Sensaphonics Gold Circle Grows Again

	At Mystery Street Recording Company, sound engineer Joe Tessone (far left) and Sensaphonics' Dr. Michael Santucci (far right) explain the dB check in-ear sound level analyzer to audiologists Matthew Bell (left) and Teresa Cannon.

Sensaphonics, a provider of personal monitoring and hearing health, has added two more audiologists to its unique Gold Circle listing. The Sensaphonics Gold Circle is a group of audiologists who have been specifically trained to meet the hearing needs of music industry clients, with a special emphasis on in-ear monitoring.

Joining the Gold Circle ranks are audiologists Dr. Teresa Cannon of Staten Island Hearing and Balance, Staten Island, New York; and Dr. Matthew Bell of Pacific University in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Held at Sensaphonics headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, the Gold Circle seminar is the only formal training system for audiologists on the in-ear monitoring from the musician's perspective. Instructors for the Gold Circle seminar include Sensaphonics founder and president, Dr. Michael Santucci, and audio engineering consultant, Joe "Sound Guy" Tessone. 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.

"Ear impressions should really be the beginning, not the end, of the audiologist's role in dispensing in-ear monitors," says Santucci. "Today's IEMs can get dangerously loud, yet it's an area not typically covered in the college curriculum. That's why we developed the Gold Circle seminar: to create a network of audiologists trained to meet the specific performance and hearing health needs of musicians and audio techs."

The highlight of the seminar is a hands-on lab session held at Mystery Street Recording Company in Chicago. To highlight what they have learned, the audiologists work with a live band using in-ear monitors for the first time -- in this case, members of a Chicago group, Carnivores at Grace. "During our live music sessions, the band plays both with and without in-ear monitors," explains Mystery Street owner and Sensaphonics sound engineering consultant Tessone. "The audiologists can interact with the musicians, asking questions, taking level measurements, and generally experiencing first-hand how in-ear monitoring works in a live context."

The Gold Circle Seminar is fully accredited by the American Academy of Audiology and confers 1.4 Continuing Educations Units (CEUs) upon graduation.