Re: Strange hearing issue: Pitch perception in right ear shifted upward by 25 cents

On Jul 13, 4:56 am, JayN <[email protected]> wrote:
> Before I discuss the strange problem, here is some relevant info:
> I've had a cold for the past week or so.  I think there was mucous
> buildup involving the ears because the "clicking noise" that I usually
> hear in my ears when swallowing went away temperarily.  I also noticed
> some "pulsed" ringing in my ear that seemed to coincide with my
> hearbeat pulse.  (as if there was extra pressure in that ear).  That
> isn't currenly happening now, and I can now hear the clicking noise
> when I swallow, although I think there is some residual congestion in
> my ears because when I sneeze it sounds like mucous is rattling around
> internally especially in the right ear.
>
> The reason for this post is that there is a very strange problem with
> my hearing that I suddenly noticed last night, and never noticed
> anything like this before.  This is not a joke.  At first I thought
> something was wrong with my computer because some music I was
> listening to, especially a guitar solo, sounded sour, as if the guitar
> was doubled but the doubled pitch was off.
>
> Bottom line is that when I hear a pitch through my right ear, I am
> perceiving the pitch higher by 25 (or more) cents higher than when the
> same pitch is heard through my left ear.  To confirm this, I connected
> a pair of headphones to the computer.  I then play a pitch on the
> keyboard while holding one cup of the headphones to the left ear.  I
> then sing a note (to attempt to match the note I am hearing) into a
> software-based guitar tuner that tells me the exact pitch I am singing
> and whether it is sharp or flat.  Then, I switch ears, (hold the same
> cup of the headphones to the right ear).  When I hear the same pitch
> it now is percieved as sharper, and when I sing (to match the note)
> into the tuner it confirms that I am singing 25 cents or greater
> higher.
>
> My right ear, even before the code, perceived less high frequencies
> than my left, but I've had trouble with excessive ear wax developing
> in that ear.  As an experiment I tried plugging up the left ear, so
> that the left ear perceives even less highs than the right, and yet I
> am still perceiving the note heard from the right ear as higher in
> pitch than the one heard from the left ear.
>
> I've tried comparing different pitches in different octave ranges and
> the results seem the same.  The left ear seems to be the more accurate
> one.
>
> I am wondering what could be causing this to happen?  Could an
> infection cause the pitch perception in one ear to change in an upward
> direction?  If so, then exactly how would an infection cause a note
> heard through the right ear to be perceived as higher in pitch than
> the same pitch heard through the left ear.
>
> Could fatigue, from having a cold, and also  from getting less sleep
> than usual cause something like this to happen?
>
> Could this be something neurological happening that needs to be
> checked out?
>
> Has anyone ever read about or encountered any condition like I just
> described, or is this a wild anomaly?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jay

The following link may be useful.
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/hearing.html

I seem to be getting different results when I listen through speakers
and simply plug up one ear and match the pitch rather than using
headphones and putting one headphone cup against each ear at a time.

The difference, in the case of headphones is that the opposite ear
from the one hearing the pitch is unobstructed and so, in theory I'm
using the opposite ear to hear my voice to a greater extent compared
to the ear that being used to hear the pitch. If I'm listening to a
pitch with the headphone cup held up to my right ear and it is
perceived to be higher by my right ear, and then my left ear is
picking up more of my voice singing the note that it could cause me to
sing the note even sharper than if I were perceiving both the vocal
tone and the keyboard tone with the right ear alone.

Anyway, whatever is happening, something is off kilter with my right
ear, and if it doesn't clear itself up then I guess I'll have it
checked out at some point.

Jay

Pardon the top post. I suffer a similar (though worse) problem to yours.

This:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musicophilia:_Tales_of_Music_and_the_Brain

is a great read and details others' similar problems and other, more bizarre
ones. Highly recommended.

In short, you're not alone.

Steve = : ^ )


JayN:

> Before I discuss the strange problem, here is some relevant info:
> I've had a cold for the past week or so. I think there was mucous
> buildup involving the ears because the "clicking noise" that I usually
> hear in my ears when swallowing went away temperarily. I also noticed
> some "pulsed" ringing in my ear that seemed to coincide with my
> hearbeat pulse. (as if there was extra pressure in that ear). That
> isn't currenly happening now, and I can now hear the clicking noise
> when I swallow, although I think there is some residual congestion in
> my ears because when I sneeze it sounds like mucous is rattling around
> internally especially in the right ear.
>
> The reason for this post is that there is a very strange problem with
> my hearing that I suddenly noticed last night, and never noticed
> anything like this before. This is not a joke. At first I thought
> something was wrong with my computer because some music I was
> listening to, especially a guitar solo, sounded sour, as if the guitar
> was doubled but the doubled pitch was off.
>
> Bottom line is that when I hear a pitch through my right ear, I am
> perceiving the pitch higher by 25 (or more) cents higher than when the
> same pitch is heard through my left ear. To confirm this, I connected
> a pair of headphones to the computer. I then play a pitch on the
> keyboard while holding one cup of the headphones to the left ear. I
> then sing a note (to attempt to match the note I am hearing) into a
> software-based guitar tuner that tells me the exact pitch I am singing
> and whether it is sharp or flat. Then, I switch ears, (hold the same
> cup of the headphones to the right ear). When I hear the same pitch
> it now is percieved as sharper, and when I sing (to match the note)
> into the tuner it confirms that I am singing 25 cents or greater
> higher.
>
> My right ear, even before the code, perceived less high frequencies
> than my left, but I've had trouble with excessive ear wax developing
> in that ear. As an experiment I tried plugging up the left ear, so
> that the left ear perceives even less highs than the right, and yet I
> am still perceiving the note heard from the right ear as higher in
> pitch than the one heard from the left ear.
>
> I've tried comparing different pitches in different octave ranges and
> the results seem the same. The left ear seems to be the more accurate
> one.
>
> I am wondering what could be causing this to happen? Could an
> infection cause the pitch perception in one ear to change in an upward
> direction? If so, then exactly how would an infection cause a note
> heard through the right ear to be perceived as higher in pitch than
> the same pitch heard through the left ear.
>
> Could fatigue, from having a cold, and also from getting less sleep
> than usual cause something like this to happen?
>
> Could this be something neurological happening that needs to be
> checked out?
>
> Has anyone ever read about or encountered any condition like I just
> described, or is this a wild anomaly?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jay

--
Steve = : ^ )

>
> Bottom line is that when I hear a pitch through my right ear, I am
> perceiving the pitch higher by 25 (or more) cents higher than when the
> same pitch is heard through my left ear.

Isn't that annoying as hell? I've had this happen to me exactly
as you describe several times over the years, always in conjunction
with an ear infection. I'm not exactly sure what the reason is, but
you might take comfort in the fact that it never affected me longer
than a few days.


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

> Isn't that annoying as hell?  I've had this happen to me exactly
> as you describe several times over the years, always in conjunction
> with an ear infection.  I'm not exactly sure what the reason is, but
> you might take comfort in the fact that it never affected me longer
> than a few days.
>

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it is very annoying. Takes getting used
to. Some instruments sound worse than others. Piano and lead guitar
tend to sound really bad when heard through both ears. Hope it
doesn't affect me too much longer.