Such a great topic!
My first experience with ringing in the ears was after the Joe Cocker (Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour) concert I saw. After that I was more aware of loud volumes and what it could do.
In bands later on, I never use ear protection (as a guitarist - I play both) because of the lower volumes. I'd still get the occassional 'eyeball shoved sideways' experience but it was usually caused by cymbal crash or just about anything done with a pang, which was real popular for awhile.
Later on, in a houseband situation (again as a guitarist) I began to notice the ringing. We didn't play very loud, and the sets were typical 45 on 15 off, but it was there. I bought a pair of the pink ribbed things but gave up with them after just a few songs. They hurt my ears. The problem still was not solved until one night after washing and drying my hands before a set. I had a semi-damp sheet of that brownish paper towel in my hands and decided to just give it a try. I broke off a couple of corners, formed them into little cones and stuffed them in my ears. I can't recommend it because of the slight dampness being introduced into the ear canal, but I gave it a try.
I found that the little cones formed themselves to the shape of my ear and dried quickly in that shape. It felt like there was nothing in there at all. The interesting thing was though, that at first everything was muffled. At the end of the set it seemed I could hear everything as clear as crystal. It reminded me of something someone once told me about the ear having this incredible dynamic range -- going from being able to hear a mosquito, all the way to hearing thunder and not being too damaged. Great headroom in other words. I thought about it and realized that when the earplugs were in, it was almost as if my ears 'turned up' in sensitivity to compensate. I could hear conversations, the audience, my band members -- like I said, it was like not having them in there at all.
And when I'd remove them after the set it was like everything was 'too' clear, too crisp and defined. Like being underwater and then breaking the surface and you hear the crispness of the sound of the waves and whatever.
I took to using these kinds of improv'd plug constantly. I'm subject to head colds and sinus problems but never had any that were caused by the slightly damp plugs.
One other benefit of wearing earplugs - at least to me - was more psychological. See, I'm not a very 'loud' person. I never fit the typical 'rock guitarist' profile. I was always scared of playing too loud and having a too upfront sort of sound. It made me really self conscious and really made my playing unsure at times. I mean, when we practice with records, we get used to playing softly so we can hear the record, and on stage it's a completely different mix Standing on a stage with your stack behind you sort of singles out your own sound obviously, and I'd turn down to try and match the volume of the others. We didn't have side-fills and didn't have anything but vocals in the floor monitors. I'd wind up playing too softly, though the PA guy could make it sound even off stage.
But with the plugs in and my amp turned up, it brought my own sound down to a level that I could feel confident with. I mean, at least to me, I'd almost rather not hear what I'm doing - or hear it just slightly above the rest of the sound - so I can feel more confident about things. If there's a mistake, when it's loud in your ear, it sorta stings you for a moment; you go 'damn...' and then your back trying to hear what's in your head. With things mixed down with the plugs, the mistakes are more quickly gotten over - plus, you can hear the 'inner music' more clearly and follow it. It makes it more like an intimate thing instead of blaring out at you.
Just some personal thoughts, but that thing about the ears 'turning up' still happens, and all else in this thread is completely valid and valuable.
It's just that I have to smile when people say, "Well, I won't be able to hear the music if I wear plugs" because if you use them long enough, the answer is, "Yah, you can."
