Tinnitus Awareness

As gigging musicians, we are exposed to potentially dangerous volume regularly. You would think that we would look after our hearing. The reality is, many of us leave it far too late and the damage is irreparable.

This article may help you understand a little more about volume, decibels and the effect loud music can have on your hearing.

The Wheat Field analogy:

When you subject your hearing to loud sound the hairs in your ears can be damaged. This can be likened to a storm over a wheat field.

If this storm happens once in a while the wheat is allowed to regrow and return to full strength. On the other hand if a storm occurs night after night then the wheat field may be permanently damaged.

Taking extra care if you are gigging on two or more nights per week is even more important as this is where the real damage can happen.

If you are hearing a whistling in your ears after a gig it is most probably the hairs in your ears dying.

Live Playing and Stage Volume:

Lets be honest, playing live music with a full band quietly is very difficult and often lacks energy and sound. We know equipment needs to be driven or played hard to achieve the best sound.

Without putting ear plugs in, there are a number of things we can change to avoid unnecessary damage. Giving yourself some distance from equipment and not pointing speakers directly at your head.

Drummers will often setup cymbols at the other musicians head height which can be very harsh on the ears, especially if you play regularly. Why not ask if it can be moved or try and change your position on stage to avoid it.

Lastly, avoid turning up after the 3rd song. You will probably find that everyone else will do the same. Ask the other musicians to turn down a tiny bit instead of increasing your own volume to hear yourself better. It is often a comfort thing that makes us turn up a little bit when in truth we probably don’t need to.

How Decibels relate to Perceived Volume:

The DeciBel is a logarithmic measurement of Sound Intensity (not volume). When increasing the Decibels by 10 you are, approximately, doubling the perceived volume while increasing the Sound Intensity 10 times.

10 Violins playing the same thing would be twice the perceived volume of 1 Violin but would be +10 dB which is 10 times the Sound Intensity.

This graph shows that each time the dBs are increased by 10 the Perceived Volume Output is doubled.

Ear Plugs:

In theory Ear Plugs are a brilliant thing to use. They cut volume from 3-30 dB depending on the type. For many musicians there is a huge change in feel the second they are put in. Many of the cheaper ear plugs cut the volume but unevenly cut the frequencies. This has the affect of a middly sound or lacking presence. However, as they are cheap it is always worth carrying some with you. You can also wear just one in the ear that faces the loudest parts of the band.

We hope to offer a more complete range of ear plugs soon.

We are experienced musicians at Sound Unlimited and would be delighted to talk to you about gigging and volume problems you may be experiencing. Please send us an email or give us a call if you have any further questions.

sales@soundunlimited.co.uk
0208 123 2477

Planet Waves ear plugs are made from slow recover PVC foam, which form fits for maximum comfort and noise reduction of 29 dBs.

Planet Waves Ear Plugs