**THIS IS A MESSAGE I AM PASSING ON FROM ANOTHER BOARD**
I hate health and safety freaks, people who seem to assume that everyone is about to walk in front of a bus, stick a knife in a toaster etc, so I hope I don't come across like one of those.
WHERE EAR PLUGS WHEN YOU GO OUT!!!
KEEP THE VOLUME DOWN AS LOW AS POSSIBLE WHEN YOU ARE PRODUCING!!!
TAKE BREAKS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE!!!
TREAT YOUR EARS LIKE THE MOST EXPENSIVE, IRREPLACEABLE PEACE OF EQUIPMENT YOU HAVE, COS ONCE THEY ARE GONE IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW GOOD YOUR MONITORS ARE ETC IF YOU CAN'T HEAR THEM!!!
AVOID HEADPHONES WHERE POSSIBLE!!!
I developed tinnitus about 4 months ago, as a musician this was/is terrifying.
Looking back I would of noticed it developing and would of been able to prevent it if I had known the warning signs, so I am going to list them.
1. Music started to sound different, like the highs had been turned down, quieter or muffled. It sounded as if my monitors/tweeters needed replacing, which is what I thought was the problem. (So while I waited for new monitors I just turned up the volume.)
2. Started to get sensitive to loud sounds.
3. Then one day, when it was to late I had a weird horrible full feeling in my ears, which lasted a while, this led on to ringing, which I currently have, constantly, as well as hyper caucus (sensitivity to loud noise). The full feeling returns occasionally.
I have taken it upon myself to post as often as possible, probably every week on all the forums I am a part of to help prevent tinnitus/hearing problems as people don't seem to be aware of the risks/problems that go hand in hand with noise exposure. Sorry if this seems preachy or what ever but I really wish that someone had warned me+if my friends had known more when I was asking their advice on my monitors they could of just told me that I was experiencing early warning signs of T/hearing loss.
WHERE EAR PLUGS WHEN YOU GO OUT!!! - There are a few different ones out there. The highest noise reduction ear plugs (unless I am mistaken) are currently EARsoft FX, with an SNR of 39. I use these when going out to nights/gigs. They muffle the sound slightly but you can still hear most things well and they don't stop you feeling the bass.
Also I would recommend these if you are not to fussed about the artist/band you are going to see.
There are custom moulded ear plugs out there that filter the sound evenly so you can hear clearly (It's just like someone has turned the volume down) . I believe the ER series have the highest noise reduction at SNR 25 (they are not cheap but if you want to hear clearly whilst protecting your hearing they're worth it.)
KEEP THE VOLUME DOWN AS LOW AS POSSIBLE WHEN YOU ARE PRODUCING!!! - It's tempting to turn it up but when producing/mixing try and keep it low, and save the noise for playing out and mixing mastering those bits you need to hear a bit louder.
TAKE BREAKS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE!!! - Whenever you can, every 15/20/30 minutes take a five minute break, some theories say it is not purely noise but long durations of exposure to noise which causes damage.
TREAT YOUR EARS LIKE THE MOST EXPENSIVE, IRREPLACEABLE PEACE OF EQUIPMENT YOU HAVE, COS ONCE THEY ARE GONE IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW GOOD YOUR MONITORS ARE ETC IF YOU CAN'T HEAR THEM!!! - I read this on some forum somewhere and it's true, your ears should be treated like your best, favourite peace of kit.
AVOID HEADPHONES WHERE POSSIBLE!!! - It's really hard to judge volume on headphones and it's so easy to turn it up to block outside sounds.
If you could pass this on/ re post wherever necessary that would be great + if you hear any of your friends saying they think their monitors are going etc point them this way also.
Here are some useful links (though they are not hard to find, just type ear plugs or custom moulded ear plugs into a search engine to find a local supplier)
http://www.etymotic.com/default.aspx
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/erme.aspx
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.aspx
http://www.enhancedlistening.co.uk/
http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net...FeZr4wodzVYzJw
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