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The Basement
Earplugs and loud bands
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<blockquote data-quote="Ãrni F. Sigurðsson" data-source="post: 57732" data-attributes="member: 1814"><p>Re: Earplugs and loud bands</p><p></p><p>I'm a long time plug-wearer as a bass player, and just finished a 42band-36 hour metal festival as a monitor engineer.</p><p>I had plugs in (custom molded -15db) all the time, except during the changeover. I know it's different from doing FOH sound, but if you're doing a 12hour festival you need to rest your ears. Say if a band plays for 45 mins, take the first 5 minutes to get the sound together, then put in your plugs and be careful not to turn everything up. Memorize that sound you had when you first put your plugs in, and try to stay on that balance. If you have good plugs (custom molded with flat filters, not your $0.02 foam plugs) you should be able to keep a balance at a constant level.. Take the plugs out every few minutes to check the level.</p><p></p><p>I started wearing plugs when I started in my first band. The cymbals just hurt my ears. I don't need to hear myself any louder with plugs than without.. I just need the balance of me vs. everything else on stage to be ok. If I need more me, everything else is too loud.</p><p></p><p>During the festival, we had a meeting with all the bands each day, explaining to them not to keep their amps too loud, because if they were the FOH guy couldn't do his job properly and their sound would suffer for it.</p><p>They were all very understanding, and when each band started to play me or the stage manager would walk over to the guitar/bassists and check their level (and balance between clean/drive) and have the FOH give us the thumbs up/down. When the band was settled in I walked over to my desk and have everyone strum a chord/pluck a note/hit some drums and everyone would tell me if they were hearing enough (to begin with at least)</p><p></p><p></p><p>The festival went great, little to no problem with stage power, monitor feedback. Most of the people said they were experiencing the best sound they ever heard.</p><p></p><p>Don't give people too much monitors until they've heard how the stage sounds with just their amps (at a level FOH has approved of)</p><p></p><p>One drummer showed up with a IEM, a microphone cable with a micsplit on the end. He patched his split straight into one of the guitarist's mic for in ear, and asked for a little kick and snare in his monitor.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Wow.. I really got off topic there.. But wearing earplugs is IMO crucial when playing with a drummer playing any kind of rock-ish music. Those cymbals and that snare have a peak volume that ruins your hearing in the long run. Just get decent earplugs, not those foam mufflers that only filter out the high end, leaving you hearing nothing, and mixing with earplugs can be acceptable, to rest your ears, as long as you are aware, and remove them frequently to check if your level is rising.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ãrni F. Sigurðsson, post: 57732, member: 1814"] Re: Earplugs and loud bands I'm a long time plug-wearer as a bass player, and just finished a 42band-36 hour metal festival as a monitor engineer. I had plugs in (custom molded -15db) all the time, except during the changeover. I know it's different from doing FOH sound, but if you're doing a 12hour festival you need to rest your ears. Say if a band plays for 45 mins, take the first 5 minutes to get the sound together, then put in your plugs and be careful not to turn everything up. Memorize that sound you had when you first put your plugs in, and try to stay on that balance. If you have good plugs (custom molded with flat filters, not your $0.02 foam plugs) you should be able to keep a balance at a constant level.. Take the plugs out every few minutes to check the level. I started wearing plugs when I started in my first band. The cymbals just hurt my ears. I don't need to hear myself any louder with plugs than without.. I just need the balance of me vs. everything else on stage to be ok. If I need more me, everything else is too loud. During the festival, we had a meeting with all the bands each day, explaining to them not to keep their amps too loud, because if they were the FOH guy couldn't do his job properly and their sound would suffer for it. They were all very understanding, and when each band started to play me or the stage manager would walk over to the guitar/bassists and check their level (and balance between clean/drive) and have the FOH give us the thumbs up/down. When the band was settled in I walked over to my desk and have everyone strum a chord/pluck a note/hit some drums and everyone would tell me if they were hearing enough (to begin with at least) The festival went great, little to no problem with stage power, monitor feedback. Most of the people said they were experiencing the best sound they ever heard. Don't give people too much monitors until they've heard how the stage sounds with just their amps (at a level FOH has approved of) One drummer showed up with a IEM, a microphone cable with a micsplit on the end. He patched his split straight into one of the guitarist's mic for in ear, and asked for a little kick and snare in his monitor. Wow.. I really got off topic there.. But wearing earplugs is IMO crucial when playing with a drummer playing any kind of rock-ish music. Those cymbals and that snare have a peak volume that ruins your hearing in the long run. Just get decent earplugs, not those foam mufflers that only filter out the high end, leaving you hearing nothing, and mixing with earplugs can be acceptable, to rest your ears, as long as you are aware, and remove them frequently to check if your level is rising. [/QUOTE]
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