 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-08-06 04:52
Among the symphony players here, how prevalent is the use of earplugs during performances? I use them for rehearsals where there's less space than on the concert stage and the trumpets are sitting 3 feet from the back of my head. But I rarely use them in performance because we're more spread out and even my prescription plugs that are meant for the purpose cause too much distortion in what I hear of my own playing to be comfortable.
Who among you use them regularly and what kind of plugs do you use?
Karl
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2020-08-06 05:48
I use them sometimes in orchestra (though not as often as I should, sitting generally in front of the brass and percussion!). I do use earplugs almost always when playing in rock/R&B or jazz bands, as they can get awfully loud.
My favorites are made by Etymotic, the current version of which is EX-20XS.
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Author: hans
Date: 2020-08-07 00:02
I use custom moulded plugs that were suggested by my ENT doctor 15 years ago.
When I played sax and clarinet in a big band, with brass behind me, they were helpful. When the vocalist cranked up her amplifier to a painful level, they were indispensable.
I retired from the band 7 years ago but still find the plugs very useful when I'm cutting the grass, vacuuming the floors in my house, or staying at resorts that don't understand the dangers (including, I understand, potentially collapsed lungs) of very loud music.
At almost 75, I credit them with preserving my reasonably good hearing. They were a good investment.
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Author: Djudy
Date: 2020-08-07 00:17
I am privileged to be able to attend the concerts of The Orchestre National de Lyon (France) which plays in a wonderful venue hall, the Maurice Ravel Auditorium with a very wide and moderately deep (limited by the huge backstage organ) multi level stage. I quickly noticed that the seating in front of the trumpets - the clarinets, oboes, bassons - all have tall plexiglass shields behind their chairs. I do not know if they use earplugs as well but the shields look efficient.
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2020-08-07 11:14
As a former symphony player and present concert band principal clar. I have never heard of ear plugs used by players. Thanks for bringing this up. The trumpets can be loud (especially in a band), but never bothered me. Never had reason for ear plugs with the orchestra.
Do they prevent you from hearing everything as it is played?
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Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-08-07 12:53
Tom H wrote:
> Do they prevent you from hearing everything as it is played?
>
Well, good ones let you hear a measured percentage of the external sound around you. The trouble is, in my experience, they all shift the balance of what you hear of your own playing so that you hear much more through bone conduction, which at best distorts what you hear of your own sound and at worst changes your own perception of your pitch so adjusting intonation is hard.
I was actually motivated to ask about this as I watched a PBS video of the LA Philharmonic's 100th anniversary concert. The principal bassoonist was wearing earplugs quite openly on camera during the Infernal Dance of Firebird Suite. He was not wearing them later during the Berceuse - they were hanging from a cord draped over his neck.
Karl
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Author: Ken Lagace
Date: 2020-08-07 16:40
I never wore plugs in 26 years of sitting in front of trumpets and beside the percussion, and now wear a hearing aid. My audiologist, who works with Baltimore Symphony players, says clarinet players are very difficult to help, maybe because the even overtones are so important?
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2020-08-07 19:13
In high school, I played a lot of bass clarinet. For some reason many of the larger concert bands always placed the bass/alto clarinets in front of the trumpets. At that age, trumpet players found it funny to purposely blast. I am confident that the hearing loss I am now experiencing has some tie to those years sitting in front of large trumpet sections (likewise, spending years playing in jazz bands, directly in front of those same trumpet players.)
I've tried two different versions of the ear plugs (too late). However, I find they muddy the sound so much that I've had a very difficult time playing whilst wearing them. Would it have been different had I tried the earplugs prior to the hearing loss? Perhaps.
Fuzzy
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Author: marcia
Date: 2020-08-07 20:10
I have played in an amateur orchestra. In the rehearsal setting I was in front of the horn section. In the performance space things were shuffled around a bit and I was in front of the trumpet section. I would often were earplugs in that setting. Yes it does alter the sound but I decided that was better than risking some hearing loss. I have often thought that every trumpet player should be required to spend an entire rehearsal sitting in front of the rest of the section!
In one concert band setting the earplugs were useful when the piccolo player was on my left.
Marcia
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-08-07 20:56
marcia wrote:
> I have often thought that every
> trumpet player should be required to spend an entire rehearsal
> sitting in front of the rest of the section!
The trumpet players in my orchestras know full well how much pain they sometimes inflict, because they've actually been known to apologize to us in the row in front of them. But in a Mahler symphony, or a "big bands of the '40s" concert medley, when the music says ff (or more), they have to do it. Even good, well-controlled sound from a trumpet can be deadly 3 or 4 feet in front of it.
Karl
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2020-08-08 03:45
When I was Asst. Principal in our band, the principal player had a great comment when the trumpets and percussionists went nuts in our small rehearsal room. "Oh my God".
The Most Advanced Clarinet Book--
tomheimer.ampbk.com/ Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001315, Musicnotes product no. MB0000649.
Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
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Author: grenadilla428
Date: 2020-08-08 06:51
In rock bands with horn section, I always wear them.
In wind ensemble, I always wear them.
In pops orchestra, I almost always wear them.
In orchestra, I mark in my music wear to put them in, but spend much of the time with them out.
An audiologist once told me to protect my hearing because once it’s gone, it probably won’t come back. With as many musicians and directors I know who are over 50 and wear hearing aids (or should!), I believe her. ;-)
In rock bands and wind ensemble, I actually find them helpful in being able to hear myself! In orchestra, I use them for loud passages only. I want to be sure I can hear across the ensemble. In wind ensemble, I most immediatelyneed to hear the section around me. In rock bands, everything is blaring through stage wedges or coming in through in-ears.
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Author: sdr
Date: 2020-08-13 23:01
Important topic! I’d suggest you look at these two links:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/newsroom/feature/hearingloss.html
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/wp-solutions/2015-184/pdfs/2015-184.pdf
Besides my day job as an ear doc at Massachusetts Eye & Ear/Harvard Medical School, I also teach a Health & Wellness course for undergrads at Berklee College of Music. I ask them all to load a sound level meter app on their phones — my favorite is “Sound Level Meter Pro” from Mint Muse for $20 at the app store but there are plenty of less accurate ones for free. They are advised to start taking readings all over the place. In solo practice, ensemble practice, gigs, shows and concerts, restaurants, street corners, etc. to get familiar with the sound levels around them. Noise injury is a “dose effect” — the louder the sound, the less time it takes to cause harm. If the average exposure is 85dB, there is little risk of harm. At 90dB you are safe for about 8hrs. For every subsequent increase of 3dB you cut the safe exposure time in half: 4hrs at 93dB, 2hrs at 96dB, 1hr at 99dB, etc.
Check your sound exposure. If you have never done this, you are likely to be shocked and horrified.
-Steve
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Steven D. Rauch, MD
Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Research
Dept. of Otolaryngology
Harvard Medical School
Chief, Vestibular Division
Member, Otology Division
Otolaryngology Dept.
Mass Eye & Ear and Mass General Hosp
Boston, MA 02114
Tel: 617-573-3644
Email: steven_rauch@meei.harvard.edu
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-08-13 23:19
Thanks for the links and for pointing to the sound level meter.
Karl
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