Lately, whenever I play my bass, no matter what the volume, I develop tremendous headaches and a ringing in my ears shortly afterwards. I think I have heard about bass frequencies effing with your body and it's mechanisms at one time or another -- is this what is happening to me? Would earplugs prevent this, or am I actually getting "sick" from the frequencies as opposed to the sound? Is it a question of where I stand while I am playing? Is playing without earplugs for so long making me more sensitive to sound? Has anyone else ever experienced something similar to this?
Try the next gig with ear plugs (which is a smart thing to do ANYWAY) If you feel the same, then you are actually getting sick. (It's the pressure waves throwing your inner-ear off balance.) Try moving the stack away from you. Get it over on the other side of the stage. That might help. Rock on Eric
Well, I didn't think I was playing that loud, but my girlfriend corrected me! I guess my hearing has been damaged to the point where what might be too loud for someone else, is "comfortable" for me. Although, after I'm done playing, I have to suffer with these headaches (how comfortable can it be, right?). I would wear earplugs onstage, but I have yet to find any that work for me. Most of them muffle everything, instead of just cutting the volume. I will do a search for "earplugs" and "ear monitors," but are there any of the above that you guys swear by? Also, my band doesn't use monitors, so it's hard to hear the other members sometimes, even without earplugs. Except for the drummer -- he has recently started bashing the sh*t out of his cymbals. I can always hear him!
For the love of god get some earplugs! I, for example, always wear earplugs at practices. They do their job but they cut off frequences un-evenly. There are better earplugs available that cut the total volume evenly down. You better check this page out: http://www.hearnet.com
Mike Dimin has some good low cost ones. Not perfect, but the only thing better is custom for around $150-$200. They work very well for me, I had a minor adj. time getting used to the sound.
