Understanding listening time at certain Db?

[Fulltimemuso]

Hi guys,

So, I'm trying to understand how things work with noise levels and HOW LONG I can listen for.

I do gigs for 1 hour at a time approximately 8 times per week. These are nearly all solo gigs in care homes.

For many years I did this with amplified acoustic instruments and what I thought to be reasonably loud vocal amplification. But the sound wasn't particularly harsh. I never really had any issues.

The last two years I've worked with my self produced backing tracks that have the drums, bass and piano on them. There is a FULL range of sound, and I have also upgraded the PA speaker to a column array and a much better microphone, both of which have an extremely clear high frequency sound.

A few months ago I noticed I'd developed a (thankfully) mild tinnitus. I've been wearing ear plugs ever since.

However, I really don't think my gigs NEED to be particularly loud. What safe level of Dbs could I potentially go to, and just do the gigs without earplugs for 8 hours total per week?

Many thanks for any insight on this.

[PABLR]

This from the WHO (who.int/news-room/questions... is a really good website which answers many questions about exposure to noise. However I would say that if you are performing music even if you don't think it's particularly loud, almost any amount is too much, and certainly 8 hours a week is a lot. If you can wear earplugs and still perform that really makes sense. Tinnitus gets worse, rarely better. You need to get decibels down to about 85db to be safe. There is lots of information on the internet which explains the maths behind it, but erring on the side of caution is definitely the way to go with your hearing. Remember it's not only tinnitus, but also your hearing as well which should not be exposed to loud noises if you wish to keep it.

[Sonnybee]

Hi there. That's a lot of gigs!! In simple terms, keep the ear plugs in at ALL times. I was in a metal band for years, without ear plugs. Now I do the odd solo gig. Similar set up to yourself, recording my own backing tracks etc. I use only a small 80 watt performers amp for everything. Its more than enough. I try to make sure the amp is either behind me, or well forward, not beside me. I presume your singing. Your voice inside your head is also extremely loud, ear plugs won't work in this case!! Some mics have a high noise gate, making you sing louder through them, so choose your mic wisely. I also was doing a lot of damage when I was recording stuff back at home, headphones turned up too loud etc. Bottom line, if you damage your hearing, the tinnitus remains, making it seem louder, so with the amount of gigs your doing, please be careful. Take care.

[Fulltimemuso in reply to Sonnybee]

Honestly my gig count for last year was ridiculous! I think about 426, but I expect it to be around that most times. I try to just see them as 'music sessions' now rather than 'gigs'. I'm just in and out. Quick one in the morning, home for lunch, one in the afternoon etc.

But like yourself I'm coming from a pro-gigging-musician background, and paid my dues as a keyboardist.

I tend to sing now is a 'crooner' style with quite a clear sound, but not loud or shouty. One worry with the current earplugs is that they are making my voice LOUDER in my head for certain vowel sounds. If I sing 'She la la la' etc on a concert C, it's quite deafening in my left ear! I'm sure this is not a good thing at all for Tinnitus. In that instance it would actually be quieter to not wear the plugs.

I'm having a new set made right now, that promise to be deeper in the ear, and better fitting to reduce this 'occlusion' effect.

I think I'm just planning to 'bear with it' for now. Keep the volume down, do some without plugs if they are quiet, plug up for the loud ones. I'm honestly not really sure what. is best, other than just stop all together. But I need to earn some money!

[RKAUF]

This book is well worth a read for gigging musicians:

amazon.co.uk/Musician-Tinni...

Jack also has a website with lots of useful hints and tips.

I run a tinnitus support group in north London, which has seen many professional musicians come and go. Best advice I could give you is to take small steps to work out the limits of how loud an environment you feel comfortable working in.

Best of luck,

Richard

[Fulltimemuso in reply to RKAUF]

Hi thanks a lot for this, I've now ordered the book. Just checking out his website.

[Fulltimemuso in reply to RKAUF]

I think the main problem I'm having here is that I'm a SINGER. If I was just playing keyboards, I would be very happy to just use the earplugs.

As a solo singer, I'm having a lot of trouble with the sound of my voice resonating in my head. It's mainly in one ear, on certain vowels sounds. It's like the low mid gain on that ear has had a 20db boost. I just did a music session and ended up taking the plugs out because, I felt this increased volume was actually making the overall db that ear was receiving much higher.

When you have the ear plugs in, and one set of vocal frequencies is really deafening (but just on one side), things don't feel right at all - it's amazingly stressful as I'm trying to perform a show. It's horrible!