“These are bagpipes. I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the man-made sound never equalled the purity of the sound achieved by the pig.”
– Alfred Hitchcock

So long, Marianne

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The good ol’ days…

To paraphrase an old country tune…

Mama’s, don’t let your babies grow up to be pianists…

Occupational hazard

“Everybody knows” that noise-induced hearing loss is a problem for rock musicians. This has been reported by standard media like in this article and this press release from AC/DC, and in more “scientific” journals like in this article. However, what seems to be less-widely considered is that classical musicians have exactly the same problems…