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.

Remember when configuring your setup – start with the drum throne, then build out from there… Snare, Bass, Pedals, Hats, and so on.

Adam Silverman just did a write up on his approach to drum set setup -

For me personally, I sit really high on my seat, almost as high as it goes. That allows my legs to hang free below me, so when I am doing my fast bass drum grooves and using double bass I don’t have the stress on those hip flexors. If I sit too low I get this burning in my upper hip, and I feel like I can’t move my legs at all, so that’s why I sit so high.

So stop straining yourself and make a contribution to your health as a drummer.  Take a jump over to adamdrums.com and read his post on Drumset Setup.

Do you have any tricks or tips you use for setting up your kit?  Please share them in the comments below.

It comes from years of playing. I can’t even hold the sticks properly without it being painful, I even used to tape the sticks to my hands to get through.

The article made me think more about how drummers don’t tend to think about their health and how important it really is to their craft.

 I read an article a while back about Morgan Rose (sevendust) blowing out an eardrum from an in ear monitor.  In this article he talks about blowing out his ear drums and worrying about his health, but that it also might be too late for the damage that has already been caused.

My friend Kent Aberle wrote about his turn from the nacho supreme to working out and eating right on his website.

The closest I have come to what would be an earth shattering injury happened at a rehearsal the night before a CD release show.  We were running through the set list and were just about to the end when BAM! A shot of pain ran up from my wrist to my elbow.  I fought the rest of the way through the song, but it was extremely painful.

When we finished, the piano player asked me if I was ok because judging by the look I made he thought I had broken something.

Luckily, I had just hyper extended my wrist so after wearing a brace for the next 24 hours I was ready to play at the CD release show and all went well.  But, it was the initial worry that was the scariest.  Will I ever be able to play drums again?  Will I need to go to many hours of therapy to get this fixed?  What the hell just happened to my wrist!?!?!

All of this could have been prevented with some simple stretching.

Do you have a routine of warm ups and stretches that you use?  Post your suggestions in the comments and I may use them in a later post that talks about warming up your wrists and arms.