センサフォニクスの聴覚学者がAESの第58回国際会議「音楽に誘発された聴覚障害」で講演
（ Sensaphonics audiologists invited to AES Conference on Hearing Disorders）

Recently, Sensaphonics audiologists Drs. Michael Santucci and Heather Malyuk traveled to Aalborg, Denmark as invited speakers at the 58th International Conference on Music-Induced Hearing Disorders organized by the Audio Engineering Society (AES). The 3-day conference included about 20 papers, with presenters from across Europe, as well as Australia and the U.S. At the conference, Santucci and Malyuk co-presented their paper, “New Developments in In-Ear Monitor (IEM) Technology For Musicians With Hearing Loss,” which they co-authored with Robert Schulein. They also moderated panel discussions.

“When I chaired the first AES conference on Music-Induced Hearing Disorders in 2012, we were hopeful that it would raise awareness, and this conference in Denmark shows that we are well on our way,” says Santucci. “This was an outstanding conference, with a wide range of experts presenting. It’s great to see the AES embracing hearing health as an important topic for its members.”

Rodrigo Ordoñez, an associate professor in Signal and Information Processing at Aalborg University and member of the conference organizing commitee, agrees. “Attendees were able to see how other researchers and professionals address different aspects of the same problem. This can lead to more open communication, and hopefully more collaboration, between different disciplines.”

The conference featured a wide range of academic and technical papers along with panel discussions. Presentation themes included music’s effects on hearing and perception, sound level management and measurement, hearing protection for the music industry, and advances in hearing aid technology for music applications.

Dr. Heather Malyuk of Sensaphonics came away very impressed. “The entire conference was a great experience for me, both personally and professionally,” she states. “To see so many brilliant people coming together to share research is inspiring to me, as an audiologist and as a musician. Plus, the whole conference helps raise awareness of hearing issues in the music industry.”

For its part, the AES is recognizing the importance of the Conference on Music Induced Hearing Disorders with a special issue of its peer-reviewed publication, Journal of the Audio Engineering Society (JAES). Set for printing in early 2016, the publication will focus on papers presented at the conference.

Rodrigo Ordoñez notes, “With the success of the conference and the special journal issue, the AES is communicating the importance of hearing health issues to its entire membership while providing a platform for dissemination of valuable research. I strongly support the AES in helping make these issues more important, both within the organization and across the global scene.”

As co-founder and co-chair of the AES Technical Committee on Hearing and Hearing Health (with Bob Schulein), Santucci found the entire experience especially satisfying. “When I started in this industry, the very idea of hearing protection for musicians was considered laughable,” he recalls. “So for me personally, it’s been great to see such a huge change in perception and attitude over time. Hearing health is obviously important to everyone, but especially musicians and sound engineers. Seeing that message gain in importance within AES and spreading throughout the music industry is very gratifying.”