The effect of exposure to loud music on your ability to hear

[Andy Vermiglio]

Here's a clip from a radio show on the hazards of listening to loud music.

http://www.andythedrummer.com/Connectic ... 5.2011.mp3

[S.P]

Thanks for sharing Andy, always good to increase awareness of loud music. My sister listens to her MP3 so loud that I can perfectly hear the music coming out of hear earphones.

I assume isolation headphones or in-ear phones with foam pads are best as they isolate outside sounds and reduce the need to listen to music at higher volumes to hear the music over outside sounds.

[Andy Vermiglio]

SP you're welcome! Your assumption is correct. The more attenuation provided by the earphones (earbuds, in the ear monitors) the less the need to raise the volume in order to compete with your environment!

Wish I knew this stuff when I first started playing!!!

[S.P]

Good stuff I've always worn these:





and now I use these when playing along to music as the Vic Firth's broke.



Great sound for a great price!

I started playing drums at 14 (I am 23 now) and never have I played with another musician who wore hearing protection at studios/rehearsals or live. And I've played with both adults and kids/teenagers, so there is certainly a lot of work to be done to get more exposure about how damaging loud sounds can be.

It was really interesting to play around with the hearing damage simulators on http://www.earbud.org/

Thanks once again for sharing that interview with us!

[funkydrummer]

Those Shures are great! I actually use those exact same ones as my in-ear monitors onstage. They're fantastic!

[Josiah]

never have I played with another musician who wore hearing protection at studios/rehearsals or live. And I've played with both adults and kids/teenagers, so there is certainly a lot of work to be done to get more exposure about how damaging loud sounds can be.

im always blown away by how few musicians use ear protection. i think because the effects of hearing loss/loud music are so gradual that people dismiss the dangers. i saw a guy at the shooting range the other day with nothing for his ears, just amazing.

with the trend of putting huge subs in cars for the last several years, i bet hearing loss will become a much larger issue for the general public as these people get older

[electrizer]

I've always been using earplugs, which has been the subject of sneer and jokes of my bandmates. However I've never had any problems with my hearing. Additionally, one of my guitarists recently complained that his hearing in one ear temporarily deteriorated. That's no joke, u have to protect it.

Recently I've geared myself up with these Shure SM215 (utterly amazing for the price) and a small mixer which I use as a monitor. Not only am I able to control the sound level but also I can hear everybody clearly in every situation. Lovely!

Thanks for the link!

[john lamb]

no doubt about it - loud sounds can really damage hearing. However... there is some research that shows that earbuds aren't really doing much to damage hearing... instead the general volume level of urban life is. Seems that the ears need time to regenerate... so that if you live in an area that is always loud, then you're in trouble. If you play a super loud gig, but take the next 12 hours in total quiet, you're probably going to be fine. Wish I could find the article about this research to post!

[john lamb]

On this subject, there is an interesting new theory about tinnitus. The traditional theory is that it comes from damage to the hair cells, but this has never been a satisfactory answer for a few reasons - but mostly the transient nature of tinnitus. You'd think that if it were mechanical damage, then the sound would be constant (and therefore tuned out).

An alternative theory has been proposed that places tinnitus at the feet of a part of the auditory cortex being out of phase with the rest... The entire brain 'entrains' such that all the neurons fire at once... much like how women's periods sync up. They just naturally sync their cycles together. Tinnitus, according to this theory, is due to a part of the auditory cortex becoming out of sync - probably from the shock of a very loud sound.

There's a strong case to be made that several diseases are sync problems and not chemical or mechanical problems.

[Henry II]

In my opinion, playing acoustic drums, alone, is enough to cause significant hearing loss. The loudest noise that I'm regularly exposed to is my own snare drum and crash cymbals. I don't play for my livelihood. So, although I'm probably older than most on this board, my cummulative hours of exposure is probably much less than most pro musicians who have been playing for, say, 20+ years. And I've only played particularly loud, amplified, music on a few occasions. That's not what I generally do. Nevertheless, I have experienced noticable hearing loss, and transient tinnitus, over the years.

PS: Having said that, for many decades, I didn't use hearing protection while practicing because ear buds hadn't been invented yet, and I didn't like the sound of my drums while wearing headphones. Now, when I practice, I stick a pair of earbuds in my ears because they block out most of the volume, but, they still allow the character of the sounds of my drums to come through.