Tag: musicians ear plugs

Tre Lowe – Making Noise for Tinnitus

DJ Tre Lowe’s Crusade for Tinnitus & Hearing Awareness for DJ’s, Broadcasters & Entertainers

The AIM is:

  • To have no one ask the question- What is Tinnitus?
  • To empower people to take action to protect their hearing.
  • To ensure that no one needlessly suffers from what is an easily preventable condition.

The first campaign is to get DJ’s, broadcasters and Musicians to get their hearing tested.

The second is to release music, which will go towards spreading awareness and raising funds for research and support.

Tre Lowe has had tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, since his early teens. The condition started following a life-threatening reaction to a routine drug given after an appendix operation.

The tinnitus was exacerbated over the years, ignorantly, via Tre’s love of music. “I never fully connected loud music to the fact that the tinnitus noise was slowly getting worse – I just assumed it was due to the drug overdose I was given at hospital.”

In 2008, after a DJ set at a ridiculously loud club with an ill-informed placement of speakers behind the DJ booth, Tre’s tinnitus worsened considerably. “I went deaf for 24 hours. Luckily my hearing returned, although my tinnitus was super loud. I was distraught. At that point I knew I had to protect my hearing.  “That was it for me, I got myself some Elacin custom-made earplugs with 25Db filters. I loved music too much to risk losing it”

Although Tre’s tinnitus has worsened a little, the earplugs have spared his hearing from further deterioration.

“The whole thing has been a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to look at all areas of my health and lifestyle and finally find answers to issues that had been tormenting me for years. Don’t get me wrong though, I would do anything to stop this noise in my head!  Another good thing is that it has galvanised me into ensuring my fellow music lovers do not suffer through ignorance.  There’s no point me suffering with it if I can’t use that suffering to prevent others from doing the same”.

Having completed the London to Brighton bike ride in aid of Action On Hearing Loss, Tre has also done additional work for the charity.  The charity ran a successful campaign with Plan B & Chris Martin from Coldplay talking about their experience with tinnitus. Unfortunately that participation from well-known musicians is the exception, not the rule.

“The reluctance of musicians, especially prominent ones, to talk about tinnitus and hearing loss, shocks and saddens me. I get it, as I too have wrestled with going public. However, I believe it is our duty to inform others of the dangers, especially the young vulnerable music lovers that, like I was, are totally ignorant that something they love so much can potentially be the cause of unnecessary suffering in the future. That culture of ignorance has got to change…”

DJ Tre Lowe is one half of the highly respected, award-winning band: Architechs. Notable for the eternal dance floor filler; Body Groove (Feat. NaNa). A monster platinum hit. Architechs also enjoyed numerous successful remix smashes with the classic Brandy & Monica’s – The Boy Is Mine UKG remix and other masterpieces for Justin Timberlake, Usher, Whitney Houston and numerous others.

Tre Lowe

Rihanna and Musicians Hearing Services live in Germany

Rihanna and Musicians Hearing Services live in Germany

The Harley Street Hearing and Musicians Hearing Services group have been going global recently. Our practice was contacted by one of the biggest names in the music industry, Rihanna, to take ear impressions for in-ear monitors.

Rihanna the chart topping, eight time Grammy award winning artist who has millions of gold and platinum (riaa) song certifications is on the European leg of her ANTI world tour.  She is set to travel to 18 different countries around Europe, with her shows in the UK going down a storm.

She was due to perform in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday the 9th of July. This is where our journey with Rihanna began.

Rihanna Germany MHS 1The call came in late Thursday from Rihanna’s tour manager; she needed impressions taken for new in ear monitors and we had come highly recommended.

They were currently in Copenhagen, but were set to travel to Germany for Saturdays show. Could we help? “OF COURSE!” We reminded them of the minor detail that our practice and our audiologists were based in London or Manchester, this was not a problem, they arranged flights to and from Hamburg, with accommodation for an overnight stay.

“I was the chosen audiologist to go & packed my bags and the equipment I needed; and was on the Heathrow express from Paddington station to terminal 5. 

Arriving in Hamburg I was met by Martin the driver who took me to the Park Hyatt Hotel in the centre of the city.  Driving through the cities suburbs Martin pointed out the Rotherbaum tennis arena, and the University of Hamburg.

Rihanna Germany MHS 2All checked in to the hotel, I received a call from Rhianna’s tour manager.  He was going to send a driver to pick me up at 8 o’clock to bring me to the arena, so I could watch the show and then be on standby, as I was going to take impressions after her performance.

Jan (the runner for the tour) picked me up, he joked that he needed to find “roasted salted cashew nuts”, which by the sounds of it were not that readily available in Germany.  We eventually found a supermarket which stocked these and the jubilation on Jan’s face was priceless; we could finally head to the arena.

Rihanna Germany MHS 4On arrival a VIP badge was hoisted around my neck, I was shown to the golden circle where I could watch the show which had already started.  Rhianna put in a great performance, her hit single “Work” being the highlight. How ironic, here I was in Hamburg, AT WORK, with Rihanna……

The show was over.  Buzzing from her performance it was my time to shine!  I was shown into her dressing room at around half past midnight, Rihanna stood up shook my hand and asked me where I was from. “London” I replied. We exchanged conversation, discussing rumours of playing  perform at Glastonbury. Mimicking my English accent with playful jest I then took 2 sets of impressions.

We hugged, I wished her good luck for the rest of her tour, then I was driven back to the hotel by Jan as we joked about the “salted roasted cashew nuts”.

After breakfast Sebastian drove me to the airport the following morning.  He noted that Hamburg was the city with the most bridges in Europe, more than Venice (an interesting fact).

On the flight back to London I reflected on my trip to Hamburg and how incredible Rhianna’s performance and her kind and approachable personality were.”

The ear impressions were then sent to a manufacturer in the United States who produce high performance in-ear-monitors.

In ear monitors are a small wireless device, worn by the performer, which would deliver the monitor mix directly to the ear at a volume that could be personally controlled. The in-ear-monitor gives around 30 dB sound isolation which in turn protects the performer’s ears.

It is fantastic that stars such as Rihanna are taking steps to protecting their hearing, as a big drive by the World Health Organisation recently aims to tackle preventable hearing loss caused by noise.

There are a number of solutions for individuals of any age to start protecting their hearing. Take a look at our website

Jack Stancel-Lewis – Audiologist – Harley Street Hearing & Musicians Hearing Services.

If you need ear impressions or any advice on hearing issues call 020 7486 1053 or complete below.

BBC News Hearing Damage from Loud Music

BBC News Hearing Damage from Loud Music

See Dr Greg Nassar from the Harley Street Hearing group being interviewed on BBC News after the landmark High Court judgement on hearing damage from loud music.

Anyone exposed to significant noise is prone to hearing loss, tinnitus, loudness discomfort or intolerance, and hyperacusis – where sounds that were once tolerable become intolerable.

This judgement will have implications about the risk of hearing damage for musicians and the leisure industry all over the country.

Dr Nassar talks about custom-made ear plugs and demonstrates the damaging levels of noise exposure in the second BBC News interview below.

We see musicians all over the UK.  If you have any hearing concerns for yourself or your employees please call us on 020 7486 1053 or complete below.