Musicians rock. They bring so much joy to our lives with their performances. But music is so much more powerful when it’s loud, and that can be a hearing hazard. The musicians themselves are at an even greater risk of hearing damage since they are subjected to loud music nearly every day.
Whether your livelihood relies on music or not, you’ll still want to be able to hear your favorite songs when you’re in your later years of life. For musicians, preserving their hearing is the key to a lengthy and successful career. For the rest of us, hearing protection is the secret to a lifetime of musical fulfillment and enrichment.
Oftentimes it can be surprising how loud music can get
If you ask most individuals whether a jet engine is loud, they’ll likely say yes.
Is music really that loud? If you ask someone whether an acoustic guitar or a lone violin is noisy, they may not answer right away. Imagine their surprise when they discover the reality: that music is certainly loud! Your ears can even be harmed by classical music which can get to relatively loud volumes.
A violin, for instance, can create sounds in excess of 90 dB. A leaf blower is about this noisy. To put that into context, the European Union laws dictate that any work environment louder than 85 dB calls for the use of hearing protection.
And your hearing can be seriously compromised over time if you’re working with music every day, particularly if you don’t wear hearing protection.
Can you protect your ears from noise damage?
Okay, now you’re aware that musicians need to safeguard their hearing (especially if they want to go on rocking out for many years). So what can musicians do to safeguard their ears and still take pleasure in the music they love so much?
Here are a couple of strategies:
- Take breaks: Your ears are like any other part of your body: they can be overworked and will often benefit from a break. So take regular breaks from the noise. This will help prevent your ears from getting overwhelmed with noise (and damage). With regard to hearing, how long you’re exposed is nearly as important as how loud it is. Taking breaks can be the difference between just the right amount of stimulation and too much!
- Track your volume: Knowledge is power, right? So knowing volume levels of sounds around you will help you protect your hearing. Sometimes, this is as simple as keeping track of your volume settings on amps and receivers. But you can also purchase a decibel meter app for your cellphone to make it easy to track the real-world volume levels your ears are experiencing from day-to-day. You will need to make some changes if the meter consistently reads louder than 85 dB.
hearing protection is important
Of course, the single most effective thing you can do to safeguard your hearing is simple: wearing ear protection of some kind. Many musicians are hesitant to wear hearing protection because they’re worried it will effect the quality of sound they hear, in addition to muting the volume. That isn’t always true, depending on which kind of hearing protection you choose.
- Ear plugs made primarily for musicians: Most individuals are probably familiar with disposable ear plugs. They don’t always fit well, but they do reliably block a lot of sound. They aren’t hard to find, aren’t expensive, and can be disposed of easily. And they aren’t ideal for musicians. However, by spending just a little more money, you can purchase high-quality earplugs made chiefly for musicians. A specialized material and modern engineering are utilized to help these earplugs fit snuggly in the ear and reduce external noise by about 20% while preserving the audio clarity. This solution is perfect for musicians who require a light to moderate level of protection (and who don’t have a ton of money to invest in earplugs, or are likely to misplace them).
- Electronic earplugs: Electronic earplugs function in basically the same way as high-quality, non-electronic earplugs. The earplug itself will block out most of the sound. But the earplug itself will pipe in the sound you hear. This solution is perfect for individuals who work in particularly loud environments, and who are looking for more options when it comes to controlling volume.
- In-ear monitors: Electronics are a significant part of modern music. A device, known as an in-ear-monitor, is put inside of your ear and passes signals in electronically. Most monitors are small speakers that fit snugly and block out most sound while playing sounds you want to hear at safe volumes. So you control the volume level and can hear sound accurately and clearly. For musicians who electronically amplify their instruments these in-ear-monitors are the perfect solution.
Protect your hearing, and protect your career
It’s best to begin protecting your hearing early, before any significant damage occurs. Everybody can protect their hearing and future with hearing protection options at all price points. Remember, ear protection for a musician is an investment in your career. By doing so, you will be able to enjoy creating music for as long as you want to.
Don’t really know where to start? Contact us today, we can help!