A Video of Rick Beato Talking About Tinnitus

[Ed209]

I saw this video a few months back but never got around to posting it. It's well worth watching as what Rick doesn't know about music and production isn't worth knowing. He has seen and done it all from playing professionally, to film scoring, being a big band leader, a college professor, etc. He has also produced a platinum record and used to work for Sony records as a songwriter so he has great contacts within the music business and has interviewed many famous people on his YouTube channel. As far as I know, he now runs his own studio and uses his downtime to make YouTube videos to share his immense knowledge.

Anyway, as I said, I stumbled across this video a while back and found it interesting to hear him talk about tinnitus. I've made some timestamps below of various points of interest, but if you're interested, you should watch it all from circa 36:00 onwards.


36:00 - He talks about acoustics, standing waves, and microphone technology.


39:40 - He talks about how he hates earbuds and how he will never let his kids use them. He also discusses in-ear monitors.


41:40 - Talks about how he used limiter plugs for his kid's headphones when they needed to use them for a school project.


42:20 - He talks about the loudness of orchestras and the dangers that are present.


46:00 - He mentions Brian Wilson from the beach boys and how he was deaf in one ear but still made amazing sounding records due to the brain compensating.


47:20 - He discusses Beethoven.


48:15 - Talks about hearing tests and why some musicians start to sound bad as they get older.


51:10 - Here he begins to talk about tinnitus and mentions the extreme variability of his.


57:00 - He compares it to phantom limb syndrome like many of us have on here.


1:00:30 - He talks about the difficulty in finding good information on YouTube/the net because of the number of quacks trying to sell you stuff. He especially mentions that if someone says they can cure you, don't believe them.


1:02 - He thought he'd never be able to listen to music again and talks about how the kick drum was hurting his ears during a production session. He also says that piano notes sounded distorted to him.


1:04 - He noticed that when he mixed intensely the next day his tinnitus always seemed to be gone. He also talks about how sleep definitely affects it.


1:06 - Restates why earbuds can be dangerous around ambient noise and recommends the use of closed headphones instead. Interesting to note that he has the same headphones that I do.




To watch the video, simply click on the link underneath where it says video unavailable.

 

[Ed209]

I forgot to add that he talks about hyperacusis towards the end and also says that he takes a bag of earplugs around with him when going to watch music (1:11). He says that he hands them out to his friends - where was he when I went to all those gigs without earplugs!

At 1:12:25, he clearly states that he tells drummers not to hit anything whilst he's in the live room. This is exactly what I said to do in this thread:

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/thinking-about-taking-a-music-production-class.34790/

I've found that many producers, especially ones that I've worked with, are very ear savvy. I think a lot of what he talks about in this video is relevant to the thread above.

 

[GregCA]

1:04 - He noticed that when he mixed intensely the next day his tinnitus always seemed to be gone.

I feel similarly: when I make/play music, it feels like my T is "easier to handle" afterwards (mine never goes away, though), but I don't know if it actually makes a physiological difference or a psychological difference.

It's strange to believe you'd have to "feed the beast" with music so it'll leave you alone, especially since it's so counter-intuitive given how dangerous crossing the line of "too much music" can be.

 

[aot]

where was he when I went to all those gigs without earplugs!

If only I had him with me in November.
He seems like a well spoken, cool dude. Has the BTA ever gotten in touch with him to help raise awareness?

 

[Ed209]

I feel similarly: when I make/play music, it feels like my T is "easier to handle" afterwards (mine never goes away, though), but I don't know if it actually makes a physiological difference or a psychological difference.

It's strange to believe you'd have to "feed the beast" with music so it'll leave you alone, especially since it's so counter-intuitive given how dangerous crossing the line of "too much music" can be.

It is interesting and further adds to the puzzle that is tinnitus. I think the combination of sleep plus some kind of concentrated effort to differentiate between various pitches and timbres (at a safe volume), such as mixing, may have a small transient effect on the brain. These skills require a lot of involvement from the auditory cortex and the higher functioning parts of the brain, so who knows what's going on?

It seems that sleep affects many people, though. It's one of the most common things that we hear.

 

[Ed209]

If only I had him with me in November.
He seems like a well spoken, cool dude. Has the BTA ever gotten in touch with him to help raise awareness?

I think his channel is great, personally. It's like a university-level education for free pretty much. I very much doubt the BTA would have been in touch with him as it's incredibly unlikely that he'd be on their radar.

 

[bobvann]

I like how he reviews hit music.

 

[bobvann]

[QUOTE="Ed209, post: 524127, member: 10416"


1:00:30 - He talks about the difficulty in finding good information on YouTube/the net because of the number of quacks trying to sell you stuff. He especially mentions that if someone says they can cure you, don't believe them.

[/QUOTE]
Julian Cowan Hill, Joey Remenyi etc.

 

[Bartoli]

Thanks for the video @Ed209.

Have you seen that other video where he talks about his tinnitus for half an hour and how it's there on some days and not on most? He describes it as over 90dB of 10kHz... Yet he still mixes without a problem on those days. How can that be? Do I really have to imagine someone mixing music at 70dB with a 90dB sine wave ringing through? Would it actually be like putting on 90dB tone on the control board and out through your monitors? That's smoke detector loud...

I have to add it's lovely to hear someone raise awareness like that, even if it's just for the in-crowd. He obviously knows many musicians and says he knows quite a lot of people with tinnitus. Yet these don't come out telling they have it and if they do they mention it briefly in an interview or so...

 

[WillBeNimble]

. Yet these don't come out telling they have it and if they do they mention it briefly in an interview or so...

I feel like it's stigma, contracts, and lack of understanding of how bad it can get. I really wish they would organize and push for a greater understanding that it is hearing loss, and shouldn't be taken lightly.

 

[Mister Muso]

Rick has finally posted an in-depth talk focussing exclusively on his tinnitus and how it affects his enjoyment of music since he got it.

He talks about being interested in getting involved in some trials and maybe posting about his experiences. I believe he's based in the New York area if anyone wants to bring one to his attention.

 

[Luman]

Rick has finally posted an in-depth talk focussing exclusively on his tinnitus and how it affects his enjoyment of music since he got it.

He talks about being interested in getting involved in some trials and maybe posting about his experiences. I believe he's based in the New York area if anyone wants to bring one to his attention.

I have loud fluctuating, AKA intermittent, tinnitus, much like Rick Beato, but my periods of silence are not very long. I have habituated to the point that when it is ringing, my mind ignores it most of the time. I had a spike a few days ago due to accidental exposure to a loud noise, which has since subsided a bit.

 

[Ed209]

Rick has finally posted an in-depth talk focussing exclusively on his tinnitus and how it affects his enjoyment of music since he got it.

He talks about being interested in getting involved in some trials and maybe posting about his experiences. I believe he's based in the New York area if anyone wants to bring one to his attention.

I saw this yesterday and was gonna add it to this thread. I figured I'd do it today but you beat me to it lol.

Rick lives in Atlanta.

 

[Cernuto]

Rick has finally posted an in-depth talk focussing exclusively on his tinnitus and how it affects his enjoyment of music since he got it.

He talks about being interested in getting involved in some trials and maybe posting about his experiences. I believe he's based in the New York area if anyone wants to bring one to his attention.

Yeah, I've got something very similar to Rick's. Mine is 1-3 days of at least 100 dB at 12.3 kHz, then 1 or 2 days of what sounds like a vacuum cleaner in the next room. Apparently some people get used to it. Not me.

 

[Mister Muso]

Yeah, I've got something very similar to Rick's. Mine is 1-3 days of at least 100 dB at 12.3 kHz, then 1 or 2 days of what sounds like a vacuum cleaner in the next room. Apparently some people get used to it. Not me.

I can't imagine what tinnitus at 100 dB is like, but mine varies every few days two between a steady ring and a fluctuating hiss. As well as high tones I have pulsating bass tones (caused by pyrotechnics) plus mid-level wind chime sounds in one ear (following piercing feedback at a soundcheck).