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protecting ears during live performance


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hi all

 

Looking for advice on the best way for me to preserve my hearing whilst up on stage playing gigs.

 

My band is about to embark on some live shows after practising in the garage for sometime, and I know the levels I am going to be exposed to at live venues will far exceed what I am used to whilst practicing at home.

 

I already have some tinnitus so I don't want it to get worst...

 

Are in ear monitors the way to go? or should I even wear normal ear plugs with just the fold backs going?

 

Appreciate advice/ideas/recommendations

 

thanks!

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find a local audioligist to fit you with musician's ear plugs. Comfort is excellent. If you sing, you may have to move your jaw while the stuff is hardening. I found expanding ear plugs cause ear canal pain when singing. Could only stand them for about an hour. The custom ones, I've worn for 14 hours one day.

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Why would your live show be louder than your practices? You're behind the PA.

 

Ideally, you should be practicing at the same level you'll be playing live, so that there aren't any changes or surprises when you start playing out, I'd think. That's always been pretty much our rule. Nowadays, our practices are even louder than our stage volume, because on stage we're all on wireless IEMs and all electronic and direct, so there's virtually no noise on stage.

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IMHO rehearsal should be at much lower levels than performance, so that everyone hears everyone and mistakes can be heard and corrected. A full-rig "dress rehearsal" session at full performance volume before anything new is introduced is a good practice.

 

I'd look into IEM's as they solve the stage volume issue, the hearing protection issue, and your foldback needs. If everyone on stage is wearing hearing protection, something's wrong, and you should simply reduce stage volume.

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Why would your live show be louder than your practices? You're behind the PA.


Ideally, you should be practicing at the same level you'll be playing live, so that there aren't any changes or surprises when you start playing out, I'd think. That's always been pretty much our rule.

 

 

 

Exactly - if anything, alot of times practices can be louder than gigs because practice spaces tend to be smaller and not as well laid out as a typical stage...

 

 

 

- georgestrings

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If everyone on stage is wearing hearing protection, something's wrong, and you should simply reduce stage volume.

 

 

Our practice space is about 5 times bigger than our typical 'corner of the bar' stage areas. When we play live, I'm usually only a few feet from the drummer. He's not a hard hitter, but the close proximity forces all of us to start turning up to where we can hear ourselves over the drums - At that point the stage volume is loud enough to be troubling (to me).

 

The bass player and I wear earplugs (mine are the custom musicians plugs:thu:), mainly just to tame the snare drum and cymbals that are only inches away.

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Our practice space is about 5 times bigger than our typical 'corner of the bar' stage areas. When we play live, I'm usually only a few feet from the drummer. He's not a hard hitter, but the close proximity forces all of us to start turning up to where we can hear ourselves over the drums - At that point the stage volume is loud enough to be troubling (to me).


The bass player and I wear earplugs (mine are the custom musicians plugs:thu:), mainly just to tame the snare drum and cymbals that are only inches away.

 

 

Tiny stage areas are a common problem, and it's also common that the drummer is the loudest player to deal with. There are ways to quiet the drumset that have been discussed at length, and that's the best place to start. While it's good to protect your hearing, it's better to have a balanced mix on stage to begin with.

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Even at FOH I sometimes wear earbuds with the hearing protection headphones. I've even used a dedicated IEM system for myself.

Well, if it was our band, our volume out front is far higher than our stage mix volume. And our practice volume is very low. We want to hear our weak areas and know we are addressing them, not just covering them up with "loud".

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So for the people wearing musicians plugs for when playing live, you don't have any issues with clarity of sound? what if you are singing?

 

 

There are issues, especially when singing... It's a trade-off. The occlusion effect is a bummer, and there's no way around it.

 

I've found the musician's plugs much more bearable sound-quality-wise than typical foam plugs. I usually use the plugs on and off throughout the night - Whenever my ears need a break.

 

FWIW, I've also use these earplugs (-15db) on airplanes, running power tools, mowing the lawn, and night clubs (when I'm not working). The point being, I think they're a great investment.

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So for the people wearing musicians plugs for when playing live, you don't have any issues with clarity of sound? what if you are singing?

 

 

With singing, I'm unable to make changes in volume for balancing harmony parts, but I'm better able to hear myself. (I'm the sound guy for the band and have forty years experience singing harmony. This isn't a problem.)

 

For me, they don't work when playing trumpet. Then I only hear my lips vibrating and not the horn. (A particularly unpleasant sound.) That's only about six songs in an evening. In this band, I don't mic the trumpet. It's really loud enough for the places we play.

 

Wonder what trumpet players normally do to protect their hearing? (Will ask Dan what he does when playing trombone this weekend. It's got to be the same problem.)

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With singing, I'm unable to make changes in volume for balancing harmony parts, but I'm better able to hear myself. (I'm the sound guy for the band and have forty years experience singing harmony. This isn't a problem.)


For me, they don't work when playing trumpet. Then I only hear my lips vibrating and not the horn. (A particularly unpleasant sound.) That's only about six songs in an evening. In this band, I don't mic the trumpet. It's really loud enough for the places we play.


Wonder what trumpet players normally do to protect their hearing? (Will ask Dan what he does when playing trombone this weekend. It's got to be the same problem.)

 

 

I couldn't get past the unpleasant lip sound/vibration when I played trumpet. And that was without any hearing protection. Switching to trombone completely solved that, and eventually (via switching to bass clef) led to me becoming a bassist. Had I not made that change, I'd probably have dropped out of music entirely.

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