Could this have been caused by flying and what is the best advice here please to protect one’s ears/ hearing in aeroplanes? Many thanks!
Hi Clare:
If the piano sounds bad when wearing your hearing aids, you should see whether you have a “music” program on your hearing aids (or ask for one). With music, you need compression turned off so your music won’t distort. With my aids in their music program, it makes an enormous difference to what the music sounds like. Another way of saying it is turn any compression off and program the aids linearly. That’s the basis of a good music program.
Ear pain is usually the result of clogged sinuses and Eustachian tubes. Are you saying your ear pain is from sounds being so loud they hurt (hyperacusis)?
I’d measure the sound levels in the plane and if they are over 80 or 85 dB, wear foam ear protectors. If you have a smart phone (iPhone) you can get free apps such as “SPL Meter” and “SoundMeter” to turn your phone into a sound level meter. Then you will know just how loud the background noise is. This makes it easy to know when you should wear ear protectors.
If the pressure changes in taking off and landing (going up and coming down) cause you ear problems, then get special ear protectors called “Ear Planes”. They slow down the pressure changes and work for numbers of people. You can get them at many drug stores for a few bucks.
Cordially,
Neil
Just wanted to thank Tim Hitson for his December post and Dr.Neil’s reply.Tim and all,you have no doubt read my many earlier posts on this site, so I wont repeat what I have said in those posts other than to suggest that all sufferers who play piano, experiment with a keyboard or organ (preferably with actual drawbars/flutebars)where sounds can be altered and mixed.I have found this to be very successful in creating melody voices and harmony sounds, the pitch of which I can hear acurately .
It’s not perfect but at least it enables me to keep playing some of my music,which,like all others here,is a very important part of my life.Happy New Year,and good luck to everyone here.
I am 56, and a violinist. I have high-frequency hearing loss which started immediately after snorkeling several years ago. Immediate loss and tinnitus have been with me ever since that day.
Hearing aids handle restoring hearing well enough, but my perfect pitch is gone.
The violin has no frets, of course, which means that similar to a vocalist, the pitch I play is entirely variable, and adjusted by my brain’s pitch recognition. Since I hear frequencies off (flat by half an increment or so, but varies by absolute frequency range), I must concentrate on finger position and have faith that it sounds okay.
Good thing I make money another way. I am a geophysicist, and am skilled in signal processing and sonic frequency artifacts, since I deal with seismic issues. The music frequency distortion would be maddening, if I allow it to be. But I still love music, and just deal with it.
Hi all,
I am a classical singer, but I don’t think I have a pure hearing problem.
When I hear a note I can perfectly create it back using falsetto.
My problem comes when I sing it back with Chiaro Scuro, when I do it I am almost always flat. And I can’t hear it.
I can say I have tried all of the remedies out there. Different support techniques,changing vocal position, sending the voice back, inhaling the sound, getting silent breath, keeping a hidden smile, breathing into lower back, hearing with my forehead, singing on the eye level, imagining audience behind, breathing into pelvis, standing on single feet, having a very hard stomach, while singing pushing upwards with diaphragm, pulling downwards with diaphragm, pushing stomach away, not doing anything with stomach and just keeping it strong, when emitting note late start, imagining the note just before I sing.
Sometimes something helps and I become in tune, but I don’t know that something and this is killing me. I can say it is not purely a hearing problem because as I have mentioned I can reproduce the note back with 100 % accuracy with falsetto. Also when I’m doing chiaro scuro, if I close my ears and try to reproduce the note, I’m also in tune.
So can this be related to only against chiaro scuro voice? Maybe my ear is sensitive to some harmonics? Because I remember in the past when I was listening to Jose Carreras in a live concert, he sounded a few places sharp to me.
Also since the beginning of the thread there are no remedies, and it makes me upset, maybe this is a sign from the universe/god/karma to us to quit singing for some reason.
Hi ‘Tenor’
I’m a not a professional trained singer but have sung in hotels and clubs for several years (now 68).
I started playing acoustic guitar 3 or 4 years ago and although I felt I was in tune, in fact I discovered to my horror that I was singing flat (made video recording).
Yesterday I listened to plucked tones on top E string and hummed the pitch; I could tell that I was in key because going out of key there is the ‘beat-frequency’ that becomes evident and makes me correct for a ‘null’ beat, leaving just pure tone – I hope that’s clear to people reading this.
Naturally, I then assume that as I seem to be able to discern the notes/chords I’m playing – that I must be in tune – but alas, not so.
Thanks everyone for this thread and hope you all get some resolution to your problems.
Like many of the other commenters, I am a little relieved to see this post. Relieved to know that out-of-tune hearing loss exists and that I am not alone.
I have had hearing problems since undergoing chemo over two years ago. I have tinnitus in the form of a low frequency hum, loss of sensitivity to the higher frequencies and some peaks in my hearing sensitivities. I am a music lover but not a musician. I do not have perfect pitch (I think). Initially tinnitus bothered me the most. Music is smothered, and sounds plain bad on my stereo. There was a lack of base and often music sounded sharper than I thought. Often, initial notes of a familiar recording played softly would sound so off pitch that it made me jumped from my seat. On replaying the piece at a higher volume, it would sound better. Not being a musician, I had attributed everything to my ‘hearing-loss’ playing tricks on my memory and a wishful thinking on my part.
Recently I started wearing hearing aids. This appears to reduce the tinnitus hum. And I started wondering if I was actually hearing music sharper than it really is. After finding this post, I went back to listening to some familiar recording more closely. Some sounds way off. They must be off tune by a whole tone or more for me sense it. And I think it is not uniform across my audible frequency range – making it worse, musically speaking. Piano sounds worse than cello. Some notes of a piano would change tone within a note, while the cello in the same recording would sound reasonably good. My guess is that I am hearing the overtones at the beginning of a piano note differently from the tail end of the note. With normally no vibrato on piano, notes sounded sour. Cello notes, with expected vibrato would be less noticeable. It also explain why flute, with less overtones and expected vibrato sounds better.
All in all, this is devastating to me. No more musically enjoyment the way I had envisioned it. I continue to attend concerts and listen to my stereo, just sad that there is something missing.
I am also wondering if my hearing can be `rehabilitated`. Could one re-train the part of the brain that interpret signals from the hair cells a little differently? Is the interpretation of music sensed by the hair cell a learned response that babies and infants go through? If I listen to a familiar recording and place the notes mentally at the right place repeatedly, would I be retraining my musical senses?
I’m curious if this has improved for you since you posted in January, and this has just started for me. I’m hoping that you have been able to “train” your brain to hear the music properly.
Hi, I have the same problem about 8 years ago, when I sing with a band I have problems with the sound of the synthesizer, the same way when the sound is very high and low, I’ve tried with earplugs but they don’t help too much. It’s really hard for me to sing in that way, I play and sing every week in a club, and I have problems to find the correct pitch with some songs. I couldn’t find information in spanish about this ( I’m from Peru) so it’s really helpful to know about other people with the same problem, and I can say as many people here, I’m not the only one with this hearing problem, I hope to find some solution and keep on singing because it’s my job. Greetings.
Hi I’m Ishmael and I’m 23 and I been hereing these strange noise like distortion or something I really don’t no wat it is
Hello everyone,
I have otosclerosis in both ears, and am a professional pianist/teacher. It is just getting to the point where hearing aids have been suggested as helpful; I am trialling some, but they are a disaster where the piano is concerned. I initially tried some Phonak ones, with a music setting, and every pitch sounded as though there was a quarter tone with it (lovely honky-tonk effect). In fact, even high pitched sounds like microwave beeps had the same split tones. I’ve now got some Oticon demos to try, and although slightly better, I still hear the notes ‘bending’ in pitch and it is completely hopeless for me to wear them while working. Has anyone else experienced something similar and found any solutions? There seem to be people out there playing the piano with aids in successfully… At least for now I can still survive without them if necessary, but this has been rather scary to discover. Thanks for any advice.
First, thanks Neil very much for your reply to my query about flying (31 January). I don’t fly often but will certainly go equipped with Earplanes and foam protectors next time. The pain I experience is only in flight, usually during landing. The sound distortion which came on a day or so later wasn’t actually painful – just very inconvenient – but also fortunately temporary.
Regarding piano sound: I did get a music setting for my hearing aids and to begin with it wasn’t much good. However I returned to the audiologist with lots of the advice I’d read here and elsewhere on-line, including a suggestion that is possibly sometimes overlooked – that a different adjustment is needed for playing an instrument/performing rather than just listening because one is closer to the source of the sound – therefore the volume needs to be reduced. She wasn’t able to make adjustments whilst I actually played the piano unfortunately (apparently this can be done – with good results), but now, although not perfect, it has made a huge improvement, for which I am very grateful. So thanks again, and good luck Rachel – just keep persevering! Clare
Hi Rachel,
Your honky tonk effect on piano tones is what I hear too, and which I described a few posts back. I think we are hearing the overtones of the piano out-of-tune. I don’t think there is any hearing aid that will correct that, and I am afraid that we are stuck with it.
For me, I discovered that after a period of quiet, my tinnitus (a low frequency hum) is at its quietest, but this distorted piano tone is at its worst. After listening to music containing a wide range of frequencies on the headphone at a moderate level, my ears begins to hum a little, but my hearing is more accurate (less honky tonk on the piano). Of course it is no cure, just hoping that if I do it often enough things will get better. At least, not to get worst.
As a music lover, this is dreadful. Just imagine, no matter how good a pianist, he or she is going to either sound out-of-tune or always playing on a honky tonk piano.
Wow. I am a professional singer who has toured and sung backups with many celebs. I still do. I have been singing for 30 years. I just turned 50. Over the past 5 years my pitch randomly leaves me, and I don’t realize it till I hear it back on a recording. Devastating. I used be the one take girl in the studio. I don’t know what is happening to me, but I am going to get tested and try to to the Tomatis training AND maybe get ear plugs and hearing aids. Whatever it takes. Thanks for this thread.
I have read through this thread and the only “encouragement” I see is that sufferers realize they are not alone. However, unless I have missed something, there isn’t a single solution offered. My hearing is going in cycles, and I hope I will be out of this cycle soon. When it happens, pitches sound off. Piano music sounds like random banging with no discernible melody.
I found this in a google search. So at least I’m not imagining things, but no solution or explanation. Two nights ago I had an out of the blue bizarre earache in both ears, and sharp pain if I tried to hold my nose and blow like you would in an airplane to pop the ears. The pain is gone, but I still have pressure build up a bit, and the first thing I noticed the next morning is that everything is a half note lower. I’m a musician too, play everything by ear, so I know when I hear something today that I’m hearing it at a different pitch than two days ago now. Maddening but I hope maybe like some people here, it will resolve and return to normal at some point…
This is really weird. I possess perfect pitch and now it’s annoying that every piece of music I hear is of slightly higher pitch than what I used to hear. It happened just today (or I realised it only today). I had spinach for lunch. Maybe that had something to do with it. It sounds paranoid, I know. But maybe I am paranoid after this happened.
Also, huge thanks to Dr. Neil for starting this thread. It was kind of relieving and at the same time, distressing to know that I am not alone with this. Does anyone know if this phenomenon has a name?
A year and a half ago I lost the hearing in my left ear (SNHL). Along with this I have tinnitis in that ear. My right ear was not perfect but pretty good. Two months ago I got a Baha 5 Attract for conductive hearing loss. I’m still having it “tweeked” and am hoping that it is the “miracle” that everyone seems to think. So far it is not. However, something new has come up with my “good” ear. All of the above comments describe what I am hearing exactly. In church this morning, I thought I was going to have to leave. In addition to have all sound extremely loud in the right ear, I now have pitch distortion. The organ was screeching, the low sounds were “booming” in my “bad” ear. I tried putting a plug in my left ear to stop the “booming” sound, but that left the screeching and bad pitch in my right ear. Surprisingly, the radio in my husband’s car does not seem to be as bad as the radio in my car as far as the pitch distortion. This is fairly new for me. I’m watching the series on TV regarding the brain and I’m thinking that my brain is trying to make sense of all my hearing changes. I’m hoping that the brain will eventually figure it out. Is there a name for this? When I try to share what I’m going through, I quickly lose my audience.
I’m 20 and I’m already experiencing pitches a half note sharper in my right ear. About 2 months ago, almost instantaneously one day, I noticed my right ear became muted, and the volume of sounds in my right ear were significantly lower. This proceeded for 1.5 months. All of a sudden I’ve gained most of the volume but now my right ear hears notes a half step higher. Haven’t gone to see a doctor (being a cs major in college just makes those kinds of visits seem impossible), but I’m gonna go see a doctor this coming Winter break. Before I do, I wanted to ask if there’s anything that can be done to fix this. I don’t expect there’s is anything that can be done to repair hearing loss/damage, but it’s worth asking. (Also for the older folks here >50 years, be grateful you’ve had the years you’ve had with good hearing. The body breaking down is a natural, unavoidable occurrence,. When it happens at freakin 20 years old to someone who doesn’t necessarily doesn’t even listen to loud music, well, sucks to be me. It’s probably the use of my bose earbuds. Those things tunnel right into your ear, so even low volume could be damaging. That’s what >$100 earbuds gets me I guess)
Hi Christian:
I think ear trauma–from listening to loud sounds–is the main cause of your ears hearing music at the wrong pitch. It’s so easy to use earphone/earbuds and turn the volume up higher than necessary. If you want to protect your ears, you should listen to music at the same volume you hear people talking, not a lot louder like many people today like to listen to music. That is just asking for trouble.
Typically, people talk at 55 to 60 dB, yet many people listen to music up to 110 dB. That’s 100,000 TIMES the sound pressure of typical speech that your ears now have to deal with. No wonder it causes problems.
Cordially,
Neil
In my younger days I had perfect pitch and could recognize any note. I received an masters degree in music theory/composition and taught ear training as a graduate assistant. Over the years I had lost much of my hearing (severe bilateral sensorineural loss). Fortunately I also had a degree in geology and got a job in the field. Nonetheless, when I play the piano it really sounds distorted. However, if I play with (either analog or digital) hearing aids, all the harmonics are totally messed up. It is very disturbing as the hearing aids really make the sounds messed up. Not only it is difficult to differentiate notes, the entire sound of the piano (or any instrument) becomes rather distorted. Hearing aid dealers and audiologists do not really know how to adjust the hearing aids for music.
I recently experienced the same distortion of sound in my “good” ear. I had previously lost total hearing in my other ear (Sudden Hearing Loss). I was terrified because music had NO MELODY – all notes were flat and voices sounded like they were in a well. After visiting my doctor and being put on diuretics the great sound of music returned sounds were not distorted. I hope this works for you.
I had a stroke a few weeks ago in the left side lower cerebellum which mostly affected my balance. Shortly after the stroke I noticed that my CDs sounded out of tune and thought the CD player was broken. Unfortunately, my left ear is now hearing at a different pitch. Music, especially classical sounds so out of tune in my left ear. My right ear still sounds fine. Just hoping and praying that this condition improves or goes away. I have loved instrumental music all my life and it’s so hard to enjoy with everything sounding out of tune!
I have had hearing loss in both ears for approx.15 years. Hearing aids have improved and my hearing has improved to where I began singing in church choir again….but today when I began to practice the bass of a new piece with help of my piano (digital) I could never hear the right note. I would go down the scale and frequently the note would sound higher (not lower). Is this due to the digital source and it’s lacking all the overtones of a standard piano?
I’m a 75 year old guitar player (electric). Had hearing loss for many years, but was able to play at home and record.
After an annual physical where I was pronounced ok for my age
i celebrated by drinking a bunch of bud lights, smoked, and got ready to record. But in doing a simple c scale , the top c was sharp. Other notes were off also. Went to an ear
specialist who did the standard in the booth ear test. As expected, my “good” left ear dropped off at the 50
db range, but he was at a loss to explain why my guitar’s tonality was off.
Using my oticon nera made my guitar sound like it was from outer space. Terrible.
To make a long post short, I stopped drinking and smoking for a few days and my tonality was back to normal. This problem took place in the space of 3 weeks. Tonality problem was also there on my mandolin and acoustic guitar.
I can’t imagine this post will bring comfort or help to anyone on this forum, but I submit it because I’ve never
heard of a similar case.
I have perfect pitch as well and still can sing in perfect pitch even with 70% hearing loss. I wear hearing aids now. However, all music is out of tune to me now. The only way it stays in tune is if I sing along to it but louder than the music. I can’t listen to new music anymore because I have no clue what the song is supposed to sound like. I can only listen to all my old music that I already know. I hate that music is all out of key now. I don’t even like listening to music anymore ;(
4 days ago, upon lying down to go to bed, I noticed the ever-present tinnitus in my left (good) ear was very loud like rushing wind or water. The next morning, I had trouble hearing people in the office over our “white noise” machine (which drives me bonkers). What voices I did hear sounded like they were speaking into a fan. Then on the way home, the classical music radio station sounded like an old out-of-tune piano, with two notes at the same time. The interval seems to be between 1/4 and 1/2 step low. Very low notes from cellos & basses sound fine, but anything from about middle C on up is distorted, and the distortion increases with higher pitch. Certain timbres, such as some violins and voices, have always caused discomfort, but today I realized it was now painful, like standing beside a siren. Lowering the volume doesn’t help with the pain issue.
Hi Tara:
I wonder if you have any active virus in your body–cold, flu, herpes, varicella, etc., etc. What you describe sounds very much like a viral attack on your inner ear.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi, greetings from Argentina. Sorry if my english isn’t good… I wan’t to share an experience: I experimented using propranolol to avoid stage fright (I play the guitar) and I noticed something very very strange, when I’m with the effects of the propranolol I don’t have fear in the stage but for some crazy reason I hear my guitar out of tune (thought was the instrument or the tuner but not) and the equalization is awful, something is wrong with the gain… can’t explain. It’s a double-edged sword because I don’t have fear on stage but I can’t enjoy music hearing it bad. After a couple of days the effect gradualy stops and I hear my guitar tuned again (obviously tunning it with an electric tuner) and the equalization and gain are good too but I get nervous playing in front of people. I think it’s something related with 5-HT1A receptor (propranolol is an antagonist) wich is linked with a kind of depression.
Hello Dr. and Others,
Here is a version of off-pitch that has not been discussed. I am not a musician. I have no other hearing problems. No history of head trauma. 2 years ago i began to notice songs on the radio were way off key. Sounded like noise. If i listened hard enough i recognized the song by the words and the tempo and I recognized the artist, but the music all around the words was excruciatingly awful. On a good note, this only lasts for about two minutes and then i am good to go for hours and hours. It generally does not occur in the morning commute, only occasionally, but always on my way home from work. As i said, it always goes away after about 2 minutes. I have laughed when I realized I could actually understand the words the artists are saying clearer because the words seemed so separate from the music “noise.” An interesting twist is that just the year before this started i experienced a visual issue where all colors suddenly appeared overly vibrant overnight. This condition lasted for about 3 – 4 months throughout the summer. In particular most of my clothes were unrecognizable as far as colors go, pink looked bright fuchsia, olive was bright green, tan a bright yellow and so on. Outdoors, the sky and leaves, amazingly breathtaking. As you can tell, i thought i was a little special and not really deficient in that i was enjoying color more than anyone else. With that, maybe there is a relationship here with the vision and now the hearing. Could it be a sensory neurological thing? What next? Maybe i lose my sense of smell or taste things no one else can taste. I am a little afraid to get a brain scan as it sounds like it will not provide a solution and may unearth other things i am not ready to hear. Maybe it is related to hormonal changes? I am 54, this started 3 years ago, exactly at the time of menopause. Just a thought.
Hi Dawn:
I think you may be right about a neurological “thing” that affects both your eyes and your ears (and maybe other senses too). It would be better to get an MRI or whatever and then you’ll know for sure what is going on–if there is a physical reason for this or not.
There are all sorts of weird “normal” things. Some people “see” sounds as colors. (My wife’s son does, so does his cousin.) Some people taste sounds, etc. This is called synesthesia. But this is different from what you are describing.
Cordially,
Neil
The car radio is my biggest problem. I hear a singer, for example, and notice they are singing sharp. Then , hold on, that bass player is sharp too. But no, he’s in tune with the guitar. And so it goes. I tend to blame inefficient speakers or less likely problems resulting from equal temperament .tuning perhaps. Surely I’m not alone?
I am going through this for the last two days, and I’m panicking.
I have perfect pitch ever since I could remember myself – the last two days had me hearing everything around me 8 cents lower than it really is.
I am freaking out, really. All I can point out to, is taking some Prednisone (Steroids) and having a really loud rehearsal 4 days ago.
I pray i’ll get back to normal pitch. This is making me lose it.
Iv’e got a gig tonight – I just i’d be able to play without too much of a strain (Iv’e given up vocals for today – I cant even detect my own pitch properly, fearing i will sing out-of-key).
I come from Hong Kong and suffered from serious flu last week. My right ear is infected and now I am hearing notes semi-tone higher. I played piano and a piano teacher. Worrying if this will go even worse in future…
Hi Kristy:
Probably your hearing pitches will return to normal when the infection goes away. ust give it a bit of time.
Cordially,
Neil
So interesting to read all this information…..I am pianist, and yesterday when I was accompanying some singers, I thought the upper notes of my digital piano had gone out of tune. I was ready to send the piano back to be repaired, when I thought I would just try the notes which were”off” with another piano. The second piano sounded exactly the same…… so the problem is with me not the piano!
I then found this site, read all the comments, and realize I seem to have a similar problem, in that all the notes above treble C sound “honkey-tonkey” I have had a bad cold over Christmas, and wonder if this has affected my ears.
I intend to go to the doctor tomorrow, but I imagine it will be difficult explaining the problem, as I don’t seem to have any hearing loss. A name for this condition would be very helpful!
The first thing I notice is that most people that complain about this problem are musicians. I am curious as to if we are mistuning our own ears by focusing two hard on hearing certain pitches. I tend to get this a lot and for me it comes in the form of attacks. My right ear experienced a sudden hearing loss almost a decade ago. When my left ear is affected it always seems to be also affecting my left ear at the same time. The issue also seems to be heightened whenever I experience anxiety for a long period of time. Something in the back of the ear seems like it gets tightened during panic attacks. Then I notice a tightening that leads down to my adams apple. I try to relax those and then try to get my ear to not focus on hearing very specific sounds at certain pitches and it seems to help. The problem is that though it seems to help, it takes a whole few weeks of doing this for me to get back to normal with my hearing. Right now I am three weeks into the middle of going through it again. I’ve been given Prednisone for the first time, however, it seems to have no affect other than making me feel more agitated which I think is actually prolonging the issue. I decided to get over the counter diuretics until I visit with my new ENT on Monday. My last ENT was not very helpful and kept telling me to see a psychiatrist, he claims he has never heard of people hearing out of tune. I feel for every single other person who is going through this same thing as I. I feel especially for people who are musicians and I hope that you can glean something from my writings here that can help ‘retune’ your ears. So basically I listen to the whole of the spectrum rather than focusing on specific pitches or notes. I relax the muscles of my Jaw area, the back of my throat area, and the addams apple area. After a few days I begin to get a tickling sensation deep within the ear that also seems like a bubbling sensation as if some kind of fluid is starting to bubble out of something. After a while I would sometimes here loud POPS but this does not happen all the time. I think there is a tissue that is responsible for absorbing extra fluid in the ear that becomes less efficient when it is tensed. The key to discovering what is causing is to find out why that tissue tenses up. Is it happening because we are straining our ears too much to hear certain sounds, or is it (at least for me) happening as a result of my anxiety attacks. I plan to follow up with a neurologist when I get the chance as well. This is very strange to be going through something that nobody else around me seems to have experienced before. I believe that a form of biofeedback is the best answer for this.t I also believe the cause may be something related to my genetics. Having too much auditory processing neurons firing at the same time in the Neocortex. An over activity. I suffer from ADHD and do have some over activity in the brain. The ears tune itself by regulating fluid pressure in the cochlea. If that part of the brain is given the wrong signal especially in a rapid neuron misfiring scenario, it triggers the brain to mistune the cochlea. This is affecting both dynamic range and pitch perception. I also lose the ability to hear below 100hz during these attacks.
RE: Could I Have Hearing Loss? All About That Bass- lol! Hello, everyone! First of all, I want to say that my heart goes out to each of you experiencing any difficulty whatsoever with your hearing. When you make your living with your ears, it’s a whole different song and planet, for that matter, to which I can attest. I am a music professional/voice & piano instructor, jazz singer and songwriter, among other musical activities for over 20 years. I do not have perfect pitch, but very good tonal memory. I have always been rather sensitive, in a good way, to bass frequencies. However, gradually over the past few years, and particularly recently, I am experiencing a strange phenomenon with respect to bass note frequencies. When I listen to full band or rhythm section music at a distance, like my next door neighbor, for example, is playing recorded music loud enough for me to hear through the walls, etc. or if I’m outdoors and the sound carries outside, I hear the bass part out of tune! Like the whole part is a half-step too high! It is crazy and annoying, but I don’t understand what would cause that! Furthermore, as recently as today, as I was playing an upright (wooden setting) bass line in C on my Yamaha digital Clavinova (there’s a split), both the E flat and the E sounded sharp! The E sounded almost like an F! I thought I was losing my mind, so I got the digital tuner out. There did seem to measure a slight sharpness, but not enough to bring it up that far. The last time I had my hearing checked, which was probably over 7 years ago, it was completely normal, even above average… Please, if anyone out there has any answers, thoughts, or can relate….I would SO love to hear from you. I am scared that this could be the beginning of gradual hearing loss- which could be devastating to my livelihood if not brought under control. All the best to everyone and thanks for reading!
Hi Becky:
Some people hear music a semi-tone off if there are taking certain drugs–for example, Carbamazepine. So that is the first thing I’d check. If you began a drug and then later noticed your hearing is off, that would be a good indication that that drug is the likely culprit.
Cordially,
Neil
I am a violinist and researched and experimented in great depth about pitch over few decades. It is very normal and widely known when you listen to “music next door”, the pitch appears flat. Reason being low frequencies attenuates less during travel, but pitch perception mainly attributes to higher harmonics. Also, in a music assembly, it is normal for the lower notes or bass to be flat, relative to a tuner. Reason, scientific research confirms the music octave is subjectively not 2:1, but about 1220 cents. Violinists play over three octaves and are particularly aware, but not vocalists. So everything you mention is normal, except I do not believe your digital piano is out of tune. Many latest keyboards tune to a so call “standard temperament”, which is a “S” shape curve somewhat. All keyboards are musically sharp on the low notes and flat on the high notes, but are “corrected”, or “ruined” per how you interpret, due to all the autotuned music around. More high notes sound flat with age, as the ear fail. Are you using the measure function on your tuner? FFT on such tuners often show pitch in steps, and cannot show precise pitch. Sounds you are in perfect form per everything you describe. Relax and God bless.
I researched “intonation” many years, being a violinist. Short story, the octave is naturally “stretched” (2:1 is wrong), scientifically proven. Your discovery that all bass sounding sharp is the result of “natural” music listening coming back and your years of “wrong” ET training fading away. It is a good sign.
Hi All
I’m 31 and a musician. Over the past couple of years I’ve experienced very similar hearing distortion symptoms to what many people have described here.
It initially started around 4 years ago when I began experiencing extremely bad persistent headaches every day and was eventually diagnosed with spontaneous intracranial hypotension caused by a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak. Unfortunately, despite many scans and procedures the doctors were never able to localise the site of the leak and I have suffered from it on and off ever since. During the most symptomatic periods, it causes low-frequency hearing distortion in my left ear whereby notes sound flat and off key, usual only between about 100Hz to 250Hz. At its worst though, the distortion has extended up a lot higher to about 1000Hz and caused most music to become completely non-sensical. Chords played on piano and guitar sounded like a mish-mash of FM modulated noise and people’s voices began to sound like Wall-E the robot from the film! It’s almost always also accompanied by strange morse-code like mid-range tinnitus and low-frequency droning tinnitus in both ears.
During the first and worst occurrence of the distortion however, after having suffered from it for about 3 weeks, I read an academic paper which compared some of the symptoms of a CSF leak to those of people who suffer from Meniere’s disease and it suggested that taking Betahistine, which is thought to increase blood-flow to the inner ear, may to help alleviate them. I asked my GP if I could be prescribed a course of this and he agreed, as it’s generally a well-tolerated drug with low interaction and minimal side effects. Within 48 hours my hearing distortion had gone completely! Now, whenever the distortion returns (as it nearly always does when my low-pressure headaches become bad) I start taking the Betahistine again which seems to stop the distortion getting worse and after a few days, reverses it until my hearing becomes normal again. I’m still not exactly certain what causes the distortion, but have speculated with my consultant neurologist that it could be an inner-ear fluid imbalance (although I never experience dizziness) since there is a direct link between the CSF and the inner ear via the perilymphatic duct.
So, I just wanted to offer a bit of hope that Betahistine has worked for me so it may work for you, it’s certainly worth discussing it with your doctor as I did!
Best regards to all
Ben
Hi Ben:
I’m glad the Betahistine worked for you.
If you actually have Ménière’s disease, then you would be wise to read my article on the latest proven treatment for Ménière’s disease you can read it at http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/atlas-adjustments-alleviate-menieres-disease/ .
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil
Thank you so much for your reply. I’m not certain if I have Ménière’s, at least it’s never been formally diagnosed, but I have almost all the symptoms (hearing distortion, headaches, tinnitus, nausea, aural fullness etc) except for the vertigo.
However, I have just read through your entire article on the subject with great interest! My condition began a matter of days following a fall off my bicycle where I hit my head hard on the pavement (I was wearing a helmet, but it was a big impact). This would seem to fit the pattern of Dr. Buchanan’s patients, needless to say I’ll be searching out a local Upper-Cervical Chiro ASAP!
Thank you so much again, this has given me renewed hope of finding a probable cause and treatment for my condition after years of suffering.
Very best regards
Ben
I’m 65 and I started wearing digital hearing aids about 6 months ago. I’m a visual artists and I used to listen to music while I worked. Most music sounds out of tune now. I find dealing with hearing loss difficult, hearing music out of tune is depressing. Is there a way to correct this problem?
Hi Peter:
When you say that music sounds out of tune, do you mean that it is off all over the place, or just sounds bad, or is it specifically a semitone high or low?
Sometimes music sounds bad because digital hearing aids don’t reproduce it the same as analog aids to. This is because they are optimized to understand speech not music, so there is a lot of compression and filtering going on. One way around this is to have one of your memories specifically set for music. Your audiologist can program this memory in a linear fashion without compression and without any filter set. This makes music sound natural, or at least much more natural. So this is the first thing I would try.
Cordially,
Neil
There are Medications that can contribute to hearing loss, they are refferred to as Ototoxic Medicines, that include high dose of Aspirin, Carbamazepine and others!
I’m glad to find this thread! I have a hybrid cochlear implant in my right ear and a hearing aid in the left. I had great pitch, maybe perfect, until I got my CI. Fortunately, for me, the piano goes flat at high B and above. High A sharp is fine but it immediately goes bad at b. Makes it hard to play Clementi, haha! The weird thing it, I still hear music on key if I’m not playing it. I use a very good digital piano and I’m wondering if an acoustic would do the same.
Hi Cindy:
Interesting. There is an easy way to find out–go to a piano store and try playing something on a piano, or more than one. Then you’ll know. And perhaps get a salesperson to play the same piece and see whether it sounds normal then when you are just listening to it.
Cordially,
Neil
Thanks Neil. per your comment I at least found it was not my keyboard…
No perfect pitch. But highest 2 octaves have notes that are off. I thought it was my keyboard till I tried another, same result. Had Bells Palsy. Used Quinapril. I am 78 with hearing loss in the high register in both ears. No answer yet.
I’m currently taking Carbamezapine for pain in my neck, and I hear everything a pitch lower. But this also happened before I began my dosages. It’s happened a lot. On random days, I’ll plug my earphones on, and all my song would sound like they transposed a whole tone down.
I guess perception really is everything.
I’m 18, a musician (baritone/euphonium, piano, trumpet, voice) and I love rock music and rock concerts. A year or two ago I noticed that every once in a while(it’s unstable interval time period) I’ll start listening to a song and I’ll hear it in a different key, but know that it’s wrong and not be able to stop hearing it that way. Eventually it stops.
Hello all. This might come off as a little strange, but I am a graduate student in the hearing sciences and I am studying diplacusis for a research capstone. If you live relatively close to the Chicago area and would be willing to participant in my research study (which would be greatly appreciated), please contact me at: contactlaurenervin@gmail.com
Again, I know how this looks but diplacusis is a difficult condition to recruit for. After reading most of your comments, I can’t help but reach out. I hope my research will provide some insight into the phenomenon and it’s treatment.
Hi Lauren:
Glad you are researching Diplacusis. I’m curious why you didn’t post this comment under my article on Diplacusis rather than under this article. It would seem more appropriate there.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi, My name is Johnny and as a child I could play the piano by ear and I ,from 10 years of age played for all the ballroom dancing evenings by ear. By the time I reached 20 I found over time that I could no longer hear pitch. It was devastating at the time as I wanted to study classical music. I did finish a diploma of music at the conversatorium and was a popular artist and did play a Chopin /Liszt recital but it was the loss of hearing pitch that made it very difficult to learn complicated music. I later read where the great Russian pianist Richter, lost his ability to hear pitch. He played all of his recitals with the printed page. That’s life folks.
Update on my Jan 4, 2018 post. My ENT doctor said the parallel, out-of-tune echo when listening to music was due to fluid in middle ear. In the end, it took nearly 2 months for my hearing to get to near normal. Flonase seemed to help the process.
Hi, lot’s of interesting stuff here! Just over a year ago I lost a considerable amount of hearing in my left ear after diving in the ocean from a raft. It not only never returned, but I am experiencing tinnitus and also seem to have gained about a semitone in pitch in that ear (I play guitar). I have read that the problem could be caused by a dislocated ossicle, itself caused by the dive. Does anyone know if this is possibly correct?
Hi Malcolm:
Your tinnitus could be the result of your hearing loss, as tinnitus very often accompanies sudden hearing loss.
Have you had a complete audiological evaluation done by an audiologist? If you suspect a dislocated ossicle or other middle ear damage, the audiological evaluation should pick this up by showing an air-bone gap in the pure tone testing. So that is your first step. You want to know what happened that caused that sudden hearing loss from diving off the raft.
Your pitch difference between ears can be the result of the hearing loss in one ear. Your ears no longer hear the same and this can cause the pitch difference.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Thank you so much, you are the first person who has taken me seriously, including a so-called expert consultant who told me it was simply age-related hearing loss (when I asked him if it wasn’t a little strange that it all happened on June 19th 2017 at 1pm, he said: ‘yes, a little strange’, and that was it!)
I have an appointment with an audiologist on Friday.
All the very best,
Malcolm
I’m glad to have finally found other people who are experience the same change in pitch syndrome. I have had perfect pitch since I was a child and in the last few years my hearing is one whole note off – I now hear an A for a G which is very frustrating as I’m learning to play the fiddle. Reading music has become impossible because my ear is hearing something different than the written note which gets me confused. I’ve now booked an audiologist appointment and am hoping that there will be some help for me to get back on key.
Hi Heather:
Were you one any medications when you first noticed your pitch was off? Numbers of drugs can cause this phenomenon.
Cordially,
Neil
Starting at pitch C6 (keyboard) the sound gets “thin” then at F6 the pitch is a bit too high and gets progressively worse at higher notes being a full semi-tone high at C7. The top 20 keys of a piano are useless to me. Both ears hear identical pitch.
This came on quite suddenly. I play the keyboard almost every day. I have no Rx and take only some daily vitamins, At 86 y.o., I have high freq. loss compensated by Phonex aids.
Hi Kenny:
As you get older, you typically lose more and more hearing in the high frequencies. This can result in distorted sound, in spite of wearing hearing aids. This is probably what is happening to you. At least you can’t blame it on drugs since you don’t take any.
Cordially,
Neil
I need help, all started 2 years ago when I realized a song I listen to sounded suddenly sounded different to me, I made a test by myself and one ear was hearing the same tune in a different pitch than the other, then I don’t remember exactly but my ears were changing of pitch randomly (once every 2 moths, sometimes more or less often), sometimes it returned to normal or the ears switched and the other ear was the problem now, or sometimes both ears were out of pitch, it was like 30 cents higher pitched, actually I’m hearing about 30 cents higher in my left ear and 35-40 cents higher in my right ear, I was a musician as hobby, I’ve never studied on a music school but I’ve played some songs on the guitar and the keyboard.
I’m 15
Hi Alex:
When your ears suddenly change pitch, I begin to wonder what is going on. Two things that could cause this are taking certain drugs or medications, and having an unequal hearing loss between your ears.
Have you taken or been taking any drugs or medications? I can check and see if this could likely be your problem.
Have you had your hearing checked by an audiologist lately? That could be the root of the problem.
And of course, if you listen to music to loudly, you can damage your ears and cause hearing loss, as well as pitch distortion, etc.
Cordially,
Neil
This is fascinating. I thought I was losing my grasp on reality. I have several chronic medical conditions and a horrible time with tinnitus. I’ve noticed in the last six months or so that songs that previously sounded perfectly normal to me are now very “irritating”. The singer, or one of a group of singers – on certain professionally recorded songs, playing on the radio, etc. – now sound noticeably off pitch to me, and only to me.
I’ve been told that I do NOT have any hearing loss. However, I often have trouble deciphering words when someone is talking to me. I hear the voice but it’s like the “wa, wa, wa”-ing adults in a Peanuts cartoon. Despite my repeated complaints to doctors and specialists, no one has offered any explanation or cause, if they acknowledge the issue at all.
I’ve lost all ability to filter out background noise. And if you are not facing me – your back is to me or mine to you – just forget me understanding anything.
Is it possible that hearing a singing voice off pitch – when I know it can’t possibly be so, an actual problem? Or am I just off my rocker?
Hi Kristi:
Who told you that you don’t have a hearing loss? And what testing did they do to determine that?
I’ll bet you do have a hearing loss–but it is not obvious. Actually, for that reason, it’s called a “hidden hearing loss”. There are several causes of this. And some of the symptoms are exactly what you are experiencing–like not understanding what people are saying. You can read about hidden hearing loss in my article at http://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/hidden-hearing-loss/ .
And if you are taking any drugs/medications, they could also be messing with your ears–but not causing a typical hearing loss.
When your hearing was tested, what were your discrimination (word recognition) scores?
Cordially,
Neil
I DO have hearing loss – otosclerosis – and have had stapedectomies in both ears. I wear hearing aids. Heavy duty ones !! I also have tinnitus, which I live with OK. Very high frequency. Until a few months ago everything was fine (well, given that hearing is a lot better than not hearing) – but I now notice when listening to CDs and the radio that higher notes in particular sound off key. Oddly this doesn’t seem (thus far)_to affect me when I am singing in a choir, but I live in fear that it will in the end.
Strangely enough the piano – my instrument – sounds OK.
And since this is mentioned – my word recognition scores are fairly OK.
Hi Elspeth:
What caused your change in pitch perception–any ideas? One possibility is taking certain drugs that are known to cause this. Have you started any new medications or changed the dose on any existing ones a few months ago just before this started? That would be one thing I’d consider.
Cordially,
Neil
I only have this sometimes. it doesn’t happen very often, only when i get a super bad cold. my ear hurts to the point that i cry. one of the times, for some reason i decided to play some music out loud. i out the phone like 20cm away and it sounds fine. i put it near the ear that is fine and it sounds perfectly normal. then i put it near my hurting ear and it sounds a tone flat. i have perfect pitch so i could tell instantly. i didnt really tell anyone about it since i dont get it frequently
Hi Zea:
When you have a bad cold, you may hear better in one ear than the other (one is more clogged up than the other) and this difference in hearing can result in your hearing in the wrong key in one ear. And as you know, things return to normal when your cold clears up.
Cordially,
Neil
Greetings to everybody. I’m 36 years old and I always experienced an slight pitch distorsion under very specific conditions since very young: it was very slight, but it used to happen shortly after waking up and when the environment was particularly cold, vanishing as I was more awake and the day “warmed up”.
Nevertheless, roughly 5 years ago, I experienced a very strong case of facial hemiplegia that even partially affected my throat (very nasty). Since then, there are moments in which music suddenly (and with no apparent reason) begins playing at -20 cents of it’s true pitch. Most people would not notice it but since I am someone with a high level of synesthesia, is like “music had changed color all of a sudden, feeling a bit more slowed down”. The first time I had this episode, it lasted roughly a week or two before it slowly returned to normality across a whole month. Now I experience it now and then, usually, in company of other nervous affections or bad colds or asmathic allergy onset (which tends to happen during season change). I have not found means to solve this but, at least when it bothers me, I use sound editors to load any song I want to listen and add +20/+25 cents of a pitch for things to sound normal again while I wait for things to normalize…
Hi Jano:
Interesting that even a 20 cent change in music affects the colors so much. I would have thought the color perception would be very slight.
When you have a cold, etc. are both your ears off the same amount?
Cordially,
Neil
This exchange is most interesting. I am a musician of 81 who for a decade has suffered natural hearing loss, but all under control. However, after a traumatic motor accident earlier this year ( head-on into concrete motorway barrier at 80 mph, airbag explosions, double flips in the car etc. )I now find that all instrument notes two octaves above middle-C are grossly out of tune. Most of the useful ranges, thank goodness, are in tune. I fear this effect will spread. As most commentators say, no hearing pros seems to know anything about this or what remedies there might be. All best.
Hi Mr. Howard:
Just to set your mind at rest, I doubt that your hearing the upper keyboard notes in the wrong key will spread. Why would it spread? The damage is already done. I don’t see it spreading now.
Cordially,
Neil
Is anyone working on hearing assistive devices for displacusis that will change the pitch and octave compression?
Hi Roger:
I’ve never heard of anyone working on assistive devices for diplacusis. The best is to get hearing aids so that both ears hear the same. That can help to fix the problem if there is an imbalance between your ears.
The problem with pitch is that you’d have to a means to change every individual note so it would be quite a feat if you had most of the notes off key. It’s not impossible, but who is going to put all the time and money into making such a device since there is not a big market for such a device.
I don’t know what you mean by octave compression. You can compress the dynamic range of sound so all sounds fit into the compressed dynamic range, but you can’t compress frequency. For example if you have a note at 100 Hz, you can’t “squeeze” it to make it 90 Hz. What you can do is use frequency transposition to move it from 100 Hz to 90 Hz, etc. Some erroneously call this frequency compression, but it is really frequency transposition.
They make hearing aids that can do this for people that no longer have any high frequency hearing, but still have low frequency hearing. The result is that Mickey Mouse now sounds like Darth Vader–but is understandable.
Cordially,
Neil
Dr. Bauman,
I already had a modest amount of high-frequency hearing loss before a car accident earlier this year impaired my hearing further.
One result of the accident was that, suddenly, certain high-frequency notes in music were bumped up one or two notes in pitch, of all things. I.e., I might hear a high C as the D or E above it on the scale. So, it’s not that I can’t hear the note; I hear it as the wrong note. Obviously, this ruins Del Shannon’s Runaway for me … and many other songs.
And, of course, the standard audiologist, trying to help people hear voices better, has no hearing test for this problem, has no solution for it, and my complaint was even far, far outside the wheelhouse of the ENT specialist I saw.
In addition, the ENT specialist had no idea where to send me for help with this.
Can you suggest a way to find a doctor (or institution) that would understand this problem and have some idea what to do about it?
Thanks.
Hi Buzz:
Sorry, I can’t think of any audiologist or ENT that knows about this and has a solution.
However, I came across an item that suggests that this can happen if your both ears are not in proper balance volume-wise. If you can get your ears “balanced” properly, this may help your pitch perception.
Cordially,
Neil
Dr. Bauman,
Thanks much for that suggestion about symmetric volume. I’ll look into it.
Re experts and hearing research: can you suggest a clinic or institution that might be a good place to START a search? I’ve gotten no traction at all on my Google searches. I just need a couple places to start asking, and hearing specialists like you are much more likely to have heard of such places that I am.
Any ideas?
Thanks.
Hi Buzz:
I really don’t know who helps people like you, but if anybody knows it is Dr. Marshall Chasin, an audiologist, professor author, editor and musician. He is in Toronto, ON. Here is a link to his clinic. https://marshallchasinassociates.ca/about_us.htm
You’ll have to ask them how to get in touch with him. Just remember, he’s a very busy guy. He does not publish his email address, so I dare not give it out.
Cordially,
Neil
A few years ago, there was about a week where when I listened to music, tuned/played my cello notes would seem off and gross. I didn’t know what caused it or what fixed it but I was too afraid to tell anyone what was happening to me so I just dealt with it myself. Is this something that happens to people? Or should I be worried about in the future. Again this was a few years ago and nothing has happened like that since.
Hi Celeste:
Two things that can cause your ears o go “off pitch” are taking certain drugs, and viral attacks in your inner ears from a cold for example. When you stop the drug or your cold goes away and your ears recover, typically your ears go back to correct pitch perception again.
You can also mess up your pitch perception if you expose your ears to excessively loud sounds–especially if one ear is damaged worse than the other.
So assuming it was viral, it probably won’t occur again unless you get another virus in your inner ear.
Drugs that cause distorted pitch perception include Carbamazepine, Pregabalin and the Beta-blocker drugs–they are the drug names that end in “olol” such as Atenolol, etc.
Cordially,
Neil
Hello Dr.Bauman.Are you able to tell me for how long has it been known that ‘olol’drug group can cause pitch perception problems?
Hi Paul:
I can’t say exactly, but all the reports I’ve received have been since 2010 so that’s within the past 10 years.
Cordially,
Neil
Thanks Dr.Neil.I am an amateur musician and have reported many times on your site about how I have been trying to deal with pitch perception/distortion problems when playing and listening to music.I have been taking Metoprolol since 2007!.Needless to say I am now talking to my Doctor and will keep you posted.Thanks once again.
Paul
Interesting to read this – I’m a 32 year old musician, and I’ve noticed over the past few weeks that I’ll be watching a video, and the entirety of the accompanying music will shift down by a semitone, mid-bar. The first couple of times it happened I ignored it/thought it was an audio glitch with the videos I was watching, but now I’m slightly worried…
I am 15 and I just started hearing everything I listen to very high pitched and no one else hears it.
Hii I am 18 years old and recently I’ve been having a problem similar to what you mentioned. A few months ago I started hearing total change in the pitch of a song, getting transposed in the middle of the song while listening through my earphones. It became so frequent that I felt panicky. I thought it might be due to excessive time spent listening to music through earphones wedged in my ears so I started reducing time with earphones. Yet though it has reduced, the problem still persists. Is there any name for this particular condition? Is their any remedy?
Hi Ann:
I can think of a few causes for hearing music off pitch.
1. You have a significant hearing loss that messes up your perception of pitch.
2. You have been taking certain drugs–Carbamazepine is one example–that mess up your pitch so you hear music typically lower in pitch than it actually is.
3. You have unequal hearing that can let you hear different pitches in each ear. This is called diplacusis dysharmonica. If you’ve listened to your music too loud for too long, this could be one result.
Probably the best thing is to let your ears recover from listening to loud music. This could take a couple of months or more. You shouldn’t be listening to any music that is louder than what you hear people talking. Then you won’t harm your ears.
Cordially,
Neil
I’ve been a professional singer my entire life. Out of the blue one day about 5 years ago I began having severe pitch problems that came and went. One bad episode was in the middle of a restaurant gig, where my keyboard player said I sang the song a whole step higher than he was playing it. I’d had no idea. The second bad episode, I was well aware. I completely lost my ability to hear the tonal center. I was literally lost, people were looking at me strangely because we’d just announced the song and I was panicked and not singing, and I knew something was wrong with me…my brain, my hearing or both. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find my note. Everything sounded swirly, random, and eerie. I then realized that I was hearing 2 different pitches in each ear, and began researching diplacusis. No wonder I sang flat sometimes!
I learned that certain things made my musical hearing inaccurate: lots of reverb on a recording or live, and any bell-like or oscillating (wavelike) sound on a keyboard, like the Yamaha DX-7 sound, or a Hammond B3. Oscillating musical tones completely overwhelmed my brain, and I had to work ridiculously hard to hear whether or not I was on pitch. Also, whenever tired, stressed, dehydrated or sick, my pitch perception (whether listening to recordings or singing) worsened. Drinking alcohol definitely made it worse. Being in a loud musical environment either on stage or listening to a concert, even with ear plugs, it was extremely confusing, I never knew whether it was my hearing, or if I or someone else actually WAS flat. At a loud concert, with ear plugs, the thumping bass quickly fatigued my ears and I literally could no longer hear the pitch of the singer’s vocals or the guitars. Everything got muddy and confusing. I completely lost confidence, ashamed of my sometimes pitchy performances, struggled with anxiety and depression, and thought I’d have to completely stop singing, which for me feels impossible. It’s a huge part of who I am.
After several years of hearing tests, brain/sinus/ear scans and neurological testing, regular ENTs told me they couldn’t find anything physically wrong. I had a bit of low end hearing loss, and got a hearing aid, which helped a bit but sometimes made music more confusing for me. I thought my brain was failing and I was getting early Alzheimer’s. I should note that I had many other symptoms as well, which I’d always thought were just normal for some people: autophony, hyperacusis, tinnitus at several different pitches at once, pulsatile tinnitus.
Finally, it occurred to me to seek out a specialist of ear diseases. After a year of tests, low salt diet, and months-long waits between appointments, I was finally diagnosed with both Meniere’s Disease, and Patulous Eustachian Tube. My doc put me on both a diuretic and a med for Meniere’s: Betahistine HCL. It’s working beautifully. Not perfect, but 80% improved. I have setbacks when I get dehydrated, tired, stressed, fighting off illness, deal with seasonal allergies, or drink alcohol.
This is very long, but I’m hopeful that I may help another musician speed along their journey, because it took me 5 years too long. I researched everything I could find about musicians, hearing loss and diplacusis, and there wasn’t a whole lot out there. I’m glad to have found this forum.
Hi Marlena:
One of the key symptoms of Meniere’s disease is vertigo–but you don’t even mention you had that problem. Thus I doubt you really have Meniere’s disease. Typically, Meniere’s disease is where you have periodic episodes (or attacks) where you experience your tinnitus to flare up, you have a stepwise hearing loss, you get vertigo and you have a feeling of fullness in the affected ear.
In between attacks, often some hearing comes back (but not all you just lost so you have a progressive stepwise hearing loss), your tinnitus may decrease, the vertigo goes away as well as the feeling of fullness.
You don’t mention this either, so again, I really wonder whether you have Meniere’s or not.
It is true that Meniere’s often shows up with a low-frequency hearing loss, which is what your doctor likely focused on, but without the vertigo/balance issues, its not true Meniere’s. It’s possible you have “half” Meniere’s otherwise called cochlear hydrops.
As I’m sure you know by now, diplacusis can be caused by a difference in hearing between your ears and that is why wearing a hearing aid(s) can help diplacusis if it is from this cause.
Note: the underlying cause of Meniere’s disease (and cochlear hydrops and vestibular hydrops) is your C1 and C2 vertebrae–the top two vertebrae in your neck) being out of proper alignment, thus “pinching” the vestibulo-cochlear nerve. The treatment is simple and painless. You can read all about it in my comprehensive article on the subject at https://hearinglosshelp.com/blog/atlas-adjustments-alleviate-menieres-disease/ .
Cordially,
Neil
While I don’t ‘believe’ I have the problems described in the article (I have no point of reference), I do have a hearing problem. Several years ago, immediately following sinus surgery, I noticed that when I attempted to sing, it was as if all sound perception from my ears was turned off … I could not hear external accompaniment — either recorded, piano, or other voices — therefore, I have no idea if I’m on pitch. For that reason, I stopped singing altogether. Now, years later, I require hearing aids due to mid-high hearing loss, and while they alleviate my hearing loss problem, they have done nothing to alleviate the problem of no sound perceived while singing. I’ve just resigned to live with this condition, but I’ve remained curious about it for years. Although the surgeon who performed the sinus surgery said there was nothing to indicate this stems from the surgery, I’m still convinced that it’s related. At this point, though, it’s a moot problem since the surgeon has long since retired and is no longer in the area.
Hi Jerry:
Let me get this straight. When you sing, you do not hear the external accompaniment? Does this hold true when you talk? Do you hear background sounds when you are talking or are they blocked out the same way as when you’re singing?
Another question. Does it make a difference how loud or how soft you sing for the accompaniment to be blocked out? Does the same holds true for talking or yelling? I’d like to know it if it is the volume that is causing the problem, or is it caused by sustained sound at any volume?
Let me know the results of your experimenting.
Cordially,
Neil
Dr. Neil,
What do you have a Ph.D. in and from what school?
Hi Dave:
My Ph.D. is in a very narrow field of ancient astronomy of all things. It was from a graduate school that alas fell upon hard times and closed its doors more than 30 years ago.
Why do you ask?
Cordially,
Neil
I am a 59 year old military musician and my ability to hear any kind of pitch left me a week ago. No music sounds right and I can no long play or sing. After reading your article, I suspect that a dramatic increase in Propranolol (which I take for essential tremor) might have caused it, as that was 2 weeks ago. Also, I had Covid, which might have contributed to the problem. My hearing is fine. I truly cannot keep living like this, it is like all the important things in my life have been taken away. Any thoughts?
I am a life-long musician (flute, piano, viola) and music teacher. I experienced sudden single sided hearing loss ten years ago, but found ways to cope with hearing devices. A month ago, however, C above middle C to G sound totally out of tune in various ways! I’ve had two rounds of prednisone and a diuretic, but nothing has helped. I’m no longer able to bear playing music (It’s hard to avoid those pitches.). It’s somehow comforting to know I’m not alone.
Hi Jeannie:
What happened a month ago that might have caused your ears to go out of tune? Any ideas? Did you take any drugs or change the dose on any? Some drugs cause your ears to wrongly perceive pitch.
Did you have a change in your hearing in either ear?
Cordially,
Neil
I am in my later 50s, and for me, it seems that taking Lisinopril for blood pressure has combined with some higher frequency hearing loss to make it difficult for me to hear the key of music I am listening to. I play the guitar and guitar chord piano and have in recent years been struggling to hear a difference between different chords I’m playing. It got to the point that playing with others was pointless as it sounded to me as though the chord I was playing was wrong, even though others swore it was fine.
After reading (some of) this thread I have stopped taking the Lisinopril for a few days and I swear I already hear an improvement.
The problem for me seems to be an inability to hear certain higher pitched harmonics in a note, such that it sounds like a different note is being played. It seems that somehow the drug (maybe combined with the hearing loss) is causing this failure to hear the harmonics.
A very exciting development, albeit with a new problem of finding a different drug for the blood pressure problem.
Hi Richard:
I’ve never heard of Lisinopril causing pitch changes like some of the other drugs do.
What I suspect is happening is that the Lisinopril is causing you more hearing loss (many people get hearing loss from taking this drug), and this hearing loss messes up your ability to hear the harmonics that give music its pleasing quality.
So stopping the Lisinopril may have allowed some lost hearing to return and voila–things sound better.
Furthermore, note that taking Lisinopril can reduce blood potassium levels. Since the inner ear is highly sensitive to potassium levels, low potassium can result in hearing loss. Bringing potassium levels back to normal can alleviate the hearing loss. So this is something you might want to check out with your doctor.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Thank you for the input. For me, it is not pitch changes but rather an inability to place the note – or two non-adjacent notes sounding the same to me. Losing the harmonics – if that is in fact the issue – is not so much a question of losing the quality of the sound as not being able to identify the pitch (i.e. I am singing along to a song in the car (alone!) and at a certain point realize I am singing in the wrong key).
I will look into the potassium level issue you describe.
Richard
Wow, I’m so glad I found this page when I googled!
I noticed this effect over the past few days when listening through headphones. My right ear is a little blocked with wax just now and I can hear the left side of the music louder, and noticed some singing and percussion is out of tune, perhaps a quarter tone low.
I’m also on Carbimazole for high blood pressure, have been for years, and I now wonder if this has been happening all along but only noticed it now because of the blocked right ear.
Fascinating, and frustrating, but glad I have these comments to read about it.
Hi Joy:
I’m not aware that Carbimazole causes pitch differences. You are the first person to suggest this drug might do this.
Get your ears cleaned out and so whether the pitch difference disappears. If it does, you know it was the wax and not the drug.
Cordially,
Neil
I am a jazz singer, now 77 years old. I resigned my position at Cornish College of the Arts as a teacher of Jazz Voice in 2014 and stopped performing in Seattle because of a sudden change in my ability to match pitch and hear pitch in several places in the major scale. Also, When I was in my late 60s I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and given lisinopril and a beta blocker, Norvask (atenolol?) I have been looking for people who share my issues around music and hearing loss. I have “cookie cutter” loss in the middle range, particularly damaging for a jazz singer who sings in chest voice, like me. Is there any solution to this issue? Thank you so much. Becca Duran
Hi Rebecca:
What drugs were you taking when you noticed the pitch problems? Some drugs do cause this. What drugs are you on now?
Lisinopril can certainly cause hearing loss and tinnitus. It’s possible that the Lisinopril is responsible for your pitch problems, but I don’t have any firm data on this.
Norvasc is a brand name for Amlodipine, not Atenolol. Atenolol can cause pitch changes, but I have not encountered that with Amlodipine.
Having a mid-frequency hearing loss is normally called a “cookie-bite” loss, not a “cookie-cutter” loss but I guess that works too.
Perhaps changing your medications may help you with your pitch problems, but I can’t really tell until I know what drugs you are on.
Cordially,
Neil
Dr. Bauman,
So happy to have found this site and your article. I’m a 78 yo male, spent my career as an instrumental music instructor (HS Bands etc,) and Symphony Percussionist. Any wonder I have a hearing loss at my age? I received hearing aids several years ago. What I noticed a couple years ago was that the Tuner that sounded an A in one ear sounded like A# in the other and when directly in front of me sounded like two oboes playing an out-of-tune unison! AHA!! Diplacusis disharmonica. And then the strangest thing started to happen. I play in a couple community bands and I began to hear the Flutes and high Clarinets all being out of tune with the rest of the band, like they were paying in a higher key. Low and midrange instruments were fine – Flutes and Clarinets sharp and the higher they went the sharper they got.
Then I started to hear it in my own instrument (Alto Sax) when I got up into the higher register. As a result I switched to Baritone Sax, and discovered that I’m hearing pitches correctly up to the highest pitch of the Bari, but beyond that I can’t count on hearing or playing in tune.
Reading through the posts above in this thread I’ve discovered that I’m very much not alone with this kind of situation and that maybe, if the theory about Beta Blockers is correct, that could be a part of the issue for me. I’ve been taking a BB for blood pressure a number of years, first Atenolol and most recently Carvedilol among my other meds (Losartan and Chlorthalidone) and am now thinking I should ask my Doc about forgoing the BB for a while just to see if anything happens to get resolved around my pitch perception issue.
Your thoughts?
Best Regards, Gary Girdler
Hi Gary:
I agree with you. Not all the beta-blockers are listed as causing pitch distortion, but I suspect that all of them can have this nasty property. So although I don’t have this listed for Carvedilol, if you get off this drug and wait a couple of weeks (or maybe more) you should be able to tell whether your proper pitch perception comes back or not. If it does, please report back so I can update my book with this information.
Cordially,
Neil
hi!
im 15 and recently (last week) developed a cold, at least what i thought was a cold.. i woke up during the night to intensive ringing in my ear and once it subsided, my hearing in my right ear is slightly lower in pitch than my left. all the music i used to listen to sounds distorted. could anyone help?
Hi Finlay:
If the distortion was due to your cold, I’d jsut give it time. Once the cold is totally gone away, your pitch should go back to normal.
Cordially,
Neil
[Pitch distortion post-COVID]
I’m so glad I googled this site!
I have had hereditary hearing loss (four generations, at least) progressing since my late forties. Got hearing aids in my early 60s; no problem with them. I also have musical ear syndrome, more pronounced in the last two years. I have a more or less constant bass line running, day and night, sometimes just a steady hum, sometimes a full voice or string choir. It unfortunately has a consistent key – “unfortunate” because it matches no key in Western music – somewhere between Gb and F# . I’m 79 y.o. now, and, although I’m not a professional musician, I sing in a chorus, play by ear, and pitch has never been a problem. I had COVID in November, and in late January I realized my “musical ear” no longer matches the real world. I replaced two (inexpensive) electronic keyboards before gradually realizing that there’s nothing wrong with the keyboards – it’s my hearing at fault. In the middle registers things seem stable but when I get above the C above middle C, everything sounds increasingly flat. I have rehearsal tapes prepared by my chorus director, and am unable to match the tone consistently – she doesn’t match my brain’s arbitrary pitch.
With the onset of the COVID pandemic, I had the two-shot Moderna vaccine, with a follow-up booster. Despite that, I got COVID in November, 2021. The only medications I took for the fever and body aches were acetaminophen and occasional ibuprofen -larger doses that usual, but within recommended dosages.
I’m curious about other folks who have noticed pitch distortion – and especially if they have found ways to mitigate the effects – I’d like to think my ENT was correct when he said “tincture of time”, but that’s not terribly reassuring without some case histories to back it up!!! Thanks to all!
I am a violinist who found that the octave is in fact (scientifically proven) bigger than most believe (>2:1), so perhaps yours is not a very big problem, but something natural has taken over gradually. Maybe you try to listen to an experimental music I created which I use a bigger “stretched” octave. This demo should sound normal to normal ears, but I wonder what difference it may make in your case. God bless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xyJ3y2mJCk
I have been wearing hearing aids for nearly 20 years (since age 65) for apparent congenital deafness. Until two years ago, sounds were not distorted, but since then all sounds (music and conversation) have become off key and annoyingly flat to the point conversation in a group setting
has become impossible and listening to music or singing very annoying. I’m on low doses of two calcium channel blockers–no beta blockers. I do have a history of head trauma and cardiac problems (heart attack at age 65 and bypass surgery a decade ago)
Hearing aids no longer help. They only make the distorted sounds louder and more annoying.
I’ve resigned myself to the cochlear implant route; but fear the distortion may persist.
Hi Chuck:
The obvious question is to ask, “What happened two years ago that might have caused sound distortion? Did you start any new medications or change the dose (higher) on any existing drugs?”
If your distortion began soon after, that would be the drug that I’d suspect as the culprit.
Cordially,
Neil
The only significant change I can think of was increasing extra-strength Tylenol from one or two tablets daily to two to four tabs daily for increasing arthritic discomfort.
Hi Chuck:
I don’t have Acetaminophen (Tylenol) listed as causing sound distortion. From the little you have told me so far, I don’t see anything that stands out as the obvious cause of your sound distortion.
Hopefully, a cochlear implant will help you, but only time will tell.
Cordially,
Neil
Dr. Bauman’
The head trauma I spoke of included a bicycle accident at age 58 when my head smashed though the windshield of an SUV. I was unconscious for several hours, broke 3 cervical vertebrae, and shattered my left leg.
In the past few years I’ve fallen face-down onto concrete surfaces when stumbling three or four times. Rang my bell but no loss of consciousness.
The heart attack lasted a couple of hours until a stent was placed . Bypass surgery was ended prematurely because I’d “been on the heart-lung machine long enough”. (pump-head????).
I don’t know if any of that is relevant. My heart today is remarkably healthy; and aside from the auditory disorder,
I’m likely healthier than most men in their mid-80’s.
Hi Chuck:
I don’t know whether the head trauma your have had over the years is the culprit (or a partial contributor) to your distorted hearing. If that seems likely, then I’d go to an upper cervical chiropractor and make sure your top two vertebrae are in proper alignment. If they aren’t, this can pinch the vestibulocochlear nerve (hearing & balance nerve) and cause some problems.
Apart from that, I don’t see anything obvious that could be causing it.
Cordially,
Neil
I have a problem with hearing music out of tune especially high notes being too sharp which has spoilt my enjoyment. I am a musician aged 73 and this has only bothered me in the last 20 years. I developed tinnitus suddenly after starting fluvoxamine. I am moderately deaf an the problem is worse since getting digital hearing aids. There seems to be evidence the the way these aids compress sound may lead to pitch distortion.
Hi LouJu:
How long ago did you start taking the Fluvoxamine? Fluvoxamine can cause loudness hyperacusis can cause higher-pitched notes to sound distorted–too sharp, loud and piercing. (Note: I’m not using the term “sharp” in the musical sense where it is higher in pitch.) And Fluvoxamine can indeed cause tinnitus in some people as you have found out.
If your digital hearing aids don’t sound right for music, you can have them reprogrammed to mimic analog aids by having the compression taken off. If you have multiple programs in your hearing aids, have one set for “music” and programmed in a linear fashion. That will help your music sound more natural. Also have the feedback suppression turned off for that program–that makes a big difference too.
Cordially,
Neil
I had those mods made to my HAs (turn off compression and anti-feedback), and although it did make the “warbling” sound on sustained high notes, it did nothing for this low frequency problem I have.
I have been suffering from hearing loss for about a decade now and it’s getting worse, I was considering getting a hearing aid.
Last February, I went to the shooting range with my granddaughter and her souse (grandson-in-law). As usual, I wore the rubber ear plugs. We went through a lot of ammo (5.56, 9mm, .45 and 12 gauge). My ears started ringing and felt plugged-up or swollen.
When we were on our way home, my grandson-in-law played some music and turned on the aircon. I was not understanding the music and I was hearing crackling sound.
My hearing didn’t improve after a week and I went to the Urgent clinic. They referred me to a hearing specialist. It was confirmed that I have severe hearing loss and was referred to another specialist which conducted another hearing test which only confirmed that I have hearing loss and recommended that I get hearing aids. He also said that use of steroids was not an option since the incident happened more than a week past.
I mentioned that in addition to hearing loss I’m having some problem listening to music. The bass frequencies sound distorted with crackling sound as if going through an overdriven amplifier or through a torn speaker. When I try to play the guitar it sounded like out of tune to me even if the guitar tuner indicates the guitar was in tune. When I play the major scale Do Re Mi… it doesn’t sound right.
This condition make it doubly hard for me to understand speech. I don’t know if a hearing aid will help. Occasionally, I feel that my ear is swollen (plugged-up) and experienced tinnitus. Fortunately, the tinnitus last only for a short duration (less than a minute).
He ordered a CT Scan for me. I was guessing he suspected I had a mild stroke that affected my hearing. The CT Scan appeared to be negative.
Hi Rolando:
Obviously, the ear protectors you were wearing weren’t sufficient to protect your ears from all the shooting you exposed your ears to. As a result you have suffered some degree of Acoustic Shock, that has progressed to Acoustic Shock Syndrome.
The result is your various symptoms including sounds being distorted, out of tune, sounding too sharp (loudness hyperacusis), tinnitus, a feeling of fullness in your ears, and of course more hearing loss.
At this point, there is no easy fix for it. It will take time for most of these symptoms to go away. However, there are a couple of things you can do.
First, be sure to protect your ears from loud sounds while your ears heal. This can take several months. Wear properly-fitted ear protectors if you are going to be around loud sounds. Note: don’t wear ear protectors unnecessarily. In other words, take them out when you are no longer around loud sounds or you will make things even worse.
Second, don’t worry about your ears. Ignore the symptoms as much as you can because anxiety about your ears will also make things worse.
Wear hearing aids if they help you, but be sure you keep the volume down to a level that doesn’t bother your ears as your ears need a rest from louder sounds. This means you may not want to wear your hearing aids all the time like audiologists tell you to. Just wear them in quieter situations where you have difficulty hearing people talking.
The hearing aids probably won’t make the “blown speaker” sounds go away. That will take time, but you will hear people talking much better.
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you for the advice, Dr. Bauman. You just gave me hope that I’ll regain my ability to play the guitar!
Again, thank you so much!
I’m a 25-year-old male with autism and have been suffering from pitch distortion for roughly five years. It’s been gradually worsening in that time. This issue affects both my ears. I started with hearing just an 1/8th-semitone higher than normal, to now over half a semitone, totally disrupting my enjoyment of music. I have had to use a computer plugin which alters the pitch of audio so that I can hear music and films just like I used to.
I have had my ears cleaned of earwax twice since this started. Multiple ear tests all concluded that I have “excellent hearing”, whatever distortion I’m experiencing is neurologically caused, and that I should monitor external factors like stress, caffeine, and sodium. I can safely say my stress levels and caffeine intake have been relatively higher the last five years, what with existential crises and introductions to coffee and tea, but I have to think there’s more to it.
Have I been using headphones too much — even at safe volumes? Is there inner ear damage that the tests can’t detect? Are my autism, anxiety, and/or depression in any way responsible? One thing’s for certain: this is an underseen, absolutely frustrating condition.
Hi Cameron:
Since the pitch distortion began around 5 years ago, the first thing I’d want to know is what changed before that to cause it. One possibility is drugs. Do you take any medications, and if so, did you start one or change the dose on one 5 to 6 years ago? If so, that could be the culprit.
Another possibility was exposing your ears to excessively loud sounds back then. That could have caused the pitch distortion. Then, if you continued to expose your ears to sounds that were too loud for them, that could account for the shift in worsen.
I’d think those would be the two main possibilities. I don’t see that stress, caffeine and sodium as likely culprits.
The fact that you have autism could make you more sensitive to noticing changes in pitch that other people wouldn’t likely notice. In addition, musicians notice these things more than non-musicians. But that doesn’t explain why it is happening.
When you say you have “excellent hearing”, exactly what do your audiograms show? Do you show hearing ABOVE the 0 dB line such as -10 or -15 dB? If so, you could have loudness hyperacusis–indicating that you have exposed your ears to sounds that were too loud for them.
As you can see, I have a lot of questions that hopefully will help me pin down what may have caused this frequency shift.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr. Bauman,
Thanks for your reply. I had never taken long-term medication at that point and steered clear of drugs and alcohol throughout college, when the distortion began. But I have used headphones a lot over the last ten years — usually careful not to play them too loud, but still, I would use anything from earbuds to over-ear headphones for over a decade.
For me, hearing and taste is where my hypersensitivity is most pronounced. I can quickly notice differences between texture or, in this case, pitch, even if it’s only 1/8th of a semitone.
Unfortunately, I am missing the audiograms from my tests, but I remember my results curving VERY close to the 0 dB Line for both ears, almost touching it. If it was above, it was very slightly and it wasn’t mentioned as a concern.
Something I have taken notice of: there have been consistent instances where making my headphone volume extra quiet, or silly things like briefly plugging one of my ears while listening to speakers, have caused a very subtle downshift in pitch. Nothing like normal, but enough for me to consider whether it is related to volume and/or damage in my inner ear that the doctors couldn’t detect. I recall being told that inner ear conditions are especially difficult to diagnose.
Cameron
Hi Cameron:
I take it that you are using certain drugs long-term now? Is that right? If so, is it possible the drug is causing your pitch distortion to continue?
When you plug an ear and hear the downshift in frequency, does the same degree of downshifting occur when you plug either ear, or does it only occur when you plug one particular ear? That could indicate a subtle difference in hearing between both ears.
The same could occur when you turn down the volume on your earphones–if you turn it down enough that only one ear hears the sounds, again, you might notice a difference in pitch that doesn’t occur if you turn the volume up such that both ears can clearly hear the sounds.
Try it and see.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Dr. Bauman,
No, I am not currently using any drugs long-term. But this did remind me: I started drinking coffee around the time the distortion started in late 2017, averaging two cups a day until 2021, when I stopped because I suspected the caffeine was behind it. I have had caffeine from soft drinks before then, with no effect.
I experimented per your suggestion. The very subtle downshift occurs when I plug either ear and/or when the volume is lowered on a speaker.
The only other times a significant downshift may occur is after a long time in the water while surfing/swimming, or while in very high elevation (~10,000 feet). My hearing would briefly downshift halfway to normal until gradually upshifting again after recovering from the activity. Otherwise, there is no more than one-tenth of a semitone’s difference in my hearing on a daily basis. It’s typically lower in the morning and higher in the evening.
Cameron
Hi Cameron:
Unfortunately, I’ve run out of suggestions for you. I’ve never run across a situation so acute like yours is where you can tell the difference of a tenth of a semitone. I doubt I could hear a full semitone difference. When you have an 80 dB loss, you don’t hear much. Such are the joys of hearing loss.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Cameron, I am a violinist and I can surely say your ear is excellent. You hear the difference in pitch because you are better than others in discriminating, and also you can remember what you hear. I also have excellent hearing, but I forget quickly, so pitch change never bothers me. It is natural that soft sounds seem flatter, Actually, this is a technique few people know, by playing some notes softer, some piano note can sound more “flat” to create an ambient sound very different and unique. Do not worry too much, the world has enough problems for you to add more un-needed worries. God bless.
So glad this thread exists! I’m a 60-year old male. I shot a friend’s very high-powered rifle at an outdoor range and wasn’t wearing enough hearing protection. It’s been 4 days and I have a feeling of fullness with a rushing sound in my right ear (I’m right handed). I have a Dr’s appointment tomorrow so we’ll see what’s up.
Now for the weird bit… I’ve also been a musician all my life, lately mostly at a producers’ desk, but I was a bass player as well, not to mention a DJ. I know I have hearing loss from all the years of rocking out, but the whole hearing different things in each ear never occurred to me. So what I’m about to describe may be the results of this single gunshot episode, or it may have been there for years and I just didn’t notice it!
I found an online test that plays sine waves in octaves starting at 125 Hz. Going down, my 4KHz was slightly quieter in the right ear, 2KHz was pretty close volume-wise. At 1KHz I was astonished to find when listening one ear at a time that my right ear (the hurt one) was almost a full half-step higher! At 500Hz, also a half-step sharp! At 250Hz, the left ear heard a pure sign wave, while the right was in pitch but very buzzy with a notable 5th overtone. At 125Hz, the left was good, but the right – while on pitch – was extremely buzzy.
The real scare happened at 8KHz. With both ears it sounded a little fuzzy. The right sounded on pitch but a little buzzy. And in the left… NOTHING. I figured it was the website or the headphones, but no. I’ll be honest, I kinda freaked out a little bit. And, on further testing, it’s not nothing but it is very faint.
Like I said, I may have been living with this for a while and not realizing it, though I’m sure some of the issue is the acoustic trauma from the gunshot. In any event, appointments have been made and I’ll keep you posted.
Thanks to everyone for their stories! It’s good to know we are not alone!!!
Hi David:
The feeling of fullness and rushing sound (tinnitus) are common results from exposing your ears to a sudden loud sound causing acoustic shock syndrome.
Loud sounds or uneven hearing loss between ears can result in hearing different pitches in your ears. I’d say this is probably a result of the loud shot, but if you get your hearing tested today and there are major differences in your hearing between ears, that could also account for it.
You are 60, you are a man, and you have abused your ears over the years with loud sounds. Therefore, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you have quite a severe ski-slope loss with your 8 kHz and higher frequencies down to the profound range. It may be shocking to you, but this is what I would expect. I don’t think it was caused by the shots you fired. This hearing loss is more longstanding, but I think you just never noticed it.
Cordially,
Neil
Hi Neil,
Thanks for the reply!
Thought I’d give you an update.
It’s been almost 4 weeks now since the incident and, sadly, there’s been no improvement. My PCP was great about getting me an appointment as soon as he could with the audiologist who told me what I already knew. I was put on a 9-day regimen of prednisone but that didn’t do anything. I had a follow-up appointment with the ENT and they basically said there’s nothing they can do… not that they actually tried anything. My PCP suggested they might try an injection of steroids, though the ENT never brought it up. Nor did they suggest any drops or indeed anything else. My PCP decided to order an MRI for me to rule out an acoustic neuroma. I must say I was somewhat dismayed by the ENT’s lack of urgency.
So, I have a couple questions.
Will this MRI that I’m scheduled for next week reveal any inner ear and/or nerve issues, or is it just to rule out a neuroma?
Also, I have a loud flutter in my ear when I press the ear canal closed with the tragus – I also notice it when I burp or when I’m driving with my head against the headrest. Am I right in thinking this is the result of muscle spasms? And, if so, are there muscle-relaxing eardrops one can use?
And, as a last kind of off the wall question, is it possible that the diplacusis is a function of an overtightening tympanic membrane?
Thanks for listening. I am simply not ready to accept that this is permanent, at least not until we actually try something or at least narrow down the problem. If we try some things and nothing works, that’s another story, but like I said, I’m somewhat dismayed that – other than a course of steroids – there doesn’t seem to be any willingness to try anything. Maybe it’s just too early and I’m being unreasonable.
Thanks again!
Hi David:
To answer your questions–if your problem was caused by a single gunshot sound, how would that cause an acoustic neuroma? I can’t see any way the two are connected so having an MRI is a waste of time and money in my opinion. Besides, again to your question, an MRI doesn’t show fine detail like hair cell damage, so it is just looking for an acoustic neuroma (again my opinion).
And to your second question, I suppose it is possible that your diplacusis is caused by your eardrum not working properly now–but I don’t know how likely that would be.
What we do know is that the fluttering you experience in your ear (Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome or TTTS) is almost certainly due to the sudden gunshot sound messing up your startle reflex and thus causing your eardrum to go into spasms. This is caused by your trigeminal nerve being hyperstimulated and getting more or less stuck in “fight or flight” mode.
What you need to work on is calming down this nerve so it goes back to proper functioning. Then you can see whether your diplacusis goes away. If it does, you know this was the cause. If not, then the cause is probably related to unequal hearing between your ears at some frequency or other.
Are you anxious and high-strung over this incident? Or just generally an anxious and high-strung person? If so, learning to calm down can make a big difference.
Cordially,
Neil
So pleased I’m not alone in this territory of hearing off-key notes only at higher frequencies. it’s especially noticeable on the higher notes on a piano for me.
AND only noticeable in the last few months. In the mix of possible causes – I have long-term tinnitus and higher-frequencies have been falling away for 10 years (I’m 76). This year I’m on immunotherapy for meso-thelioma cancer and I’ve been temporarily put on steroids to suppress side effects. i think the effect worsened when I was slowly weaned off the steroids, but am now back on 40 mg of PREDNISOLONE daily.
I’ll report again if I notice changes.
For at least the last ten years, (not sure when it started) I have been hearing lower-pitched notes higher than they actually are. I know this because I am a musician and have played and taught music all my life. I am 85 years old and it now often pains me to listen to music. My problem is notes that are approximately lower than 200 hz (around G below middle C); they sound to me as much as a minor third higher than they are. The interval of error is variable due to the source of the note and the volume. I currently do some arranging on my computer for small ensembles and when I play back what I have written, I transpose the bass line down a minor third and it sounds reasonably “in tune”. I have been a longtime admiring fan of Frank Sinatra, but now it pains me to listen to his music because anytime his voice goes below my threshold, it sounds like he is singing out of tune. Even though I’ve played in symphony orchestras for almost 50 years, classical music is also hard to listen to, especially Baroque and Classical periods where the bass lines are prominent and somewhat predictable. I’ve desperately tried hearing aids hoping that they might at least help the situation, with a zero result. Although I have sought relevant articles for some time, this is the first article that I have discovered any coverage on this problem and also was surprised to discover that there were so many others with similar situations. I am hopeful that you or someone might offer a remedy.
Since I wrote my sad story (about an hour ago), I read a few more of the comments that are in your article. Alas, I too am taking metoprolol as several of the others have stated. I am so excited about this possibility. I can’t wait to talk with my cardiologist to see if we can change to another medicine. I have a February 7th appointment with him; I’ll be sure to let you know the results of this.
Bill
Hi Bill:
You are right. You are not alone with having problems with pitch being off. It seems that a common thread is that this pitch distortion is often due to taking one of the beta blocker drugs (those ending in “olol”. Propranolol seems to be the most common one with Metoprolol coming in second.
See if your doctor will switch you to a different class of drug–not a beta blocker–perhaps an ACE inhibitor such as Lisinopril and see whether that works for your heart AND for you ears so that your pitch normalizes.
And be sure to report back what happens and if you have good news, which drug you switched to. That way, everyone that reads this can learn how they can fix the problem too.
Cordially,
Neil
I have the trifecta of hearing issues: tinnitus, hearing music out of key, and hearing the same music in my head over and over, sometimes up to years at a time.
I have a degree in classical piano, and had (and maybe still do) perfect pitch. About 15 years ago I was at a piano recital and was astounded when I heard a piece in B minor, which should have been in B flat minor. To this day I hear all music a half step sharp, something that really bothers me.
I also have consistent and persistent tinnitus, something I believe was caused by listening to high volume music when I was young – I used to play in rock bands – I’m now 70.
I also have almost continual playing of a song or two songs in my head. The songs come and go, but can (and do) last from months into more than a year. I once had a Frank Sinatra song playing in my head in a tape loop for almost two years, and now I’ve been listening to a tune from “Man of La Mancha” for at least six months.
All this drives me nuts some times, but I try to manage it all the best I can.
I’d be interested to know if anyone else experiences all three of these issues concurrently and continually.
Thanks for listening.
Hi Robert:
When you began hearing music sharp 15 years ago, had you begun taking a new drug. Some drugs cause music to shift in pitch. If you had begun taking a new drug or increased the dose on an existing drug, you can send me the names of the drugs you were taking and I can tell you whether any of them are known to change pitch perception.
I think you are right about your tinnitus caused by listening to loud music. I wouldn’t also be surprised if you have a significant hearing loss in the high frequencies–8,000 Hz and up to 20,000 Hz. And due to your age and sound history, you probably also have some degree of hearing loss in the lower frequencies.
People that have significant hearing loss are subject to hearing phantom music/voices/singing due to hearing loss so the brain makes up for this by taking musical memories from the memory circuits and downloads them to the auditory circuits where you hear them as though they were real sounds. This is called Musical Ear Syndrome.
I can’t say I’ve ever heard anyone hear the same songs continuously for years on end. Usually, the songs get played over and over and are truncated so over time the song may be just 2 or 3 notes played endlessly. And then it may fade back into the tinnitus from which it originally came.
Cordially,
Neil
Thank you for your comments, Dr. Bauman.
Based on reading this thread, I’ve opened myself up to the possibility that my pitch change could have been caused by medication. Several years before the piano recital pitch revelation I began taking Lisinopril (for blood pressure) and Tamsulosin (for BPH), and it’s possible that I just never noticed the pitch change until that event. I’ve been taking those two medications continuously until today, so maybe about 20 years.
As others have described, hearing music in another key signature when you have perfect pitch changes the whole flavor and dynamic of the music. It’s like looking up at the sky and it is green instead of blue. My best fix for this (as others have also used) is to tune a digital piano a half step lower, and then, “ahh, I’m playing and hearing in the right key again!”
Thanks for your analysis of my potential hearing loss; I just have never thought of it that way, and I think you are probably correct as it relates to my other auditory issues.
Your time is much appreciated!
Hi Robert:
I’ve not heard of pitch perception changing with either Tamsulosin or Lisinopril. They may do, but I have not run across it yet. However, the beta blocker class of blood pressure drugs certainly can and do cause changes in pitch perception. Those are the drugs ending in “olol” For example, Propranolol is particularly bad in this respect.
Also, anticonvulsant drugs such as Pregabalin and Carbamazepine can mess up your pitch perception.
Some good news–when you get off a drug that changes your pitch perception, typically, your pitch perception returns to normal in a couple of weeks or so.
Cordially,
Neil