Tag: Hearing

One of the most talented and electric bass players out there, Les Claypool, lost half his hearing in one ear during a diving accident in 1993. Les Claypool grabbed my attention more than a month ago with his fun take on finger tapping and flamenco style strumming in the band, Primus and his many other side projects like Colonel Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.

He mentions his hearing loss in an interview on JamBase.com:

“Moving back to you personally, I believe I read that you lost hearing in your left ear, is that correct?”

“In my right ear. Some of my high frequency from a scuba diving accident.”

“Does that affect your bass playing in any way?”

“Not really. It affects me socialising with large groups of people. It’s hard for me to discern syllables sometimes. Like if there are a lot of people talking, especially women’s voices, I just can’t hear. So I try to kind of aim my left ear at people.”

Within other interviews from two years ago whilst he goes on to explain about his own soft drink called SeaPop.

He then goes on to explain how the drink got its name and why it is what it is, The bass virtuoso says the drink is “like a ginger-snap dipped in vanilla ice cream” and that it’s here to “mellow things out in a world saturated with energy drinks.”

Claypool says: “Years ago I accidentally ruptured my inner ear scuba diving off the California coast and since that day I’ve found myself a bit more susceptible to the adverse effects of motion.

Considering all of the following that Les Claypool has experienced it’s important to learn from another musicians mistakes. As musicians, we spend long hours practising and improving our skills. While our polished musicianship is valuable, our sense of hearing is often overlooked as what it is—the essential and irreplaceable tool for music-making.

Many professional and aspiring musicians instinctively understand that they are at risk for hearing loss from lifelong exposures to loud music. Rarely discussed, however, is that the risk includes developing other hearing disorders such as constant ringing (tinnitus), degraded pitch perception (diplacusis), or intolerance of loud sounds (hyperacusis).

Practical solutions can reduce the risk of music-induced hearing disorders without compromising the quality of your performance. In addition to the potential long-term benefits to your hearing, the following tips can reduce unnecessary stress on your auditory systems and can even improve critical listening ability.

Rehearsal Management

• Consider the duration and venue of solo practice sessions and group rehearsals, which generally account for the vast majority of one’s musical activities. While public performances are planned and relatively predictable, rehearsals are often held in varied locations with inconsistent access to proper monitoring equipment.
• Strategically plan the rehearsal schedule to consider your overall sound exposure. For example, reduce the time spent on louder sections or songs, or allow breaks between intense selections to avoid fatigue.
• Evaluate the acoustics of rehearsal venues. Professional rehearsal spaces and acoustically treated rooms can drastically improve listening clarity and support lower rehearsal levels.
• Introduce alternative rehearsal formats such as unplugged sessions that limit the use of amplification. Large groups may benefit from holding smaller, sectional rehearsals.
• Discourage “noodling” during conversations and between songs. This reduces constant sound levels and listener fatigue and improves productivity.

Use of Hearing Protection

• When sound levels are consistently high and non-technological solutions aren’t sufficient, try using a pair of universal-fit filtered earplugs designed for music listening. While traditional foam earplugs will help keep your ears safe, they have the drawbacks of providing too much sound protection (attenuation) for most musical applications and have a poorly balanced frequency response.
• For a long-term option, consider custom-fit filtered earplugs, which provide a flatter frequency response, changeable level options, and improved comfort for extended use.
• When using hearing protection, it is important to practice listening and playing at lower sound levels. Listening to lower levels can actually improve pitch and loudness perception since your auditory system can distort subtle details at sufficiently high intensities.
• Use hearing protection when doing other activities and chores, such as operating loud tools and equipment, attending concerts or sporting events, motorcycle riding, and using recreational firearms. Save your ears for what matters—music-making.

Effective use of Monitoring Systems

• Strive to reduce the duration or intensity of sound exposure. Assuming that the rehearsal or performance duration remains consistent, reducing the monitoring and stage levels is the next step.
• Try to first address the direct sound sources where adjustment won’t compromise the sound quality. Depending on the situation, some options are to turn down instrument amplifiers and use clear and transparent sound barriers around drums.
• When on stage, work with your sound engineer to reduce extraneous signals and set a lower monitor speaker level.
• Consider the use of an in-ear monitor (IEM) system to replace the traditional wedge monitor system. IEMs are beneficial for certain musical styles and stage setups to better control personal monitoring levels and improve clarity. While not hearing protection devices on their own, IEMs can help reduce a musician’s risk of hearing damage when coupled with an informed reduction in monitoring levels.

These tips all vary within cost, time commitment, and effectiveness in different musical situations. No two musicians have identical needs so it would be ideal for everyone on my college course to speak with our band mates, engineer, about your specific circumstances. Having an annual hearing test to monitor the efficiency of your hearing conservation efforts would also help us as young aspiring musicians also to assure our hearing won’t be lost due to silly mistakes. By treating our ears as the invaluable, irreplaceable assets that they are, we can all take important steps at Fareham Music to improve our performance while reducing the risk of a career-limiting hearing injury.

I’ve brought this issue up because after a month of rehearsing and practising daily that it’s become more of a struggle to hear others in a conversation with background music and or sound, whilst in comparison to what I was like in secondary. To prevent further loss of hearing and to stop developing issues I’ll speak to my lectures and bandmates to fix this ongoing issue but I will also begin to use earplugs more often, when I used them previously in rehearsal I couldn’t hear myself just the guitarist which was handy but this will definitely be my top priority leading up to the Christmas Concert!