I'm a drummer newbie and I just got my first kit today(WHOPEE YAY! ^_^ ^_^ ^_^). I practiced for 3 hours and now I'm close to vomiting now because it's so fucking LOUD! I didn't wear earplugs. I practiced on school kits before that and my teacher's kit and I never had this problem.

I spoke to a New Zealander on thursday who played drums for 4-5 years. He told me to get earmuffs because he's nearly deaf now.

My drum teacher lost a lot of his hearing, but now he uses custom made earplugs (they reduce 25 decibels(sp?)) and he wears earmuffs that remove just as much sound.

So, I'm wondering... About how careful are you with your hearing? I want to hear some gory warning stories too.

im not a drummer, so i dont have that issuesince guitars and amps come with volume knobs, but when i wnet to see slayer 3 years ago, it was one of the first gigs i ever went to, it was FUCKING loud, and i didnt have any kind of ear protection, concequently i couldnt hear properly for a week
i ve been to gigs without earplugs since and they werent as bad
these days i always have earplugs for concerts, maybe im just paranoid, but i think my ears are already going, as when its dead silent i get ringing in my ears (and im only 19 )

__________________

I have been playing for about 6 years, never worn earplugs and my hearing is fine, I think some people are more snesitive to the sound of drums than others but there is 2 ways to combat this, first buy ear plugs or the cheap option, learn to play soft, I cannot do 32nd ssrolls round the kit without playing loud, I envy Jazz drummers, because they can play fast as fuck, but softly, that takes great skill, something I havn't got alot of.....

you should use earplugs, i started using them whilst drumming because my mom made me. But its important. Also with band rehearsal and gigs.

__________________

Today a friend of mine came over with a guitar and industrial earplugs. 27 % volume reduction, just what I needed. I practiced all day today and I don't feel as sick as I did yesterday. My head still hurts very badly and I feel kinda sick. Maybe I should protect my sensitive hearing a little better.

I use those alpine earplugs but I was born half deaf, I don't want to lose what I got left.

I use nothing

__________________

tard

__________________

I have these huge headphone like earplugs. Their used by the people who wave the planes by and shit. They work well for drummers. But i usually just use normal foam earplugs when we play loud, same for concerts, the earplugs acually help clear up the sound too... exspoecially in arena's wear the sound bounces off the wall.

__________________

I've know a few drummers that never used hearing protection and all of them complain that their ears constantly ring with the sound of a cymbal crash.

Even small ear plugs will take the edge off loud music and that is enough to greatly reduce hearing damage. Drummers really need to use something. There are ear plugs made for musicians that make no difference to how the music sounds but greatly reduce the SPL ( sound pressure levels ) that causes hearing loss.

__________________

does that fender thing fit in your ass?

__________________

it'll murder your ears if it has to

__________________

Oooh, half assed flaming! Yeah, maybe he/she is being careless about his/her ears, but afterall, it's not your hearing that's going down the shitter.

While wearing ear plugs or ear phones the bacteria count in your ear multiplies by 700 every our. Ear infections galore.

yeah I probably should get hearing protection, but I can't afford it, spen all my money on an Axis Longboard double kick, bloody worth it though!!!!

The earplugs I have cost 4 AUD and they are made for light machinery operators. A friend of mine promised to get me some heavy machinery ear plugs from work.



YAY

what about cleaning your ears on a regular basis? Beats the shit out of being def when you're 30.

__________________

Still doesn't help. I landed an ear infection. It hurts like fuck and I can't play. I scrape my ears clean every day. There should be a happy medium!

when the infection's over buy new plugs (ofcourse), and clean your ears before and after you use em.

Or get those big headphone things BLS is talking about

__________________

id just use proper bid headphones that fit into the input of any guitar amp. if it isnt enough fill em with tissue paper [the phones off course]

also, have you ever seen those gian pillow that are like 50cm thick and a meter by a meter long? throw them around the rome. lik 3-4, and they absorb sound easy. my cousin has a doublekick set so he needs about 5.

i normally go with headphones with the pillows. im only 14 and my ears eternally ring from my loud music, so ive toned that down and i use all the protection now.
and i think they are getting better! maybe cos im young or sumtin

Same with headphones. If you have good hygene it wont matter.

__________________

When I work construction I wear ear plugs, but for concerts/guitar, I just suck it up. I'm sure I wil pay for that eventually though.

__________________

my ears used to ring a bit if I went hard on the cymbals for ages, but now I hit lighter (well sometimes....) and I don't get ringing when I do, as for double kicking, I don't really notice that it has much affect, besides I have noticed it is possible to go quite fast but not so loud with longboards, I think it might the greater sensitivity or something, but lets face it when should double kicking be quiet????

NEVER

After my first metal concert, my ears rang and buzzed on the word "s"(haha) for about 2-3 days. Minimal damage. It helps to have a larger head.

__________________

every time your ears ring, it signals permenant damage.
think about that.
i wear plugs when i jam loud.

__________________

No wonder why you have the name you do.. haha. Just messing but anyways. I don't wear ear plugs. I have an Aviom set up so I have those big head phones and have that clear wall in front of my set and with the head phones on it blocks out everything on the outside so it's like ear plugs. Without all that though I still don't wear nothing, it doesn't bother me since I am already bad at hearing. My dad can barely hear anymore and has a constant ringing in his ears but that was from guns and deep sea diving and some other things. If you don't have bad hearing already or even if you do then I recommend you get some right away. I need to find some that won't effect the music but will help your hearing like soulinsane was talking about.

__________________

Ive been playing for 5 years and ive used ear plugs only a couple times and my hearing is fine. But I probably should start wearing them I dont want to go def when im like 30. That would suck.

__________________