Ear Bleeding Concert Volume - Latest Disaster, GBV at White Eagle Hall in NJ

Damn - I thought I was being clever when I started to use one of those pill cases for my earplugs! I didn't know I was just a DeVoe wannabe!

My plugs came in a plastic carrying case but it broke, so I had to get creative. Well, I thought it was creative!

I also have my plugs with me everywhere - saves me the effort of having to remember to bring the plugs, and they've come in handy at the occasional too loud movie.

Only issue has been when I've gone to a show and didn't have my keys with me - doesn't happen often, but it's happened a few times...

 

Agree. Even if you don't worry about hearing damage, the music simply sounds much better when you wear a good pair of plugs.

I think most people believe plugs deaden the sound - and the cheap foam ones from drug stores do. Those are awful.

But a nice pair of plugs make everything sound better. I'll occasionally pop them out during a show to scratch my ear, and it always stuns me how shrill and awful the music sounds without the plugs!

 

Bad mixes become an issue too.

I saw kd lang a few weeks back, and the sound should've been perfect. She played the Strathmore, a really nice venue, and musically, it sounded great.

Except for the vocals. For reasons unknown, kd's vocals were waaaaay too loud in the mix - they tended to sound "tinny" and overwhelmed everything else.

This was a rare show that I actually didn't think I'd need to wear my plugs. The opening act was an instrumental duo, and the volume was low enough that I didn't need the ear protection.

I thought that'd remain the case for kd - and it would've if the vocals hadn't been so loud. I went through 3 songs "unprotected" but eventually put in the plugs because the vocals hurt my ears!

 

I got some good mileage out of my earplugs at Ty Segall last night. I actually might try out the Etymotics. The plugs I have are okay, but I do have a bit of trouble getting a perfect seal without any leakage. Then again, I think I just have weird shaped ears. I’ve never been able to find a pair of earbuds that quite fit me either.

 

When I get a few hundred dollars ahead, I'm going to have some custom Etymotics "Musician's plugs" made. The regular large ones work most of the time, but I still wish for a more solid fit.

 

I've thought about getting custom plugs but a) I'm afraid I'll lose them and b) I'm not sure how much difference they'd make...

 

I saw a demo of a technology where they can now make custom plugs without casting - they use a laser positional scanner and a 3D printer. If that combination brings the cost down to less than $100, I'm all over that.

The main reason I want custom molds is to convert my venerable Etymotics ER-4s into in-ear monitors. I love them, but it's always been tricky getting the seal perfect to get the bass I know they can deliver.

 

I tend to agree with you. Back in the 70s and 80s, apart from some very young children who obviously had responsible parents, with an understanding of the dangers of loud music, you saw very few people wearing ear protection. By the 90s, it was becoming more common.

In my band, one person out of five started wearing ear plugs, a few years down the line. As I sit in a quiet room, typing this with a constant whistling in my left ear, I really wish that person had been me.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my tinnitus started 10 years after stopping playing and watching bands when I wasn't playing. In 30 years of listening to pub bands, the only adult I've known to wear plugs, was one of my bands guitarist. Even though my band purposely didn't play loud, sitting on a drum throne a few feet away from an open backed Mesa Boogie, probably exposed me more than I realised.

Apart from when I was really young, and thought loud bands were big and clever, the concert being excessively loud has never improved the experience, and frequently made it considerably worse. In later years, instead of taking prime location to watch the band, I would aim for a quieter location.

Do the promoters want lost drinks revenue from people leaving early? Do bands enjoy the number of empty spaces increasing throughout the gig?

However stupid and the potential hearing damaging these concerts are; is there a health warning on the tickets? I wish I had taken control and protected my hearing.

If I had taken to wearing plugs, many of the gigs would have been a far more enjoyable experience, my ear wouldn't be ringing now, and for relevance particularly to people in this forum, having my hearing returned to it's pre-tinnitus state, would be simply be the best sonic upgrade ever!

Dishonourable mention goes to the support act for Bob Mould's Sugar, however good or bad you were, the volume and sound ruined 100's of concert goers night, and possibly their hearing.....

 

Just saw a concert, The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band at Reggie's Rock Club in Chicago, and when I pulled out the sound meter app on my phone, the band was ticking along at 86 db. Not excessive at all.

By comparison, the drunk people at the next booth at the White Castle are peaking at 84.6 db.

 

Arguably among the WORST venues for a live show - sight lines and sound - in the entire world. There is absolutely nothing positive about Terminal 5.

 

I carry ear plugs in a case on my key chain everywhere I go. Not just for concerts, but movies and other events as well. I had to put them in when I saw A Star Is Born this past year: the sound mix in my local theatre was deafening. I want to be able to hear well into old age.

 

On a related note;
Sports arenas have become one of the biggest offenders for over the top loud PA in the last decade or so.
I'm an audio engineer so I take care with my hearing and what I get exposed to anymore.
The app on my phone measures DB levels peaking at 101 -103 all the time at these events, the music over the PA usually being louder than the crowds cheers which are extremely loud.
These sports events have gotten louder and louder and more sustained over the last several years.
The culture in Basketball arenas (Pro and College) is now "who has the loudest arena?"
It's a competition.
All lot of arenas are doing everything they can to make the crowd louder and the PA even louder than that.
I've seen venues that have mics picking up the crowd and re-piping the crowd noise back into the PA and blasting it out to make the crowd louder than it really is.
It's really out of control.
Many of the broadcast television crew I work with are complaining about not being able to hear the director anymore even with double muff headsets on.
Many of them have also told me they have significant hearing damage from having to turn up the volume louder and louder to hear the director in their headsets over the PA and crowd.
It's a real problem with their occupation.
I have also seen folks bringing newborn babys to these events with no hearing protection!.....I will always warn them that the child should never be exposed to these sound pressure levels that young, they seem completely clueless about this danger.

 

Yeah, me too. I used to shoot at rock concerts/festivals with some metal thrown in (Slipknot, Rob Zombie, etc.) but now I just shoot a local blues festival only. Lately, the promoter had been adding more blues/rock (Foghat, Wishbone Ash, Yardbirds), so I just keep them during the performances. Last year, Ana Popovuc had two Horn players whuchbmade her show louder than usual. Being up in front of the speakers, you can feel the sound.