A deaf generation? from harderfaster.net - http://www.harderfaster.net/?section=features&action=showfeature&featureid=10707 Every week thousands of us count down the days, hours and minutes till that blessed day arrives – Friday. The end of the 9-5 and the beginning of the weekend turns otherwise sensible working types into overexcited, blithering fools, desperate to put the mundane Monday to Friday life behind them and loose their minds in a mixture of spine tingling riffs and pounding baselines. Across the nation pinstripe suits are swapped for tiny outfits and dancing shoes. The beers are cracked open and the stereo turned up to the max. Banging tunes symbolise the weekend, the summer and …..deafness??! All clubbers know that the pull of the dance floor causes them to fling themselves around aimlessly and stomp the night away. The music, lights and atmosphere of the club hits you as soon as you walk in, the pure sound vibrating round your body and making you feel part of that whole sweaty mass. But what if I told you that those body shaking beats could be doing serious damage to your hearing, and could be causing you permanent ear damage? Would you be worried that your weekend’s merriment could end up with you turning in your hearing aid rather than tuning up Glazby’s new mix? A new report by the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) has announced that people who go clubbing once a week are putting their hearing at risk through prolonged exposure to noise levels louder than a pneumatic drill. Now, if like me, you feel the only way to listen to music is as loud as possible and the vibrating, teeth chattering thing is something to be strived for then you may be inclined to stop reading. However, I warn you now that through my research on this subject, its actually quite worrying the dangers and damage that standing next to the speakers can do on your poor old ear lugs. The RNID conducted an undercover survey on 15 nightclubs in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast. The sound engineers found that the volume on most dance floors averaged just over 100dB – equivalent to a pneumatic drill being operated just 10ft away. Now that’s pretty loud! The charity said that the two loudest clubs (Belfast and Edinburgh) played house and drum and bass and averaged at 110 dB – the same level as an aircraft taking off. Perhaps the most worrying thing is, if you’re like me, you don’t really notice the sound levels in clubs. Once you’ve got over the initial thumps and shouting at your mates it all seems to level out and the only distinction you have between noise is when you’re in the toilet for that all important “collect your thoughts” ten minutes. This could be a permanent threshold change in your ears and means that damage has been done to the cochlea. This type of damage normally makes people believe that they are “getting used to the noise”, but what is really happening is that the damaged ear can no longer hear the damaging frequencies as well and so the perceived volume is lower. How many of you have staggered out into the morning sun with the sound of last night, quite literally ringing in your ears? It may even go on for a couple of days – but do you think anything of it? Research by the RNID showed that out of 66% of 18-30 year olds who regularly go clubbing 73% have experienced ringing in their ears or dullness in hearing. This is a warning sign of hearing damage – something that is permanent and irreversible and could lead to a condition called tinnitus. Tinnitus is a ringing in your ears that you can’t get rid of; it makes being in a silent room horrendous, with a constant whistling and ringing getting inside your head. You get it from over exposure to loud frequencies, be it music or industrial sounds. Once noise induced hearing loss occurs, the RNID says that there is no cure. The sound levels that we can put up with may not seem unpleasurable, quite the opposite indeed. Listening to banging riffs and breakdowns is one of the reasons why club land is swamped every weekend– but if we had to listen to a plane taking off for 8 hours would we really rush down to the speakers, wave our arms in the air and “reach for the lasers”? Music is emotionally satisfying; it takes us away from the stress and worry of the week and puts us on another planet. Its escapism, reality and addictive. It doesn’t matter what the music is it’s the sound level that is slowly destroying our ears, if you’re standing two metres away from someone and have to shout to make yourself heard then the RNID say the music is too loud and could be causing permanent damage. If we’re not careful club country will be giving birth to a generation of “sorry what was that?” and “speak up, I can’t hear you love.” We’re bombarded with dance safety. Drink enough water, but not too much, take regular breaks – you know the story. But what about something that really could do permanent damage and seriously p*ss you off in later life? There is a law in place to protect workers. The 1989 Noise at Work Regulations says that employees working in environments where the noise levels are above 85 decibels must be told of the risks of noise exposure and offered hearing protection. If levels are at or exceed 95 decibels then employers must mark out ear protection zones – areas were earplugs must be warn. If employers don’t do this then they can be taken to court. But there are no laws in place to protect the clubbers. John Collins from B.E.D.A (Bar Entertainment and Dance Association) admits that these health risks are worrying but point out that the accepted level of music for most dance floor is over 95decibels. He said: “the accepted level in clubs is at least 95 dB, which is over both action levels set out by the Health and Safety Executive, but anything under that doesn’t allow for the emersion and escapism that you want on a dance floor.” So it’s accepted that clubs play music at levels where the government legally calls for workers to be offered hearing protection, but clubbers are given no protection or even information on this health issue. Why is that? A spokeswoman from the Health and Safety Executive, who are in charge of enforcing the regulations, said: “we can require clubs to give protection to their workers when levels reach the action levels, but we can’t require them to offer it to people who attend the events because those people are attending by choice.” OK so it’s your choice what you do at the weekend – but it would be nice if someone let us know just what damage we’re doing to our hearing. Venues need to become more aware of the long term affects of this and publish sound levels. Yeah sure loads of people won’t give a damn about this, but what about people who do? The Egg in King’s Cross have been dubbed by the RNID as a “noise aware club”, they publicise noise levels and hand out earplugs as people come in. They also use a Funktion-one sound system which filters out all the damaging frequencies and gives clean, direct sound. Manager, Harvey said: “I think we have a responsibility, if people are coming to our venue to hear music and we’re damaging them in anyway then it’s our responsibility to make them aware of it.” ‘Tilt’s’ Nathan put it well: “clubbing is about socialising as well as dancing, so if you have to yell directly in your mates ear to communicate then its clearly too loud.” ‘Heat’s’ Damien said: “you can’t stop people from going clubbing, but it is continued misuse that’s going to wreak you’re ears. If there were frequencies in their damaging people then I would sell earplugs and make them available.” So what’s to be done then? The thing is as I’m writing this I’m really aware of sounding like, well, your mum! But mummsy tendencies aside I love music, it may sound corny but it gets me up in the morning and sends me to sleep at night and to find out that the one thing that I love could possibly stop me from enjoying it in the future really does worry me! So, in true good citizen from I thought I should inform all my fellow stompers! Earplugs seem to be the way forward. The RNID are calling for clubs to sell them, it may seem like a silly idea – but hey the lesser of two evils and all that! Funnily enough Slinky actually has them in the first aid room! The word from the hearing experts is grab yourself a pair of plugs and boogie on down, don’t stand next to the speakers for too long and like your feet, give your ears a break now and again. Chill out rooms are good for this and hey, it’s a good excuse for lots of mongo chats to be spawned – not that you need an excuse! London is a clubbers heaven; you can party all weekend and move from one phat sound system to the next. Fair play I say and bring on the weekend, however, at the end of the day the one thing we all have in common is a love for music. If we’re not careful that’s what we’ll be losing. ------- dB Safe Listening Time 85 8 Hours 88 4 Hours 91 2 hours 94 1 Hour 97 30 Minutes 100 15 Minutes 103 7.5 Minutes 106 3.75 Minutes 109 Less than 2 minutes What Do dB levels mean? Painful 140--firearms, air raid siren 130--jackhammer 120--jet plane takeoff Extremely Loud 110--rock music 100--snowmobile, chainsaw 90--lawnmower Very Loud 80--alarm clock 70--busy traffic, vacuum cleaner 60--conversation, dishwasher Moderate 50--moderate rainfall 40--quiet room Faint 30--whisper
I think it would be a good idea to sell earplugs in nightclubs, but who would actually buy them when they could use the money for an extra drink? I used to work on the reception in a factory and we had a little ear plug dispenser on the wall as you came in, like those machines that you put 20p in and turn the knob, but without having to put money in. Having these in clubs may encourage people to use them, but they will also encourage vandalism, as happens to most tampon and condom dispensers. I guess I do know that my hearing is being damaged, because of the ringing for several hours after the music, but you don't really think about it do you? It's part of the atmosphere, clubbing wouldn't be the same without the music that loud. Hmm...I'm in two minds about this. I suppose quieter music could be still as enjoyable, I've never tried it, but I wouldn't want it lowered so much that I could hear someone standing 2 metres away :spangled:
Choose earplugs with an SNR figure of between 20 and 32 dB. Make sure that the earplugs are designed for hearing protection. Many earplugs sold by pharmacies and sports shops are designed for swimming or to reduce minor background noise, and do not protect effectively against damaging levels of noise. OVER 50s VALUE FOR MONEY TRAVEL INSURANCE Disposable earplugs Disposable earplugs should be soft and fit comfortably in your ear. They are usually made of foam, mineral wadding, or soft silicone. Most disposable earplugs need to be rolled between your fingers, inserted into the ear and held in place until they expand to fill and seal the ear canal. Ordinary cotton wool is a very bad noise protector and is not recommended for this purpose. Reusable earplugs Reusable earplugs are made from foam, soft plastic, or rubber. They can be washed and used again. Pre-moulded, re-usable earplugs are very hardwearing, and do not need to be rolled to fit in your ear. Custom-made earplugs Earplugs can be custom-made to give a better fit in your ear canal. Because fitters use a mould of your ear canal, they tend to be expensive. However, with the better fit they should attenuate noise more effectively and be more comfortable. They may last for several years and so may be cheaper than disposable earplugs for regular, long-term use. Musicians’ earplugs Ordinary earplugs provide greater attenuation for higher frequency sounds, making sounds appear muffled. Musicians’ earplugs are designed to give similar attenuation for sounds of all frequencies. This means that the earplugs protect from the damaging effects of loud sounds, but preserve the sound quality. these ones dont look like they reduce sound quality too much http://store.yahoo.com/earplugstore/profmusearpl.html
having experienced hearing damage and tinnitus in the first person, i can confirm that it really, really can fuck you up. Can't sleep for the ringing ( can hear it now and always ), have to always watch to avoid loud noise now, etc etc. also, wearing earplugs ( Nrr 29 Deciguard A+B foam disposable) actually makes the music clearer; your ears won't fatigue, and so the sound remains near-perfect all night. ALL my mates who go clubbing who I have made try the plugs, now wear them religiously, and a few now refuse to enter a club without them. There is no excuse, unless you like permanent damage Get some plugs now Harry PS, Promise giving away / selling these for 10 p at the door would be a VERY good move imo.
Actually I saw a canny few people in Ibiza wearing ear plugs. They were weird looking- they kinda looked like they had big pins stuck in their ears! I reckon I've lost some of my hearing anyway after years of blasting myself with various kinds of music- I have proper trouble hearing people in clubs, and on the phone unless they shout
i was reading about something like this a few months ago. i'm sure the article was written by anne savage, or at least featured her. wherever i read it, they were advertising custom made ear plugs to cut off the hight frequency sounds that, in the end, do the damage. they were £160 like, but what's £160 when it could stop you going deaf in the future?!! i know i'm gona get some sorted out when i've got the spare cash i couldn't imagine livin without music, i'm sure you lot are the same found that anne savage thing: link
my hearing has definitely gotten worse since i started clubbing and seems to be getting gradually worse through using my decks. i think the people who run promise should definitely look into providing a dispenser. if earplugs were readily available a lot more people would use them as the stigma of looking maybe a "bit daft" would disappear. surely it wouldnt cost loads to get one installed, even at the bar if people think vandalism would be a problem, but i dont think it would anyway.
they could just give them out with your receipt when you pay to get in, wouldn't take two minutes and at least then everyone knows about it although they'd need loadsa change if it was £13 and 10pence to get in
fook that they could give them to anyone who needed them when they went in. They did at Turbulence with the valve soundsystem. With the amount of money they're making off each person, giving them back some cheap earplugs wouldn't harm. Some earplugs
When i started DJing i had £150 ear plusg made up and wore them to every club night, You can hear ALL the music and forget your wearing them and they protect your ears
I remember the first time i had a pill was at dillinja with the valve sound system. Being totally off my tits and so amused by everything going on (was my first night out in town that had played drum n bass so this new whole music genre was opened up to me too) I was caught wandering around with a pair of those yellow and blue earplugs on a string hanging out of my mouth. Me being Mr Cleverbollocks at the time had reached into my pocket for some chewing gum and pulled out some plugs Worked fine as gum like I just looked a bit stupid
