When I first started playing percussion I never gave a thought to my hearing and how the loud noises would one day effect my ears. At the ripe old age of 24 I now can barely hear out of my left ear and have to ask people to repeat themselves more frequently then I would care to.
It wasn’t until a year ago when I became serious about protecting my hearing. Cheap throw away ear plugs are so cheap there really is no excuse to not use them. I used to wear earplugs while I was in drum line. I think think that this was mostly because, as a group, we all consented that this was a good idea. And since a group mentality seems to have more power then solitary though in may situations, I obliged and wore the earplugs at every performance and rehearsal.
However, in my personal life I was playing guitar for a four piece band and would always tend to neglect ear protection. This would sometimes result in nights where I would hear very low, digital sounding bass tones in my ears – making it very difficult to go to sleep. But, it never failed that at the next practice I would easily forget the pain I went through and again elect to not wear ear plugs.
Something that was discovered by my peers in drumline was that not only did the earplugs help protect your ears, they actually helped us to find mistakes. In drumline, the goal is to sound as one. The earplugs helped us to eliminate a lot of overhead noise and hear just the drums. It was so much easier to hear someone else who was out of sync with the rest of us, while at the same time keeping our ears safe.
Now, as an adult, I wear earplugs religiously at every practice. You can make up any excuse you want – I look silly with ear plugs, They are uncomfortable, I’m waiting to buy some super expensive drummer specific ear protection, etc.. All of these are nothing but excuses and the more you practice without earplugs, the more you are doing to end your career as a musician early.
So, if you aren’t wearing ear protection now – I encourage you to stop at a drugstore before your next rehearsal and pickup a cheap pack of disposable ear plugs and find out that wearing them really isn’t as bad as you think it might be.
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