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Post subject: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 1:55 am
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Just got home in the wee hours of a Sunday morning and my ears are ringing like they haven't rung in ages. It's been some time since I went out to a bar to see a loud 'n proud kick-ass rock 'n roll band but a buddy of mine from years ago texted me earlier this week that he was coming into my sleepy little town to play one of the local clubs so I had to go. It was a great night and it reminded me of how much I used to love playing that loud, crunchy, raucous, in-your-face rock 'n roll and it's given me a new sense of joy that I'm playing bass with some young whipper-snappers who love to crank their half stacks. I was already kind of secretly happy about it but now I'm openly happy. I can't wait until we've put together our 50 or so songs and we can get out there and rip it up. Playing blues and roots at softer levels has been a great experience for me these past years and I've grown as a player, particularly in the area of touch and emotive expressiveness but there's an adrenaline rush that I'd forgotten about when you say screw the neighbors and give 'er hell. I'm kinda tired now so I'm off to bed but I think I'll be firing up the Fandango tomorrow afternoon when I'm sure everyone is awake and let 'er rip.

I think I needed this. It feels like I was just in therapy.

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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 3:03 am
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BMW-KTM wrote:
Playing blues and roots at softer levels has been a great experience for me these past years and I've grown as a player, particularly in the area of touch and emotive expressiveness but there's an adrenaline rush that I'd forgotten about when you say screw the neighbors and give 'er hell.


I'm doing something quite similar at the moment - I've spent the last few years delving into jazz and blues, shedding all the extraneous musical junk and concentrating on feel and tone, trying to get right down to the pure core of my playing. A wonderful break from my roots of rock, and I learned a lot in the process, but I really was becoming quite aware that playing just wasn't as enjoyable as it was.

A couple of months ago, I did a stand in gig for a local band who lost their guitarist at short notice. Noisy, shameless rock with elongated widdly tasteless solos galore. Big pedalboard, loud amp, double locking trem, the works. You know what? I absolutely loved it. So much so that I'm now their permanent guitarist. I don't think I've felt quite so enthusiastic about the guitar for years!

Somewhere along the line, I somehow developed the idea that being technically accomplished at your instrument and putting on a really good fun show was something to be ashamed of. I think it started happening around the same time I started participating in internet music forums, actually, as that seems to be a very common view in some parts of the web.

I've had a huge gear selloff lately, too. The amount of 'boutique' gear I amassed during those zenlike years was rather disturbing. I even have a couple of Boss pedals back on my board now! :shock:

I'm expecting the Tone Police to know on the door and confiscate my back issues of 'Cork Sniffers Monthly' at any moment. :lol:


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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 5:44 am
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That ringing in your ears is due to auditory nerve damage. The medical name is tinnitus. You should avoid that as it isn't really a good thing but rather a sign of irreparable harm. I was in the same boat as you thinking it was just a side effect of "good and loud music" however it absolutely and definitely is a sign of damage that causes hearing loss. Sometimes the ringing doesn't go away either.

Pete Townshend has struggled with noise induced hearing loss and tinnitus more famously than most.

Let me tell you about a person I know who isn't quite as famous. Meg MacDonald started out as a DJ playing her headphones as loud as they would go. She sat on the front row close to the speakers at clubs because she liked it. Meg was one of the biggest music fans you ever saw. She quickly worked up to a news anchor job at WSOC-TV channel 9 in Charlotte, N.C. after graduation from U of Delaware. She had previously worked in Greensboro, NC doing TV news reporting before the WSOC anchor job. I got to know her while she was in Charlotte. From WSOC-TV Meg went to WCAU TV in Philadelphia and from there landed the anchor chair on American Journal, which was a nationally syndicated show based in New York City. She was only around 40 years old when she had to quit her anchor job because the years of loud music that she loved ultimately left her too hearing impaired to carry on her career. She was even having trouble hearing well enough to speak clearly on the air at times and hearing the director in the earpiece became impossible. In the 10 years or so since she had to quit, her hearing has gotten even worse and her speaking voice has become much more difficult to understand and she is now totally deaf in one ear. She always had a little Irish lilt to her voice but the difficulty in understanding what she is saying now is really more the hearing loss than the brogue. She can only understand what someone is saying if she can read their lips and she avoids long conversations with anyone because she tires quickly of reading lips. Her hearing loss is to the point where it impacts her balance. If in total darkness she loses her balance and falls down, so if she needs to navigate in the dark she instead crawls to keep from falling down. Her ears are in effect, broken. Hearing aids don't help much and none at all on the loss of balance issue. She also has had a cochlear implant. Yet, despite these high-tech medical advances Meg still can't hear well enough to function as a hearing person does. She now gardens at home and fortunately married well so she doesn't have to worry about money.

I too have some hearing loss from years of too loud music and some balance issues are creeping in. I'm somewhat lucky in that it isn't severe enough that I can't work. But my hearing isn't what it would be if I'd started wearing ear plugs at live music shows and turned down the headphones sooner. I do both now to prevent further damage. I learned my lesson from watching Meg's struggles and while she is a very pretty lady and always has been, watching what this has done to her has not been pretty at all.

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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 7:46 am
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Rock has always been as much about energy as music. I feel your joy - RAWK ON! *flashes metal horns*

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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:12 am
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spacewolf wrote:
Rock has always been as much about energy as music. I feel your joy - RAWK ON! *flashes metal horns*


Energy and hearing protection, as noted above. Block it before you rock it. :lol:

To be fair, none of the loudest bands I've ever played with have been rock - you have not heard onstage volume until you've been stood four feet away from an eight piece horn section for two hours. :shock:


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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:20 am
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I wear hearing protection when I play with my own band but I wasn't expecting my old friend's band to be that loud so I didn't take my plugs. Only one ear ringing now and the other is almost done.

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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:24 am
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ive got tinnitus.. from years of working around loud machinery, working in night clubs with very loud bands and also playing in my own band. once you got it youll know because it never goes away . take the advice above and wear the ear plugs..


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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:36 am
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BMW-KTM wrote:
I think I'll be firing up the Fandango tomorrow afternoon when I'm sure everyone is awake and let 'er rip.

I think I needed this. It feels like I was just in therapy.

+1

I know precisely what you are talking about. I always feel great during and after a great live show. I wish I didn't need to be reminded just how exhilarating such nights out really are, with work and life getting in the way.

As far as playing at home, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have a great amp around for the "screw everybody, I'm turning it up" moments.


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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:03 pm
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Whenever I see a live band these days I get the strongest kind of itch to get out gigging again.When I was gigging I had a reputation for playing loud,as I did it to be able to use controlled feedback,especially when doing Hendrix covers.Every band that I played in I didn't need to be mic-ed because of the uber-volumes that I played at.

I've been playing at home for the past few years and developed tinnitus about 7 years ago.I saw an E.N.T. specialist and an audiologist and when I got my hearing test I scored 100% in each year.The doctor told me that I should be able to hear grass grow as my hearing was exceptional and way beyond most people my age.I was amazed by that news because I had spent so many years playing 100+ W amps at near full power,yet I didn't do any damage whatsoever.

After playing at home since then I have been using mostly 15 W amps and at the moment I'm using a Vox Mini-3 amp as my around-the-house amp.I still long to be able to go out and blow the doors off a place like we used to do years ago,it just felt so good to "kick out the jams" playing in yer face classic rock at full tilt boogie volumes. I now protect my ears if things get loud when people come to jam by using Vater percussion earplugs,they have 2 different decibel level baffles which block a lot of the volume without blocking any frequencies.Once I get the old mitts back in working order again I'll certainly be looking for guys to form a classic rock band with.

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Post subject: Re: Ringing in the ears
Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:25 pm
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amx05462 wrote:
ive got tinnitus.. from years of working around loud machinery, working in night clubs with very loud bands and also playing in my own band. once you got it youll know because it never goes away . take the advice above and wear the ear plugs..

I also have this issue, same deal, working around loud machinery, and being in bands for 20 or so years. Wish I wore ear protection when I was younger. I have a constant high pitch ringing now, and need to have a loud fan or tv on to sleep. For me the more quiet it is, the louder i hear the ringing, and could never sleep without noise in the background.

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