Earplugs

[AndyJones]

Hello All,

 

For those who don't know I am a rigger/Lampie.

I recently took the decision to try and protect my hearing and get some nice earplugs made up. I found that the cheap foam ones were rubbish as they cut out to many frequencies- so I got some nice posh custom ones. (ER15's)

 

When I got them and used them on my first show I was wondering about how effective they are. The main issue I had was when I was on Cans. surely I need to turn my cans up extra loud so that I can hear who ever is talking? Which therefore makes them useless?

 

Also I don't think I have met anyone who uses earplugs.Is there any reason for this?

 

Opinions anyone?

 

 

AndyJones

 

Edit: Wrong model number.

[niclights]

Never met anyone who wears earplugs, or just posh ones?

 

I've worn fairly basic ones for as long as I can remember and rarely see any LD's who don't. But I've never seen anyone with anything special.

 

I find something like 3M 1271's work well. If anything I can hear people better during shows.

[live]

Depends on the enviroment Andy, I did'nt bother till I devoloped partial deafness in my right ear that lasted nearly six months, could'nt eq anything, hear the music and working at height went from the norm to sheer terror as untill it happens to yourself you don't really appreciate the connection with your hearing and balance. I won't go into any of the venues I service without my ER25's in place. As for use with cans I could'nt really comment. I will say that getting used to wearing them is a bit wierd especially when talking to someone close by. But trust me losing your hearing however slight is one of the worst occupational hazards of this industry.

[itinerant baker]

Earplugs, Usefull or not? That would depend on how useful you considered your hearing to be. (For the hard of thinking, the answer is 'more than you think'.)

 

 

There's probably a bit of a machismo thing about not wearing earplugs, but it's not something I'd have a problem with. My hearing is a bit shagged from standing in front of too many large distorted speakers when I was a yout' (and working in a bass trap in a venue that has left me with less hearing in the ear that was towards the wall!)

 

My work isn't really in a cans wearing environment so I can't really comment, but if you are working with high sound levels you need to get some form of attenuation. How you do this will depend on your situation, earplugs should do the job, and proper ones will work on the harmful frequencies whereas cheap ones will just muffle everything. Presumably there must be some form of ear defender/cans combo available, failing that does anyone use an earpiece under ear defenders?

[Sirch Sound]

The key difference here is your job title.

 

Almost all lampies and riggers I know go for the cheaper ear plugs, purley for protecting their hearing. As long as they can hear someone talk to them over there headsets or in person then there happy. Then if they get lost/dropped from height and lost/damaged it only costs the a quid to replace them.

 

However most sound engineers, like myself, use a 'posh' ear plug, such as etymotic resarch. I hav a pair of the ER20's, whilst they dont break the bank there still alot more expensive than your normal ear plugs. However I need the option to be able to mix with my plugs in, therefor I just want to attenuate the sound a little, without losing clarity.

 

Rich

 

EDIT:itinerant baker, I think something like these are what your looking for.

[itinerant baker]

They are, though I'm not actually looking for them.

[lightsource]

At some gigs....I really should wear earplugs, but haven't invested in any yet.

 

I think it's a personal decision, based around the circumstances of the user.

 

As far as:

 

Also I don't think I have met anyone who uses earplugs.Is there any reason for this?

 

Opinions anyone?

 

On a few rare occurances (?) I've met prople wearing 'plugs', Mainly FOH sound engineers......I honestly can't say they were any better / worse than any unplugged :) engineer would be.

 

So (I suppose) finding the right 'plugs' maybe the best option here

[itinerant baker]

I expect their hearing (and therefore their mixing) will be better in the long run. Their ears, their choice.

[RumbleO]

Hi Andy,

I wore my cheap blue foam plugs right through the run of the Christmas show, as we had an upstage monitor (also providing SFX) on the fly floor! (Strange gig - I'm a noise boy with some lampie skills - and I got hired as head flyman on Wixard of Oz.)

 

I use my Etymonics on rock gigs so I can still mix noise well. I strongly believe they attenuate fairly flatly, but I always have to whip them out and listen without briefly to convince myself. I do like how my hearing is sharper, because I've been wearing them.

 

As a result of this practice, I now wear the cheap foam ones when driving to gigs, for the same reason. I can still hear the radio, mobile, traffic, etc, and find I work better when I arrive as my hearing hasn't been hammered by wind and driving noise.

 

Also I don't think I have met anyone who uses earplugs.Is there any reason for this?

 

You've just not noticed. We don't make a big deal of it. I've stopped and chatted to you with mine in.

Rumble (O)

[Shaggy]

When I got them and used them on my first show I was wondering about how effective they are. The main issue I had was when I was on Cans. surely I need to turn my cans up extra loud so that I can hear who ever is talking?

I don't get this, I've met several people who believe that because they have earplugs in they can't hear anything and need cans/their monitors/the pa up to 11 to compensate. The cans can be up at their normal volume because as well as attenuating the noise from the cans the earplugs will attenuate the noise from everything else, so the ballance between the two is the same, so you can still hear them. Earplugs aren't some magic not hear anything at all ever device. You hear the same thing a fair bit quieter. I don't have very expensive earplugs, so I don't tend to use them when mixing but any other time in a loud environment I use them and find if anything my ability to understand people increases.

[Modge]

I (as a lampie) tend to wear earplugs pretty much all the time. Being as that noise making is very much a sideline to me I don't own decent ear plugs, instead I wear cheapo, buy them by the box full jobs. I can still hear well enough to a)talk b) make the lighting fit the song. When I am impersonating a noise boy I do it with out plugs, simply because I suspect the ones I wear do colour the sound quite a bit.

[ceecrb1]

I´m a "jack of all trades" and a specialist of little.... I have minimum 2 pairs of foam plugs in my tool kit at all times and for good measure another pair in my headphone bag (my varaity of jobs mean I practially have to modify the contents of my toolkit every gig)

 

They are great for a few reasons... if your just on followspot... for an average spot, with no cans... they are gold dust.

 

they are worth a pure gold bar when (on the rare occasions) I am not opping some form of desk, and I am sleeping during the gig.

 

For lighting opps I might (depending on the show and the level of "direction") use just one plug and at least save one ear for the derig but if its a plain show with little direction, its both plugs.

On sound, I can genearlly get away with my HD25s helping take the edge of volume, but I dont do too many outdoor concerst and the like where they are trully necessary..

 

 

We use a wireless coms system also, and with plugs we tend to wear the cans round are necks, when needed the call button makes the packs vibrate so we can remove a plug and communicate as normal.

 

The best foam style I have found were from a outdoor sports company called "life venture" and were sold as travel ear plugs for on planes etc.. they have a yellow (firmer) foam and an orange (softer) side so you can choose the level of "plugging" you want. And they come in a wee placcy box.

Tisos etc have them.

 

My 2p.

[Boggy]

If you want to find out how much loud music affects your hearing then put one ear plug in. At the end of the night when you pull out the ear plug your hearing in that ear will be very clear while the unprotected ear will be very fuzzy. When using earplugs it is important to put them in as the load music (or noise) starts. If you leave your earplugs out for a while, your hearing will go fuzzy and then when you put the plugs in you will not hear very well at all.

 

It takes quite a while to get used to talking to people when you have earplugs in. I would expect if you use them 5 days a week it could take 2-4 weeks for you to get comfortable with having them in and talking to people. It is well worth getting used to using them as I find I can hear better for the whole show and think much clearer.

[pscandrett]

On a slight tangent, and it is a bit of a basic question, but "Why are gigs so loud anyway"?! I'm a lighting guy (and 99% of the time wear some sort of earplugs unless it's a quietish church meeting, keeping it on topic!) but many gigs I go to - including some of ours sometimes - I just think that it's too loud! Clearly one answer is that "the punters like it that loud" but why? I'd much rather have clarity of the music I've come to listen to than just being hit by a wall of noise. Granted, one of our bands has a lot of sub which people (apparently) want to feel, but that's not always the case.

 

I fully appreciate the physics of it all and that it has to be loud enough to get a decent volume at the back of the auditorium or whatever, but there's several times when it's just been overdone - having a huge speaker stack up full in a relatively small room seems daft, and the volume has spoiled some gigs I've paid to see in the past...

 

A good example is a hotel that I stayed in over the weekend (for my mum's birthday); we were eating on Friday and there was a singer in the restaurant/bar area; they weren't bad as a performer, but cranked it up really loudly. Had it been quieter it would have been more pleasant to listen to and clearer. One wonders if it was because /they/ go to gigs, where it's really loud, and so turned up their rig without any idea of the reason because that's what they've seen the professionals do?

 

Perhaps I'm just old before my time!

[Chris Adam]

To put in my 2p's worth..........

 

I would completely recommend the Elacin range of ear plugs for all applications. The ER20s are a great starting point for most people and I've even got our bar staff on them. They are the "christmas tree" style ones, they come in their own box and you can get corded versions, which makes them less likely to get lost. I find if they have their own pouch, the staff take better care of them. You can now pick these up for less than a tenner. (the docs pro plugs are also pretty good and closer to a custom fit for £15)

 

I've had the ER15s for a few years and they are by far the best thing I've ever bought. I can almost get away with having them in for FOH duties (depends on the band), but for LX, I never have them out. All they do is cut down the frequencies that you don't want, giving you a nice (enough) flat response. Sure they are a wee bit pricey, but they are protecting the things that makes me money in the first place.

 

Personally, I feel that if you only go with the foam versions, you will be constantly dissappointed. Think of them like an ill fitting pair of steel toe caps, or harness. It might be doing a job, but you are going to hate wearing it.