S
swarfrat
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Actually some work out there claims that while hearing damage in the bass is not as readily perceived as pain - it's more dangerous for that reason.
Ears
- Thread starter erogenousjones17
- Start date
Death by AutoBat said:
swarfrat said:
True ... it is not the frequency of the sound, but the SPL that causes damage. Although as pointed out in an earlier post, it is the high frequencies that you lose first.
However, it seems that there was a study done a while ago that tried to prove hearing loss was partially phsycological ...
People who are exposed to the same SPL of, say, machine noise are much more likely to experience hearing loss that people who are exposed to an equivilant SPL of music. The one obvious reason is that music (should) be dynamic, whereas machine noise is constant .... but the other part is that (and what they were trying to prove), if the brain is an active participant in what you're listening to, it slows potential damage compared to something like machine noise which the brain will try to "tune out" in order to hear other things.
Obviously, though, if you expose yourself to 90-100 dB SPL of anything for any length of time, it is going to cost you in the long run.
Tonar8352
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What did you say? :laughing7:
You should all pay attention; I'm paying the price for living through the loud 70's and there is no going back. I think the biggest thing is what Mr. May said; you do not need to play loud to get great tone. And put the drummer behind Plexi. Mic a great sounding small amp or get the big amps off the stage and use a wedge or in-ear monitors to control the stage volume.
I hardly ever plug in when I'm playing at home and when I do it is to a 64 Fender Champ that sets on my desk in the living room where I give lessons and my students use a Tweed Deluxe replica on about one and a half. They sound really nice at living room volume.
But I still love to play loud, aint noting like have a big motor at you fingertips with the turn of a knob. It’s a testosterone thing and at my age I can use all the testosterone I can get my hands on. :laughing3:
You should all pay attention; I'm paying the price for living through the loud 70's and there is no going back. I think the biggest thing is what Mr. May said; you do not need to play loud to get great tone. And put the drummer behind Plexi. Mic a great sounding small amp or get the big amps off the stage and use a wedge or in-ear monitors to control the stage volume.
I hardly ever plug in when I'm playing at home and when I do it is to a 64 Fender Champ that sets on my desk in the living room where I give lessons and my students use a Tweed Deluxe replica on about one and a half. They sound really nice at living room volume.
But I still love to play loud, aint noting like have a big motor at you fingertips with the turn of a knob. It’s a testosterone thing and at my age I can use all the testosterone I can get my hands on. :laughing3:
I get the impression that it is becoming a louder world, at least America, and some people are so desensitized to it that they're completely unaware... like I said, treatment's going to be a growth field unless WE all get used to shouting. The gas-powered weedeaters and leaf blowers are really loud to ME when I'm 50 feet away and two stories higher - the guy operating it is going to have to CRANK his TV up when he gets home, and his whole family will have to YELL to get heard.
And it's even pushed on us as a cultural message, loud/happy/dancing/drink/sex-later... yet to see a beer commercial with a string quartet playing Mozart, huh? Scream your brains out at a football game or a concert, shoot guns without hearing protection because you never saw John WAYNE or Clint EASTWOOD simper about their ears, cowboy. WOO HOO! YIP YIP YIP... etc.
arty07: :headbang: :guitarplayer2: 
ccasion14: :icon_thumright: :headbang1: ??? :icon_scratch:
And it's even pushed on us as a cultural message, loud/happy/dancing/drink/sex-later... yet to see a beer commercial with a string quartet playing Mozart, huh? Scream your brains out at a football game or a concert, shoot guns without hearing protection because you never saw John WAYNE or Clint EASTWOOD simper about their ears, cowboy. WOO HOO! YIP YIP YIP... etc.
arty07: :headbang: :guitarplayer2: ccasion14: :icon_thumright: :headbang1: ??? :icon_scratch:
Steve_Karl
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I've been using these for a long time.
http://www.safetycompany.com/products/North-Safety-DeciGuard-AB-Disposable-Earplugs.html
http://www.safetycompany.com/products/North-Safety-DeciGuard-AB-Disposable-Earplugs.html
Jusatele
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tell you what guys
store bought ear plugs have their place, but they are not of the protection factor of the uber safety ones.
I have spent years in loud places, it is the nature of my business and very early I started using the ear phone style and everyone teased me, then I started using the expensive ear ones and still got teased, funny thing is, I can still hear stuff like I was in my 20s, those guys who teased me and claimed the store bought ones were good enuff, well they now have to look at you to understand what is being said, and that is in a quiet room, in the noisey areas they are almost deaf.
The noise level in these rooms whth 1600 watts 3 phase of compressors going off has guys shouting at each other, some what like how you would have to communicate on stage, and guys who just work with us for a year or two can tell you it effected their hearing.
Your ears are not a thing you want to screw with, you only have one chance at hearing.
that is the last I will say about it, you can either buck up and protect those ears, or decide to live with the consequences, unfortunately you cannot reverse the loss of hearing. just imagine having to concentrate to hear your grand kids talk to you. and remember how many rock stars are deaf in one or more ears.
store bought ear plugs have their place, but they are not of the protection factor of the uber safety ones.
I have spent years in loud places, it is the nature of my business and very early I started using the ear phone style and everyone teased me, then I started using the expensive ear ones and still got teased, funny thing is, I can still hear stuff like I was in my 20s, those guys who teased me and claimed the store bought ones were good enuff, well they now have to look at you to understand what is being said, and that is in a quiet room, in the noisey areas they are almost deaf.
The noise level in these rooms whth 1600 watts 3 phase of compressors going off has guys shouting at each other, some what like how you would have to communicate on stage, and guys who just work with us for a year or two can tell you it effected their hearing.
Your ears are not a thing you want to screw with, you only have one chance at hearing.
that is the last I will say about it, you can either buck up and protect those ears, or decide to live with the consequences, unfortunately you cannot reverse the loss of hearing. just imagine having to concentrate to hear your grand kids talk to you. and remember how many rock stars are deaf in one or more ears.
erogenousjones17
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Yep. Rocked out with a drummer friend last night. That damned Chinese crash cymbal thing (he's big into metalcore...) is going to be the end of my hearing anything! :tard:
On the plus side, I brought out the yellow LPS -- mahogany body, mahogany/rosewood neck, twin P90s -- and hot damn that guitar sounds good! :headbang:
On the plus side, I brought out the yellow LPS -- mahogany body, mahogany/rosewood neck, twin P90s -- and hot damn that guitar sounds good! :headbang:
Patrick from Davis
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I know from being the guy that has to keep track of the safety equipment at work that the disposable ear protection is rate to lower the db level by a specified amount if they are wore properly. The foam ones get 28-30 db reduction and the silicone tree ones are about 25-27. This depends largely on the brand, don't hold to the exact numbers for your brand. The OSHA requirements are you cannot work for more than 8 hours in a 90 db environment without protection and the slow weighted average should not exceed 85 db for normal working environments if no protection plan is in effect. Being next to an 8 cylinder motor that is our generator equals the 95 db range. It doesn't seem that loud, but it is reproducibly that loud. I got an SPL meter so that I could tell safety inspectors what the spl levels were around the place. We know around here that the db scale is logarithmic, and that being at 100 dbs is much worse than 90, or 80...
What I have found after spending years playing with bands and going to shows is, I can't discern much in a crowded room, or a room with reflections like a linoleum floor and exposed roof. With the lil foam guys, I have found that getting them in right takes a bit of doing, but works the best. The silicone tree ones are not as comfortable for me. I also have found that the ear plugs seem to work like odors. Hear me out here. Like a smell in a room you get used to it and everything seems to go back to normal after a while. Maybe not totally, but enough you don't notice it. Sorry about the puns. This is how being in a loud room is, or wearing the plugs is for me. If I just get occupied, I don't notice it that much. So I wear the little foam ones, and have a handful with me most of the time because of noisy things at work.
Patrick
What I have found after spending years playing with bands and going to shows is, I can't discern much in a crowded room, or a room with reflections like a linoleum floor and exposed roof. With the lil foam guys, I have found that getting them in right takes a bit of doing, but works the best. The silicone tree ones are not as comfortable for me. I also have found that the ear plugs seem to work like odors. Hear me out here. Like a smell in a room you get used to it and everything seems to go back to normal after a while. Maybe not totally, but enough you don't notice it. Sorry about the puns. This is how being in a loud room is, or wearing the plugs is for me. If I just get occupied, I don't notice it that much. So I wear the little foam ones, and have a handful with me most of the time because of noisy things at work.
Patrick
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