Sensaphonics held its first gold Circle seminar session of 2015 in Chicago recently. Designed to help audiologists better serve musicians and sound engineers, the two-day Gold Circle seminar features practical and technical class instruction at Sensaphonics headquarters, then concludes with a hands-on demo featuring a live band to teach the basics of live sound and in-ear monitors.
“As audiologists, it’s important that we do more than just take ear impressions. That’s what the Gold Circle seminar is all about,” says Dr. Michael Santucci, Sensaphonics founder and president. “Musicians aren’t like other audiology patients. They are striving to improve their on-stage performance, not necessarily their hearing. Gold Circle audiologists can show them how to do that effectively without compromising their hearing.”
The new graduates of the Sensaphonics Gold Circle seminar include audiologists Jill Kassinger of Franklin Hearing Center, Franklin, TN; Steve Chargo of Affinity Hearing in Plymouth, MN; Dawn Heiman of Advanced Audiology Consultant, Oak Brook, IL; and Laura Kauth of Davenport, IA. Also attending was Colleen Le Prell, PhD, Emilie & Phil Schepps Professor of Hearing Science and head of the AuD program at University of Texas at Dallas.
The Gold Circle seminar is taught by Michael Santucci and audio engineering consultant, Joe “Sound Guy” Tessone of Mystery Street Recording Company in Chicago.
Topics include in-ear monitoring and hearing protection technology, concert sound system design, backstage etiquette, and marketing to musicians and music fans, all in the context promoting safe listening practices and evidence-based audiology. Attendees are also certified in taking proper ear impressions to Sensaphonics’ music industry specifications.
The seminar’s highlight was a live music session with Pylons, a local punk band, held at Mystery Street Recording in Chicago. Using IEMs for the first time, the band helped demonstrate the basics of live sound systems, including between-song discussions on how in-ear monitors can reduce the band’s listening levels. During the session, the audiologists took real-time volume measurements with the Sensaphonics dB Check level analyzer and listened to the mix through 3D AARO Active Ambient IEM system.
The Gold Circle Seminar is a fully accredited by the American Academy of Audiology as a professional development program, earning participants 1.4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).