Matt and Tom I have had the musicsafe plugs for some years now, and they are pretty good indeed. funny enough, I need them more in the intermissions when my band is not playing.. and the loud venue music starts playing
Matt and Tom, there is an old musician's trick for dirty earplugs involving ethanol. You simply drink the ethanol and you don't care in the slightest if the ear plugs are dirty or not. ;-)
oh, and yes, I do wear them during mixing. but I take them out occasionally to hear the real sound (and levels). and I keep a decibel meter running during our gigs
Brian fellow tinnitus person here, GET EAR PLUGS YOU DUMBFUCKS. I have tinnitus from birth but it’s been made worse by stupid things I’ve done. Like snapping myself with my swim team cap
Try this, Cup your hand over your ear and tap on the soft part of your hand a few times for about 30 seconds. Enjoy the silence you can use it as much as you need since it isn't permanent fix but can be up to 12 hours in my experience
I played a tuba in band class, and the teacher had us sitting in a formation in which the one speaker blasting music into the classroom was right behind my left ear. Like maybe 2 feet away. After one school year of playing tuba with the speaker 2 ft behind my ear, and one summer of ruined hearing that I thankfully eventually recovered from, I started bringing earplugs to band class. Listen to this video, guys. Save your hearing.
I have tinitus, have since I was little, I always wondered why other people seemed confused when I spoke about the 'sound of silence' being a high pitched 'EEEE'.
I remember having similar thoughts as a kid but keeping it to myself incase people thought I was crazy. I currently work in hearing research. It's a funny world :p
For some reason I only sometimes hear a high pitched noise when its silent. I am now for example. OK upon checking it seems that its normally caused by my headphones (there shouldn't be any sound coming out of them) or having my fingers over my ears. However if it is very quite I do get a slight noise (very quiet). Can pressure near the ears cause these perceived sounds?
"I once saw Justin Beiber in concert-" Matt tried to come up with a suitable insult. "- and you were there." Matt tries to work out how this betrayal has happened.
"There are instructions on the packet, if you don't fit them properly, then they're not doing their job properly, and they're not properly protecting you" -- This applies so well to other forms of PPE too.
I went to a rock concert last night and ended up crowdsurfing onto the stage (about 4 times) and in the 5 seconds I spent on stage I realised that it was actually quieter on stage than in the mosh pit
I've been performing gigs for close to fifteen years now and I've never realized the "The sound will be better with earplugs in because the sound engineer will be wearing them" thing until now. That's a really good point.
I'm working at an Airport, and you really don't know the "oh shit" moment when an aircraft with very, very loud engines is coming towards you, and you can't find your ear defenders. It is painfully loud.
I'm a both a sound engineer and DJ who funnily enough likes to go to live gigs as often as I can. I've used the Alpine plugs for many, many years. They are great buy and I believe have saved my hearing. They don't muffle the sound they just suppress the harmful frequencies. I truly do swear by them and I'm using the same pair I purchased over 12 years ago. It's not worth the risk and you wont be the only one wearing them, so there is no excuse.
i cant imagine caring more about peoples opinion than my ability to hear lmao. as you say just use earplugs theyre not a big deal but tinitus is a HUUUGE deal
As a music student I was the only person on my entire course to ever use earplugs. Everyone thought I was ridiculous for doing so. Half of them now have tinnitus. Custom moulded ear plugs was by far the best thing I spent part of my student loan on. Though they don't last forever, you're meant to get new ones every few years as your inner ear does change shape slightly as you age. 10 years later and the ones I got are still usable. Just not as great as a new pair would be.
@@Qyver I'd guess it doesn't matter. even with classical music, the instrument is still loud enough. 80dB is a modern vacuum cleaner with 800Watt. any musical number performed by a group is louder. and it's even louder for the person that actually has its ear right next to the instrument.
@@MeghanaUppala-Flute Hello from 3 years ago. If you watch the video they specifically mention brands of some of the cheaper types as well as helpfully link to them in the description
I had the squishy ones at a gig, when I got the sense to start wearing hearing protection, one time and the motivation (even if it was the 2nd best motivation) to keep wearing them at gigs was how much clearer the music was, rather than white noise above a certain level of intensity. I got the ones like Tom's as a package offer when buying through Ticketmaster online a few years ago. I wore them at a Slayer show in Dublin last year and the sound was amazing. Just as a comparison, I took them out briefly and was met with a wall of white noise, thudding bass drums and a booming rumble of bass guitar. So if people believe their hearing is invincible perhaps the clarity of the vocals and instruments can be used to motivate them to use earplugs.
7:40 I worked in metalwork for a few months and I was specifically taught how to put earbuds in. They work well for high pitched noises (Which is great for welding, drilling, using an angle grinder, ECT) but it lets the lower frequencies though. This is good because the alarm (For phone calls and breaks don't worry) is low and loud so we can still hear it.
... that weird moment when you watch two videos in two different channels on the same day and see the same commenter on both videos :D Edit: It makes sense now, we probably both watched Tom's Language videos which lead to RU-vid recommending NativLang for both of us and have been kind of following up with it ever since :D
RU-vid's comment algorithm puts slightly higher priority on comments posted by those who watch the same things as you. It's not just a coincidence. (fun fact)
Devin Pohl very interesting, and makes sense :) (side effect: It makes you kind of live in a virtual bubble. This same thing happens with Facebook News Feed and even Google Searches!)
they work well, if you don't care about the quality of sound that gets through. which you don't if you work in metalwork. there, their only purpose it to cancel out the high frequencies and let through the lower ones.
I wish people were told this more often and it was more usual for people to do. It took too many "ear wincing" events and gigs before I realised what damage was being done to my ears... And presumably those I was with as well.
2:00 Nice Churchill impression! (For those of you who don't know, Churchill is an insurance company here in the UK. The mascot is a bulldog called Churchill, and the slogan is "Oh, Yes!")
Only on my third watch of this video did I notice the clever editing when Matt tries to finish his thought: The X's and O were color coded depending on who interrupted him that time. Brilliant.
As a piccolo player, I have to wear professional ear plugs when playing because they're so loud and high pitched, it's bizarre because you can't hear the rest of the orchestra very well but 100% worth it because I've done gigs for years and noticed it going
I love my ear plugs. Those with the changeable filters are great for every day life, not just as hearing protection. I sometimes put the lowest ones in if I'm going to be somewhere busy like a shopping centre or a train during rush hour. They're great to take the edge off, but you can still understand what people are saying to you.
I guess I'm an old fart to complain, but crowds at concerts these days are way too noisy. I used to see 20 or more concerts a year in the 70's and 80's and back then people shut up after a song started. If anyone yelled during a song the crowd would turn on them (gotta love peer pressure). Now they all cheer for 30 seconds at the slightest thing. The bassist takes off his hat, big cheer. The guitarist throws a pic into the audience, big cheer. Good luck actually listening to a guitar solo. That and the loud sound are the main reasons I stopped going to anything bigger than a small club. I've already lost enough of my hearing as it is.
Small clubs aren't really better. I had the closest brush with tinnitus at a tiny club gig. Band was Rolo Tomassi (screaming math metal stuff), ceiling was really low and every surface reflected sound way too well.
strongly depends on the type of music you listen to and the band. I'm relatively young (25) and only went to two concerts so far. both from disturbed. Crowds were very respectful and silent. especially at the second concert where the band talked about some very heavy stuff (they talked about depression, suicide, drug abuse, etc.)
doing sound for a blues club in chicago i worked at, i was working by the foldback speaker, and one of the musicians dropped the mic right by it and i got full on 100% feedback in my earhole, (until the speaker protector lightbulb blew) i now and basically half deaf in one ear with wicked awful tinnitus. same club, we were pulling on one night about 115 db at the sound desk, (the club was basically empty and made of concrete) most nights were well over 95 all night 7 nights a week. so yeah hearing damage, tinnitus you name it.
I appreciated the discussion. I've used various types of ear plugs in the military both on the ground and in the air. Infantry and other ground forces used the foamies (or nothing) for decades. Only recently were the reusable ones introduced but they are uncomfortable. When in the cockpit we initially had the foamies (under our helmets) but eventually got the custom molded ones with integrated speakers so the intercom and radio could be heard clearly but the loud engines were muffled. Those type are a godsend. Sadly the changes were instituted later in my career those the constant (and occasionally deafening) tinnitus plus mild hearing loss. Thanks again for the information and entertainment.
As a fellow linguist, I am fascinated by the utterance "what should I get some god damn?" at about 30 seconds in. It sounds like it should violate an island constraint--that "what" shouldn't be able to move to the beginning of the phrase. And yet it does.
I've had tinnitus since a fast dodgeball to the ear in 5th grade, a sonic boom at a blue angels show in 2nd grade, and an exploding tire a few years ago. It's noisy when it isn't.
It wasn’t Matt that was out of time, Big Ben wasn’t paying attention to Matt’s amazing conducting skills! The musician should always follow the conductor!
They use some of the expensive headphones in motorsport such as Formula 1 for the drivers, to protect them from the sound of the engines, and also so that they can hear their team on the radio
Those probably have another feature, which is playing sounds that cancel out the incoming sound. So you can get a lot more noise reduction than just insulation would give you.
BlownTyre Im going to be 8 rows up from the track at the Daytona 500 (NASCAR) in February, and Im definitely making sure to have good hearing protection.
I'm going to be going to the British GP in July and I'm going to be taking some. I won't be too far away from the action, so you can never be too sure.
the best hearing protection I got was when I was in the army I had a set moulded to my ears there amazing you can still hear really well but they some how blocks the sounds that hurt your hearing
thanks guys, i never thought about the issue but i want to secure my hearing and as a college student i am exposed at parties etc a lot. I just ordered myself the cheapest alpine plugs and am really happy that you used this channel to not let us make the same mistakes the older people like you did.
This is my third time buying earplugs through the amazon affiliate link on this video. Least i can do since this video has probably saved my hearing haha
I remember working on a local Battle of the Bands for a couple of years. Myself, one of the older judges, and the sound engineer used to shake our heads at the younger staff who declined our offer of earplugs.
I'm always distressed by the number of people at metal concerts who seem to not be wearing earplugs. I desperately hope it's that they're all afficionados and so have the nice clear ones that fit tight and don't show, or else there are a lot of people in my area with severe hearing loss.
I have tinnitus and the volume of the ringing changes. Usually it is low enough that it doesn't bother me at all, but sometimes it will get so loud it will wake me up at night.
I use the foam ear plugs for practicing bagpipes because I don't want to go deaf but I tune before putting them in and am always surprised how different the bagpipes sound without earplugs. You got me thinking that I might want to invest in some better ear protection.
As someone who's starting to feel the effects of loud music over the years and have actually been looking into earbuds for gigs. I'm definately going to get a pair.
I do lighting and sound for events for a living. I always bring earplugs (unless I forgot them at home, in which case I usually regret it), and have since I got tinnitus in my right ear from the bad decision of another sound guy. I was fixing some speakers at an outdoor festival, found the problem and told the other guy I'd found the problem and to give me time to get out of the speaker enclosure. He blared pink noise with my head about 2" from the front of the speakers. I get asked all the time to turn the music up (usually due to noise such as crowd) and get asked all the time to turn it down (usually because it is rather loud). I also tell people to bring ear plugs all the time, and have given some to people in the crowd often enough.
Concerts I’ve been to have been at a volume level such that you could easily hear it if people talked, laughed or whatnot. But everybody respected the artist and music. Probably not normal, but lovely.
So interesting tidbit. The first time I ever mixed live audio I had a massive ear infection. I couldn't hear at all out of one ear, and the other was so muffled I could barely make out words at normal conversation levels. Afterwords, I had people coming to me saying "That was the best I've ever heard it sound in this place". So it *is* possible to mix good audio without the best hearing, you just have to understand how your hearing is affected and adjust accordingly :)
I did an internship at a production hall that was quite loud and I thought it was a joke when a guy told me to carefully read the user's manual on the box of those foam ear plugs
Coming to this video after many years to say, I dont go to concerts much but I find myself at one now without proper preparation and I am p sure I'm going to walk away with hearing damage
Think about it like this: The least loud part of a venue besides, like the bathrooms and stuff, is the stage itself. Most of the speakers point away from the stage. And the musicians still wear hearing protection. That should really be all you need to know. Also, if the foamy ones you mentioned are the same ones I'm thinking of, those are mostly for construction workers, which is why they don't work for music.
I have a slight ringing in my ears, and I always have done since childhood. It's easier to notice in a quiet place access sometimes rings louder for no apparent reason. However unlike most people my tinnitus wasn't caused by loud music, but rather the extreme eczema I had as a baby.
Saw a punk band in a small city venue. Speakers turned up to drown out the drunk screaming fans, *and I was in front of the left ones with bass noise simply beeping in By ear* not producing notes. *Saw a horn trio after that. Beautiful, quiet venue. People provided live commentary of the piece during its performance.*
I spent close to 15 years as a live sound engineer and my hearing is permanently shot, despite wearing custom plugs for most of the time - now you can't always mix with plugs in, but once a sound is dialled in, you can get away with it. I'm 31 and I have a characteristic permanent - 20dB notch of noise induced hearing loss in my right ear at 3-5 kHz (my left ear has been knackered since birth) and this ear is the one I took the plug out to hear the mix Always always always wear plugs! The actual damage is by the cilia in the cochlea responsible for those frequencies being vibrated too hard and dying
Me at 20, agreeing with this for as long as I can remember because I was raised to be careful with my hearing by two people with tinnitus. (I have now got custom molded earplugs, other earplugs give me an earaches then a headache if I wear them for any greater lengths of time, 2+hours)
I work as a technician in theatre and live events, and I permanently have a set of ear plugs with me. Not only is it usfull while operating the gig, but for the many times I end up having to crawl around behind the drummer, running cables while they sound check at full volume. I know so many veterans of the industry who now have permanent hearing loss.
I've been to one concert where I was in the front row, right in front of the speakers. It was The Protomen in Grand Rapids a year or two back. It was a hell of a time and I'll never forget it, but neither me or the friend I went with could hear properly the next day. The worst part is that our hearing was already metallic and tinny before their openers were done. The effects weren't too bad and fortunately we recovered quickly, but we both learned our lesson. If we ever go see them (or any other band) again we're wearing earplugs. ADDENDUM: That said it kinda worked in favor of the band because in the middle of the show they played a song off their upcoming album (Act III) that nobody had heard before and while we could all keep up with the songs we knew this new song was nothing but metallic noise to us, and will be totally new to us when the album comes out and we won't even know which song it was. It was actually a brilliant way to make the crowd go nuts without actually spoiling anything new we hadn't heard yet, because nobody remembers the words or even what it sounded like. At least, anyone who didn't wear ear protection.
I played tuba pretty seriously throughout high school and college (secondary school and university for UK audiences), and I wish I had worn ear plugs. I definitely have hearing damage from years of playing a loud instrument in small rooms, often at the same time as other people who also play loud instruments.
Something to add about hearing protection for non-gig related things, if it sounds noisy, and you are near it for long periods of time, you will need hearing protection. 8 hours at 85db can damage you the same as a loud gig for 30 minutes.
I play the clarinet and I use the same Alpine ear plugs with the least soundproofing ends when playing in an orchestra. They help preventing hearing damage from sudden loud noises from other instruments like trumpets and trombones but don't completely screw up the balance so I can still listen to others around me. Many musicians have trouble with tinnitus because they stubbornly decide not to use any hearing protection.
I never go to big gigs, but I play bass a lot. Therefore I use Shure IEMs with Comply Foam isolating tips. You're right about the damage, and it sounds painful when the drummer plays before I get my earphones in.
Tom mentioned that in the UK, the venue is required to have earplugs for the staff and you might get them there. I'm not sure if it's required in the US, but I've definitely done this before, and every time, they will have some earplug behind the bar and will give them to you if you ask.
I've had Tinnitus for as long as I can remember. But I do think it's gotten worse this last decade. Going to the CNE forgetting it was the same day as the airshow and having a fighter jet fly directly overhead unexpectedly DIDN'T HELP! I honestly thought my eardrums were melting!
This is very relevant to me, thank you. I'm going to see Porter Robinson and Madeon's 'Shelter' tour and I'd completely forgotten about this kind of precaution.
Finally a video I have a load of experience with :P Anyway I'm a music student and getting some hearing protection is vital, if nothing else it kinda makes the bands sound better cause you don't hear the room booming as much. I've use acscustom earplugs personally. They cost less than £10 (last I checked) and all they do is bring the level down. I don't think they're working until I take them out but I highly recommend them.
I have permanent tinnitus from when I was doing sound engineering at an electronic gig. Forgot my earplugs, and the earplugs at the venue were all moved and I couldn't find them, and no one would tell me where they were. And it sucks not being able to appreciate silence, so just wear ear plugs. It's worth it.
After last nights concert, I looked this video up to prepare for next weeks. Thank you for the recommendation. Should’ve listened sooner. Hopefully not too late, though…
I have had tinnitus for years and years, way too many years of hunting/loud gigs/farming equipment without hearing protection. As bad as it is, you kind of get used to it, the only thing is falling asleep at night can be an issue if i dont have any other ambient noise in the room, so these days i just listen to audiobooks when I fall asleep.
I was just thinking about getting some God Damn because there are a couple concerts I plan on attending in 2017, so thanks for your recommendations! (I was just going to go with the foam ones) I will note that the link provided is for the "Pro" earplugs which seem to only have the additional benefit of having "low" attenuation earplugs in addition to "medium" and "high," so you can save a couple bucks by going for the non-pro version.
