by jorge » Wed Dec 18, 2013 5:05 am
You are absolutely right. Just practicing congas at home with no mic, no backing music and no band can be loud enough to damage your hearing permanently. In the past few months I have done loudness measurements using a noise dosimeter and find that I can reach the OSHA maximum daily (8 hour) noise dose in 15 minutes practicing at home, and in 5 minutes onstage playing in an unamplified rumba. And we are good musicians and play to the room at reasonable volume, I am not talking about the "concussionists" you may encounter in the park. I have been playing over 40 years and have moderate (45-55 dB) hearing loss and tinnitus. Claves and cata are the loudest but conga slaps come close. Although the research is not definitive, it seems that impact (percussive) sounds in general do more hearing damage than steady tones of equal loudness. Just a few slaps now will make my ears ring more than usual.
Playing soft is an option when practicing. You can greatly improve your technique without playing loud, and that is an important technique to learn. Learning to project your sound without straining is an important skill as well, however, and you do need to practice that too, or you will get tired and poop out after a few songs if you ever have to play without a mic with a live band, or on a rug onstage, or in a big hall without amplification, or outside in a comparsa or in the park.
I recently started using hearing protectors every time I play, and that makes a huge difference. At first it was very difficult to stay in time because the hearing protectors I had used block most of the high frequency sounds that carry the timing cues. There are available musicians' earplugs that allow you to hear all the frequencies with relatively flat response, just not as loud. The 3 main options are Etymotic Research ER20 generic musicians' earplugs, custom earmolds with Etymotic Research ER15 filters, and ACS custom earmolds with Pro17 filters and Pro10 filters. I have also tried ER9 and ER25 filters in the custom earmolds, Etymotic MusicPro electronic musicians' earplugs, and a variety of generic earplugs available in music stores. My preference, by far, is the ACS Pro17 with custom earmolds. I now use them in the Afrocuban rumbas every week at the Zinc Bar in NYC, and have gotten used to playing with them in.
They would seem to be relatively expensive, I paid $185 for the custom earmolds and the filters complete. I would consider that very inexpensive, however, compared with the $3,000 - $6,000 cost of the hearing aids which I have been pricing and trying out recently. And none of the hearing aids I have tried have been even close to acceptable in sound quality. Hearing aids are not covered by health insurance, you pay out of pocket unless you are a veteran.
Once you lose your hearing, it is irreversible, so Congavalde you are asking the right question at the right time.