Thread: hearing aids vs zills?

will zill playing cause any issues with audience members wearing hearing aids? ,f:: i'm playing saroyan arabesque II in silver.



thanks ..g.:

I've wondered this myself. I'll be watching what others say...

I don't take my zills when dancing at the senior center for this reason- yes, it does bother folks with hearing aids. I know other dancers who just bring their lighter zills. I wouldn't worry about it in a general audience, tho. folks coming out to a show, I would think, would expect it to be noisy? I really can't accomodate *everyone* in the audience unless it is for a specific venue (like the senior center, or an 80th birthday if I've been told about hearing aids)

Yes, I would bring lighter zills.

Just danced at a retirement home this morning! I opted for the dance that doesn't need them as I do remember the time that I noticed grimacing in the audience. I have some heavy duty zills so I thought it best to just pick a "zill free" dance.

Using lighter zills would be a good idea if I had some, lol!!!

I have seen some elderly audience members wincing while zills are being played at some shows, and I've always assumed it was a hearing aid issue. These same people also look like they want to run out of the room if someone performs to a mizmar-heavy song.

Originally Posted by laura 2

I have seen some elderly audience members wincing while zills are being played at some shows, and I've always assumed it was a hearing aid issue. These same people also look like they want to run out of the room if someone performs to a mizmar-heavy song.

ah, well, other than being not being elderly, you just described my husband ,r:;

he's *real* thrilled with my recent mizmar purchase!

I always assume it is going to bother someone in the audience (of a restaurant or other closed space) and only use light zils, play them lightly and away from people (never close to their heads), and play them sparingly as well. I think it possibly could be a big issue for people with hearing aides depending on the level their hearing aide are set at.

I play Egyptian zills that make all sorts of fabulous sounds and don't have a long sustaining ring. Egyptian finger cymbals - sagat

I thought this thread would lead to something else - does playing zills lead to hearing aids? Because sometimes I feel like I've lost quite a bit of my acute hearing due to loud zill playing and music. Somebody raise the music! And my husband gets cranky when I ask him to repeat himself over and over again. Blame it on the zills.

According to my hearing-aid wearing husband, different types of hearing loss requires different types of hearing aids. Some will have more problems with noises such as zill playing than others. He said that the high pitches ones cause him to turn his off.

Actually, the first thing he said was that BAD zill playing is what bothers him the most!,r:;

Thank you for posting this.

It never crossed my mind, as to how uncomfortable it would be for hearing aid wearers.

My husband lost most of the hearing in one ear from a bomb explosion in Viet Nam. A number of years ago he had an operation that installed titanium wires near the drum, which allows him to hear. Zills absolutely send him reeling! :zillgallop: I'd have to assume that people with hearing aids have the same problem. But they can turn down the volume. My husband, poor baby, can't do that! I only pratice zills when he's not home.

I know a dancer with hearing aids, and zills drive her nutty. She can't hear anything besides the zills ringing when they're being played.

I never play them at nursing/retirement homes, nor do any of my dancers. It does bother most hearing aid users.

Okay, here it is from the horse's mouth. I am a dance who has a hearing disability and wears hearing aids.

I personally cannot zill and wear hearing aids at the same time. The directional microphones in the hearing aids turn toward the dominant sound, which is the zills and I have trouble hearing anything else.

As an audience member watching a dancer who is wearing zills, I have no problem. As a musician playing in the band when dancers are zilling, I have no problems as long as I position myself slightly behind the other musicians or near a monitor that lets me pick up what they are playing.

My hearing aids are quite sophisticated and have a music computer chip. My aids have been adjusted for middle eastern music and percussion. And they have the ability to "learn" from my listening environment and adapt themselves.

Audience members with older or less versatile aids or who are not exposed to a lot of percussive sound may have some issues with zills. The reason I am saying this is because when I first got my hearing aids two years ago I nearly jumped out of my skin the first time I tried playing zills while wearing them. For a while all I heard was a very loud clang, clang sound. In a room full of troupe members or students playing at one time, my hearing aids went insane and I could tell the microphones where jumpin around trying to pick up everything. Then all I heard was one long metallic cacophony. I had the hearing aids adjusted slightly and over time the computer chips "learned" zills.

Okay. back to lurk mode now.

Souzan

wow...I had never even though of this. Very educational thread. I have never danced at a retirement center or like, but how zills affect those with hearing aids is worth considering. Thanks for posting.

Not quite on topic, but my dog absolutely hates my zills lol
My guess is that higher tones are more annoying than lower, so maybe it depends on the type of zills too?

good question though, never stopped to think about this either!!