Concert deafness

Author
Discussion

LeoSayer

7,299 posts

243 months

Monday 8th October 2012
quotequote all
Similar thing happened to me about 20 years ago.

I was looking buy a used Peugeot 405 diesel and had the bonnet up and head down looking into the engine bay while the engine was running.

The girlfriend at the time, who was sitting in the driver's seat, decided that was the perfect moment to blip the throttle.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 8th October 2012
quotequote all
I'm a nightclub DJ and I NEVER EVER go in noisy environments without these:

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

Best thing I've bought in years.

You can hear everything perfectly but just at a normal 'speaking volume' rather than whatever the volume is in the room/club/concert.
Quite amazing. Even when people come up to you and scream in your ears to try to talk to you, you can hear them perfectly clearly rather than the usual distorted roar you would normally hear!

I've been in clubs where the bass is shaking your organs and it just sounds like you are listening to a hifi at home on a low-medium volume.

It is a massive relief to come out of a club or live event and have perfectly fresh, non-ringing ears, and perfect hearing.

When you hear everyone else still shouting at each other to talk once the music has stopped you realise how fked their hearing must be.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 8th October 2012
quotequote all
Jazzy Jefferson said:
CrabDan said:
You SHOULD wear earplugs but to me that sort of ruins the experience.
Couldnt disagree more. I find it makes it better as I can actually hear the instruments and vocals properly.

Im also a drummer by the way :-)
As my post above said about the Etymotic plugs... They actually improve the experience, you can hear the music clear as a bell and still feel the bass, but its at a massively reduced volume.

If earplugs are ruining the music then get some proper ear plugs!

drumsterphil

474 posts

222 months

Monday 8th October 2012
quotequote all
NinjaPower said:
I'm a nightclub DJ and I NEVER EVER go in noisy environments without these:

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

Best thing I've bought in years.
Another drummer here and I use these when playing plus going to gigs; swear by them.

Twenty years ago coming out with ears ringing was seen as the sign of a good night but the slow build up of tinnitus less so as time went on.

Have always practiced "Safe Sound" while playing and would never go to a gig/club without them now.

sparkyhx

4,143 posts

203 months

Monday 8th October 2012
quotequote all
R TOY said:
Trophybloo said:
Although of course (since this is PH) revving engines at close quarters during tuning etc. will do a fair bit of damage to the cilia
The most intense and painfull sound i ever experienced was at Santa Pod when looking at a top fuel
dragster up on stands in the paddock,
the engine was running at a lumpy tick over while the mechanics worked on something then without warning he blipped the throttle, the noise for that split second was agonising..
Try Tractor pulling and 5 of the damn things in unison - I experienced pain, then it was tissue in the ears from then on.



I don't know if concert damage is permanent - gut feeling is that it isn't unless you are doing it freqeuntly, but I'm no doctor

Justin Cyder

12,624 posts

148 months

Monday 8th October 2012
quotequote all
Yes, I use them too. I have tinnitus from years of gigs & gigging. Like others I find it hard to pick out voices in bars and so on.

motorizer

1,498 posts

170 months

Monday 8th October 2012
quotequote all
Saw slash
didn't wear earplugs





wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Monday 8th October 2012
quotequote all
The damage is always permanent - the ear and the brain are very good at filtering out the damage and so you'll end up with worse hearing but it won't be obvious. Eventually it gets to the point where there is so much damage your body can't figure out what's sound and what's noise any more. That's when you get the tinnitus.

When I'm out roadying, the ear plugs will only come out for around two minutes in the whole night - when the band is playing through a song in soundcheck and I have to go out front to check out the mix. Other than that I'm wearing industrial-type earplugs all the time. It's telling that in most of Europe they are given away free in pretty much every venue.

Rehearsals are definitely the worst for ear hurt - three hours in a room the size of a shower with two marshall stacks, a 500w bass rig and a drum kit is no fun at all.

Trophybloo

1,207 posts

186 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
davepoth said:
The damage is always permanent - the ear and the brain are very good at filtering out the damage and so you'll end up with worse hearing but it won't be obvious. Eventually it gets to the point where there is so much damage your body can't figure out what's sound and what's noise any more. That's when you get the tinnitus.
Actually the onset of tinnitus isn't always a result of noise-induced hearing loss and isn't an inevitable consequence of noise exposure. While all noise exposure will cause irreperable damage leading to reduced ability to pick up the human speech frequencies, cases of tinnitus are very much less predictable and often occur from single 'shock' events rather than prolonged exposure. The nature of the damaging noise appears to affect some people (e.g. steam system blow downs) and there may be a genetic pre-disposition to developing tinnitus.
Never thought my job would ever come into play on a PH thread!!

Pupp

12,205 posts

271 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
R TOY said:
The most intense and painfull sound i ever experienced was at Santa Pod when looking at a top fuel
dragster up on stands in the paddock,
the engine was running at a lumpy tick over while the mechanics worked on something then without warning he blipped the throttle, the noise for that split second was agonising..
Ahhh, the old methanol warm up then onto the highside routine. Engine note changes somewhat when nitro loaded fuel is introduced... just to add to your alarm, did you notice the crew were most likely wearing gas masks? While your hearing was being mangled, your lungs were also being dissolved in nitric acid eek

egor110

16,817 posts

202 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Years of loud concerts and driving noisy vans with the radio turned up so i can hear it has lead to hearing problems.

I picked up a pair of acs er20's they really help at concerts, just have to wear a beanie hat now otherwise i have about 2 inch of white plastic out of my ear.

Gompo

4,395 posts

257 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
NinjaPower said:
I'm a nightclub DJ and I NEVER EVER go in noisy environments without these:

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

Best thing I've bought in years.
Are these ones much better than the similar looking ones that are around £2 on Ebay? They're a similar design, I mean.



I have been using the above sort for a couple of years and while they definitely help in blocking out noise/sound I am not sure if they help with filtering on an equal balance.

Where did you purchase them from? If ordering direct from the Etymotic website they charge $50 delivery..! I have noticed some claiming to be the same on Ebay.

I'd happily pay a bit more for the Etymotic ones if they're better..

Cheers.

drumsterphil

474 posts

222 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
The difference is that you get a volume change but not a tonal change - playing with foam earplugs left the drums feeling like hitting sponges, with decent earplugs everything feels "normal".

metalsteve

367 posts

240 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
can anyone recomend a good uk based seller of the etymotic ear plugs? Or a similar product from another manufacturer.

Thanks

Gompo

4,395 posts

257 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
drumsterphil said:
The difference is that you get a volume change but not a tonal change - playing with foam earplugs left the drums feeling like hitting sponges, with decent earplugs everything feels "normal".
Thanks, I understand what you've said about volume/tonal now. I've not used foam ones for years (since school or something) since I know they're rubbish - the above ones pictured which I use are rubber.

drumsterphil

474 posts

222 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
Do a search for these - ACS ER20 Generic Fit Ear Plugs (which I use as well).

Most decent music shops sell good ear plugs - less than a £10 is a bargain for what you gain using something like these.

S7Paul

2,103 posts

233 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
I've been going to gigs since 1973. The loudest that I can recall were Motorhead at Hammersmith in 1979 and Airbourne at the Astoria (RIP) in 2008. On both occasions it took 3 days for my hearing to get back to normal.

I had a hearing test recently, and was told it was still very good, though I do have a bit of tinnitus in the right ear. Overall, I'm pretty sure that I have sustained some hearing damage, but I've never worn earplugs as I feel that the volume is all part of the live experience. I did try them once (because I had a meeting the morning after a Motorhead gig) and I just didn't enjoy it so much.

Rollin

6,076 posts

244 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
motorizer said:
Saw slash
didn't wear earplugs





wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
hehe Me too.

Johnnytheboy

24,498 posts

185 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
quotequote all
I've got pretty bad tinnitus, I would say largely due to gigs and in-car music.

Seriously, wear earplugs, I wish I had.

The sad thing now is if I do go to a gig, the sound resembles a indecipherable mess to me now, so I've pretty much ruled myself out of seeing any bands for life.

flyingplum

85 posts

164 months

Tuesday 9th October 2012
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MonkeyBusiness said:
As soon as I saw this thread I thought of Motorhead.
Me too. I've seen them a few times and it's taken me 3-4 days on average to recover. On one occasion about 12 years ago, I saw them on two consecutive nights (Nottingham Rock City and Manchester Apollo). On the way back from the Manchester gig, we had full-on car smash and wrecked a nearly new Peugeot. The Police were on the scene and looked at me a bit funny when I insisted on retrieving my signed Mikkey Dee drumsticks from the wreckage!