Ears - the most important tool

    The most important tools of a musician – ears!

    While setting up my new music room (with new studio monitors APS Klasik 2020) I was reminded again, what I noticed for years, but somehow never was a problem. Everyone hears different! Different ears, room, setup, monitors, cables, mood, …


    Yes, we all know. But let’s stay on ears. I noticed (againg): My left ear does hear different to my right ear.


    O.k. google says, right ear dominance for better understanding speach in the left brain… and so on... And I thought because of my tinnitus on the left and maybe some hearing damage from playing to loud in my youth, I have some more imbalance than others.


    But now the interesting part. With my new APS studio monitors the stereo stage is much wider and I noticed a few things and started to think. Studio monitors at ear height. O.k. but what if my ears are not symmetrically screwed on my head J And ear canal and form isn’t the same too? So I looked at pictures of famous mixing and mastering engineers. There are a few with enough „ear asymmetry“ that would lead to different left / right hearing. So of course the brain will get used to it and maybe compensate. But the ear form is definetly a factor of how we receive a sound.


    For fun I asked friends, family members and work colleagues. And the results surprised me. Almost every one (right handed) has the right ear dominant. Meaning, they hold the phone to the right ear, trust the right ear, turn the right ear towards a conversation... But they also say, the right ear feels more comfortable for listening to very loud music (or noise). It is more "dulled" than the left ear and not so sensitive. But still it is the prefered ear to listening for details too. The left ear seems to be clearer, sometimes louder, but at the same time it’s not the favourite ear. Holding the phone to the left ear, all people (me included) said, it feels discomfortable, brighter, shrill.


    Any (lefthanded) people out there, that have other experiences? Does someone hear completely the same left and right?


    Considering ear form, ear placement on the head, left / right differences, different tasks of left and right brain, hearing impairment with musicians and engineers, room acoustic… listening impressions of people are more subjectiv than I thought! But still, the ears are our most important tools.

    Yes , ears are different from person to person and from one side of your head to the other.

    Just look at your personal in ear monitor or cast hearing protection gear ..... Different shapes .

    And the "decoder" ( brain ) between the ears works at various speeds and wavelength from

    person to person. That´s why we hear different things in sound and think different about sound.


    As for the right / left hand held phone "statement" I can only speak for myself .

    I hold the phone in left hand to my left ear and I´m right handed , so I can take notes or do other

    easy stuff with my right hand while talking on the phone :)

    Besides, I grew up with the "old finger dial phone" and right handed persons dial with right index finger, right ?


    And I also think eyes are pretty darn important tools too ( in this age of screens ) :/


    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

    Like 3
    Quote from Hoki Toki

    I hold the phone in left hand to my left ear and I´m right handed , so I can take notes or do other

    easy stuff with my right hand while talking on the phone

    Same here. And I even use the computer mouse with my left hand although I am clearly a right handed person. Probably a bit weird but I always found that beneficial as you can reach return key, cursor keys etc. easily with the right hand while not leaving the mouse. Some say this capability comes from the training of the left hand which guitar players may have...


    Anyway, interesting discussion. My left ear is definitely the one I'm trusting way more in terms of sound. No idea why... :/

    Quote from deadman42

    Same here. And I even use the computer mouse with my left hand although I am clearly a right handed person. Probably a bit weird but I always found that beneficial as you can reach return key, cursor keys etc. easily with the right hand while not leaving the mouse. Some say this capability comes from the training of the left hand which guitar players may have...


    Anyway, interesting discussion. My left ear is definitely the one I'm trusting way more in terms of sound. No idea why... :/

    I use the mouse with right hand at home, but at work with left hand (without changing the buttons of the mouse). The brain adjust very fast. This protects me from getting pain / mouse arm again.


    Holding the phone to the left ear seems to be far more ergonomic when you think about it. You don't have to clamp the phone between head and shoulder to write down notes - like I do since years at work :S But left sounds weird

    Funny thing though, as being guitarist AND keyboard / synth player, when soloing

    my left hands fingers "fly" over the neck and on the other hand ( pun intended )

    my right hand fingers "fly" over the keys :/


    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

    Like 1
    Quote from Hoki Toki

    I hold the phone in left hand to my left ear and I´m right handed , so I can take notes or do other

    easy stuff with my right hand while talking on the phone :)

    Besides, I grew up with the "old finger dial phone" and right handed persons dial with right index finger, right ?

    Exactly the same here too, mate.


    I noticed long ago that most right-handed folks who grew up with dial 'phones used their left ears and that this was obviously because they used their right hands to dial the numbers in the first place.

    Quote from Monkey_Man

    I noticed long ago that most right-handed folks who grew up with dial 'phones ... used their right hands to dial the numbers in the first place.

    ... and in my case I remember that after dialing, I immediately swapped the telephone receiver to the right hand, always. :D

    If I had to note something during a call, it was always awkward because I had to change again to write with my right hand and back again. Very weird but that's how it was for me, hehe.