 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: CMW
Date: 2022-02-19 04:23
I am experiencing permanent ringing in my ears now which comes from about 40 years of playing in large ensembles. I'm trying out lots of different forms of hearing protection, but none of them are very good for oboe playing. I tried the Entymotic, Earos and Earasers. They were all very good at reducing the decibel levels, but they all distorted the sound of my own instrument so much that I wanted to give up on them.
When I wore the plugs, I heard my own oboe much louder in proportion to the rest of the ensemble, but I kind of expected that. What I didn't expect was how my perception of the timbre of my instrument would be distorted - all I heard was the raspy reedy sound, and not the full rich sound that was actually being generated by my horn. It was really unnerving, and made it super difficult to "blend" my sound during the quiet parts.
I'm thinking about visiting an audiologist, but it's going to be tough to describe exactly what my needs are, since the doctor will likely not be a musician. I don't want to spend a ton of money on custom ear plugs that are "specially designed for musicians" (i.e. drummers and guitar players).
Have any oboists on this board had any luck with hearing protection that does NOT alter the perceived sound of your own instrument?
Thanks,
Christine
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2022-02-19 19:32
I'm not sure there is a good solution to this problem. I've tried getting the pricey ear plugs from an audiologist, but they have about the same drawbacks as the commercial ones you mention. They all reduce hearing through the air but that leaves the sound travelling through your internal bone and ear structures much more prominent, leading to the distortions you're finding in timbre, balance and, in my experience, pitch.
Depending on what kind of ensembles you're playing in, if they're all acoustic, you might be able to negotiate plastic (Plexiglass or similar) baffles between you and the trumpets and other loud instruments. If there are a lot of electronic or electronically amplified instruments, they should be surrounded by baffles or their speakers should be out in front of the ensemble so the audience suffers instead of the musicians on stage.
You probably should get an evaluation from an Ear-Nose-Throat doctor anyway, if you haven't already. Ringing in your ears (tinnitus) can come from other causes than exposure to loud sound. A lot of mine (unfortunately not all) went away when I stopped taking NSAIDS after I had both hips replaced. There are many medications that can cause tinnitus.
Karl
Karl
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Author: Hotboy
Date: 2022-02-24 19:28
I did not have the same problems that kdk had. I found that my fitted ear plugs from an audiologist attenuated the decibel level significantly.
I could hear the orchestral balance very well, even though the occlusion from the plugs did make it seem like my sound was more pronounced. However, I found that easy to get used to, and sometimes I even removed one plug when playing a solo or softer passage that required delicate balance.
In my current orchestra, I play a lot of English Horn and sit in front of the trombones, so I use a foam earplug only in my left ear and only partway in, and that attenuates the trombone volume quite well and I hear the balance normally with my other ear.
Dane
Bay Area, California
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2022-03-06 19:01
Hotboy wrote:
> I did not have the same problems that kdk had. I found that my
> fitted ear plugs from an audiologist attenuated the decibel
> level significantly.
>
> I could hear the orchestral balance very well, even though the
> occlusion from the plugs did make it seem like my sound was
> more pronounced. However, I found that easy to get used to...
Yes, the audiologist's earplugs work well in damping the ambient sound of the orchestra around me without blocking it. But the change in relative balance of my own sound in my own ears ("my sound was more pronounced," as you say) was, I guess, less easy to get used to for me, and I found that it changed my perception of my own pitch, I suppose because of some difference in conductivity between bone/internal soft tissue and air. That I only use earplugs when the sound level around me is intolerable means, I guess, that I don't get enough chance to get used to the differences. Blocking or damping one ear results, for me, in hearing dueling pitch levels coming from my own instrument.
Far better is a conductor who won't let brass players blast and doesn't let amplified instruments crank up their levels to completely dominate the hall. Then, the only time I'd need earplugs would be for occasional performances of 1812 Overture that use real cannonfire.
Karl
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Author: EaubeauHorn
Date: 2022-04-23 23:01
I have used custom musician's ear plugs for at least 20 years; at first the "head noise" from them caused me distress but I got used to it and realized that "my tone is my tone" and I was sounding ok. This was and is on the (French) horn, where unless one is sitting at the far left, a bell is aimed directly into your left ear. And where I sit, the timpani is blasting into my right ear. Without those ear plugs I'm pretty sure I'd have lost hearing. Intonation can still be heard fine. I think you need to just get used to the head noise and learn to play confidently with ear plugs in. I got the custom ones because others are *always* painful for me after even a short period of time. I got the 15dB reduction. I think they are Westones, but also think that company's product has gone down in quality considerably since I bought mine, although I can still get attenuators that fit my plugs.
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