The

Mechanisms of human hearing

In this article I will explain the structure and function of all parts of the human ear, the limits
of hearing, psychoacoustics and the health and safety aspects taken into account in any area
within the music industry. I will also explain how certain aspects of human hearing help
music producers and sound engineers produce a piece of music at a better standard and
why it is essential for music producers and sound engineers to understand how human
hearing works.

The structure and function of the human ear

Outer Ear

Firstly I will be talking about the structure and function of the outer ear. The outer ear is the
outside section of the ear, which consists of the pinna and external auditory meatus. It
gathers vibrations (sound energy) and focuses it on the eardrum (tympanic membrane).

The Pinna, or auricle, is the visible part of the ear made of a thin piece of yellow elastic
cartilage which is covered by skin and connected to the parts surrounding it by ligaments
and muscles. Most humans, unlike many mammals, cannot move the pinna in order to focus
our hearing in a certain direction.

From the pinna, the sound waves move into the ear canal which is a small tube running
through the middle ear approximately 2cm long. This tube leads inward from the bottom of
the auricula and conducts the vibrations to the tympanic membrane and amplifies
frequencies in the 3 kHz to 12 kHz range.


Middle Ear

The Middle Ear is the portion of the ear where the ear drum is located as well as the three
ossicles which transfer the vibrations of the eardrum into waves in the fluid and membranes
of the inner ear. Within the middle ear, there is a hollow space called the tympanic cavity.

The primary function of the middle ear is to efficiently transfer acoustic energy from cwaves
in air to fluidmembrane waves within the cochlea by transporting through the oval
window.
The middle ear has the ability to reduce sound conduction when faced with unusually loud
sound, by noise-induced reflex contraction of the middle-ear muscles. This relates to the
limits of hearing section which I will explain next in this article.

The middle ear contains three ossicles which are extremely small bones called malleus
(hammer), incus (anvil) and stapes (stirrup). The alternative names for the ossicles come
from the shape of them. The ossicles join sound energy from the ear drum to the cochlea.
The ossicles convert the vibrations of the eardrum, into amplified pressure waves in the
fluid of the cochlea through the oval window, which I will talk about next in this article as
part of the inner ear section.

Inner Ear The inner ear is the furthest part inside of the human ear with its purpose being
sound detection and balance. The inner ear consists of a system of passages with two main
parts which is the cochlea and the vestibular system.

The cochlea is purely dedicated to hearing by converting sound pressure patterns
transferred from the outer ear into electronic impulses which are sent to the brain through
the auditory nerve. The vestibular system is a
sensory system purely dedicated to balance and
spatial orientation.

The inner ear has three canals which contain fluid
which is moved by vibrations (sound energy). The
movement of this fluid applies pressure on a
structure called the cupula, which contains hair
cells that transduce the mechanical movement to
electrical signals which are then sent to the brain.

The canals are arranged in such a way that each
canal on the left side has a parallel canal on the
right side. Each of these three pairs works in a
push-pull system by which when one canal is
stimulated, its partner on the other side is
activated. This also works the other way round
too.

Source: www.blausen.com



The limits of hearing

The human ear has what is called the threshold of hearing. This is a reference point to the
lowest audible sound we can hear which is almost complete silence. The human ear also has
a threshold of pain whereby if exposed to sound at a decibel level or intensity for too long,
too much or the sound is simply just too loud, it can become painful. The threshold of pain
for humans tends to be 120dB at 20kHz. This could vary slightly between person to person
because some people might have more or less sensitive ears than others.

Your ears can only be exposed to certain decibel levels for a certain amount of time. This is
because the middle section of the ear is able to dampen the sound when faced with very
loud sound but despite this function, if a sound is too loud it can still be painful. For
example, you can continuously listen to a sound at 94dB for one hour but you can only
continuously listen to a sound at 103dB for seven and a half minutes. The source of this data
was the noise navigator taken from a database of over 1700 noise sources.

Psychoacoustics

In this section I will be explaining psychoacoustics which is all about the brains
interpretation of sound rather than the ear.

Firstly, part of psychoacoustics is the Haas Effect (also known as the precedence effect). This
effect is described by Helmut Haas as the ability of our ears to localise sounds coming from
anywhere around us. Our ears can determine the direction a sound is coming from based
on which ear picks the sound up first and the reflections around it being delayed by 1-35ms
from the first original sound. Within Logic to achieve this effect we often use panning which
can be seen on the inspector element and the mixer within Logic.

The cocktail party effect is a natural effect meaning you are able to focus you attention on
one specific sound while filtering out other sounds. This effect is especially helpful to music
producers, sound engineers and music technologists because if you are having to mix a song
you have recorded you will need to be able to detect and correct errors which the cocktail
party effect will be useful for as you will be able to zone in to one instrument track. The
same applies for sound engineers on live performances as well.

Furthermore, masking is the addition of sound to reduce distractions. Masking covers up
unwanted sounds. This is also helpful for music producers and sound engineers because if
there is a mistake in a recording or live performance, you are able to cover up the mistake
to make it invisible to the listener and the listener cannot tell there was a mistake.

Two more important aspects of psychoacoustics are beats and the Doppler effect. Refer to
the physics of sound article as I have explained both of these in detail.













Health and Safety

Within the music industry there are many different health and safety aspects to take into
account.

Firstly, there are a number of workplace laws put in place to make sure that employees are
treated properly in the workplace environment. Another aspect of workplace laws is that
companies need music licenses to play or broadcast music in the workplace which protects
the artists producing the music and makes sure their music is not being downloaded or
played illegally. The most common workplace to use music licensing is in supermarkets but
they are used in other industries/workplaces as well.

Secondly, it is important, when working in a musical environment for long hours, to wear
ear protection. This is because your ears can get tired or potentially become damaged if you
are exposed to sound at high decibel levels for long periods of time as I explained earlier in
this article in the limits of hearing section. The law requires that employers provide ear
protection when employees ask for it or when their ears are being exposed to loud sound.

In any musical environment it is important for you to rest your ears as they can become
tired which could effect how you perceive a song you are mixing. It is advisable to have 15
minute break every hour and a half or so to allow your ears to refresh. This will improve the
overall quality of the song you mix/produce. You should always wait one day or two before
sending off finished tracks for mastering, record label approval or for a qualification so you
can have another listen with fresh ears. Always rest your ears before working on your final
mix so you know it is done properly.

All the aspects mentioned in this article must be taken into account as music producers and
sound engineers when working in the music industry to make sure that any task or project is
completed at a professional standard and the best standard as possible.