Musician Ear Molds (FEELING da groove)

The earplugs you have, are they the ones with the interchangeable filters?
I have the ones with 15 db and 25db filters.
I find using the 15db filters does cut out alot of the ringing after a gig.
As to getting in the groove, I use the earplugs all the time. at practice, at gigs. You do get use to them, just make sure you set your tone before you put them in, then just trust the front of house.

I find i have to wear them all the time because of my damn guitarists. And i have a drummer with heavy cymbals that likes hitting hard.

 

Do yourself a favor and just cut the other one off. You look like a tool with those plastic things sticking out from the side of your head anyway. I cut mine off within 5 minutes of walking out of the audiologists office. They've been that way for over 10 years.

 

Pun intended? Haha good luck!

 

I use the hearos that you can get from musicians friend and most other music stores. Long story short, I wear them ALL the time. Makes my instrument sound louder than it really is and cuts down on ambient noise.

Most importantly saves my ears. Well worth any sacrifice in tone. I also wear them at shows. Best 15 bucks I spent on gear.

 

I kind of roll them downward and then up and out. Brand new molds are kind of sticky so that's why they are hard to get in and out of your ear. Give them a couple of weeks to build up a little oil and they'll go in and out easier.

 

I'm assuming your earmolds are like these:
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/erme.aspx

Which are the same as what I have. What I do is kind of hook my thumb under the bottom edge of whatever part of the plug I can feel and roll it up- and outward. The same direction and shape as my ear canal. If that doesn't work for you try pull on the top of your ear lobe up and back at the same time. It will help straighten out that opening enough to pop them out.

Those little plastic strings are held in with superglue. If it's really a problem just glue it back in. I don't think the audiologist is going to make you a new mold just because the handle popped out.

Like I said, the strings came off of my plugs so many years ago I forgot that they were there originally. It has never been a problem.

 

I wear them almost all the time at gigs and rehearsals. Tinnitus and hearing loss (I have some in the upper mid area which is typical among musicians) are not good things to perpetuate!

 

I ordered a set of Elacin ER20's the other day. Im 25 , got really bad hearing loss and tinitus in my right ear. I figure it's best to do something now before it gets worse.

 

I've had the same experience. Though I can't be bothered right now to find any articles on it, I faintly recall reading somewhere that, when the music is louder, we actually do "feel" the music better or "get into the groove" better or whatchamacallit. For me it was "More louder = more awesome". It seems this is attibutable to volume.

I have no idea how the article supported this notion, but it would make sense to pose that when a very loud sound reaches our ear, adrenaline gets distributed, sorta fight-or-flight reflex, yaknow? So that may be the reason we find loud **** awesome (provided an inherent level of awesomeness of course. My 4 yr-old cousin's SCREAMING LOUD toys for example, are brainscrapingly inrritating at best).

This of course, is all just me blowing it out my ass. As I said, I have no idea how the original article supported the notion, but it does seem to be something scientific-y.

Ah, science. Helping smart kids getting beat up since 1643.

 

Me too.