Terje ...

[mentoneman]

i've seen vinnie colautia play live at the baked potato w/ landau and play with such intensity that he broke sticks, but somehow it wasn't loud....he is the best i've seen and i agree, the masters can play with intensity at very low volumes,


whereas rookies equate intense with loud.

nothing frustrates me more in music that drummers who can only pound, especially snare, ride cymbals, and open high hats.

 

[Marshall Freak]

i've seen vinnie colautia play live at the baked potato w/ landau and play with such intensity that he broke sticks, but somehow it wasn't loud....he is the best i've seen and i agree, the masters can play with intensity at very low volumes,


whereas rookies equate intense with loud.

nothing frustrates me more in music that drummers who can only pound, especially snare, ride cymbals, and open high hats.

Sure a good drummer can play quietly, but I don't care how lightly you hit a crash, when your ear is 3-4 foot from it 10-30 times a song, it's going to have some affect on your hearing over time. Just because your ears don't ring when you get done with a show or practice, doesn't mean you haven't done damage to your ears.

 

[Marc Roy]

I'm trying to find something that supports what I said about cymbals, but so far, I've only found this.

Musical instruments can generate considerable sound and thus can also cause hearing loss. The most damaging type of sound is in the high-frequencies.

http://www.american-hearing.org/disorde ... #frequency

Theres something about the crack of the snare that goes right through me. I cant say if the cymbals are doing damage that I cant/dont notice but nothing hurts my ears more consistently than hard snare hits.

The most painful show that I ever went to was The Vinnie Vincent Invasion when they toured in support of their first album. VV's Marhsalls has the worst Ice pick attack that I have ever heard from an amp and it was so loud/bad that I must have stuffed half of the bars supply of napkins in my ears. Ive seen Trower, Led Zep( and they were LOUD!!!) in the early days and nothing was more painful than that VVI show...

Vinnie wasn't exactly known for his killer tone and restraint. I can just imagine what it was like when he played live.

 

[Odin]

i've seen vinnie colautia play live at the baked potato w/ landau and play with such intensity that he broke sticks, but somehow it wasn't loud....he is the best i've seen and i agree, the masters can play with intensity at very low volumes,


whereas rookies equate intense with loud.

nothing frustrates me more in music that drummers who can only pound, especially snare, ride cymbals, and open high hats.

Vinnie Colautia, Steve Gadd, Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, etc... can all play circles around guys like Neil Peart, and they can play quietly when needed or play loudly when needed. I'm not suggesting that any of us are playing with drummers of that caliber on a routine basis, but a professional drummer should be able to play at a volume that is appropriate for the gig, and never harm the hearing of those around him.

 

[kannibul]

I can at tims hear my hearing fade back in after hitting my snare at the "right" tempo...basically like a compressor effect with a gradual release.

The snare is honestly the worst on the ears. It's has a very broad range, and the crack of the snare is in the upper frequencies. Cymbals can be louder, but they are there and gone, for the most part, off the 1st beat, while the snare is a crack 2x a measure for the most part.

That's a lot of "impact" on the ear drum....

I know my decible meter, at home, will read 115-125...and I KNOW I play louder/harder with the band...

 

[kannibul]

i've seen vinnie colautia play live at the baked potato w/ landau and play with such intensity that he broke sticks, but somehow it wasn't loud....he is the best i've seen and i agree, the masters can play with intensity at very low volumes,


whereas rookies equate intense with loud.

nothing frustrates me more in music that drummers who can only pound, especially snare, ride cymbals, and open high hats.

Vinnie Colautia, Steve Gadd, Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, etc... can all play circles around guys like Neil Peart, and they can play quietly when needed or play loudly when needed. I'm not suggesting that any of us are playing with drummers of that caliber on a routine basis, but a professional drummer should be able to play at a volume that is appropriate for the gig, and never harm the hearing of those around him.

I play as loud as everyone in the band dictates. I suspect that the majority of drummers THINK they are (or are at least trying) to do the same.

Key point, does everyone point their amps at the drummer? If so, then don't complain when he's blasting away, because that's what he hears and practices with...

 

[Odin]

We always try to point our amps at the guitar player's ears and no one else. Especially not at the singer. Extreme stage volume causes the band to be not as tight, you need to be able to hear everything going on in the song. Snares can be too loud in some rooms even if the drummer is hitting light, especially if the room is really live. But adding loud guitars to loud drums only makes the drummer play louder.


This is drumming at its best...

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=VUF8aRodecM

 

[Marshall Freak]

We always try to point our amps at the guitar player's ears and no one else. Especially not at the singer. Extreme stage volume causes the band to be not as tight, you need to be able to hear everything going on in the song. Snares can be too loud in some rooms even if the drummer is hitting light, especially if the room is really live. But adding loud guitars to loud drums only makes the drummer play louder.


This is drumming at its best...

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=VUF8aRodecM

All three of them were playing loud enough to cause damage if you were standing next to them.

 

[Odin]

We always try to point our amps at the guitar player's ears and no one else. Especially not at the singer. Extreme stage volume causes the band to be not as tight, you need to be able to hear everything going on in the song. Snares can be too loud in some rooms even if the drummer is hitting light, especially if the room is really live. But adding loud guitars to loud drums only makes the drummer play louder.


This is drumming at its best...

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=VUF8aRodecM

All three of them were playing loud enough to cause damage if you were standing next to them.

Please

 

[Gainfreak]

i have to disagree with you ralph, we are using the in ears and when i take them out during a song we are WAAAAAAYYYY louder than the level of the in ears. its blocking out all that volume and giving you a more comfortable level of volume in your ears.

Depends on how loud you have them . Some people get a false sense that they protect your ears and they crank them up. The in ears can damage your ears quicker then you would think because they are close to the ear canal. If you don't gun then I guess it will be ok ,but just a heads up, they are doing studies on them right now. Some idiots are using them with there ipods and they use them at devistating volumes lol There have already been reported cases of tinnitus. Its like everything else bro, I guess its how you use them!

 

[Phishphood]

Ok...

I will NOT go crazy here like Terje used to, but I just had my hearing tested and it's not great. I have lost about 9% in the upper midrange and the Specialist says it's definitely the damage from loud music etc...
There are ear plugs that totally let all frequencies thru but they lower ALL 15db or 25db depending on which ones you buy.
They are $165.00 here and my health plan covered it!
They work very well!!
Just thought I'd share. My ear damage is done, never will come back.

Keith

Earplugs are covered by insurance? Was that because you already had hearing damage or would they have been covered anyway? I'll have to look into this. Its not a big enough concern for me to spend $165, but if I can get them for free I might as well have some made

 

[Marshall Freak]

We always try to point our amps at the guitar player's ears and no one else. Especially not at the singer. Extreme stage volume causes the band to be not as tight, you need to be able to hear everything going on in the song. Snares can be too loud in some rooms even if the drummer is hitting light, especially if the room is really live. But adding loud guitars to loud drums only makes the drummer play louder.


This is drumming at its best...

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=VUF8aRodecM

All three of them were playing loud enough to cause damage if you were standing next to them.

Please

Guaranteed.

 

[meanstreet]

I never understood wearing earplugs to play music. Earplugs make the stage sound like crap IMO. If your ears are ringing when you come off stage then you turn down the music next time. When you reach a volume that doesn't cause your ears to ring then you're probably safe. Why would you knowingly and willingly play at a volume that causes you discomfort?

Yeah, what everyone else said. You can't turn the drums down and on small stages, the cymbals are right in your ear.

With that said, I can guarantee you that I have hearing damage, but I don't care. I don't even want to know. lol... I was checked a few times years ago and all was fine, but I've done alot of loud gigging since then. I have a hard time understanding people talking if there is a bunch of background noise like in a loud restaurant. I never noticed that before, so I assume it's some damage.

But like I said, screw it. I honestly don't care.

I've been noticing the same thing. I have a MUCH harder time hearing people when there is background noise. Uh oh.

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

It's clear that my experience, opinion, and preferences for a rock drummer are totally different than a few people in this post. Guess that's what makes the world go 'round?

Whenever I've played a hard rock gig, I've ALWAYS had to crank up to hear myself over the drummer.
I guess I've never played with "good" drummers. ??
Keith

 

[1big1]

i once used a db meter to find out just how loud our drummer was playing. the answer surprised me. on the "c" weighted scale with a slow response he was averaging 103-104 db's. we talked about that afterwards.
our solution was simple. i dragged over my large pa. (1800 watts biamped). we went with an e-drum kit which runs out through the mains and we also have a pair of jbl tr 125's with thier own monitor amp that serve as a monitor just for the drum kit. it allows us to have alot more control over the volume of the kit and stage volume as a whole. that means i can crank a smaller amp.. run it through the p.a.(which is doing most of the work) and keep the stage volume at a level which isn't blowing out my hearing.

 

[anomaly]

I'm only in my mid 20's, but what i've noticed over the last few years is i've become extremely tolerant to loud noises/bands/guitars/drummers whatever... probably because of the loud playing and band practices i've subjected myself to over the last 7 - 8 years or so. Small rooms and loud amps are not the best for the ears, i'd think.

I still think i can hear well, but i do say "what?" alot.

 

[Gainfreak]

Whenever I've played a hard rock gig, I've ALWAYS had to crank up to hear myself over the drummer.
I guess I've never played with "good" drummers. ??
Keith

You should get old jazz drummers like Buddy Rich to play those Skid Row and Iron Maiden tunes with brushes. That's how a "real" drummer would do it.

 

[Bob Savage]

The snare is probably the most damaging....

Cymbals...

This is what I find too as far as pure ear pain goes and based on everything I've read, cymbals are likely the most damaging to the hearing unless you've got one heck of an over-powerful drummer and his snare has a LOT of top end.

My ears are jacked up from a lot of things outside of music such as working in a machine shop, working on aircraft, aerospace, etc.

 

[kannibul]

Whenever I've played a hard rock gig, I've ALWAYS had to crank up to hear myself over the drummer.
I guess I've never played with "good" drummers. ??
Keith

You should get old jazz drummers like Buddy Rich to play those Skid Row and Iron Maiden tunes with brushes. That's how a "real" drummer would do it.

Nah, we'd use a set of rods...

 

[SQUAREHEAD]

Whenever I've played a hard rock gig, I've ALWAYS had to crank up to hear myself over the drummer.
I guess I've never played with "good" drummers. ??
Keith

You should get old jazz drummers like Buddy Rich to play those Skid Row and Iron Maiden tunes with brushes. That's how a "real" drummer would do it.

HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exactly, Chris!!!!
I just spit my water all over the floor!!