TigerBill's DrumBeat Community Forums for Free Expert Advice on Drums and Percussion.

Look guys and girls - PROTECT YOUR EARS

the only reason i can hear well enough to get by today is that i gave all this up in the early 70s and didn't return to it for a long time

Hearos and similar are foam ear plugs they do not cut linearly as in simply turning the volume down they cut the highs much more than the lows (but better than nothing) thats why i didnt use foam earplugs back in the 60s. everything was muffled i have always been sensitive to loud noises and remember getting physically ill at times

like hearing cream live in a giant nightclub standing about 40 feet from them - that was a huge cinderblock room and nothing more - I HATE MARSHALL STACKS!!!! - and playing a loud gig also.

now, if you love doing this and playing music so much that you dont mind subjecting your self to what i experienced without some protection, think of it this way - you wont be able to do it when you get to my age or even younger- and because you love it so much think of how miserable you will be - been there done that

I am very lucky, but without certain sacrifice - 66 and I can still converse in a quiet area - but i do say 'what?' a lot - or cock my ear to my wife so she repeats the key words with any background noise its rough all my highs are gone and starting to cut into the consonant range.

now there are very practical alternates to protect your hearing. I cannot go into a bar that is any kind of noisy which means most of them when they get the music playing without my ears all frying up and cant hear afterwords for days to even a week or more. nerve damage

I cant tolerate noise levels that other people still can endure in some places you think you can tolerate the noise but you are doing damage to your ears it catches up in time. if there is a dj in there i have to plug up or leave

example hooters with its wood paneling i cant go in there without my hearing protection

look up ETYMOTIC MUSICIANS EAR PLUGS they make ones that are little rubber cones stacked up and come in different db cuts they cut the sound down linearly in other words the highs and lows are evenly attenuated you can get used to them and hear the music nicely I carry them with me all the time and when we go out to eat some places i have to insert them

you can online order and will cost you less than $20 do a search and see the competitors I cannot go out and go into most bars and some restaurants without this protection I am on the edge right now my highs are gone

when I gig or just go out i use the medium cut and it helps tremendously although the situations I am in are not considered loud its the musicians plugs or no go pretty much

i have a set of molded ones on order that from the audiologist where they made impression of my ear canal and the lab will insert a filter in one of two or three strengths

if 33 db cut isnt enough which is about the max available, it seems - i would look into musicians ear monitors (which i dont know much about) i have seen that they are the same custom molded ear canal internal ones and then they insert a mini ear phone transducer and plug into the board or the monitor so you can get fed the mix but can control that volume - the molded internal part protects you from natural surrounding noise you can add a pair of ear muffs over that that and probably get additional protection but still custom attenuate the mix an audiologist told me some of those custom molded ones can run up to $1k or more I think worth it

(either it looks silly or looks real cool -either way, who cares)

I just bought a very expensive set of 33db cut ear muffs for the firing range but it may not be enough I will have to add 33db foam inside the ears by the way the audiolist does gig out with a 60s-70s band after hours so he knows what the deal is - tells me to stop playing and shooting. the shooting will go first!

some of this is better than nothing

remember if the next day you feel it and have to recover a bit - that is permanent damage even though your ears seem to come back. It will catch up to you

like i said I have gigged with those medium cut inexpensive ones and it really makes the difference. the difference between playing and having to give it up again. i have no idea what i will be up against if i get into some louder music

i remember playing out in the sixties and my ears would almost recover by the time the next weekend rolled around and then it started all over again i am surprised i survived as well as i did but with great sacrifice

right now its touch and go

tinnitus has been my friend since the sixties its a buddy you are stuck with

sorry to ramble on like this but its something that has to be dealt with

will be glad to look up some info and suggest if anyone wants me to

no "macho ears" - get used to protecting them now

just my reaction and two cents

- Jerry