Ear plugs for concerts?

[mozo-pg]

I've used them periodically but really need to be more consistent. I definitely have had hearing deterioration.

[Digital_Man]

So, should venues or bands share any liability for hearing damage? Many shows are way way too loud.

No. Even though I have tinnitus as the result of a concert I went to(Yes's Union tour; see my earlier post)it was ultimately my fault for not being prepared. It was an outdoor concert but that's no excuse. There could be some kind of warning but it's hard to predict. I should have stuck my finger in my ear but because I was the only one who seemed to be affected all I did was shrug my shoulder which didn't do much. Trevor's guitar pierced my left ear twice that day. I'm not deaf, even in that ear, but needless to say that ear is quite sensitive and I have to be very careful when listening to music especially if it's loud. But I would have to say no you can't really sue. It would sort of like be going to a prostitute and not wearing a condom. What do you expect to happen? LOL.

[Trane]

One of the worst crud that hangs around the RnR myth: If it is too loud, it's because you're too old

[ronmac]

No. Even though I have tinnitus as the result of a concert I went to(Yes's Union tour; see my earlier post)it was ultimately my fault for not being prepared. It was an outdoor concert but that's no excuse. There could be some kind of warning but it's hard to predict. I should have stuck my finger in my ear but because I was the only one who seemed to be affected all I did was shrug my shoulder which didn't do much. Trevor's guitar pierced my left ear twice that day. I'm not deaf, even in that ear, but needless to say that ear is quite sensitive and I have to be very careful when listening to music especially if it's loud. But I would have to say no you can't really sue. It would sort of like be going to a prostitute and not wearing a condom. What do you expect to happen? LOL.

Okay, so how about venues allowing you to leave and re-enter, then? Most don't allow that, so you're essentially trapped inside, or you have to miss the show.

[davis]

When we went to a Primus show a couple years ago, the music volume didn't bother me, but some young woman maybe 20 rows behind & to my left let out a few of those 5-second "WOOs", 2 of which felt like my left inner ear was being stabbed. I plugged my finger in it asap.

[Rael]

So, should venues or bands share any liability for hearing damage? Many shows are way way too loud.

I don't know about liability, but the last time I saw Rush, they were insanely loud. It didn't help that the acoustics sucked. I don't think I've been to an arena event since.

[Trane]

I don't know about liability, but the last time I saw Rush, they were insanely loud. It didn't help that the acoustics sucked. I don't think I've been to an arena event since.

I can totally understand that.... the worst concert sonics I heard were in hockey arenas (beit Toronto's PLG, Quebec C's Colisée, Hamilton's arena or Mtl's Forum) durinfg the 70's & 80's... and I've kind of avoided these places ever since...

Brussels's only big (8 000) hockey arena stopped being one when the franchise folded (so did the Benelux league) during the 80's... they're still able to become a skating ring (for "holidays on ice" stuff), but they've modified the acoustics that makes it acceptable. It will never be a dedicated theatre or music hall, but it's not atrocious anymore... but I'll not likely see many shows there anymore and still will never enter the place without earplugs.

[Azol]

I just went ahead and ordered a couple of EarPeace HD earplugs for me and my wife (thanks for recommendation and the link) - and I have should done it years ago
But usually I would just use any material at hand as a replacement (*cough* paper tissues *cough*), because... ears are too delicate an instrument and I had a couple of unpleasant concert experiences so protection is always needed.

[Trane]

I just went ahead and ordered a couple of EarPeace HD earplugs for me and my wife (thanks for recommendation and the link) - and I have should done it years ago
But usually I would just use any material at hand as a replacement (*cough* paper tissues *cough*), because... ears are too delicate an instrument and I had a couple of unpleasant concert experiences so protection is always needed.

At worst a kleenex tissue wetted with saliva works rather fine when you don't have plugs with youand no other solution

[Azol]

Exactly ))
But here's much more elegant solution.
Will report back, I have the tickets for Tilburg March 13 - Transatlantic show. I bet it would be very loud.

[battema]

I have used custom plugs with Entymotic 'buttons' for over 20 years, and swear by them. I wear them for concerts, movies, dance clubs, even some work events where a PA is used. I also have some heavy-duty (non-custom) plugs that I use for extremely loud concerts. For a Sunn 0))) show in Baltimore I had to use the heaviest-duty foam plugs I could find

Hearing is still 100%

[markwoll]

I decided to order a pair of the custom molds from the earplugstore.
We shall see how it turns out.
The festival season is approaching.

[prglvr]

I got mocked for sticking cotton balls in my ears at concerts in the 70's. I didn't care about being "cool", I cared about having good hearing in my old age. Today I have "musicians" ear plugs which I use for concerts and playing in bands (neither of which I do much of anymore), and I can't remember the brand name to recommend. [EDIT: after reading the other posts, I see that I have the Etymotic brand]

I also use cotton balls...one large one wadded up as tighty as possible for each ear, and it seems to do fine. I attend lots of concerts and have not had problems yet. At a Pearl Jam concert a couple of people started ribbing me good-naturedly about it and we joked back and forth. My son is a musician and we bought some high quality ear pieces for him...have to protect those young, up-and-comers' hearing!!!

[presdoug]

I stopped going to concerts years ago due to permanent and strong tinnitus. My doctor told me i got my tinnitus from too much headphone use, using headphones at home.
I stopped headphone use for about five years, and the tinnitus did not improve at all.
It's damm annoying, but my own fault, i guess.
Don't stick kleenex in your ear, i did, and some of it lodged inside my ear, and helped to infect my inner ear (mastoiditis) and i almost had to have surgery, and almost died.

[markwoll]

So, I got my custom plugs from earplug superstore.
Now I sort of get why musicians are always fiddling with their in ear monitors.
Getting them just right requires a little fiddling.
Wore them for the Steve Hackett show in DC.
Nice. Very clear. Much more comfortable than the ER-20's I have been using.
And the sound level was very good. I have the 15 filters and they were perfect for that show.
am still probably going to get the 25's just in case I see Steven Wilson again

[bob_32_116]

Loud concerts are a health problem. If you ask me, venues should have them available for those who want them. I'm not going to go as far as saying they should be required, for fear of being called a Commie.

I'd go further than that. If the sound is going to be above a certain volume, they should be required by law to have a notice to that effect when advertising the concert. People going to a rock concert probably should take along some basic earplugs anyway, just in case they need them.

I think the value of high-tech expensive earplugs is debatable. From a health point of view, the important thing is whether the decibel level is sufficiently lowered. From a musical appreciation point of view, unless you are a sound engineer it's probably not that important that the level is reduced in a precisely linear fashion.

I bought some cheap earplugs in preparation for seeing and hearing Porcupine Tree in 2010. I stupidly left them at the hotel. (That is, I left the plugs, I don't mean I left the band members at the hotel.) It turned out that PT themselves played at a sensible volume,but the support act, the inappropriately named Sleep Parade, certainly made me wish I had remembered to bring the things.

The next occasion I had to use earplugs was a concert by Midnight Juggernauts. Being an indoor enclosed venue, the sound built up to quite a high level and I decided very early to insert the earplugs. My first reaction was yes, the music sounded different. I'm not convinced it sounded better or worse, though, and after a few minutes I found myself enjoying it just as much and almost forgot I was wearing earplugs.

The thing is, what you think of as the "raw" sound produced from the band is in fact modified by all sorts of effects by the time it gets to your ears: reflections and absorption from walls, ceilings, furnishings, and people. Moreover different frequencies are affected differently. Someone at one point in the hall is going to get more bass for a given amount of treble than someone standing elsewhere. The plugs are just another modification.

[the winter tree]

I think many sound men are going deaf. I saw the Waterboys back in 2007 in Seattle at a theater. They were WAYYYYY too loud. When they did "The Stolen Child", a very laid back piece with recitations, Mike Scott's voice was so loud it was distorting, even during the spoken word parts.

One of the best sounding shows I ever went to in a hockey arena/civic center type place was Supertramp at the Springfield MA Civic Center-BREAKFAST IN AMERICA tour. Frank Zappa also sounded fantastic there on his final tour. He only had 2 relatively small full range cabinets on each side and it sounded great. Many acts would bring mountains of PA stacks in their. It's not a huge arena.

Worst concert sound: RUSH at the Cape Cod Colliseum 1980. I'm a musician and knew their music well and there were certain points where I couldn't even tell which song they were playing. The acoustics were horrendous and they were way too loud. I'm sure they were actually playing well...

[Blah_Blah_Woof_Woof]

Bill Graham Presents used to offer disposable earplugs at their shows in the San Fran Bay Area.

Pete Townsend has said that it's the headphone abuse in the studio that caused more hearing loss than on stage.

[Blah_Blah_Woof_Woof]

Loudest shows I attended were in the 70's- Johnny Winter and King Crimson

[bob_32_116]

Loudest shows I attended were in the 70's- Johnny Winter and King Crimson

Louder than Disaster Area?

Disaster Area was a plutonium rock band from the Gagrakacka Mind Zones and was generally regarded as not only the loudest rock band in the Galaxy, but also as being the loudest noise of any kind at all. Regular concert goers judged that the best sound balance was usually to be heard from within large concrete bunkers some thirty-seven miles away from the stage, whilst the musicians themselves played their instruments by remote control from within a heavily insulated spaceship which stayed in orbit around the planet - or more frequently around a completely different planet.

(Douglas Adams - the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

[Zeuhlmate]

I heard Johnny Winter And live in Copenhagen in 1971, and I have never ever attended a concert as loud as that.
Horrible and meaningsless!

[ronmac]

Yep, Johnny has always been very loud. I recall an interview many, many years ago in, I think, Creem. When asked what he set his amps at, he replied that he set everything at 11.

[Kim Olesen]

I always bring a set of reasonably good earplugs to concerts. If the volume gets so loud my already damaged ears begin to distort i can bring the level down instead of having to leave.

[battema]

I'd go further than that. If the sound is going to be above a certain volume, they should be required by law to have a notice to that effect when advertising the concert. People going to a rock concert probably should take along some basic earplugs anyway, just in case they need them.

I think the value of high-tech expensive earplugs is debatable. From a health point of view, the important thing is whether the decibel level is sufficiently lowered. From a musical appreciation point of view, unless you are a sound engineer it's probably not that important that the level is reduced in a precisely linear fashion.

As a musician, especially when performing live it can be really helpful to have plugs that don't filter too much at either end of the spectrum. I'd also say though, that as long as you are familiar with how the plugs shape the sound, its all good.

[Yanks2014]

I use those super cheap ones you can find in stores like Walgreens, the simple foam ones. They reduce just enough noise to prevent my ears from ringing, and after a few minutes, I can't even feel them in my ears. Works for me, and I'd never go to a concert without them. OK, the recent Pat Metheny I didn't wear them, and that show wasn't too loud. But for any rock show it's a must. I'm amazed how many people I see at shows who use no ear protection. If you really enjoy music, why not do what you can to not damage your hearing? The times of having my ears ring for a days is over, it's so not worth the risk.