BY: KATIE MORGAN.

Section Three:
Introduction:
In this article I will be exploring the mechanisms of human hearing and
the science behind the ear. I will include: the structure and function of
the ear, the limits of hearing, psychoacoustics and health and safety.
The structure and function of the ear:

This is the structure of the human ear. The human ear includes: pinna
(outer ear), ear canal, eardrum, Eustachian tube, cochlea, auditory nerve,
semicircular canals and ossicies- hammer, anvil and stirrup.
Pinna- this is a part of the outer ear that you can see. Its job is to collect
sounds and send it to the inner ear.
Eardrum- is this also known as the tympanic membrane. This vibrates only
when sound waves reach it.
The Eustachian tube- this connects our ear to our nose. It also controls
the pressure, which is between outside air and the ear.
The cochlea- transmits vibrations to the nerve impulses. This is so the
brain can understand what is happening.

BY: KATIE MORGAN.

Nerves- they send out electro-chemical signals. These signals are from
the cochlea to the brain.
The semicircular canals- these are filled with fluid tubes. These tubes
help to maintain a good sense of balance.
The hammer-the hammer passes on vibrations. However, this is from the
eardrum to the anvil.
The anvil- this part of the ear also passes vibrations. This is from the
hammer and stirrup.
The stirrup- this is another ear part that passes on vibrations to the
cochlea. The stirrup is the smallest bone in our body.
The limits of hearing:
Threshold of pain:

This graph shows the stages of loud

sounds. As you can lab and office are okay
sounds. Where is says hearing that means
that is the middle sound, which our ears
are fine with. However, when you look at
feeling it is very high up and it could
damage our ears. So we should be
careful on what volume sounds are.
We should try to avoid loud
music and sounds. (The red zone)!

BY: KATIE MORGAN.

Decibels (dB):
We can measure decibels in tenths because 1 tenth of the bel (b): 1B =
10dB.
Decibels link with the threshold of pain because the louder the decibel
that higher up the scale it goes, for example, the blue and green section
is the quietest, the orange section is in the middle and the red section is
the loudest.
Here is the scale of the power ratios, amplitude ratios and equivalents:

BY: KATIE MORGAN.

Psychoacoustics:
The Haas effect (We can apply with knowledge to Logic):
Helmut Haas created this effect. It is also known as the precedence
effect. He said that our ear has the ability to localize sounds, that are
anywhere.
A sound can follow a different sound. This happens because of a short
delay. We as the listeners can become aware of a single image that is
known as a fused auditory. This is dominated by a specific location, which
has the first sound. The energy of the sound affects this location! But it
is forced to end by the first sound at arrived.
Here is a diagram to show the Haas effect in visual form:

On this diagram you can all of the different effects you can change. You
can change the following: gain, mix, LPF, delay, depth, rate and feedback.
(You can change it twice one for the left and the other of the right).
The Cocktail party effect (We can apply with knowledge to Logic):
This effect is the ability to focus on different conversions in a crowd
room. You can block out conversions and you listen to other conversions.
This is your mind telling you that you dont want to listen the conversion,
so you listen to another conversion instead.
The cocktail party effect also allows the majority of people to only focus
on one voice. We can also pick out the most important when someone is
speaking, for example, hearing your name in the conversion intensely
makes you alert.
Here is a diagram to explain this:

BY: KATIE MORGAN.

The person blocking out the sounds of the drums, bass and vocal. But, he
is listening to the keyboard and the guitar. This tells us that we can block
out sound most of the time.
The Masking effect (We can apply with knowledge to Logic):
This effect is similar to the previous effect because it is about muting
sound. This is so people no longer hear this sound. Furthermore, they can
see the sound and they cant sense it presence, for example, in Logic if we
made a song and then muted an instrument only we would know about it.
Here is the example as a picture:

The last instrument is muted.

M).

(The mute button is the blue

Beats:
A beat in acoustics is two sounds of different frequencies (not much
difference) interfere with each other.
There are many variations in the volume. Their rate is between the two
different frequencies.
When instruments are tuned they can create beats and tones that are
sustained (We can change the sustain in Logic). These can be recognized
straight away. You can also tune two in unison by doing this shows the
peculiar effect.
If the two tones are similar in pitch but not the same, the frequency
difference powers the beating of the sound. Its volume changes like a
wavering effect in the tone of music. This is because sounds take turns to

BY: KATIE MORGAN.

interfere productively and ferociously. When these two tones come
together in unison, the beats will slow down. They could be too slow as
they become subtle.
Here is a diagram that shows you how work out the beats:

This is a diagram of beat frequency and you use these sums to measure
and work out the beats.
The Doppler effect continued from Section One:

The wavelength has changed due to the movement of the source.

This diagram shows wave has changed and where it is going. The wave is
going left and starts at the source.
When a car goes past you the sound it makes a high pitched sound, but
when it is away from you it makes a low pitched sound. (There is a change
in the wavelength and frequency.
Moreover, as the car moves towards you the wavelength decreases while
the frequency increases.
On the other hand, when the car moves away from you the wavelength
increases and the frequency decreases.

BY: KATIE MORGAN.

Health and safety:
Workplace Laws:
Law and Protection:
If you ask ear protection, then you should get it. However, the noise
exposure should be between the lower and upper action values. They
should also use them when needed. If not, they could damage their
hearing. (They dont here to wear them all the time, but when the noise is
in the upper action values they must wear them for safety).
In addition, the companies should put up signs in the hearing protection
zones so employees know when to put on the ear protection.
Employees should have information and training on how to use and care
for their hearing protectors. They will also ensure that they are using the
protectors properly and that they are put on when required.
Dos and Donts:

Do:
Make sure that the protectors are protecting the ear. You should aim to
get below the Db of 85 at the ear.
Use protectors when it is noisy at work use your protection right away.
Check to see if your protectors are comfortable and hygienic.
Ask yourself, are they worn with other protection equipment, for example,
eye protection, dust masks and hard hats.
There should be a wide selection of different protectors for the
employees to choose from.

Dont:
Provide ear protection that cuts out too much noise. This is because it can
cause isolation and they might not want to wear their protectors.
Make the use of wearing the hearing protectors forced where law doesnt
find it necessary to use the protection. It is better to use them for their
proper use. This is will encourage the employees to wear the protectors
when they should.

BY: KATIE MORGAN.

What is the maintenance of ear protection?
Make sure that you and your employee regularly check these things:
That the ear protection stays in good and clean condition.
The seals of the earmuffs are not damaged.
The tension of the ear defenders headband is not reduced.
Make sure that there is no unconfirmed reduction.
Earplugs are soft, flexible and dirt-free.
Regulations:
When sounds are at 85 decibels employers must give their employees
hearing zones and protection. So they know how protect their hearing. The
limit of decibels is 87 decibels. Anything above 85-87 decibels should not
be exposed to the workers.
Here are the limits in a table:

Hearing Protection: Workers use

this experiment to protect their
hearing: They would use ear defenders
or earplugs to protect their ears from
the noise at work.

BY: KATIE MORGAN.

Useful Mixing/Studio Rules (If, we are listening to a loud Logic track
we might consider using earplugs):
However, as musicians we wear earplugs when we do the following:
We wear them while practicing, at rehearsals and when we are
performing.
Some people would say that wearing them at home and getting used to
speaking and listing to people with them on helps to make them okay to
wear.
Live sound protection:
Situation

Live sound engineers,

Studio performers and
engineers

Typical
problems
Very loud.
Competing
external
sounds.

Possible protection

Uniform attenuation earplugs.

(Note: using headphone monitors or in-ear monitors
may remove the need for, or allow reduced levels of,
reproduced sound in working areas).

This information helps us to understand how important it is to protect our ears.

Also other information above adds to this understanding.
Thats it for Section 3. I left you with some diagrams to help explain each
section is detail! The next Section is Section 4, which is about the acoustic
characteristics of spaces. Ill write about this in a new word document.
Picture References:
https://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/vision/deck/5327856
http://becuo.com/absolute-threshold-psychology
http://www.becchisosiride.it/concetti.php?&IDT=23&switchlang=2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel
https://mixcoach.com/creating-depth-the-haas-effect-2/
http://toonz.ca/bose/wiki/index.php?title=Cocktail_Party_Effect
My own screen shot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(acoustics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect
http://www.uvm.edu/safety/lab/hearing-protection
http://www.uvm.edu/safety/lab/hearing-protection
Table- http://www.soundadvice.info/thewholestory/san5.htm