Tinnitus, digitised
When I went to the doctor a few years ago complaining of tinnitus I was told there was nothing he could do, so I didn’t bother him with it again. In fact there’s no point complaining to anyone: as no-one else can hear it they can’t possibly empathise. So I’ve attempted to re-create mine as an mp3: partly as a way of making sense of it, and partly to see if I could do it. It’s a lot harder to nail down than I’d imagined.
I haven’t done this to show the world what I have to endure, because actually I don’t usually find it much of an endurance. Which is a relief, because tinnitus had been the one thing that I’d hoped I would never have to bear; I had heard documentaries and stories about it and thought I’d never be able to cope with it. But In an odd way it’s rather comforting, like a constant companion; although it can drown out other sounds, which is a nuisance.
I have a triangle, of the musical variety. I also have a Zoom H2 audio recorder. I struck the triangle, recorded it on the Zoom, then used Audacity to play around with the result. I chopped off the beginning, selected a very short snippet of the tone (it fades out quickly and I needed a continuous sound), elongated it, changed the pitch and altered the volume.
However, I found it very hard to match the sound in my left ear with the sound on the computer; I can’t tell if the pitch is too low, the volume too loud, or the tone too clean. And although the volume in my head seems to rise and fall, it’s more like being in the foreground or background: the volume is the same but in the background it’s less intrusive.
Anyway, here’s what you’ve been waiting for: an attempt at recreating the sound of my innitus (mp3). You may need to turn your speakers up (I created it with my PC at full volume).
on 
on 
Export contact to vCard format
Email me
Audioboo
Delicious
Flickr
Google
Last.FM
LinkedIn
Nurphy
Tumblr
Twitter
Ah very interesting. I get it occasionally, usually after a loud gig, but most of the time it’s not noticeable.
I’ve had an idea for a long time now about blurring a photo to show how short sighted I am.
You should do that. It’s very hard to get right though, and it still only tells a small part of the story.
For example, if the frequency of the sound I created is outside someone’s hearing range then they won’t get the experience; and I can’t control the volume at which they hear it, so to some it might be inaudable and to others too loud. Llikewise your photo will be seen through other people’s ability to see.
It’s interesting that when people try my glasses on they invariably exclaim “you’re not short-sighted!” What they don’t experience is the inability to keep things in focus, and the way that blurred edges make things hard to interpret: and in turn cause tiredness and headaches.
I’ve had Monoclonus for about 17 years in my left ear, it’s a rapid clicking caused by the ear bones’ muscles twitching and ticcing. Occasionally it will switch off for random periods and the silence is golden but its usually there being annoying. At least it does switch off though. See you at the Baroness gig?
I was woken up for the first time by my ear whitenoise…. I got up at 4am and went down stairs to check if the radio was on, as i woke up it dawned on me it was in my head….. very scarey and didnt get much sleep after that. I think it was more noticible to me because it was a particulaly quiet night…. very irritating and I am very sympathetic with anyone who has this long term.
very good article. I really enjoyed it.