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do you use earplugs during a gig?

#61
Use earplugs. Period. For every gig. Period. Wear them at other people's shows. Heck, I take mine to the movies these days because the volume is so loud. I wear them in loud bars. I am *very* unhappy if I show up to a show I wanted to see and discover that I forgot my earplugs.

And as to my opinion of losing my hearing watching some subpar thrashy band: **** that.

One more thought: I find that in high volume situations, it's usually the high and high-mid frequencies that really feel damaging. Anything south of 1000hz has to be louder to start hurting your ears - more likely to make your teeth come loose. Most plugs dampen the highs while leaving the mids and lows more intact, which I find to be nicely balancing in a lot of instances. As a drummer, I can say that I love the sound of my set with my plugs in and am often disappointed when I take them out and realize how awful the sound is for the rest of the folks in the room. None of whom ever seem to be wearing earplugs. For some reason.
 
#62
Jefenator said:
I got these Westone plugs custom-molded for my ears. $100 or so (in 1996) that's my best gear investment e v e r. They're designed to sound as natural as possible. Might take a bit of getting used to but I'd rather deal with that than wind up hearing funny 24/7.

The good news is, if you prefer to go without, there is an alternative. I just talked to a guy last night who blew his ears out, running a chainsaw w/o plugs and is stoked with his hearing aids. He says they work really good and are only $2500 a side. :eek: (Now they have a newer, better model and he wants to upgrade.)
Click to expand...

+1 on the custom fitted plugs and sarcasm ;)
 
#63
MyWifeBoris said:
I don't. I'm young, I don't have to worry about deafness setting in for years. :hyper:
Click to expand...

This is a TERRIBLE stance to take!

I'm 17, I've been playing in a full rock band for 3+ years, majority of that WITHOUT earplugs, I regret even that short time.
I have trouble hearing speech in a crowd etc. I have some £200 custom fitted plugs and I wear them EVERYWHERE I play.

If you're a serious musician the prospect of losing your hearing should terrify you.
It's how I make money, and plan to for many years to come.
 
#65
I use those foam plugs that claim to cut 30 db. When I don't use them, my ears ring for a few days - they used to recover more quickly, but not now. I already have some hearing loss, so I'm trying to salvage what I have left. To answer the question - does wearing plugs distract from the "feel" of the show? No - not at all. In fact, it would be nice if my band could actually play 30 db quieter, but it will never happen unless the drummer played with brushes or hot rods on every tune. Actually, I will sometimes play the first set (the dinner set) without plugs because we actually do play quieter tunes, but for sets 2 - 3 - 4 - I'm wearing plugs because it just gets too loud with the rock and disco tunes. The foam plugs cut way down on the high-end like cymbals and guitar, but I can still hear everything - and I can hear my voice better with plugs in of course, so that's a bonus. My advice - use them all the time so you don't end up with a hearing aid at age 40 or sooner.
 
#66
All of us have done damage to our hearing. The only thing to do now is try to control further damage. We all spend thousands on gear and yet some will cry about $200 for fitted hearing protection.

I had molds made back in 2001 and typically use either 15 or 25db inserts. They fit great and do a great job. No noise hangover the day after a gig, just about flat frequency response and last a long time if cared for properly. I wear them at all gigs and if we go out to see another band, I take 'em as well.

I also have a set of Etymotic plugs on my car keys and my wife has at least one set in her bag. Just in case.
 
#67
Get used to it, which I did. I've been LIVING with earplugs for 10 years.

I carry ER-20 plugs wherever I go - rehearsals, gigs, even live halls/clubs.
They help me better concentrate on what's being played. Without them, hearing would be a painful job and I would not try to actively LISTEN to the music and catch every detail.

I found they were very useful even on normal days. When walking by a noisy construction site, in the subway train, at a trade fair (which presents a considerably high noise level) and etc.

One side-effect: Now I tend to get annoyed and nervous by any loud noises. Is this a psychological matter? :)
 
#68
Always wear earplugs. Every gig. Every rehearsal.

Never used to. Had one loud gig and came away with tinnitus. That's all it took. It's mild, mind you - I can't hear it unless the room is completely silent, and even then it's only faint. But that was enough to freak me out completely.

I bought a set of those ER-20 plugs - the non-custom ones that you just ram into your ear. They did the trick but were uncomfortable and tended to come loose. So I invested in a proper custom set at the 25db level. Fit wonderfully and keep me from suffering further damage.

If you're still on the fence, I found that another benefit of the custom plugs is that somehow level everything out. So I can hear my singer talking in a normal voice while the whole band is playing. The earplugs work like a kind of limiter and cap everthing down to the same volume. This is a real added benefit for communication during a gig.

Like so many other posters have said, get earplugs. Get good ones. Toilet paper and cotton wool will not protect you. Don't be an idiot. Look after yourself.
 
#69
i've tried the toilet/tissue paper, cotton, foam plugs, "nice" hear-o's, and lots of others and found that none work as well as a custom fitted pair of filters, not plugs. i now use the westones with a -15dB filter.

--with tissue paper and/or cotton, i always lost fidelity and after speaking with an audiologist about this approach, i realized i wasn't really protecting myself.

--with the hear-o's, i found that they were a little better in the fidelity arena than paper, cotton or foam, but i couldn't get into them from a comfort perspective. (just me, if they work for you, that totally rocks).

--with the westones, i've found that i can hear more in practice and at gigs. i actually hear things i hadn't heard before, because we were just playing to loud.

for example, i have an older swr goliath iii that has one seriously rattling grill. i had been rehearsing at a level where i didn't hear it, as the volume would carry over the rattle. now that i use filters, i can hear everything, rattle included. i also hear lots of other cool things with my tone, my bandmates' parts, etc. most of these things were just being covered up with excessive volume and are now more revealed that i'm using filters.

as others have mentioned, another added benefit of westones or any other brand of higher-end type of filter that you get from an audiologist is that you can typically swap the filter levels out, so if -15dB is too much cut, you can go for -9dB, or if need-be you can go up to a -25dB [at least this is what westone offers, other manufacturers may offer different levels]. my westones also come with a true "plug" which just kills everything and can be used for things like mowing the lawn, chainsaws, noisy industrial plants, the list goes on.

i too had a loud gig that left me with some weird stuff going on in my right ear for about 2 weeks ("cymbal ear" as i call it), that's what scared the poop outta me and got me to an ENT Dr. and an audiologist. fyi, i was just using tissue in one ear that night, which by no means is a crank against the guys that do, but it was definitely a real eye opening experience for me.

traditional plugs do suck, but so do crappy basses! so spend some $$$ and get yourself something nice. this endeavor is probably cheaper than some cool pedal or "fill in blank" piece of gear that you want, the benefits are long lasting and if you're good at taking care of things, they should last you quite a long time.

please please please learn from my and other's mistakes if you're reading this! tinnitus, hearing loss or anything that impacts how you hear, sucks way worse than some good filters.
 
#70
19 years old, and I always wear them. Every practice, every gig. I haven't done so when going to other shows, but that's only because I always forget to bring them. I played one show without them, and I think I still feel the effect. I NEED my hearing, for things besides music, and I need it to be as good as possible (in fact, if anyone knows of a way to improve hearing beside constantly focusing on it, let me know).

I starting singing while using earplugs all the time so it's never been an issue. I can hear myself pretty well, even when surrounded by noise. I don't know if it's natural, but I just listen to my internal voice (i know what I sound like and can hear myself whenever I sing something) or respond to my body. It really isn't that hard to if you actually TRY to do it.
 
#71
Yup. I wear them. I am 28 and already have some hearing loss from other stuff. Devoted to protecting fiercely what I have left. I use earplugs for yard work, using a hair dryer (and yes, I bring ear plugs when I go the salon and will sit under a hood dryer for 30+ minutes... those things are LOUD) and certainly at practices and performances.
As far as the singing, I practice singing with them in and record myself to make sure it sounds right. To those who you say can't, you CAN, you just aren't properly motivated.
 
#74
Long answer....first let me offer a tip to everyone....after you get setup and ready to play or sound check...have everyone stop and acclimate their hearing...I do this by holding my nose and blowing as you would when your ears stop up when taking off in a plane or when your get water in your ears when swimming or showering. If you have never done this before playing...try it and you may be surprised at how loud you really are playing!

Let Pete Townshand be a lesson...in the bands I play with, the guys know how to balance our sound without being SO loud our ears ring after a show....we let the PA do the work. Even though I am using a 2000 watt (Peak) Carvin DCM2000L amp into 2 Avatar B410 neos, I am using those gobs of watts for clean and THICK headroom for my low end "throb" mainly sub sonic "bloomph" factor...and our drummer is very good at dynamics...and most of the guitarists use tilt-back stands...oddly enough I have had to ask them to turn the stand away from their ears because the level they are comfortable with is too low for me and the drummer to hear...If we are using monitor assist...we just get the sound person to give us a good balance so we sound consistent across the stage and I angle my cabs to fire across the stage...that way the drummer gets more from my bass cabs.
As far as my volume...I try to match my percussives (thumb or finger pump) at the same level as the stage volume of the bass drum....the guitarist and I alternate chording....I will play harmonics and/or chords sometimes with chorus or distortion, while he is soloing and my mid volumes need to be close to his chording volume, while the drummer may play more cymbal splashes ...so the sound wall is still intact...the real key is to be able to listen to everybody else and fit yourself in the mix....in order to make it work well...this causes everyone to bring it down a few notches in order to hear the other side of the stage including the drummer AND the vocals...This makes wearing ear plug less of an issue...I am a broadcast/recording engineer by day so my hearing is very important...


:hiding:
 
#75
I just ordered a set of Etymotic Research ER-20 Ear Plugs from Ebay,I have been either wearing the foam ear plugs or a set of generic musician earplugs that I got from GC awhile back that don't seem like they provide enough protection.
I also just found the thread on carpal tunnel you guys are going to stress me out.
 
#76
tfernandez said:
point of this story is, how many of you use earplugs during your gig, and do you find it distracts from the feel of the show?
Click to expand...

Good for you for valuing earing enough to save it. I wish more people would. Many gigs I will use earplugs, and there are some I will not, simply because it's not needed as the volume isn't significant or notable. I do classical, rock, jazz, coffeehouse, etc... so a wide variety of volumes. And no, using earplugs, for me, does not distract from the feel of the show. It might even be more enjoyable in that during the heat of the moment of the loud gig, I'm not wondering and worrying whether I'm taking yet another step toward hearing loss.
 
#78
Didn't to start off with and bitterly regret it. I still get a constant high-pitched ringing whenever I'm somewhere silent. +1 to the guy who mentioned spending the extra and getting the fitted ear plugs. I'm just glad I started wearing any plugs before I did myself some lasting damage as opposed to a mild annoyance.

Beginner folks, be warned.

Edit: I found that a decent set of earplugs actual improve the sound at a loud gig/practice because you can hear the entire sound of a band as opposed to a deafening dull din.
 

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