[MusicLover]

Specifically, is it possible to make yourself able to hear higher and lower frequencies than what you normally can by training your ears constantly with really well recorded music?

 

[DLP]

I don't think so. I think it's more that you become more accustomed to listening to certain aspects of sound that you're already hearing.

EDIT

...did I just say what he said? Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I understand his question very well.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by MusicLover Specifically, is it possible to make yourself able to hear higher and lower frequencies than what you normally can by training your ears constantly with really well recorded music?

Why not try it? You'd need a good soundcard with headphones (a cheap one will work for the LF, but not necessarily for the higher frequencies) -- I'd recommend an M-Audio Revo or better. Then generate some test tones at frequencies below 40 Hz and above 16 KHz (unfortunately, there may be no way to know for sure whether it's your ears or your headphone's drivers petering out first).

A scientist would probably say "no" to this question, but clearly the brain plays a part in the ability to hear in addition to the biomechanics of the ear -- and the way the brain works is still poorly understood.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Two quick thoughts on this:

1. If you mean can you train your ears to hear something they are not capable of hearing, then no. No matter how much training you do if you have some damage you will never be able to recover that range of sound. If it's due to genetics or defect that you can't hear at the extremes of music, again, no.

2. If what you mean is that you just don't pay attention to certain frequencies of music, then yes you can train your ears to pick out those parts by focusing more on them. Some of this could be due to bad equipment that rolls off the extremes, and a good piece of gear will allow you to hear things you never heard before. My old RKV lacked the high-end that I never much paid attention to until I bought my next amp and listened to my music again and heard all that I was missing before.

 

[MusicLover]

#2 was what I was talking about, SIE. However, I am a little worried because I recently went to the ear doctor and he said I have acoustic damage in my left ear. But he also said that, not only can I hear perfectly fine, but I am aware of much higher frequencies than most people. He actually asked me if I was a musician. It made me proud to be an audiophile

. Anyway, I was wondering if that damage affected my hearing ability. It's really hard to tell since the last time I had normal hearing before the doctor was about 5 days ago. The doctor didn't really tell me much. He didn't tell me if my hearing got worse, but I doubt he would be able to figure that out.

 

[HD-5000]

Many musicians cannot hear high frequencies very well.

 

[gpalmer]

Quote:

Originally posted by HD-5000 Many musicians cannot hear high frequencies very well.

Yup, they call them guitarists and it explains a lot of their amp settings...

Sorry, used to be a sound man, but I'm not bitter!

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally posted by gpalmer Yup, they call them guitarists and it explains a lot of their amp settings... Sorry, used to be a sound man, but I'm not bitter!

Isn't that the secret to good sound? Paint an 11 on your amp and crank it up to 11. I mean, heh, all the other musicians can only go to 10 on their amps.

 

[eric343]

Doubt you can train yourself to hear frequencies you physically can't hear. But the more you listen the better you are at telling the difference between good and bad quality; you become a "better audiophile" (and a poorer one

)..

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by HD-5000 Many musicians cannot hear high frequencies very well.

IIRC Beethoven in his latest years was deaf, Eric Clapton is deaf from one ear also, yes you can train your ears to heard what you physically can, above or under the spectrum your ear is able to hear don't even try is a waste of time...

 

[wallijonn]

if one can learn to appreciate fine cuisine, then yes, you can train your ears to hear better by mitigating distortion and compression as much as possible.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Yes, you definitely can. My hearing is "improving". But it takes a better man than I to be able to do it alone. I've been getting good counseling from a friend on the sorts of things to listen for. But I still try to go and practice on my own.

 

[KR...]

You can become a better listener but can't improve your actual hearing.

 

[dparrish]

Allot of us in the modern world are so busy and barraged with various sounds that we've learned to tune them out, rather than listen to them critically. So yes, a person can in a SENSE learn to hear higher/lower frequencies in that they can train their ears to UNDERSTAND better what they are hearing--much like a person can continue to learn/grow in knowledge throughout their lives.

When I was 12, I BARELY knew what to listen for in audio equipment (or in music making). Throughout the years, I've gained from many musical experiences and training. As time goes by, I've become more and more critical in my listening and in understanding as to what I'm hearing.

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by dparrish Throughout the years, I've gained from many musical experiences and training. As time goes by, I've become more and more critical in my listening and in understanding as to what I'm hearing.

And as time keep on going by, you will get one point in your life, that as a result of the age, your hearing will go back and back, and then you will begin to hear less and less, it doesn't matter how trained you have them, age will beat everybody, dude...

AFAIK you can train your ears to perceive, in the spectrum you are able to hear, what to look for in the music, and maybe the capability of perceiving different notes, timbers, instruments etc...but what you hear, is what you are able physically of hearing, this capability in terms of freq extension IMO, is not trainable, depends of the physical capability you have, and period, in avery person this is different, you will never be able of hear more of what you actually can, there is no training for that....this is the base of the medical measurements of hearing, they play you some freq tones and determine if you are able or not of hearing those, sorry, so in other words my answer is NO, but this is just IMO and IME....as usual, just keep on reading and searching for the whole truth....on that....