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Re:How to Force Your Kids to Do Math? by milesrout on Sunday April 20, 2025 @06:27PM (#43746976)
You have the worst case of Dunning-Kruger syndrome I have ever come across.

There are ages below which you are too young to play full-sized pianos, or play every interval an adult can play. That doesn't stop you playing it at all. What's more, your hands and fingers stretch. It isn't painful to play the piano.

The stuff about loudness is just rubbish. There is absolutely no need for hearing protection while playing the recorder (a very quiet instrument), the violin or the piano solo. You have no idea what you are talking about.

Re:How to Force Your Kids to Do Math? by mrob on Sunday April 20, 2025 @08:36PM (#43747636)
I never said it was painful for everybody to play instruments. I'm saying this is an underappreciated reason for children to hate playing. Maybe you are lucky enough that it doesn't affect you.

And I personally measured my recorders with an SPL meter and found them to reach over 100dB(A) at the ear (played indoors in an ordinary room with furniture but without acoustic treatment). The meter used does not have a traceable calibration but in all respects behaves as I would expect a correctly calibrated meter to behave. I have no reason to believe it is miscalibrated. Recorders are only quiet in the bass. The high notes require much higher air pressure and can be very loud. Perhaps you are fooled by the lack of distortion. I played without hearing protection at first, but I was disturbed by the prolonged discomfort this caused in my ears. I then recorded my playing and reproduced it with loudspeakers. I was shocked at how loud I had to turn the speakers up to reach a realistic level. I think it's easier to judge SPL from loudspeakers because they do have distortion which serves as a perceptual cue. Pure sounds can reach dangerous levels without sounding obviously loud. I also think the fact that I was playing the instrument myself and not just listening contributed to my misjudgement.

Re:How to Force Your Kids to Do Math? by Izkata on Sunday April 20, 2025 @09:50PM (#43747893)
> I'm saying this is an underappreciated reason for children to hate playing.

I once shocked my mom by clearly hearing what she whispered from across a quiet room. And not like a room in a home, this room was about the width of a house. I think people massively underestimate how sensitive hearing can be for some people.