Hearing loss update

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Chapters:
00:21 Recap of my hearing issues
02:15 Silver lining 1: Clarity of artistic intent
06:21 Silver lining 2: It's made my work better
08:49 What do you think about an open collab project?

Thanks for watching today and a big hug to you if you share this video with someone!

[ParkerRoams]

Would be cool for you to do a song where you do one version that sounds really good for you, then another that you think we would all really like. Very curious how different they’d be :)

[sergiocolmenares]

1. I am not a certified Neurologist, but I'm a healthcare professional. There's a chance that your hearing issue is more related to your brain processing than your ear's physiological structure. Hearing is a complex sense and our perception of it is not only controlled by our ears but also by our temporal lobes where the ear signal is processed and interpreted.

There's a medical exam called Hearing evoked potential test, maybe you have already gone through that process but it's worth a shot. If possible, an MRI could also provide a better image of your brain structure to prevent that nothing is interfering with the area.

2. I've been watching your channel since 2020 and it has always impressed me with your versatility and skill level. Maybe you could start "adopting" musical projects that you could expand through your creativity and your non-musical vision.
The non-musical vision is important because it will provide a better connection and if you need to step back because of your hearing issue, you can still contribute to the project. Money-wise, I guess you could charge for that and share a fraction of the revenue.

[darksaintparker]

I was the passenger in a car accident in 2019. It left me bed ridden with extreme light and sound sensitivity for over a year. Luckily the headaches got better, but the tinnitus and unequal hearing has stayed. I had to give up my band that brought me so much joy once my headaches came back, but I'll always love listening and home producing thanks to your videos. I hope you find what happened to your hearing, and thank you for the years of inspiration and knowledge.

[skushabunk]

I rarely post anything ever, but have to this time. I've been watching you for years and really appreciate how open you've been with your hearing loss. I've suffered hearing loss as well but mine was due to ototoxic medication and my hearing loss happened overnight as well. It was devastating and I just want to thank you so much for being so open and also so positive. You sharing your affliction really gave me hope that I could do music despite the sonic challenges I have. You were one of those YouTube pillars of inspiration for me that helped me release some of my own music. So thank you Andrew for everything you've done and what you're still doing. Keep being you and being an inspiration! I took your class with Studio now (Monthly) and released Kitchen based on your course of kitchen sounds. I like to design my own sounds too so that class was perfect for me! I'd love to work with you one day! Once again thanks Andrew for everything you do, I'm gunna get your book! Much love and respect!

[affliction]

Last year I suffered from sudden sensorineural hearing loss, on both ears, and permanently lost some frequencies, especially the bassier ones in my left ear. I've had my bouts with illness but this was to this date the most difficult thing I've faced. Your videos gave me a lot of hope and made me feel a little less alone in the struggle, immense respect for what you do. Taking something as difficult as this and spinning it positively is absolutely incredible.

[lasagnahog]

Occasionally my cheap USB speaker stops working randomly and it did when I clicked this video and thought it was Andrew being the funniest person alive.

[aprentis_music]

After all these years, you continue to be a shining light in what can be a dark world.
And it's really not even about the level of skill you constantly show in your songs, it's the persistence with which you tackle your problems and demand a solution, unafraid of imperfection, always striving for creativity and passion above all else.
Sure, you've taught us how flip a sample or EQ some drums, but you've also shown us how to make music out of anything. How to find inspiration. How to continue moving forward.
Instead of just giving us all the answers like a youtube cheat sheet, you've taught us how to ask our own questions, and find our own answers, and for that I'm grateful.
Thank you for sharing your wisdom and your unique perspectives, and continuing to inspire me and many others.
I only wish I could help you as much as you've helped me grow as an artist and as a human. ~ Sincerely, a long time lurker

[therealfantasy]

Gotta respect how you look at something considered "negative" by many people as a sort of blessing and not only didn't let it to stop you, but to let it to make you you and form a part of your special identity. You just never fail to inspire us Andrew. Thank you ❤🙏

[Qwiv]

As a casual follower I had clearly now clue about your hearing. I must say the success you have pulled together is outstanding. Really shows that you can overcome all challenges to express your own skills. Thanks for sharing the story and that sweater!

Good luck figuring out that next step. I must say your talents in getting on a camera and just communicating something interesting to those watching is likely a bigger asset than you music per se. The music you clearly love and the excitement that if brings you I’d the fuel, but being able to present that to people is not to be overlooked. Whatever that collaborative thing is you end up exploring, leverage you ability to present and share it.

[incurr]

I'm a live audio engineer. This video connected me with another level of you as a person after years of subscribing. Gonna grab a copy of your book for sure. Thanks Andrew!

[halfsound]

Hey Andrew!

Five years ago, I lost complete hearing in one ear overnight because of the microstroke.
It was a challenging period for me because it was hard to produce music like I used to do.
After three years, I had cochlear implantation surgery, and it helped me a lot. The sound is very artificial, so I know how it is when you hear different frequencies and sounds from different sides, also with different volumes.
I returned to the music production and I stayed motivated.
I remember your previous content about hearing issues, and you are always inspirational to me. I hope your problem won't progress and you will find a way to improve it. Technology right now is moving a lot in this field.

[AButtonProductions]

As a Lactose intolerant chef, the idea of "Who is this art for" is so funny for some reason. Sometimes you forgo the cheese on the track.

[wyde]

I've always had this idea of having a community that has one streaming channel. You have it maybe set for 10 hours per day, but multiple producers have 1-4 hour time slots where they login to the channeland produce a song to the audience. The audience maybe gives their input via voting/bits/etc. and the song begins to evolve in real-time. This gives insight into the production process, as well as visibility to the producer.

[emayex_music]

First of all, thanks SO MUCH for sharing your journey with hearing loss over the years. I have a very similar hearing situation to you that started a couple of years ago (much quieter and uneven frequency response in one ear). Seeing how far you’ve made it as a musician, even with this setback, is super inspirational and comforting, so thank you for being so open about it! One silver lining of my hearing loss that I would like to share is this:

*It fundamentally changed the way I listened to music in a way that made me a better musician.*

Let me explain.

Over the years, as I got more and more into music production, I found myself listening to music through a very different lens, trying to dissect how the music was constructed on a very technical level, trying to determine which frequencies different instruments were taking up, listening for compression or other audio effects, how it filled the stereo field etc. etc.

Once I started noticing the issues with my ears, listening to music with this technical mindset was horrible. It would constantly be making me aware of my hearing loss, making me anxious, worrying if I was losing my hearing forever, I could no longer focus on the music I was listening to. This feeling was especially pronounced when songs had a lot of stereo processing going on. I knew I wanted to keep listening to music and making music, as it was such a fundamental part of my life at that point, being a constant hobby and passion for the past 15 years. Therefore, I made what felt like a very significant decision.

No more listening to music with headphones or in stereo. I bought a decent speaker and set everything to mono and began only listening to music through that. This was the only way I could manage to listen to music without constantly noting the frequency response difference between my ears and hating the experience.

But quickly, it made me realise something. I realised that by hyper fixating on picking out production elements for so long, I had no longer been listening to music FOR the music. By taking away the option to really focus in on every little detail of a track by listening on a worse speaker and in mono, I found myself focusing on the whole again. How all the instruments came together to make the whole, how the whole made me feel, how the composition flowed, how it made me feel. I actually started enjoying a lot of music MORE than before my hearing issue, by reframing how I listened. No longer was I listening as a technical exercise, I was listening for FUN again.

I found myself applying this mindset reframing in my own music production as well. Instead of fixating on tweaking a million parameters to make that synth part sound just perfect, I was concentrating more on composition and arrangement. I finally started FINISHING tracks. I realised that what was keeping me from being happy with my music wasn’t my inability to hear compression, or my understanding of how to perfectly EQ my snare. It was that I wasn’t thinking about my work as the musical whole, about what part would come next in the the track to make it musically interesting.

I’ve actually got to the point where I have finished many tracks now, and have since a couple months ago started posting my music here on YouTube, which is the first time I've shared my music with others. My hearing still does bother me a lot, but after a couple of years of this situation I’m starting to come to terms with it. And it’s weird to think that if not for my hearing loss, I would potentially still be stuck analysing my tracks to death, rather than getting on and finishing them. Makes me feel a little better about it.

Anyway, all the best, have pre-ordered the book 🙏

[splach_]

Just preordered your book. Your philosophies on the line between music creation as a form of personal expression and as a career path alongside how your hearing damage has impacted those views for you is beyond inspiring. If this video was just the tip of the iceberg, I’m really eager to hear everything you have to say about all of it in your book. I discovered your channel like 4 or 5 years ago and was a huge supporter for a while back then. I only recently found your channel again and remember why I fell in love with your content and your outstanding musical abilities. Thank you Andrew.

[thomaswaldron]

I was born with hearing loss in my left ear, about a 20-25% drop in hearing, and I didn't let that stop me from becoming a live sound engineer. The first 10 or so years, I was really in this space where I felt I needed to be the one making all the changes. I was the one creating my vision of what audio and music should sound like. I was very stubborn and looking back it shaped me into wanting more collaboration. The first step was asking for help with my hearing. I got into it with a great audiologist and ENT to keep my ears in good shape and I made the decision to add a hearing aid because I knew I needed the help. While not perfect, I am hearing more stereo and realized how hard my brain was working before to keep everything sounding great in the mix. Freeing that mental space allowed me to ask more of my musicians like what does it sound like in their IEM'S or monitors, how can I facilitate a better working environment, asking the audience what sounded great or bad etc. Collaboration feels good and it's important to make the experience more vibrant and more like a collective. It really feels like a collective would work here, highlighting artists, working on tracks with different people from different backgrounds, creating a space where music can be shared freely, creating events all over the world etc.

[gabedimartino]

My dad, a professional trumpet player, suffered from a rare fungal infection in one ear that caused some permanent hearing loss and weird effects before treatment. He had to sit at a 45° angle with a tincture of anti fungal oil in his ear canal for a month to cure it. This was the 80’s, so perhaps methods have changed, but look into it! It was hard to detect and he lucked out with a specialist. He still plays great today!!

Love the art, channel, and all your videos. Kick ass man.

[dallassurfersclub]

One year later, but better late than never. That's the dopest sweater ever. I did something really dumb at 24 years old and I can't hear past about 12 kHz in my left ear, my right ear is to about 15 kHz but has tinnitus. So my hearing is unbalanced and it drives me crazy when i'm mixing sometimes. Praying one day that they will actually be able to restore and regrow the tiny hair cells in our inner ears, I'm actually studying audio engineering with getting my music degree and I keep worrying about this hearing loss. I get stuck and I can't move on past it sometimes and I get really depressed. I think the key is to just keep creating. I love the collaborating idea, especially with songwriting, I just want to get these emotions out and process my feelings. Congrats on being a new Dad, that's awesome.

[zeevorourke]

This stuff you were talking about at the end is emblematic of what drew me to your channel to begin with. It's always had this collaborative sense to it, of bringing musicians together who just love making music and sharing it and it is such a delight to watch. It's part of what makes your style of creation special - I hope you find something amazing and collaborative and revolutionary. I'll be watching

[aliciaowens]

I would love a series on you just making music for yourself based on how you hear it and enjoy it. You are the only one who can tell us what you hear so it would be really interesting to know what the world sounds like to you. Then maybe you take the same tracks and send them to your team and showcase what that help can do to evolve the sound, and maybe that’s when you make it open to your community to collaborate on. I would just love to know what everyone’s perspective is on each song, with an emphasis on yours.