Protect you hearing!
As a musician the most important instruments and tool of your trade are your ears.
Make sure you protect them.

As we get older we all experience hearing loss. The high end frequencies first.
And it’s different for many people.
Most people will experience more or less Tinnitus symptoms regardless of age.
Tinnitus can be ringing, buzzing, whistling or humming type sounds in your ears. If you are experiencing this, it’s a good idea to consult a hearing specialist or your doctor asap.
It can be occasional or constant. It rarely goes away once it becomes constant and needs to be managed to prevent it from getting worse.

Tinnitus is mainly caused by:

• Exposure to excessively loud noise over time.
• Earwax build-up can block your ear canal, causing hearing loss and irritation to the ear drum.
• Age.
• Medications.
• High Blood Pressure

As musicians the main issue is loud noise, and constant noise (even though we call it music).
If you play in a loud band, then you have a high probability of suffering tinnitus as you get older.
Not everybody is effected in the same way and the time it takes is variable.

So what can we do as musicians?
First of all carry some earplugs in your gig bag at all times.
As soon as the noise level becomes uncomfortable, use them.
On a spread out stage it may not be an issue, but the times when we musicians are squashed on a small stage and you ear is next to a drum cymbal can cause permanent hearing damage and or tinnitus.
It is a rare musician that plays in loud bands that gets to age fourty without significant hearing loss or tinnitus. So be careful in these situations.

Yeah I hate earplugs too!

I don’t like them because the make the sound weird. The cheaper ones the worse.
But if you done have any, make it a top priority to get some ASAP.
So it’s not just a matter of lowering volume but also keeping the music quality high by attenuating all frequencies evenly.
So at minimum I would recommend Heros Hi Fidelity earplugs that cost around $30.

Other good brands are Eargasm, Earasors, LiveMusic, Etymotic.

The more expensive models have batteries and are essentially an earplug with a microphone on the outside and a small speaker on the inside, This conserves the sound quality at reduced levels.
The Etymotic Research MP9-15 MusicPro is one type of electronic earplug. Very good and very expensive.

Another option are custom made earplugs by companies such as Hear Safe, Starkey, Resound, Sensaphonic and others which can be made specifically to fit your ears.
For this option it is recomended you see an audiologist.

It’s not just loud music that damages hearing, it’s also the amount of time continuously exposed to music.
So the music may not be harmful for 30 minutes but after 60 it will start causing damage.
If you’re gigging in a loud club it’s best to find a quiet spot or go outside during the breaks.

Another important factor, which may also be uncomfortable for some to discuss, is alcohol or drugs consumption.
Those substances will slow or stop the natural hearing protection process that shuts out loud sounds in order to protect your hearing.
Consuming alcohol or drugs before or during being exposed to loud music is a fast way to permanent hearing loss and severe tinnitus.
So if that’s your thang and you want to preserve your hearing, save it for after the gig.
As soon as you feel tipsy your natural hearing protection stops working.

Headphones are also a common cause of hearing problems. And it’s easy to get the levels hi enough to damage your hearing, especially with good closed studio headphones that sound great.
So have breaks in the studio or if your just listening to music in your headphones for over 30 minutes.

Keep in mind that hearing problems are most often caused by long term build of issues and exposure.
Look at it as a long term plan for hearing protection.

DB noise meter phone apps can also come in handy to monitor your stage volume.
85dB is considered to be the threshold above which noise level become harmful over long periods.
To put in perspective a normal conversation is around 60db.

Check the list below for common levels.
40db  Average home noise
60 -65   Conversation
70 -75  Office, car at 100km/h
70-75 House appliances
80-90  Noisy venue or club, lawn mower
90-100 Quiet gig
100-120 Rock or dance gig, club dance floor

100dB+ is also common standing on a stage during a rock or dance gig.

So how loud is too loud?
That a difficult question and it varies for different people, but there are some general guidelines to follow.
For eg the table below is a common reference used by industries for workplace noise exposure.

Unfortunately for us musicians the levels we experience are way over what is considered safe in the workplace.
Add alcohol consumption and it becomes much worse.
It’s a rare band gig that won’t have a musician exposed to over 100dB for a 45 minute set.
So it’s important to find a quiet place during the breaks.

The First Song!
When we are exposed to loud volume our body will naturally try to attenuate the level to protect our hearing.
This is why you see everyone running back to turn up the volume after the first or second song.
Try to do a proper sound check and keep in mind that once the gig starts the adrenaline kicks in and the whole band will be playing and singing louder. So give yourself a little room to compensate for louder drums and vocals.
So after the first song, RESIST THE URGE TO TURN UP YOUR VOLUME!
Let your ears do their job and attenuate the noise level. This is the first clue that you’re on the verge of being too loud.
Make small and subtle adjustments, and if anyone is too loud ask them to turn down or put on the ear plugs.
Learn to play while hearing a nice even mix, so that you gig is just like listening to a loud live recording.
Yes this is a skill that needs to be learnt, a good way is to do mix sound for other bands.
You’ll quickly realise who crap the whole band sounds because one member is too loud.
If you do enough gigs you will get to the point where you have to make a decision either to put up with the loud and unbalanced stage volume or just find another band. Or in the case you manage the band, find a different musician.
The only other solution is in ear monitors, which although much cheaper these days, are still out of reach for many musicians.

So if your ears are buzzing or ringing or the stage volume levels makes you uncomfortable, the earplugs should be in your gig bag ready to go.