Playing with earplugs

[samulirask]

I just wanted to ask opinions about playing with earplugs. I have played with them every now and then, but it has never felt too comfortable - although I´ve been using custom made musicians earplugs.

I ask this now because I feel that my ears won´t last until I´m retired - which should be something like 30 years from today. So, is brass (tuba) playing possible with earplugs?

[Navytubaman]

I have used Ear Plugs for many years, both the foam squishy kind and the custom molded ones.

In my opinion, it will NEVER feel as comfortable as playing in an ensemble without plugs.

As we all know, when you have a cold and are stuffed up it feels and sounds awful. Earplugs are similar to this feeling.

I do believe with practice and confidence in your personal pitch you can perform and function extremely well with ear plugs. Just like you have to get used to sounding different when you find yourself in a room you have not played in before, the ear plugs throw off our self perception of our own sound.

Try recording with them in/out and you make the comparison. I believe you will find very little difference in your own sound if you trust in your abilities and you can certainly learn to "hear" others through the plugs.

Believe me, years of standing near canons going off, bass drummers, tympani, etc. I BELIEVE in ear plugs.

JKD

[jonesbrass]

Believe me, years of standing near canons going off, bass drummers, tympani, etc. I BELIEVE in ear plugs.

JKD

BOY can I sympathize with that. When I joined the army, my hearing was so good that I found problems with the hearing testing machine at the MEPS station. 4 years later, I had serious threshhold loss across the full spectrum (especially in my right ear), thanks in no small part to thousands of performances and rehearsals setting next to a drumset, and many performances of 1812 with a full compliment of howizers. And the band commander at that time didn't think we needed musician's earplugs. Somehow, the ones they issued us for the firing range just didn't cut it . . .

[samulirask]

Our band (a wind band, approx 30 players) has too little practice space (which often seems to be the case). I don´t know is it even possible to play soft enough in a too small room - especially when we play louder big bandish stuff.

I don´t know if I have lost any hearing (probably), but the problem for me is that during a last few years I´ve had this resonating sound in my ears when I hear certain tones, like euphoniums. I don´t notice it much during rehearsals, but it´s really annoying when I´m listening when someone plays. It´s really hard to enjoy brass recitals because of this.

I think that using earplugs is especially hard for the brass players, since the instruments sound actually comes from players lips. When you use earplugs, the lip sound is emphasized in a way that you only have to guess what comes out of the horn. I have no problems at all playing the bass guitar with any earplugs, you get used to them in 2 minutes. But the tuba playing is another story.

Still, maybe it´s just the best to swallow the fact that I HAVE to use earplugs. In a perfect world players wouldn´t have to do it, but in reality many of us do.

[tokuno]

I like these.

http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.aspx

They were 5 bucks on Amazon.

During our Christmas pageant, the director erected a glass shield in front of the trumpets, which bounced them right back at us. One of our trombones played the whole series with a set of etymotics. She sounded great to me - didn't seem to affect her intonation or tonal concept.

I prefer them to the disposable foamies. Less boomy, and if there's dropout of particular frequencies, I can't hear it. Just seems like someone turned down the volume.

They're great in movie theatres, too. Took my kids to see "Bolt", and wore them as an experiment. Really didn't notice they were in, and started wondering whether they were doing anything, so I popped one out. Holy moly. Huge difference. Popped it right back in.

[MaryAnn]

The big question is, did you supply ear plugs to your kids?

MA

[tokuno]

The big question is, did you supply ear plugs to your kids?

MA

Exactly. Although I was curious to try them, I had actually purchased them for my oldest, who has complained about movie theater volume, and who is easily distracted by ambient noise. He declined them, though, so I figured I might as well experiment on myself.
I'm thinking of picking up a few more pairs to stash in horn cases, at the office, car, etc., so they're always in reach, and although our avg attendance rate over the last ten years is < 1 theater movie per year, given my experience at "Bolt", I'm thinking my children might be sporting them at our next movie outing.

[samulirask]

I actually find that using the foam squshy ones helps with my accuracy and my efficiency. When they are in, it's REAL easy to tell if you have a good buzz going on or not. I look at it as a trade off. Sometimes I'll just do one ear if I really need to listen.

Today I played in a band practice with earplugs, and actually thought of something similar. While it´s hard to hear your actual SOUND, you still notice VERY WELL if you are playing out of time or not accurately, and if you are not buzzing well. Although it´s annoying, it might be a good thing in the end.

[lgb&dtuba]

These work well for me.

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/ ... sku=421214

[Carroll]

The big question is, did you supply ear plugs to your kids?

MA

YES! When my wife took our pre-teen daughter and friends to the Cheetah Girls concert (her first) I bought them all the cutest pink earplugs. I also insisted they take and wear them. I also bought some clear ones as an afterthought. The wife and friend mom loved the pink ones, but my little fashionista would only wear the clear ones. All of the moms and little girls around them asked to have some, too. Good thing I bought the 20 pack.

[scottw]

I wish I had the sense years ago to wear plugs, both in the music I play and listen to, and in the world of contracting, with the hammering, routers, saws, etc.Today I might not have to wear hearing aids to understand conversations! My ears got so bad that I bit the bullet about 6 years ago and saw the audiologist, who gave me the bad news of the damage I'd done to my ears over all the years of abuse.Plugs may be a little uncomfortable, but they are sure better than relying on hearing aids! Trust me on this.
The good news is that I can hear the music okay without them; the bad news is that, in order to hear the conductor, I need to wear them whenever I play. The biggest downside to this is that when there is a loud drummer next to me [and when is there NEVER a drummer next to me!!], the aids are programmed to cut out for an instant when there is a very loud, percussive sound nearby. So, I hear it cutting out--can be rather distracting until you get used to it!
Wear plugs!