dmccombe7 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 (edited) While reading the "Stage Positions - where to stand" thread it occured to me that many bassists stand in a specific stage area because of deafness in one ear. Any particular reason why ? I've played in bands for over 30 yrs including loud rock bands and have no hearing issues that i've heard about I get tested every 2 yrs through my job. I work in engineering with high decibel levels of machinery noise. Just curious Cheers Dave Edited March 30, 2011 by dmccombe7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='dmccombe7' post='1182061' date='Mar 30 2011, 12:23 PM']While reading the "Stage Positions - where to stand" thread it occured to me that many bassists stand in a specific stage area because of deafness in one ear. Any particular reason why ? I've played in bands for over 30 yrs including loud rock bands and have no hearing issues [b]that i've heard about [/b] I get tested every 2 yrs through my job. I work in engineering with high decibel levels of machinery noise. Just curious Cheers Dave[/quote] Well you wouldn't hear about it would you!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='dmccombe7' post='1182061' date='Mar 30 2011, 11:23 AM']While reading the "Stage Positions - where to stand" thread it occured to me that many bassists stand in a specific stage area because of deafness in one ear. Any particular reason why ? I've played in bands for over 30 yrs including loud rock bands and have no hearing issues that i've heard about I get tested every 2 yrs through my job. I work in engineering with high decibel levels of machinery noise. Just curious Cheers Dave[/quote] Count yourself lucky... some people are just more susceptible to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Vader Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 My one ear deafness was due to an accident involving a cliff edge and a crate of stella 15 years ago. Nowt to do with the music part of rock n roll. The tinnitus in my good one is all down to the tunes though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I think it`s the prolonged effect of the high volumes concentrated into the one ear. Considering that with me, it`s the ear that faces the rest of the instruments, I`ve always assumed that it has to be due to the bands, but then, I have played in some ridiculously loud bands - to the point where at times, I just got a very loud buzzing in my ear for about 30 seconds at a time, rather like having a huge wasp in my ear. It can`t have done me any good. I have no problems hearing a sound that is "strong" irrespective of how loud, but people who speak only to the end of their own lips, or those who don`t face me when speaking to me - literally no chance of understanding them. Regularly, with a particular group of people with whom I socialise, if in a restaurant, I`ll be saying "what" all night to them, whereas I can understand everything the people on the next table/people outside having a fag/waiters on the phone accepting take-out orders say, so my hearing can`t be that bad. I`ve also done those phone-up things, and they state my hearing is ok, within acceptable levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 what? pardon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougie Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 In the 80s i done stage crew at the Scottish ex cen,after every gig had that annoying wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo noise in the back of my head for a good few hrs,can still hear ok,i think.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Guess I have been lucky and may be that the bands I've played with were not as loud as i thought. From what I've been told your hearing can be affected by many different things from loud music, motorcycle wind noise, machinery noise or even illness and will affect mainly one frequency of the hearing spectrum depending on what the noise is. The specialist who completes the checks can usually pinpoint why your particular frequency is down in that area. It is not normally a sudden loud noise but usually continuous high levels of noise that cause hearing loss. Guess i was just a bit curious. Thanks Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Most likely to do with crash cymbals at ear level in some cases Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulWarning Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 being left handed I stand to the right of the drummer, and yep I've got tinitus and hearing loss in my left ear, I'm in my late fifties and it didn't start until about 5 years ago, so, to all of you who say their hearing is ok dispite playing in loud bands, don't feel smug to soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='dmccombe7' post='1182061' date='Mar 30 2011, 12:23 PM']Any particular reason why ? [/quote] Marriage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='lojo' post='1182138' date='Mar 30 2011, 01:15 PM']Most likely to do with crash cymbals at ear level in some cases[/quote] Yup - I have significantly less top end sensitivity in my right ear than my left - the result of many years stood next to a crash cymbal operated by a very loud drummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I've got slight, low-level tinnitus in both ears from working as a music journalist about 10 years ago... too many gigs and club nights with my head in the bass bins! It's nothing major - a typical high pitched 'whine' in both ears; I only really notice it when I'm in a quiet room. In all seriousness though, it's something to be wary of. Hearing damage - and tinnitus in particular - can literally ruin your life. Attenuating earplugs are a great investment in this regard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassicinstinct Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='TheRev' post='1182198' date='Mar 30 2011, 01:56 PM']Yup - I have significantly less top end sensitivity in my right ear than my left - the result of many years stood next to a crash cymbal operated by a very loud drummer.[/quote] Me too, although it's the right ear in my case. Apparently badly damaged but not to the degree which requires a hearing aid thank God. The doc at the EN&T dept where I had my hearing checked explained that drummers actually sit in the ideal position to protect themselves from the damaging high frequencies they generate with their cymbals whereas the rest of us, and specifically the bassist, tend to be positioned in precisely the[b] worst [/b]position in that regard. Drummers - they be swines I tell thee!! Suffice to say, I haven't gigged or rehearsed without wearing my custom ear defenders for a number of years now. Not cheap and took a while to get used to them, but wouldn't be without them now. Just wish I'd taken the plunge a few decades ago!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='lojo' post='1182138' date='Mar 30 2011, 01:15 PM']Most likely to do with crash cymbals at ear level in some cases[/quote] Yep, I always felt the cymbals did the most damage. Of course, we all wear proper earplugs now don't we. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky L Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I wish I wish ... Both ears ringing, or whistling currently but I think my left is worse, yup I nearly always stand to the drummer's right. I usually sound check one or two numbers without ear plugs, but gig with one in my left ear and another half in my right. If I jam both in I just don't feel in contact with the music. Somedays the whistling is worse than others, certainly if I feel run down or have a bad stress headache then it's worse. My Dad is profoundly deaf due to tinnitus and all from shooting without ear defenders... no one had heard of that sort of thing back then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I've been deaf from birth in both ears. I also have slight tinnitus from birth too. I've been in a couple of loud bands and I've not noticed my hearing or the tinnitus getting worse. Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='icastle' post='1182158' date='Mar 30 2011, 01:27 PM']Marriage [/quote] Surely your bass technique has developed to the point whereby your selective hearing mode, compression and clipping removes the extreme white noise from the spouse drone. Cheers Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='dmccombe7' post='1182761' date='Mar 30 2011, 09:53 PM']Surely your bass technique has developed to the point whereby your selective hearing mode, compression and clipping removes the extreme white noise from the spouse drone. [/quote] Oh the screeches were easy to deal with, it was just the constant rumble in the background that did the damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Sam Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 [quote name='icastle' post='1182789' date='Mar 30 2011, 10:13 PM']Oh the screeches were easy to deal with, it was just the constant rumble in the background that did the damage. [/quote] So you've met my Ex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Bassman Sam' post='1182864' date='Mar 30 2011, 11:30 PM']So you've met my Ex. [/quote] Big woman, drives a JCB and arm wrestles hod carriers? Edited March 30, 2011 by icastle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 [quote name='dmccombe7' post='1182061' date='Mar 30 2011, 12:23 PM']no hearing issues that i've heard about[/quote] very funny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 [quote name='icastle' post='1182910' date='Mar 31 2011, 12:28 AM']Big woman, drives a JCB and arm wrestles hod carriers? [/quote] She's now my wife !!! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobpalt Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 We are very fair in my band. I've stood next to the same guitarist for ten years, and he has gone deaf in one ear and so have I, and both have hearing aids now. Our type of deafness is almost identical (the audiologist who tested both of us immediately identified us as musicians from the test results), so we have made one another deaf! We are both mid 50s, and hadnt suffered at all until 2 or 3 years ago, so wear those plugs and dont be mugs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawman Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 i'm pretty much completely deaf in my right ear, had a few operations on it after an initial infection was undetected which decayed all the hearing bones (lovely) tried another operation to place a plastic hearing bone in it but it was rejected now i tend to try and keep the drums to my right so my rubbish ear is getting the worst of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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