Take Good Care of Those Ears!

[Buck62]

I didn't know where else to post this. This seemed like the most applicable of all the forums, since mixing and mastering require a good set of ears.
Have you ever really thought of what you would do if you experienced hearing loss, or even (God forbid) deafness?
I suffer from a condition called tinnitus. Tinnitus is a constant ringing in the ears (or head, depending on how you read it) which can be caused by many different factors.
I don't know how much of my condition is self-inflicted from years of loud music, but one thing I know for sure is that it totally sucks.
I urge you to take a quick glance at this link and read a bit about tinnitus. It may help you to think twice about cranking up the volume on some of your favorite tunes or mixing music at high volume levels. I'm probably not the only one here who suffers from this condition.
I can't imagine a world without music... can you?

http://deafness.about.com/health/dea...www.ata.org%2F

Go to the bottom of the page and click on "ABOUT TINNITUS" for some enlightening information.

Buck

[Blue Bear Sound]

...and of course, we all know that we SHOULDN'T be mixing at levels higher than approximately 85db, right??

[Wide Awake]

I've got low-grade tinnitus from taking too many asparins over a one week period. I had no idea it could cause life-long hearing problems. It isn't too bad unless I get fatigued or take drugs or alcohol. I've researched the problem and I am convinced there isn't shit you can do about.

[Sabith]

I know that your not supposed to listen to your music louder than 85db.......... but how do U know how loud 85db is anyway??

Sabith

[drstawl]

With a decibel meter of course.
I measured what my comfortable level for mixing was and it turned out to be 90 dB. No tinnitus so far. And I take long breaks every 10 minutes or so. More than 10 minutes of 90 dB material will numb your ability to hear what's going on. I'm talking about 90 dB peak, not 90 dB continuous. It's probably more like 80 dB continuous.
And I don't own any NS-10s.
But what about those satanic voices?

[Blue Bear Sound]

...what about satanic voices that SOUND like they're COMING OUT OF NS-10s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk about a good excuse for suicide..............

[regebro]

Oh, yeah, and be VERY careful with headphones. They cause tinnitus more easily. i'm not really sure why, but several of my friends, and myself has discovered this. If you are using headphones for casual listening, get "megabass ones" because with low bass volume you tend to pull up the level, which is dangerous.

If you want hifi stuff for using in your studio, be aware of the level, and don't use them for long periods.
Yet another reason NOT to mix with headphones.

[Sabith]

Well....... obviously with a DB meter...... but I meant otherwise....... anyway, I guess I'll just have to rent one, cause they cost $60 to buy...... and I'm not paying that for a stupid meter

Sabith

[Aaron Cheney]

I have a friend that served in the Army in Korea in the '50's. He was in an infantry division and actually fired those big cannons. Between all the practice and combat he saw, he must have stood next to a firing cannon thousands of times. He wore those headphone-looking ear plug things to deafen the noise, but now that he is in his 60's, he can barely hear a thing.
It has been terrible to watch him struggle over the years, and every year his hearing slips a little further away. In a few more, it will be totally gone.
I have taken all artillery and small arms out of my studio. I am going to be taking good care of my ears!
Aaron
http://www.aaroncheney.com

[Roel]

Earplugs! Earplugs! Earplugs! Eartplugs!

I bought 20$ earplugs a few weeks a go. They still cut off a little to much high, but the sound is acceptable. Look for earplugs with a flat frequency rejection curve. (or whatever you call it when talking about earplugs...) And wear those things when going to concerts, clubs, rehearsels.

I even mix live concerts with them. If I don't really know or like the band that is playing, that is.

Heck, they even help you when you've got sleeping troubles at work!

[asi9]

I got a pair of those "even frequency" earplugs myself.... took some getting used to, they fit differently than most earplugs, and are somewhat uncomfortable. Not only that, but I usually get very, very energetic when playing, and I'm usually making such violent movements that the things won't stay in. Now I just try to wear them MOST of the time, especially during rehearsals (helps me hear everything better, too), and I just take 'em out when we really just want to go all out. I KNOW that going to shows at least once a week can't be good for the hearing. Speaking of... I'm going to a show tonight..... WHERE ARE MY EARPLUGS?!?!?!?

[mikeh]

Buck, my condolence to you. I have a fair amount of hearing loss and occasional tinnitus from 30 years of gigging/recording. Obviously, we all know more about the effects of noise than what was available twenty or thirty years ago. I always wear plugs when gigging and have convinced some others to use them.

You do a good thing by sharing your problem, to make others aware. I agree, I can't begin to imagine life without the ability to hear (and play) music.

Hey, I'm not the only one who hears those voices?

[enemyofthesun]

I am also very concerend about this. Any tips on picking out a cost effective/good decibel meter? I think $60 would definitely be worth it.

I also play in a band that insists on playing at ear splitting volumes or not at all.. so I need to do something about this. What earplugs have you found to still allow you to hear most all freqs?

[asi9]

Here's where I originally heard of 'em, but it turns out they had some at Guitar Center so I didn't have to wait several weeks to get 'em from musiciansfriend.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ex/sh...442?pid=429033

[DavidK]

Buck, great post, bravo.
I used to play in Orchestra Hall in Chicago a lot.
Just outside the stage they have three "buckets",
one with pencils (for bowings in the strings),
one with cough drops, and one with ear plugs.

Since I play violin, I sit away from the brass.
But on a few gigs (Like the Messiah), they
have brought the trumpet to the front, and
one gig he was in back of me. Dear Lord,
I could barely hear after the show.

By the way, never tell a symphony brass player
to play softer!! Conductor's do this from time
to time; they will play much louder if you
tell them to play softer, some macho thing,
I guess. Brass players seem to hate string
players, so if we complain, we are in for
a very loud night! David

[Sabith]

If you want those fancy earplugs that don't kill the sound like most do, goto an ear specialist and they will make molds of your ear and custom make em....... cost about $180 Canadian........ which isn't bad, considering there custom fit =)

Sabith

[Buck62]

Thanx, David...
Many people take their hearing for granted and dimiss the warnings of permamnent damage to their ears.
One other thing that can be a detrimental to your hearing is getting wax into your inner ear canal.
This happened to me in December and was the result of cleaning my ears too much!

Let me explain.....

You see, when you use a Q-Tip to clean the wax from your ears, many times you end up pushing the wax into the inner ear canal, rather than pulling it out. When this happens the inner part of your ear gets completely blocked off and it impairs your hearing to the point where it feels like you just got out of a swimming pool and there is water stuck in there.
It's not painful, but it's terribly annoying since you can barely hear a thing out of the affected ear.
Forget about recording and/or mixing for several days, because it ain't gonna happen. Your equalibrium is completely thrown off and playing an instrument or singing is almost impossible to do without being flat or sharp.
There are several products for ear-wax removal. The most well-known brand is called "Debrox".
It usually takes 4 or 5 days to get your hearing back to normal, and that's a long time if you are a serious musician or sound engineer.
I had to play a live gig while I had this condition and it was video-taped. Needless to say, I'd like to burn that sucker, since I could barely hold a note during my performance.
I just thought I'd make you guys aware of this, since it happens to be something that can be prevented with due care.

Buck

[scraggs]

I'm glad we're talking about this. A lot of my friends are younger guys (early 20s to my 31) and I'm always telling them "wear earplugs. all the time. trust me." and they never listen. Oh well, i tried. Here's a question for ya though: I feel like I can hear much better than I could say, two years ago. As far as hearing top end response in mixes, etc. I'm sure y'all would agree with me that your abilities are greater now than they used to be, right? But, even if we're being careful, we're still surrounded by loud music a lot of the time and it has to take a toll on our hearing. Soooooo, doesn't it seem contradictory that the more i'm exposed to loud music the more accurate i feel my perceptions of it are? Dunno if I explained that well or not....

my 2 cents on earwax removal: i learned this from Mom, back in the day....lay on your side and dump a little hydrogen peroxide in your ear, let it bubble away for 5 minutes, dump out, and repeat for your other ear. Seems to work for me. If this is like the worst thing i could be doing, someone please let me know!

[zip]

Peroxide works....but I wouldn't do it often. You actually want some wax in your ear - protects 'em.

As far as tinnitus I had a BAD scare but got lucky. Fired about 50 rounds out of my shotgun skeet shooting and my ears rang for a year. Luckily it has stopped and my hearing is still pretty good....thank God...

I have a pair or Sonic ear plugs I wear at ALL concerts and shows now - and put the gun back in storage....

Funny thing is it took me a LONG time to think about what it could have been like if the fifty first - or fifty second - was the one which went too far....

Great post.

zip >>