Ever had ringing in your ears after playing? Think that most bands you see live are too loud? Think your guitarist is an evil volume monger? Are your drummer's cymbals causing you to lose sleep? Is the bassist attempting to modify the tides? Read on!

One musician's tips on how to make your ears last a lifetime....

I didn't believe it till I tried it myself and now I wonder why I didn't make the $150 gamble years ago!

Turning down: the win-win benefits of lower stage volume

Second, for rock bands this is essential--force everyone to point their amp(s) at their head. Everyone likes to hear more of themselves than it appropriate in an overall mix. Let the directionality of speakers do this naturally--if the speaker is pointed at their head, they will hear the most of themselves without punishing others. The most common problem I've encountered are guitarists with open-backed 2x12 combos sitting on the floor at their feet near the wall, cranking up so they can get enough refelected sound to their own ears, meanwhile the poor guy 20 feet from the guitar amp in front is getting pummeled with the meat of the guitar amp's dispersion pattern, and the drummer is bleeding from all the back waves conducting along the wall behind him. Likewise, with a bassist who stands too close to his amp not realizing that the meat of the sound field from a low frequency cabinet is 8 or more feet in front of the cabinet.

Third, don't get involved in volume wars. "More monitor" is not always the answer, and perhaps "Guys, let's all back off a tad" is. The band will be tighter if you can groove at low volumes, your crowd won't be pummeled with a wall of sound, and you'll stay farther from the threshold of feedback on stage. Realize that as the night wears on, your ears get more and more saturated and you won't seem as loud to yourself. Alcoholic beverages enhance this effect by dilating the capilaries in your ears and reducing your ears' sensitivity. Knowing this, try to resist the urge to turn up in sets 2 and 3.

Fourth, think about your amp the correct way--as a means to produce "your sound" that's just loud enough for you to hear, and let the PA/monitor system do the rest. You don't need a monster amp(s) -- put that money in a reasonable PA system. The sound guys need to have some control over your sound, and that's not possible if your stage volume is so loud that you're turned off in the main mix. If you need more for the house, mic it and your adequate PA system will do its job of sound reinforcement. In the disturbing event you need more volume on the stage, you can always have the engineer throw even more guitar back at you through your monitors. I've seen basists play outdoor festivals with a single 4x10 cabinet and a Shure in-ear-monitor, and I've played with guitarists who do every gig with a single little 30W 1x12 tube amp driven into pleasant warm output distortion (and I didn't need any monitor to hear him on stage either!).

"What if I can't get the stage volume down to safe levels?"

Then, earplugs are the only answer. But, the key is to use just as much earplug as you need, but not too much--your audience is largely unprotected, and you don't want to pummel them if you wear plugs that attenuate so much that you feel the urge to give the volume knob a goose!

Non-custom, low-cost earplug options

If you don't sing and aren't picky about what you hear while you play, foam plugs may be a good low cost answer. They're very effective in reducing SPL hitting your eardrum, and they're very easy to find at most drug stores, however foam plugs involve a lot of tradeoffs in fidelity as they squash midrange and treble very effectively. Also, they are so good at reducing sound that you may find yourself turning up in response to wearing them which starts to defeat the purpose for yourself, and puts everyone around you at further risk.

"But I've hated every ear plug I've ever tried."

• "When my [guitarist/drummer/bassist] puts in foam plugs, he then turns up/hits hard enough to kill small farm animals so he can hear himself. What's the point?"
• "Foam plugs look pretty stupid when I'm playing live"
• "I can't hear any treble or midrange with foam plugs--I can't sing with them."
• "The foam plugs are a pain to fit in properly."
• "Regular plugs kill the sound completely."
• "I hear this weird pumping of the bass with the plugs"
• "I don't like the look of a thick stalk sticking out of my ear."

Treat yourself to the wonders of custom plugs!

Sound-wise, physics limits what a non-custom plug can do. Without a deep ear mold, providing smooth, natural response is essentially impossible. Looks wise, many off-the-shelf earplugs are designed for industrial use where a supervisor needs to verify that their workers are wearing protective equipment. As such, they tend to come in rather noticeable prominent colors such as neon yellow, or neon orange. Note that flesh colored foam plugs are available, but they still project outside the ear and are noticeable from a distance.

Custom molded "musicians' earplugs," by Etymotic Research however, are available from many local audiologists for a modest cost of $150 or less. They provide solid protection, sound great, and are very discreet.

These plugs are custom molded by an audiologist (a short visit to take the mold is all that's required) to the exact contours of your ear and ear canal. The result is a very discrete plug that is nearly undetectable even from close distances. The musicians' plugs also feature very flat frequency response such that speech is still extremely intelligible. The overall volume level is simply reduced.

You'll start using them when you're playing, but you'll discover that you like them so much that you'll wear them to live music shows and still be able to talk to people, and not worry what they look like since they're unnoticeable. You'll take them on airline trips and other places where your ears have bothered you.

"Ok, I'm sold. Who makes these things?"

Most audiologists (check the yellowpages) can take the molds and send them to one the two major manufacturers of custom molded plugs--Etymotic Research and Westone Laboratories. Both manufacturers have "dealer locators" on their sites.

I use Etymotic Research custom molded musician's plugs purchased from my local Sonus audiologist in Elk Grove Village, IL. They deal with Etymotic products. Westone Laboratories manufactures a wide array of different plugs including a hefty 36dB custom molded sound-killer plug, and a variety of other models with varying ranges of attenuation and speech intelligibility. Westone style #49 is nearly identical to Etymotic Research's ER-9/15/25 series of musician's earplugs.

"So many choices--what should I get?"

"What's the process like?"

Then the audiologist injects a special low-expanding mold foam into your ear. If your ear canals are curvy and or sensitive, you may experience a bit of pain as the foam goes in. The pressure change may induce a cough reflex. The audiologist will let the mold cure for about 10 minutes during which time you'll be amused at how little you can hear. I dragged a bandmate along to get plugs for him too (and we negotiated a 10% discount on the plugs by promising the audiologist 2 customers instead of one)...and I'm sure we were talking quite loud as the mold cured. The audiologist may encourage you to move your mouth and/or chew to ensure a comfortable fit from the mold.

The mold will be removed and sent off to an offsite lab based on your requests of mold material, color, and countersinking options. In a week or so, you'll have a followup visit with the audiologist to pick up your plugs and check the fit/comfort. You will want to lubricate the plug with saliva or some special ear plug lubricant the first couple times of inserting them. Your ear canal skin should quickly get used to the plugs, though. I haven't needed to use the lubricant or saliva after the 3rd time I used my plugs. Your audiologist may offer a 30 day return policy to have the plugs remolded if for some reason the comfort and performance isn't what you expect. I had no problems.

Summary

Thankfully, I have no hearing loss and retain above-average accuity, I can't believe I settled for foam plugs or bare ears so long before going custom. For the price (less than a single effects pedal), there's no better musical investment you can make to enhance your enjoyment of live music while helping ensure that your ears grow gracefully old with you.

--
Todd H
Drummer, Bassist, Engineer

(who has no affiliation with any of the vendors mentioned on this page other than "happy customer of Etymotic and Sonus")