I just wondered if any of you wear ear plugs when rehearsing or playing on stage, or when you are watching other bands?

I've never bothered, but there are various options on the market - the cheap foam ones are probably the best choice, although I've also seen fancier plastic ones that are designed to block out certain frequencies. On the other hand I know some people just use bits of toilet paper when needed.

I tried wearing some foam ones in rehearsal once, but I found they blocked out what I needed to hear... although wearing them while watching other bands would surely be sensible. I think it would be a good idea for venues to have a batch of foam earplugs behind the bar, and sell them for 50p a pair or something, so you had the option if the sound quality or volume was particularly hazardous, and they would make some extra profit as well.

I wear earplugs in rehearsal and when I'm watching other bands but never when I'm playing live. I only use cheap foam fun time ones though and yeah, some times wet tissue paper.

I use Pro-Plugs, £12, lovely, there's a little hole for a tiny cock and it's lovely. I wear them everywhere all the time. You can still hear everything, it just isn't as damaging, so I guess if you're a singer and need to hear yourself, they're good to wear if you're on a tour or something, otherwise you'll probably DIE.

I only really started to recently as I got tinnitus, foam ones though, I should get some special musician ones soon

i wear earplugs to everything, i got some shiny musician ones recently and they are so good, i hear everything exactly the same but metal doesnt sound so bassy and lost.

I wear them when I remember to take them out with me. So about 3% of the time.

I wear them usually only at rehearsals.

I have crappy foam ones, but they do the job. I want to get the ones that are moulded to fit your ears perfectly, but I don't have that kind of money to throw around, WILLY NILLY.

Never ever at gigs, whether watching, but especially when playing.

i wear them at rehearsal, gigs playing and watching!! they make everything so much better, depending on the quality of the earplugs though. dont use the foam ones, they're shitty, you can pick up a decent pair which are actually designed for live music etc for under £10. me on the other hand, im trying to save £160 for pair

I have these http://www.snorestore.co.uk/acatalog/in ... _info.html

I really only even wear them when I am on tour tho.

i was sick over mine...

unfortunatley, ive been partially deaf from birth so ive never been fully comfortable wearing earplugs as it usually blocks out so much sound i cant hear anything but the drums, but without them is just gonna wreck my hearing even more...and since joining Virus - has been doing so.

for live im thinking of getting headphones that'll plug into the desk or something so i can get the rest of the band into my ears at a lower level and blocking out higher impact of the live sound - like in recording... im not really sure about the technicality of doing this, i just hit things... so if anybody can advise me... please let me know!!

The key words everyone seam to be using is 'cheap foam earplugs'. They are cheap, block out all the high and mid so you can't hear anything. If you spead just about £18 from somewhere like www.enhancedlistening.com it'll make the world of differance. I wear mine as offetn as possible. Even at gigs, standing next to the cymbles on stage is probably the worst thing you can do for your ears.

jonny_boy34 wrote:I use Pro-Plugs, £12, lovely, there's a little hole for a tiny cock and it's lovely. I wear them everywhere all the time. You can still hear everything, it just isn't as damaging, so I guess if you're a singer and need to hear yourself, they're good to wear if you're on a tour or something, otherwise you'll probably DIE.

Are they Doc's Proplugs? http://www.proplugs.com/index.shtml

If so, do your ears ring at all after gigs/rehearsals? I would like something where everything doesn't sound muffled, but where the high frequencies are reduced, so these sound quite cool.

Yeah, those are the ones. I'm getting extreme Deja Vu here (an amazing Iron Maiden song, incidentally), I'm sure we've had this exact thread and conversation before.... but anyway, yes, they're very good. Although I've found that I do sometimes still get a ringing in my ears sometimes, I guess if you're somewhere that's just stupidly loud, they're only going to reduce the volume by so much. But usually they make everything sound really nice, so that's lovely.

yeah man, seriously earplugs

worn my work ear plugs a few times to gigs. They are the ones molded for your ears, and they have a filter in them so it allows certain frequencies through. They just dont work at gigs too well, some stuff can sound great through them, but another band can sound awful depending on the style and sound.