There's a dark, unfortunate side effect of touring with a rock and roll band. Being constantly exposed to the massive wattage discharge of concert grade speakers and monitors can wreak havoc with your hearing. A roll call of Rock-tober alumni with hearing loss includes the following:
- Brian Johnson was highly encouraged by doctors to suspend touring or risk total hearing loss.
- Phil Collins retired from touring in 2011 citing health concerns including hearing loss.
- Eric Clapton suffers from tinnitus attributed to his career long high decibel exposure.
Dr. Carol Rousseau was interviewed by "Ultimate Classic Rock" earlier this year and said, “At 105 dB, damage can occur after only about 15 minutes of exposure. And damage to the inner ear can occur instantaneous [sic] at 120 dBs." She went on to state decibel measurements for AC/DC concerts ranged from 105 to 130 dBs.
Technology stepped in to provide some relief. In the same article cited above, Van Halen's soundman, Jerry Harvey, crafted a custom earpiece at Alex Van Halen's request that allowed Alex to replace his wedge monitor. This allowed him to hear his specific mix at a much lower volume. The technology caught on and was eventually acquired by Logitech which facilitated access to the device.
I don't attend many hard charging, amped up, "vibrate your innards with bass" concerts. I always wear hearing protectors around loud tools and machinery, and I don't usually have the stereo cranked to 11. These days, the only aural assault I sustain is the rumble of a well tuned engine. Sometimes, though, tearing down the road forces me to goose up the volume on the stereo if the tune is right.
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