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monitoring with ear plugs???


Jersey Jack

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I had a bad monitoring day yesterday--played an outdoor festival and got stuck with a bad mic and a monitor with what appeared to be a blown speaker. :evil: Needless to say, I wasn't happy with my vocal performance. :facepalm:

 

Anyway, Dthraco and a few others have referred to using Musicians Plugs as a way to hear themselves on stage--at least I think that was the implication. Bt when I go to the Hearos website, there no mention of anything except ear protection. Here's their products for musicians:

 

http://hearos.com/earplugs/musician-ear-plugs.html

 

Can anyone comment specifically on how these plugs can help a singer in a monitoring-challenged environment? Also, it looks like there are four different kinds of musician's ear plugs. Which one is the best?

 

Thanks!

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HEY BRO

 

Have you tried IEMs? I got the Shure PSM200 and it is awesome.

 

When I'm practicing at home, I can just use this simple setup:

 

Guitar -> GNX3000 -> PSM200

and

Mic -> PSM200.

 

And I'm assured it'll sound the same on any stage (which is a huge comfort). If I need more channels, I just use my Firepod as an 8-channel mixer and toss one of the outputs into the PSM.

 

Being able to sell my half-stack amp really helped offset the cost of the unit, and now my practice sessions are nice and quiet to any outside listeners.

 

My band bro also uses an effects pedal instead of an amp so when we're jamming, he can just plug in the same way. He can also crank the volume on his monitors without deafening me, which is always a bonus.

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The following link is an example of the kind I have:

http://www.precisionweb.com/hrg_protection/musicians_plugs/

 

tom_s252 is right, in that the musician's plugs are kinda like having a finger partially in your ear when things get loud.

 

The way that it worked for me was that I rehearsed with them in. And it was not quiet at rehearsal. Then, when we would go play out, if the monitors were bad, I was already used to that 'finger partially in the ear' point of reference.

 

You have to go to a local audiologist and get them to make mold of your ear. They send those off, and they come back with plugs like this:

er-15_musicians_earplugs.jpg

 

I seriously can't say enough good things about them. Not just for singing, but for anytime you are around loud music. I use them to watch shows as well as play them. The picture shows the filter on the outside of the plug. I got mine so the filters are flush with the outside. You can't even tell they are there unless you are looking for them.

 

15db is the answer to your next question. They make them in 9, 15, or 25db. The 15db one's work great for me. If I was playing an instrument closer to the drums, I would probably go with 25's, but I can't imagine singing like that.

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BTW - I had the PSM200. Great setup, you can hear whatever you plug into the inputs, but not much else.

 

That's why I sold them. We played small club shows. And when people would talk to us, I couldn't hear them. Then I added the lapel mic. That helped, but then I was covered with wires. It just ended up being more trouble than it was worth.

 

The Musician's Plugs and time on the mic resolved the issue for me.

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BTW - I had the PSM200. Great setup, you can hear whatever you plug into the inputs, but not much else.


That's why I sold them. We played small club shows. And when people would talk to us, I couldn't hear them. Then I added the lapel mic. That helped, but then I was covered with wires. It just ended up being more trouble than it was worth.


The Musician's Plugs and time on the mic resolved the issue for me.

 

 

HEY BRO

 

Yeah, I guess that's the trade-off. In my case, being able to lose the amp made it worth it.

 

Now if someone tries to talk to me, I usually just flip them off. Or pull out one of the earbuds. I don't think I'd like the lapel mic either.

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I started on the drums and only began singing when our vocalist didn't turn up for rehearsals.

 

As I already had cheap foam ear plugs in to protect against my drums I found that I could hear myself singing really well in my head ("the occlusion effect" it's called). It took a bit of getting used to but once you do it's a really effective way of monitoring your vocal - if a little bassy!

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