I am a musician for most of my life. I play the guitar but I am a lead singer firstly and foremost. I have sang in many different venues but I still favor singing in churches. I started as a vocal performance major in college but realized that I did not want that major soon after starting it. I fell into Audiology much later in college to receive my bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in the field. In the past, I dreamed of being on stage singing to millions years before anything like American Idol but that was not what God had in store for me.
Now as the owner of Hearing Solution Centers, I put that musical background to work for my patients. I need to tell you about a worship pastor’s story as he called around the Tulsa area seeking an Audiologists who would help him with custom In-Ear Musician Monitors. He called the first place and they told him to turn down the music instead of getting something in his ears. The second place said the same thing until he gave a brief description of the needs as a worship pastor hearing on stage the music he had difficulties mixing with the soundboard. The front office person asked the Audiologists who came back with the same answer. Very frustrated now and on edge, he called our office prepared for the same silly, unknowing response only to find that we knew about them. He stated that no one else knew what to do for him. I did. We fit him with custom In-Ear Monitors of which he loved and it reduced the volume on stage as well as improved his ability to hear. Why is this important???
Not hearing on stage for the singers and musicians means that the mixture of the bass guitar over the drums will keep both out of rhythm constantly. One guitarist could be overwhelming the background singers and making her sharp each time she opens her mouth to sing. Think it is not a problem for the non-musicians in that church? How many Tulsans have complained that the music is too loud in their church? Try most people who have gone to church here. This is SOLVED by musician monitors custom built for that person. Maybe that church cannot afford to purchase all on stage their own personal monitors, but if the drummers, bassists and the lead worship pastor had custom In-Ear Monitors, life would dramatically improve for the pastors and the complaints. But don’t pick anyone to do this! One of my musician monitor patients reported that his first set of monitors were shot into his ear by a guy doing it out of his pickup truck. If you would not purchase that man’s vegetables out of the bed of his truck, then never consider letting him shoot ear impressions in this way. Come to the digital ear specialists at Hearing Solution Centers where both of our Audiologists, Dr. Scott Young and Dr. Cathleen Simeo, are musicians and Audiologists.