Ouch

Listening to an old punXor tape on the bus to work at hem hem, Whitehall (I LIVE IT) this morning... suddenly the most trebly guitar scratch song in ver world - EVER (well, maybe) comes on. I have my walkman turned up loud due to quiet taping of previous song and also BUS NOISE - my ears feel PANE. However, the pane is good. I sit and smile to myself. I get off the bus. I take walkman off. My ears are ringing and I am confused with my spacial recognition. Loudness is fun.

Oh, Tim made me this tape, I'm referring to the Scars track - Adult/Ery...

We have a new boy in our flat. New Boy DJ Dan as you may or may not kno. He plays LOUD HIP HOP and scratchs and "mc's" as I believe you kids may call it. Sometimes that can be too loud. But most of the time it's surprisingly palatable. I'll be talking with Gareth about Mos Def or.. um... "breaks" or "beats" next thing I knows.

um, i have never heard Mos Def(!)

If it's too loud you're too old. I say this as someone whose hearing has never properly recovered from an earlyish Swans gig at the ICA. And I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest when I saw Panasonic supporting Suicide at the Garage a few years back. Still, pain is pleasure etc. etc.

Swans louder at T&C, I think.

Andrew L, re: Panasonic. Really??? They never played THAT viciously when I saw them in London where they played before MASONNA took his place onstage!

I do worry about my hearing, yes. Fortunately, I don't go to shows much, because it seems like that is where most of the damage is done. As I get older, taking care of my hearing & being in the music- listening game for the long haul has become more important.

Swans supporting The Fall at Heaven 1984 = too loud. Motorhead, Reading Univ 1985 = terrifyingly loud.

Last night I went to see Melt Banana and The Wolves Of Greece. BAM! BAM! I can't hear anything anymore, aaaagh. Eardrums penetrated, brain vibrating. I want to hug the speakers, get even closer, even louder, make it explode, expand, contract...

My Bloody Valentine in 1992. People moved to the back of the hall, hands over ears, after about three songs because it was so loud. Then it got louder.

Heh heh heh. I had the pleasure of being at two MBV shows in 1992, and the second time around I knew the open-ended chord in "You Made Me Realize" was coming and timed it while watching everyone's reactions. 35 minutes later the band snapped back into the song...

Slight case of tinnitus from a couple of times without earplugs, notably a blinding version of "Drive That Fast" by the Kitchens of Distinction. What a way to go.

I should probably wear earplugs when I play. Ever seen Necessarry Evils? Pussy Galore? Jesus Lizard? Well, Three guitars turned up full volume with all kinds of crazy effects, analog mind you, me pounding away on the 60's be bop kit that was probably never intended for that sort of abuse, ala john spencer, jack o fire, sugar shack type blues punk. I can't focus my eyes, walk straight or hear everything quite right when I'm done, but it sure pleases the soul. -H

Loudest gig - motorhead @ ncle mayfair - er- - sometime in thee mid- '80's. The next day, my mum said to me "Are you going to answwer the phone?" I COULDN'T HEAR IT AT ALL. Strangely, some things I could hear w/perfect clarity, whilst others just vanished, sound-wise. I worked for 5 yrs as live sound FOH/monitor engineer, and it was nearly a year before the ringing went away.

xoxo

Yes: pop has ruined my hearing and hurt my ears. Therefore I have to play things very loud so that my damaged ears can hear them. Which damages them further.

I've become increasingly paranoid about the state of my hearing over the past year. Early last January, I had a physical and the doctor told me that I had shown some signs of hearing loss. About a month after that I started suffering from what I thought was a severe case of tinnitus and it put me in a depression for weeks. Strangely, about a month and a half after the symptoms started, they mysteriously went away, and I haven't had a symptom since.

I've been more cautious now, wearing earplug's and all when needed, though I don't go to as many shows anymore. Not because of the noise, but because the town I live in and the amount of good shows passing through is so sparse.

Now carry earplugs for all gigs, clubs. Ears ringing for days on end is no fun at all. Loudest : My Bloody Valentine (again), circa 'Loveless' so deafening one could barely make out which track being played. I adore them but whole experience left me confused. The noise didn't bleed into melody, it hurt.

I can never enjoy a (loud) gig, either listening or playing, if I don't have my earplugs. I can't relax and enjoy the music if the volume is at painful levels that will cause ringing after it stops.

At home, I never play music loud enough to think about that. Maybe if I had a decent stereo.

I like volume. I haven't been to a concert in months, but if I were to go to one it'd be a noise show, but most of those aren't even loud enough. I'm not even sure High Rise was loud enough.

I saw Husker Du in my youth, and it was the loudest show I've ever seen... but it sounded good, a good kind of loud... All these years later, and my ears do weird things sometimes. Weird sounds that aren't there, puffs of wind on my eardrums that shouldn't happen. My New Year's Resolution was to start wearing earplugs, but it doesn't happen too often.

I've never been to a show and thought, "this is just too loud". The times it's been uncomfortable for me usually have to do with being pinned against a PA speaker or something.

Always at concerts, and the reason's going to sound strange to you. Live rock music always sounds treble-heavy to me--I wear earplugs to make it bassier. My hearing's never been that good because of excessive earwax--even if I have them cleaned out, the problem returns in a day. So, I've just learned to live with it. At least I have a good excuse to not listen to idiots. :-)

Personal to Andy: My parents and I were visiting relatives in Red Wing in 1985. While we were there, Husker Du opened up for REM in Minneapolis. I pleaded with my parents to let me go, but they believed that 17 was too young to go to a rock concert. I spent the day before tying ropes together so that I could sneak out my grandmother's second story window and go. The idea that I would have also had to figure out a way to get to Minneapolis (an hour's drive from Red Wing) and buy a ticket (I never carried a purse and rarely had more than a few quarters in my pocket) never occured to me. I wasn't exactly the most logical kid in the world at that time. Anyway, I managed to get a few feet away from the house when my mother saw me, and called me back in. I saw REM three times after that, but I never managed to see Husker Du before they broke up. Damn.

MBV (yawn) in Paradiso 1992. Of course I was prepared for the freak- out with some earplugs. Still it was so loud that I could feel the vibrations on my...erm...balls. Anyway other one: Blame and Bukem in Ministry of Sound circa 96, 97. In the main hall with that warning sign at the entrance. Blame drops a record with such a deep bass that literally waves over the crowd, the vibration *raising* the hairs on your arms. Pretty cool effect that.

Dandy Warhols at a small room in Southampton University Union. They were playing a very droney set, and the sound was muffley and it had nowhere to go...my hearing took over a day to get back to normal. But since nothing quite like that has happened since, it doesn't bother me at the moment!

Mogwai in the Red Box in Dublin this year. Unbelievable. I had that weird sensation of the wind blowing through my head for the following week

Not wearing earplugs when it gets dangerously loud = stupidity, if done deliberately. I have fairly mild tinnitus (from playing and attending shows without wearing sufficient hearing protection), and I really wish I didn't, though it hasn't been too bad lately.

And there's definitely such a thing as too loud; very high decibel levels are just plain damaging, whether or not you have hearing protection. They're literally traumatizing to the body -- indeed, some have claimed that the euphoria that some people experience after listening to loud music is the result of mood-elevating endorphins that the body releases in its effort to repair the damage it's sustained. Make of that what you will, but I can't help but think that chest-cavity bass is dangerous, and even potentially disruptive to heart rhythms.

That being said, loud music can be great -- some of my favorite moments in live music have involved being enveloped in a wall of sound (Cerberus Shoal, Low, Transona Five, among others) that seemed almost tactile. But if enjoyed for more than a minute or two, it comes at a very high price.