Do you use ear protection when you play, and if so, what do you use?

If you don't use ear protection, you should. Many musicians, especially drummers, are diagnosed with Tinnitus or ringing of the ears every day. In one day I've read of two cases on two other forums where drummers are experiencing Tinnitus.

If you'd like to find out more about Tinnitus and the causes, read my post in the 5-Minute Lesson: Tinnitus & Hyperacusis

I hate ear plugs!

At least the crappy ones that I have used...

I can't hear the nuances of what I am doing, then I start to play louder, especially on the hi hat and ride...

and if the guitar player has ear plugs, he keeps turning up the volume, or worse, the treble on his amp...

Considering the alternative of going deaf,  I would pay any price for something that really lowered the volume in a non-biased manner!

j

Just last week at band practice a guy was asking if we wear ear plugs to which we responded...erm, we have them! He was telling us that he knows a lot of people with ear problems, so I'll be wearing ear plugs next time! the problem is that when the whole band wears ear plugs you lose almost everything in the noise of your own instrument, which makes it hard to play as a band! oh well though, I guess its better than going deaf, or worse, getting tinnitus.

Misenko.

Funny you should say that, cause I use ones like that! I got them off my dads old Chainsaw set, they are REALLY cool! They make the kit sound soooo bassy!  

Misenko.

YEAH! who needs those pansy little earplugs! These fat (bright orange for me :-/) things are so much better!

Misenko.

VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

They are called Ear Gear by Westone and the technology is Etymotic Research.
I've had mine for about 5 years now and they are super!

Like the monitor plugs Bart mentioned, they take an impression of your ears and make up the custom ear pieces to order. Then, you just clip in the filters in whatever decibel reduction you require. They come in ER-15, ER-20, and ER-25 I think, depending on what db amount you want to knock off. The filters are an actual vibrating membrane that simulates your ear drum but cuts the decibels.

The beauty of these things is that they are so comfortable you don't even know you have them in AND the decibel reduction is even across the frequency range, so there is no sound distortion. The music sounds NATURAL, just less loud. In fact, it allows for greater definition in hearing detail because the acoustic din is removed. You can hear BETTER.

Look up an audiologist or a hearing aid dealer locally because they're the ones who do this kind of work. If memory serves, it costs in the range of $125. for the custom ear pieces and a set of filters. You can buy additional filters if you have varying volume conditions. Pricey for sure . . . BUT WELL WORTH IT.

I use a local version of the er-25 - the only problem is that they don't go as deep into the ear so smiling or grimacing on stage is usually met with a burst of high end.  Oh well.

For practicing with CDs I use construction ear muffs.  I wear bud type headphones and then put the ear muffs over - the CD sounds great, I don't have to have the music very loud and the drum sound is greatly reduced.


I've measured my snare drum at 120db - it could probably be higher but I was holding the db meter in one hand and holding the drum stick with the other.

--
Rob

When watching bands play I'll often use my er-25s or some of the rolled foam ones (I carry both),  I agree with Commander, they really do clear up a lot - they get rid of some crowd noise, remove excess reverb and really clean up the mix.  On the bad side I find that the gig sometimes feels stale.  I went to see the Gin Blossoms several years ago and thought the band were having a bad night and that the crowd was only so-so.  Then I took out my earplugs.  The band were having a great night and the crowd were loving them, but my plugs made me feel like I wasn't part of the audience.  The impact was gone.

Even though I've never tried them, I understand when musicians say that the vibe is gone when using IEMs, there's a lot to be said for all that comforting noise at a gig

--
Rob

Etymotic specialise in this stuff but they can be a bit expensive. Visit www.etymotic.com and check them out. Failing that nip down to Boots and get some wax balls (ooh err missus!). If you aren't bothered about looking like a twit then get some shooting (green) or industrial (orange) headphones. These are brilliant, but sadly wouldn't encourage too much in the way of after-show activity with the opposite sex if used in a live situation!

  I've always been concerned about my hearing.  Been going to hearing aid dept. at Sears every other year for about 10yrs now for my free hearing test.  They don't give me a copy of the test but they always go over the charted results with me.  I've lost a little 2k in my left ear (years of turning up the vocal monitor) and the after gig ringing has been staying with me longer than before .
  I've occasionally used foam disposables over the years, but always found it more difficult to clearly hear myself sing.  I recently aquired a set of Shure in-ear E5 monitors and the small Behringer mixboard mxb1002.  I have not used this system in a live gig setting yet, but it is excellent for personal rehearsal.  It's got me back to working with the metronome , and I can hear my vocals 10x better.  The most important benefit is I can adjust volume and mix levels while still enjoying the decibel protection from the cymbals and snare.