Dr. Suzanne McCorry is an audiologist with Signia. She helps hearing care professionals better serve their patients as part of the Customer Care team. And, as she writes in this week’s blog post, she’s also the mother of a musician – Cody McCorry of the popular band, Thank You Scientist.
I am the mother of a musician. I am also an audiologist.
As a mother, I am incredibly proud of my son Cody’s success with the band Thank You Scientist. I will never forget the feeling I had watching him play on a big, outdoor summer stage at the beach in Asbury Park, New Jersey for a huge crowd and hearing them all cheer loudly. I was thrilled!
I turned to the people standing around me and said, “That’s my son!”
Despite my pride, having a son in a rock band brings mixed emotions for an audiologist. When I put my audiology hat on, I start to worry about his ears. His band tours across the U.S. and Canada, and plays bigger venues, which mean more exposure to high-decibel sound. Loud music exposure can cause irreversible hearing loss. Fortunately, the risk can be mitigated through the use of ear protection and I work for a great company that was willing to help. Did you know that Signia offers custom musician’s hearing protection for selected markets?
So, I packed up my old kit bag of impression-taking tools and headed over to Thank You Scientists’ rehearsal space, full of people way hipper than me. I got to hang out with the band and took impressions of 14 grateful fellows’ ears. The guys were all very patient and interested in the process.
A musician’s hearing needs are unique. Traditional earplugs damp the high frequencies more than the lows, which is one reason musicians won’t wear those earplugs consistently. The sound quality of musicians’ ear protection is much better. Unlike traditional earplugs, the attenuation from musicians’ hearing protection is flat across the frequency spectrum. The noise reduction rating (NRR) options for our musician’s earplugs are 11 dB NRR or 13 dB NRR. This is less protection than traditional plugs but we all know that musicians hate to feel like they are missing something. They will take their hearing protection out if they feel they’re too plugged up and missing out on the music. The lower NRR rating results in more consistent use and better results overall.
Meanwhile, the guys are so happy with their new hearing protection that they posted this thank you video to Signia on their official Facebook page.
I feel so much better now that I know they will be protected. Thank you, Signia Scientists!
