Klarinet Archive - Posting 000436.txt from 1995/06

From: SCOTT MCCHESNEY <scmcchesney@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Coping with high volume from other band players
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 1995 09:43:09 -0400

>I have been having some problems recently with the volume level from brass
>players imediately behind me in musical bands and orchestras. After doing
>a show recently I had a ringing in one ear for two weeks. The next show I
>did, there was a trumpet about a foot from my head who persisted in
>blasting out several high notes in my ears.

I used to work in a music store, and we constantly had these kinds of
complaints. It either came from brass players playing right in your ear to
being given the unfortunate seat in front of the percussionist. The ringing
lasts forever, and one of the guys I worked with actually lost some of his
high-end hearing because of his seat - in front of the drummer. He wasn't a
loud drummer, but simply all those years of being in front of the cymbal
crashes built up. They don't have to be loud if you're there long enough.

>Has anyone had any success with baffles, plugs, muffs, hints to other
>players, etc. ? I believe the Sydney Symphony experimented with seat mounted
>sound deadeners. I really value my band and orchestra playing but I'm not
>prepared to risk my hearing for it.

I don't know what you can get in Australia, but here in the States we
have things called "Ear Protectors". We used to sell them at the store I
worked at. They are basically ear "filters" - they cut down the decibel level
that enters your ear, but they don't cut out any sounds like ear plugs, so you
can still hear things - as well as hear yourself - in proper balance. They
came in different "decibel levels", ranging from 6 db of reduction to 15 db.
It doesn't sound like much, but it can make a big difference!
The really nice thing is that they aren't "plugs", which block the
sound and make you sound really funny because you hear the vibrations in your
head more than what comes out of the instrument. Balance becomes a severe
problem when all you can hearis yourself reverberating in your head! These,
OTOH, simply cut down the db level to your ear. How they work, and how
effective they really are, I don't know, though all the people I've known who
use them think they're great. They swear that these little things - which look
like long ear plugs with little "fins" on them - saved their hearing. I was
never stuck by the brass players (Clarinet and Piano player), so I never had to
worry about it.

-- Scott

   
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