how did musicians play live without hearing protection??

[DJ Dru]

Take a poll on how many members here on TalkBass that suffer from tinnitus and you'll get your answer!

Yup, most of the time it's sounding like crickets in my ears chirping. Then you get the occasional ringing which none of it ever goes away.

 

[retslock]

Not all of us geezers are deaf, I'm not, been playing for more than 50 years, most with SVT's and Marshalls and loud drummers, play smart get out of the line of fire. My hearing does drop off at about 10K which is somewhat normal for people my age, I have no tinnitus, this whole thread is a little overblown, you cannot really differentiate age related hearing loss from hearing loss from exposure to loud noises.

I didn't not highlight anything in this following statement, don't know why it does that:

One of the most common types of hearing loss is known as high-frequency hearing loss. This means high-pitched sounds are harder to hear. It can affect anyone of any age, but is common in older adults with age-related hearing loss, as well as people exposed to loud noises.

I’ve had tinnitus all my adult life and I attribute that to exposure to loud noise. To say it’s overblown is a little off the mark. There’s a whole lot of tinnitus among TB members and they’re not all old.

 

[Captain Comet]

My right ear has light tinnitus from my first band. That was the side facing two Marshall stacks and after only a couple months, I caught on to using filters. I was 35 then.

Now 60, and having played 10 years with another band, I will say my left ear is still fine. But, get me in a crowded restaurant, and I can not make out what someone across the table is saying to me.

Covid and all the mask-wearing has convinced me that I must lip read a lot more than I thought I did.

 

[bobyoung53]

I’ve had tinnitus all my adult life and I attribute that to exposure to loud noise. To say it’s overblown is a little off the mark. There’s a whole lot of tinnitus among TB members and they’re not all old.

Well Obviously I do not know everyone on TB and their hearing ability but I know a lot of musicians but know very few musicians who have lost a significant amount of hearing or that have tinnitus, remember this is the place where basses over 8 lbs and heads over 5 lbs are too heavy too. I am not trying to make light of anyone who has hearing loss or tinnitus just that sometimes this place to me does not seem to represent many musician's opinions on things.
Saying that, even though I have never worn ear protection I have taken care of my ears and still hear reasonable well at 68 years of age and have no tinnitus. If it's too loud I get away from it, if I can't I'll put something in my ear that's facing the loud sound. Wet toilet paper works well in a pinch.

 

[retslock]

Well Obviously I do not know everyone on TB and their hearing ability but I know a lot of musicians but know very few musicians who have lost a significant amount of hearing or that have tinnitus, remember this is the place where basses over 8 lbs and heads over 5 lbs are too heavy too. I am not trying to make light of anyone who has hearing loss or tinnitus just that sometimes this place to me does not seem to represent many musician's opinions on things.
Saying that, even though I have never worn ear protection I have taken care of my ears and still hear reasonable well at 68 of age and have no tinnitus. If it's too loud I get away from it, if I can't I'll put something in my ear that's facing the loud sound. Wet toilet paper works well in a pinch.

I’m surprised that so few musicians you know have tinnitus. I know many but it sounds like you have protected your ears and many us haven’t until it’s too late. Your avatar pic suggests you play loud. That’s an assumption of course but living in Peru I wonder if much of your live music is deafeningly loud? Just a thought because I know much of South America has a rich acoustic music culture. But then 20 acoustic instruments together can get pretty loud.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I was stupid, that's why.

 

[bobyoung53]

I’m surprised that so few musicians you know have tinnitus. I know many but it sounds like you have protected your ears and many us haven’t until it’s too late. Your avatar pic suggests you play loud. That’s an assumption of course but living in Peru I wonder if much of your live music is deafeningly loud? Just a thought because I know much of South America has a rich acoustic music culture. But then 20 acoustic instruments together can get pretty loud.

I'm from Massachusetts, my wife is Peruvian though, we go back and forth, the rock bands here if anything are louder than in the U.S. I have never played deafeningly loud although that is of course a matter of perception. But yes I used two SVT's for years and played in loud bands, Marshalls, loud drummers the whole bit, if anything is too loud I get away from it. I'm not afraid to ask someone to turn down if they're killing me or to turn the amp, hit softer etc, if that doesn't work I get the wet toilet paper out but I've never had a problem, I have played a lot of hard rock in my day but never played metal. One nice thing about using two SVT cabs is you don't have to worry about standing in front of a Marshall stack.

 

[dasherf17]

"...what in the hell were they doing back then???"
...going...deaf?

 

[Pacman]

More Rock Star Musicians Are Facing Hearing Loss

 

[TomB]

"...what in the hell were they doing back then???"
...going...deaf?

Say what? …. Yes.

Unfortunately, the industry focus on hearing protection is fairly recent. …still not where it needs to be to maintain the ability over time in live music settings.

 

[bobyoung53]

"...what in the hell were they doing back then???"
...going...deaf?

Huh?

 

[DanGR]

these days, you always hear the advice “wear hearing protection onstage if you don’t want to go deaf” in the situation of live shows. but… what in the hell were they doing back then??? you don’t hear every musician from the 60s and 70s saying they have significant hearing loss, apart from the odd pete townshend. but even so, they were loooooud back then, and they had to be. amplification was less reliant on venue speakers, and the power was in the amps and how loud the drummer was… which is suuuper loud. these days, playing drums without hearing protection (i don’t do it regularly, if at all) for me literally brings pain to my ears, and i don’t understand how musicians played live with such loud playing environments and loud instruments without being in constant pain. think beatles shows, cream shows, any rock show being onstage with a drummer.

It's too bad ear plugs and cotton weren't invented until 2000. Those guys in the 60's and 70's could have really used them.