Hey
Just want to discuss with you one of my biggest questions. It's about the stones' ears. I found some older topics but found nothing about the last tour, and maybe some of you got some infos about it. Mick always wears his in-ears plugs (I think since the Bigger Bang Tour), and the rest just hears with monitor speakers. Because I have a quite tinnitus myself by playing in a band for years, I really wonder if the other 3 stones use ear plugs. I can't see something like that by Charlie, Keith or Ronnie. And actually after years of playing with ulta-loud 100-watt amps and 4x12 cabinets they shouldn't hear anything at all
It could be that today the volume on stage is actually not so loud. I think Charlie plays very quite and the amps are just combos.

IIrc Mick and Darryl use IEMs Ron Keef and Charlie rely on wedges.

"It could be that today the volume on stage is actually not so loud"
This is what our Mathijs wrote a few months ago. And it's certainly lesser than what it was in the 70's.

Anyway I think ear damage and tinnitus are more or less genetically determined. Some people can face 100+ dB's for years with minimal damage. Others find normal noises (like traffic noise) unbearable.

All of us who listened to LOUD music for years and especially those of us who stood in from of an amp for many years likely have some hearing damage. Most have a dip in hearing at the midrange frequencies.

It's easy and cheap to get your hearing checked, even some apps on the net to do so. I've set up graphic EQ's for many friends who have specific frequency losses. I just boost the frequencies they are not hearing at the same levels shown to be reduced on their tests. It seems to work well for the short term anyway...

While hearing loss may be genetically determined, most folks can trace their loss to specific situations and events like industrial working environments and loud music. Almost all musicians who have played with stacks of speakers for any length of time have measurable hearing loss and I'd bet the Stones are no exception.

They make ear plugs which reduce the level equally over the entire frequency range, something essential for hearing music correctly but at lower volumes. The non-profit foundation H.E.A.R has done a lot of education and good work on the subject.

[www.hearnet.com]

peace

Quote
dcba
IIrc Mick and Darryl use IEMs Ron Keef and Charlie rely on wedges.

"It could be that today the volume on stage is actually not so loud"
This is what our Mathijs wrote a few months ago. And it's certainly lesser than what it was in the 70's.

Anyway I think ear damage and tinnitus are more or less genetically determined. Some people can face 100+ dB's for years with minimal damage. Others find normal noises (like traffic noise) unbearable.

That's true. I know some people who go to concerts or discos every week and they tell me that they never really had tinnitus. Sure they don't hear perfect anymore, but they can talk and listen to me without problems.
The problem is when you are a sensitive person and you care too much about ear ringing after concerts, then often it won't go away.

I had about 12 hours of ear ringing after the DC stones show. I was really close to the hung speaker on stage right.