Hearing Wellness Workshop Announcement!

On Saturday, October 21st, 2017, Earmark Hearing Conservation will be hosting a workshop titled "Caring For Your Money-Makers", an event uniquely designed to serve Philadelphia's professional and student music community.

For those who are curious about professional monitoring options, are worried about their hearing health or tinnitus, or want to connect with like-minded musicians, this is the prime opportunity.

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What Will I Get?

The two hour event will feature discussion aimed at demystifying your invaluable sense of hearing, practical tips to improve your listening while protecting your hearing, and a chance to demo professional in-ear monitors and hearing protection devices.

Knowing that you should care for your ears is one thing, but respecting how they work and how you can make them work best for you is another.

How Do I Get Involved?

Limited spaces are available, and registration will close on Friday, October 13th.

The ticket price of $60 includes a coupon for free ear mold impression service (up to $85 value) or $60 towards the purchase of any custom device (in-ear monitors, custom earplugs, etc). Basically, the workshop pays for itself and you'll be well on your way to improved monitoring and healthy hearing for years to come.

Sign Up For Hearing Wellness

Contact Earmark to get more information about the workshop and to reserve your ticket.

Special thanks to Aberdeen Audiology for housing the event.

When Punk Meets Hearing Wellness

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Frank and Earmark Hearing Conservation were proud to participate in the inaugural production of the YallaPunk Conference and Festival in Philadelphia. YallaPunk brought the art and music, and Earmark brought the hearing wellness discussion to the audiences and artists, as well complimentary earplugs for everyone to enjoy the shows safely.

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Barakka playing at Johnny Brenda's at the YallaPunk Festival, September 2nd, 2017.

YallaPunk's stated goal was to "highlight creative accomplishments of MENA (Middle Eastern and Northern African) individuals and serve as a safe space forum for discourse about social issues." The three day event featured bands, poets, comedians and visual artists in an inclusive setting at several venues in the Fishtown neighborhood.

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Special thanks to Rana Fayez and all the organizers for taking on such an ambitious and timely project, and to the venues that hosted the concerts - Johnny Brenda's and The Barbary.

With such a positive response from the audience and artists, we're motivated to bring the message of hearing wellness to many more concerts and venues in the future. Contact Earmark Hearing Conservation to discuss your event and stay tuned for more to come!

Sensory Overload: Sound [video]

Frank Wartinger presented on the subject of Sound and Hearing at the 2017 Philadelphia Science Festival event titled "Sensory Overload". The evening featured scientists, researchers, and medical professionals presenting on all five senses. Each topic was masterfully paired with a craft beer sample from the event's gracious host, Yards Brewing Co.

Watch The Video

Presentations and Speakers included:

Sight by Nathan Fried, University of Pennsylvania

Taste by Marcia Pelchat, Monell Chemical Senses Center

Smell by Carlo Siracusa, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine

Touch by Abigail Wolf, Thomas Jefferson University

Science, etc...

It was a joy to represent Earmark, CHOP, and ears in general at this event with such distinguished fellow speakers. For more information about the Philadelphia Science Festival, visit http://www.philasciencefestival.org/

With inquiries regarding speaking engagements, please contact Frank@EarmarkHC.com.

MusiCares Hearing Clinic in Philadelphia on March 3rd, 2017

Earmold Impression Services

Earmark Hearing Conservation and Frank Wartinger, Au.D. will be providing earmold impression services to musicians at the MusiCares free clinic on March 3rd, 2017. Services will be provided on an appointment only basis at Philly Sound Studios in South Philadelphia.

About MusiCares

MusiCares is the non-profit charitable wing of The Recording Academy and the Grammy Foundation. In addition to providing free dental and hearing services to qualifying musicians, they also provide other forms of assistance to those in need. Contact 212-245-7840 for more information and to request an application for services.

Holiday Caroling at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The CHOP Choir will be caroling and celebrating on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 5 p.m. at the plaza of the new Buerger Center of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia! The celebration will include songs, refreshments, and a keepsake candle and songbook for the attendees. The event also kicks off the city-wide lighting ceremony.

Always willing to lend a hand and be the source of many polka-related jokes, Earmark's Dr. Wartinger will be joining the choir on the accordion. Don't miss it!

For more information, visit the CHOP Seasons of Light information page.

A preventable problem: Noise-induced hearing loss in kids

Philadelphia is hosting the ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) Convention this week, and an article on the Healthy Kids section of Philly.com was dedicated to Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) in children.

Noise Induced Hearing Loss: A Global Problem

"With a large number of kids using ear buds and headphones, noise-induced hearing loss is a serious issue, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Just last year, the World Health Organization estimated 1.1 billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of hearing loss due to the unsafe use of personal audio devices, including smartphones, and exposure to damaging levels of sound at noisy entertainment venues such as nightclubs, bars, and sporting events."

Oran Etkins demonstrating how inner ear hair cells move with sound at an ASHA Listen To Your Buds concert. Image from interview on NBC10, aired 11/15/16

Reaching Children through Music

ASHA has developed and promoted a concert series with the highly successful 'Listen To Your Buds' campaign. With renowned artists such as Oran Etkins and Jazzy Ash & the Leaping Lizards, the message of healthy hearing is being present to children and families in a fun and relatable manner.

How Do We Help Prevent Noise Induced Hearing Loss in children?

"... there are many products available to help parents protect their children’s hearing. These include things like earplugs and earmuffs designed to protect hearing in loud sound environments as well as earphones and headphones that limit the volume levels to reduce the risk for hearing loss. While these products are valuable tools, their appropriate use still requires that the child understands the dangers of loud sound and that they are at risk of noise-induced hearing loss."

Thank you to ASHA and all the amazing guest musicians for bringing this conversation into the limelight in such a creative manner. NBC10 took notice of this topic and featured the discussion on air with an interview featuring musician Oran Etkins and Joy Peterson, Manager of Audiology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

What is Tinnitus Music?

Composing the Tinnitus Suites: 2016

8PM @ The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street, Philadelphia

The final installment of Daniel Fishkin's vibrant concert series is tonight. Daniel Fishkin, a Philadelphia-based composer and instrument inventor, is exploring the question "What is Tinnitus Music". The answer may be elusive but the process is captivating and exciting.

In 2008, Daniel Fishkin's ears started ringing, and they never stopped. Composing the Tinnitus Suites: 2016 investigates the aesthetics of hearing damage through a performance series in the Sanctuary of the Rotunda, consisting of experimental music concerts and conversations with other thinkers who confront hearing damage in their own practice and personal lives. The series is anchored by the Lady's Harp: a system of 20-foot long piano wires activated by mixer feedback, using guitar pickups and pressure transducers to coax the strings into vibration, not unlike the cilia that transduce vibrations into electrical impulses for the brain. Fishkin says, "To make 'Tinnitus Music' is not just to compose sounds, but also to compose situations that can break the isolation of its experience." 

Listen to samples of Daniel Fishkin's work