TAKING CARE OF YOUR MOST VITAL INSTRUMENT
No, this is not an article about guitar maintenance
, and if you t
hought it would be, then you really
need to read what follows
!
One of the benefits of having
extensive experience
in a
field (in my case around two and a half
decades of guitar p
laying and being involved in
bands
in
the rock a
nd metal scene), is that
over time
you get
to notic
e
certain
long
-
term
trends. I
’
m not talking about
musical trends here, but
much
more personal
‘
patterns
’
, specifically
wh
at kin
d of toll certain act
ivities extract on their participants.
I
would be b
illing to bet that,
for example
,
experienced
sports physiotherapists
also get to notice a
lot of th
e
se trends.
For instance, t
he typical b
usted knees
o
f avi
d runners
who overdo it
, or the
creaky shoulders and bad backs of gym
goers who lift
weights
with bad form
for a long time.
For
people
involved in bands
–
w
hether
as band mem
bers
or just being spectators in r
ock conce
rts
–
a t
ypical trend
can be
pointed out too: the epidemic of hearing loss that plagues those who have
been in the scene for
a lo
ng time
, and didn
’
t
take enough
precautions.
If you
’
re
sceptical
,
you only need to a
sk a
siz
able number of rock
musicians and fans who
’
ve been in
the scene long enough
(those who are now over 40 years of age especially), and
note
how many of
them now complain of tinnitus and
hearing loss. Make no mistake about it. It
’
s a very real danger.
To ans
wer the riddle in the first paragraph
,
as a musician
and/or music fan, your most vital
i
nstrument
is
YOUR HEARING
.
I
’
m alw
ays ama
zed a
t
how many musicians ta
ke it for gra
n
ted and take no measures to protect it.
I
n
fact
,
they
often s
ubject t
heir hearing to
untold amounts of abuse for years and years, and only
realize the e
rror of their ways
after
real damage has been done. By that time, it
’
s
usually too late to
do anything about it. Since I don
’
t want
this to
happen to you (
or me), I
’
m go
ing to share some
valuable tips to make sure that
we don
’
t
ever
damage our hearing
irreversibly
.
Rule
#1: Listen to your body (specifically, to your
ears
).
Our bo
dy will
al
most always
complain in some way when we
do
something that could damage it. We
usually
get into trou
ble because we
ignore and
put up
with
those warning signals for
a
long time,
and persist in our da
maging behaviour. Eventu
ally we can cause damage that our body cannot
recover from.
You
r
ears
will always let you know if you
’
re subjec
ting them to ex
cessive sound levels.
Sharp
and
overly
loud
burst
s of sou
nd can
give us a sensation of pain.
That
’
s the body telling
us
that
we
should
pr
otect it from whatever is
causing the d
an
ger signal.
If
the sound
hitting your
ears
makes y
ou
wince
a
nd st
iffen, t
hen it
’
s dangerously loud.
Ignore the danger signal to your peril.
This doesn
’
t mean that sounds which are not so loud as to ca
use you to wince are safe to
listen to
for an extende
d
time, however
.
We also
need
to
consider
t
he duration of
exposure
.
Sound levels
which seem
bearable for a
few m
inutes
of
listening
, can still cause c
u
mulative damage
a
fter enou
gh
time. Listen
ing to a loud band for
a couple of
song
s
is one thing. Listening to a
six
-
hour m
usic festival
is another thing entirely.
The longer the e
xposure, the higher the chance of cu
mulative da
mage, and
the more i
m
portant it becomes to do whatever you can to
reduce the sound levels your ears are
s
ubjected to.
Every
time you
go
home partially deaf and with ringing ears after a concert or band rehearsal,
you
have damaged your ears
. Essent
ially, th
e excessive sound level
s
will
over time
destroy
the fine nerve
endings in your inners
ears. The
result
is
eventually
hearing loss
and
chronic
tinnitus
, a condition
where you hear
a constant
background
‘
hiss
’
or
‘
whistle
’
in your ears
even
when there
’
s total silence
around you.
I
t’s
a maddening condition for
which there is no
kn
own
cure, so you
’
re well
a
dvis
ed
to
avoid bringing it on yourself.
Rule #
2: If
you
’
re in doubt
,
then
it
’
s too loud
.
Always seek ways to limit the sound level your ears
must
endure.
The two biggest offenders for musi
cians
are band rehe
arsals
and rock concerts. Here are some
ideas
to make sure you minimize the possibility of hearing damage. For band rehearsals:
•
Try to
‘
deaden
’
the acoustics of your
r
ehearsal s
pace
as much as possible
to minimize
sound
reflec
tions
, and th
us
the
overall sound level. You don
’
t need
to p
urchase
expensive acoustic
m
aterials either. Carpeting on the floor, and
foam sheets on the walls and c
eiling will do the
job
well. I recommend foam s
heets of
two inches
or more
in thickness.
•
Keep your amplifiers at as low a level as
possible. Enough
to be able to hear
yourself
and
each other
,
but no more.
Train y
ourself to play tight even with the amplifi
ers at a rel
atively
low level
. This also serves as
very useful training for live perfor
mance, where sound
quality is
seldom ideal anyway.
•
Your
drummer
is the one who sets the
minimu
m
sound level
, since the level of all the other
instruments must be on par with the drums. Still, do what you can to minimize it. Although
I
know it
’
s hard to convince other band members of anything sometimes, your drummer
should strive not to play more loudly than strictly necessary. He should take care especially
not to hit the cymbals too hard, since the very high fre
quencies they gener
ate tend to be the
most tiri
ng to th
e ears.
O
ften you are forced to
turn up the amps louder th
a
n s
trictly
necessary
because the drummer will otherw
ise comp
lain that he
can
’
t hear the other
instruments. In that case, consider
us
ing a small
mixer to create a headphone
monitor
mix
for the d
rummer.
This will allow the drummer to still hear the other instruments clearly,
without
needing to turn up the amplifiers too loud. It will
also protect hi
s
hearing, since
drummers are probably t
he ones mos
t at risk, being subjected as they are to
the overall
band soun
d
AND the very
loud sound that their drum kit can generate.
Good hea
d
p
hone
s
(there are
models specifically designed for drummers) will also protect him
from
the loud
sound of his
drum kit.
•
Try to set the
EQ
of the instruments, esp
ecially distorted guitars,
to a less harsh kind of tone.
Often guitarists dial too much harsh upper midrange
, treble and presence in their
tone.
Strive for a tone that can be heard clearly
enough
without
be
ing overly harsh. This
he
lps to
minimize ear fatigue.
•
Posit
ion the
speakers and yourself suc
h that you can hear
the band
with adequa
te balance,
without
standing in the direct line of fi
re of any speaker. Don
’
t stand for hours with a loud
PA speaker blasting right in your ear! That
’
s a sure rec
ipe for destroying your
hearing
.
•
If, after taking all these m
easures, your
hearing
still feel
s
fatigued and you get that ringing
sensation in your ears after a rehearsal session, then you MUST invest
in
quality earplugs.
Yes, I know what you
’
re thinking:
“
But then I won
’
t he
a
r the band clearly,
ear plugs change
the
overall t
one, they take away the
enjoyment
”
and
so on and so forth
.
My ans
wer is:
better lear
n to deal with that
than end up with hearing loss and tinnitus for the re
st of your
life
! A
lso, nowadays you can get earplugs which are specifically designed for musicians, and
are s
upposed to be more high fidelity (they
atten
uate all frequ
encies more evenly tha
n
generic
ear p
rotection
). Yes, they might be more expensive, but again, your hearing is your
most im
portant instrument. Don
’
t
skimp on
investing
a little more mo
ney
to
protect
your
ears.
For avoid
ing
hearing damage whe
n at
tending rock concerts, there are
only
two elements
you can
control
: try to find a listening spo
t where you are not close to and i
n the direct line of fire of
loud PA
speakers, and
always
wear ear
plugs.
Good musician
’
s earpl
ugs will not only
protect you during
rehearsals,
but will
also work great
for
enjoying concert
s as well. Another very good
reason to invest
in a good se
t.
I
n
conclusion
,
t
ake care of your ears
now
, so that you will be able to
enjoy th
e
wonderful gi
ft
of
music
for the rest of
your life.
About the author:
Aldo Chircop is a guitarist, composer, producer and guitar teacher based in Malta. He is president and chief instructor of Malta Rock Academy, home of the best blues, rock and metal guitar lessons in Malta.
:
https://www.maltarockacademy.com
, and if you t
hought it would be, then you really
need to read what follows
!
One of the benefits of having
extensive experience
in a
field (in my case around two and a half
decades of guitar p
laying and being involved in
bands
in
the rock a
nd metal scene), is that
over time
you get
to notic
e
certain
long
-
term
trends. I
’
m not talking about
musical trends here, but
much
more personal
‘
patterns
’
, specifically
wh
at kin
d of toll certain act
ivities extract on their participants.
I
would be b
illing to bet that,
for example
,
experienced
sports physiotherapists
also get to notice a
lot of th
e
se trends.
For instance, t
he typical b
usted knees
o
f avi
d runners
who overdo it
, or the
creaky shoulders and bad backs of gym
goers who lift
weights
with bad form
for a long time.
For
people
involved in bands
–
w
hether
as band mem
bers
or just being spectators in r
ock conce
rts
–
a t
ypical trend
can be
pointed out too: the epidemic of hearing loss that plagues those who have
been in the scene for
a lo
ng time
, and didn
’
t
take enough
precautions.
If you
’
re
sceptical
,
you only need to a
sk a
siz
able number of rock
musicians and fans who
’
ve been in
the scene long enough
(those who are now over 40 years of age especially), and
note
how many of
them now complain of tinnitus and
hearing loss. Make no mistake about it. It
’
s a very real danger.
To ans
wer the riddle in the first paragraph
,
as a musician
and/or music fan, your most vital
i
nstrument
is
YOUR HEARING
.
I
’
m alw
ays ama
zed a
t
how many musicians ta
ke it for gra
n
ted and take no measures to protect it.
I
n
fact
,
they
often s
ubject t
heir hearing to
untold amounts of abuse for years and years, and only
realize the e
rror of their ways
after
real damage has been done. By that time, it
’
s
usually too late to
do anything about it. Since I don
’
t want
this to
happen to you (
or me), I
’
m go
ing to share some
valuable tips to make sure that
we don
’
t
ever
damage our hearing
irreversibly
.
Rule
#1: Listen to your body (specifically, to your
ears
).
Our bo
dy will
al
most always
complain in some way when we
do
something that could damage it. We
usually
get into trou
ble because we
ignore and
put up
with
those warning signals for
a
long time,
and persist in our da
maging behaviour. Eventu
ally we can cause damage that our body cannot
recover from.
You
r
ears
will always let you know if you
’
re subjec
ting them to ex
cessive sound levels.
Sharp
and
overly
loud
burst
s of sou
nd can
give us a sensation of pain.
That
’
s the body telling
us
that
we
should
pr
otect it from whatever is
causing the d
an
ger signal.
If
the sound
hitting your
ears
makes y
ou
wince
a
nd st
iffen, t
hen it
’
s dangerously loud.
Ignore the danger signal to your peril.
This doesn
’
t mean that sounds which are not so loud as to ca
use you to wince are safe to
listen to
for an extende
d
time, however
.
We also
need
to
consider
t
he duration of
exposure
.
Sound levels
which seem
bearable for a
few m
inutes
of
listening
, can still cause c
u
mulative damage
a
fter enou
gh
time. Listen
ing to a loud band for
a couple of
song
s
is one thing. Listening to a
six
-
hour m
usic festival
is another thing entirely.
The longer the e
xposure, the higher the chance of cu
mulative da
mage, and
the more i
m
portant it becomes to do whatever you can to
reduce the sound levels your ears are
s
ubjected to.
Every
time you
go
home partially deaf and with ringing ears after a concert or band rehearsal,
you
have damaged your ears
. Essent
ially, th
e excessive sound level
s
will
over time
destroy
the fine nerve
endings in your inners
ears. The
result
is
eventually
hearing loss
and
chronic
tinnitus
, a condition
where you hear
a constant
background
‘
hiss
’
or
‘
whistle
’
in your ears
even
when there
’
s total silence
around you.
I
t’s
a maddening condition for
which there is no
kn
own
cure, so you
’
re well
a
dvis
ed
to
avoid bringing it on yourself.
Rule #
2: If
you
’
re in doubt
,
then
it
’
s too loud
.
Always seek ways to limit the sound level your ears
must
endure.
The two biggest offenders for musi
cians
are band rehe
arsals
and rock concerts. Here are some
ideas
to make sure you minimize the possibility of hearing damage. For band rehearsals:
•
Try to
‘
deaden
’
the acoustics of your
r
ehearsal s
pace
as much as possible
to minimize
sound
reflec
tions
, and th
us
the
overall sound level. You don
’
t need
to p
urchase
expensive acoustic
m
aterials either. Carpeting on the floor, and
foam sheets on the walls and c
eiling will do the
job
well. I recommend foam s
heets of
two inches
or more
in thickness.
•
Keep your amplifiers at as low a level as
possible. Enough
to be able to hear
yourself
and
each other
,
but no more.
Train y
ourself to play tight even with the amplifi
ers at a rel
atively
low level
. This also serves as
very useful training for live perfor
mance, where sound
quality is
seldom ideal anyway.
•
Your
drummer
is the one who sets the
minimu
m
sound level
, since the level of all the other
instruments must be on par with the drums. Still, do what you can to minimize it. Although
I
know it
’
s hard to convince other band members of anything sometimes, your drummer
should strive not to play more loudly than strictly necessary. He should take care especially
not to hit the cymbals too hard, since the very high fre
quencies they gener
ate tend to be the
most tiri
ng to th
e ears.
O
ften you are forced to
turn up the amps louder th
a
n s
trictly
necessary
because the drummer will otherw
ise comp
lain that he
can
’
t hear the other
instruments. In that case, consider
us
ing a small
mixer to create a headphone
monitor
mix
for the d
rummer.
This will allow the drummer to still hear the other instruments clearly,
without
needing to turn up the amplifiers too loud. It will
also protect hi
s
hearing, since
drummers are probably t
he ones mos
t at risk, being subjected as they are to
the overall
band soun
d
AND the very
loud sound that their drum kit can generate.
Good hea
d
p
hone
s
(there are
models specifically designed for drummers) will also protect him
from
the loud
sound of his
drum kit.
•
Try to set the
EQ
of the instruments, esp
ecially distorted guitars,
to a less harsh kind of tone.
Often guitarists dial too much harsh upper midrange
, treble and presence in their
tone.
Strive for a tone that can be heard clearly
enough
without
be
ing overly harsh. This
he
lps to
minimize ear fatigue.
•
Posit
ion the
speakers and yourself suc
h that you can hear
the band
with adequa
te balance,
without
standing in the direct line of fi
re of any speaker. Don
’
t stand for hours with a loud
PA speaker blasting right in your ear! That
’
s a sure rec
ipe for destroying your
hearing
.
•
If, after taking all these m
easures, your
hearing
still feel
s
fatigued and you get that ringing
sensation in your ears after a rehearsal session, then you MUST invest
in
quality earplugs.
Yes, I know what you
’
re thinking:
“
But then I won
’
t he
a
r the band clearly,
ear plugs change
the
overall t
one, they take away the
enjoyment
”
and
so on and so forth
.
My ans
wer is:
better lear
n to deal with that
than end up with hearing loss and tinnitus for the re
st of your
life
! A
lso, nowadays you can get earplugs which are specifically designed for musicians, and
are s
upposed to be more high fidelity (they
atten
uate all frequ
encies more evenly tha
n
generic
ear p
rotection
). Yes, they might be more expensive, but again, your hearing is your
most im
portant instrument. Don
’
t
skimp on
investing
a little more mo
ney
to
protect
your
ears.
For avoid
ing
hearing damage whe
n at
tending rock concerts, there are
only
two elements
you can
control
: try to find a listening spo
t where you are not close to and i
n the direct line of fire of
loud PA
speakers, and
always
wear ear
plugs.
Good musician
’
s earpl
ugs will not only
protect you during
rehearsals,
but will
also work great
for
enjoying concert
s as well. Another very good
reason to invest
in a good se
t.
I
n
conclusion
,
t
ake care of your ears
now
, so that you will be able to
enjoy th
e
wonderful gi
ft
of
music
for the rest of
your life.
About the author:
Aldo Chircop is a guitarist, composer, producer and guitar teacher based in Malta. He is president and chief instructor of Malta Rock Academy, home of the best blues, rock and metal guitar lessons in Malta.
:
https://www.maltarockacademy.com
