The Human Ear

The human ear is made up of many components that allow us to

hear, determine the direction the sound is coming from and much
more. These components can be found in three sections of the
ear; the outer, middle and inner sections.

Outer Ear:

The outer ear contains the pinna, ear canal and connects to the
eardrum and middle ear. The pinna is designed to capture sound
waves and send them into the ear canal, as well as help you
determine from what direction sounds are coming from. The
structure of the pinna means that any sound waves that hit it are
directed to the ear canal. An example that shows this works is
when we cup our ears with our hands to help improve our hearing
facing forwards. The larger surface area created by our hands
allows us to capture more sound waves and hear things louder
and clearer. The pinna also has small raised curved areas on it
that allow us to determine the direction sound is coming from.
Depending on where waves hit the pinna, they will reflect into the
ear canal in a different way. The difference that the pinna creates
is determined in our brains so we recognise if a sound has come
from behind, above, in front etc. of us.

Middle Ear:

The middle ear contains the eardrum (tympanic membrane) and

ossicles. After the pinna has channeled sound waves into the ear
canal, they are sent to the tympanic membrane also known as the
eardrum. The eardrum is a small cone shaped piece of skin that
works very similarly to how the diaphragm of a microphone
works. The skin is pushed forward and back by the compressions
and rarefactions of sound that it receives from the ear canal. It's
extremely sensitive, with even the slightest changes in air
pressure moving the skin. The tensor tympani muscle is a muscle
inside the ear that is used to keep the skin flap tight so that no
matter where sound waves hit the 'drum' there will always be a
vibration made. This can be compared to how drum skins need to
be kept tight to maintain a consistently good sound from them.

The force the eardrum creates when sound hits it is what we

interpret as sound, however this force is too weak for us be able
to gain any information from it. This is where the ossicles, the 3
smallest bones in your body, step in to help. They are called the
malleus, incus and stapes (or hammer, anvil and stirrup due to
the shape and positioning of them).

Firstly, the malleus is connected to the eardrum and depending on

the ear drums movement will cause it to move like a lever. This
lever type movement in turn moves the incus, which in turn
moves the stapes which are connected to a part of the inner ear,
the cochlea (which we will get to later) via the oval window. The
purpose of these many movements is so that the sound that is
received by the eardrum can be repeated to the cochlea, but with
a much greater force. The greater force is due to the fact that the
surface area of the stapes is far smaller than the eardrum,
meaning the force per unit of volume is greater. The smaller
surface area, combined with the greater distance that the malleus

moves in comparison to the eardrum itself as well as the incus'

greater force production do to the malleus means that the
ossicles produce 22 times the force that the eardrum receives!

The Inner Ear:

But why is the force of the sound waves and the amplification of it
so important? It is due to how the cochlea interprets this
information and how important it is to our ability to hear. The
cochlea is the 'snail-shell like' structure found in the inner ear that
is used to turn the sound waves we receive into electrical
impulses. These impulses are made as the force of the sound
waves enters the cochlea via the stapes and the oval window and
pushes fluid through the cochlea, this forms waves of fluid that
travel through the structure and eventually reach tiny hair cells
which when moved send an electrical impulse through the
cochlear nerve to the brain.

The reason the amplification of the force received is so important

is that the force produced by the eardrum itself wouldnt cause
big enough waves in the fluid found in the cochlea. This is why we
have the ossicles to amplify the force so that waves are able to be
formed and able to reach the hair cells in the cochlea.

How Can It Affect Us:

As music technologists, there are many ways in which sound can
affect us in a very small or sometimes large and permanent ways.
An example of how it can affect our hearing both for the short

term and permanently is when we are subjected to loud noises.

After being at a concert or listening to music at loud volumes you
may start to notice that your ears 'ring' with what sounds like a
high pitch noise constantly playing. This is due to the loud noise
causing damage to the hair cells inside the cochlea which means
they constantly send a high pitch noise signal to your brain. If you
only listen to loud music for a short period of time then you
should return to normal hearing after 24-48 hours.

However, if you prolong your exposure to loud music/noises then

it becomes harder for these cells to repair to the point where they
can't. This will lead to a constant non-stop ringing and an issue
that is called Tinnitus. Many musicians and people that work in
the industry suffer from Tinnitus, people such as Chris Martin,
Barbra Streisand and Pete Townsend. It can also decrease your
hearing range, normally humans are able to hear from around
20Hz-20kHz but this range can be narrowed both temporarily and
permanently by ear damage. This range will also narrow with age.

Ways to protect against this and remain safe include wearing

hearing protection, with anything from ear defenders to small ear
plugs that help lower the volume at which the sound enters your
ears. Many artists also take long breaks from listening to music
altogether, loud or quiet, to help keep their ears healthy much like
a singer may not even speak for a time to rest their voice.

Psychoacoustics

Psychoacoustics is the study of how we perceive sound. This can

include many things form how we determine which direction we
are hearing sound from, how we almost unknowingly change out
hearing so that we can block out certain sounds to help
concentrate on others.

Sound Localisation:

Sound localisation is how we can pinpoint where sound is coming

from. Of course the pinnae can help us to locate the source of
sounds around us, but sometimes it isn't enough. Over time, we
have learnt to be able to use the subtle difference in loudness,
timing and tone between our 2 ears to get a slightly better idea of
where certain sounds are around us. This combined with the
pinnae and the masking effect (which I'll get to next) mean we
can maximise our sound localisation abilities.

The Masking Effect:

The masking effect is something we subconsciously do to help us

concentrate on other, louder sounds around us. For example, if
you're walking down the street and hear some music playing from
a shop or house, the music might become inaudible or much
harder to hear as a big lorry drives past. This is because the

sound of the lorry 'masks' the sound of the music. This may have
come about as it helped to focus in on large dangers so we can
become aware of them quickly and remain safe.

The Cocktail Party Effect:

The cocktail party effect is when we fine tune our hearing to focus
on certain sounds. For example, at a cocktail party there are
many people talking, people walking around, music and all sorts
of other sounds. Sometimes it can be hard to hear the person
standing in front of you very clearly, and this is where this effect
comes in. It allows you to focus on that one person and what
they're saying, effectively blocking out all the other sounds
around you. It is very similar to the masking effect except that
this is voluntary and you are able to decide what sounds you want
to focus on.