In celebration of National Tinnitus Awareness Week, Data Transmission spoke to a selection of DJs from around the world to hear about their experiences with the condition, hearing protection, and the perils of prolonged exposure to loud music.
Protect your hearing – head over to www.audiorelief.co.uk to get protection from as little as £15, right up to professional standard custom-fit musicians earplugs. Quote Data Transmission for a 5% discount.
Roger Sanchez
“I actually have tinnitus and have lived with it for many years now. As a DJ, many of us are afflicted with it because of loud sound levels in the DJ booth, not only in the club. I have managed to reduce the effect by consistently wearing in-ear filters, made by a Dutch company called Filterz, that reduce the level of the sound without losing clarity. It is IMPERATIVE that when one is in an environment with elevated sound levels, one wears protection to minimize the damage that can occur.”
Gadi Mizrahi (Wolf + Lamb / Spectral / Simple)
“I was working on a sound installation for Burning Man a few years back in my apartment in Manhattan. The neighbours upstairs from me were complaining that the music leaked too much into their apt. so I bought myself a pair of high-quality super-expensive headphones. Working long hours through the night mostly on heavy low end sound sculpturing, my ears began to get damaged without me noticing. Until one night in bed as I was trying to sleep I noticed a ringing noise. Kind of like after a rock concert but this one didn’t go away after a night or two’s rest. This one stayed.
I went to get my hearing checked out and that’s when they dropped the bomb on me “You have tinnitus!”. Wuw, that one hurt.
Ever since, I try to wear earplugs whenever I’m at bigger venues, and even some days just around the house to give my ears complete silence. This seems to help, but as a touring DJ and a full time producer I don’t get many days off from music. I would support bringing awareness of tinnitus to the next generations because there is no cure, it only gets worse, and I would do anything now to hear complete silence again.”
Simon Baker
“I have learned to live with it. By the time I realised I had it, it was too late. I now use proper ear protectors, but generally only in very loud clubs or after DJing. It kind of loses the vibe in the club by wearing them all the time for me personally. I like to hear the detail of the music. If I thought about it in bed at night or on other quiet occasions, I think it would make me mad, but I am used to it now. Part and parcel of the job I guess. I think I should be probably a bit more aware about the facts though as it does concern me!”
Soul Clap (Charlie)
“I first developed tinnitus at the end of college around 2003. I got earplugs then and still wear them EVERY time I go out…otherwise I’m done for! When I went to get my hearing tested and to get fitted for plugs, the doctor told me that I had tinnitus, but not hearing loss. This was years ago and now I recently went to get re-fitted (my earplugs or my ears have changed size since then) and my doctor. told me now i’ve sustained some typical hearing loss as a result of loud music exposure. It’s a bit scary to think that the music, the one thing that brings me almost unconditional joy, could also be the end of me! Yikes! But then he asked me, am I happy with my job? I said, well yeah, I get to travel the world, make and hear the most incredible music, so he told me not to worry about it – it will be more of an issue when I’m in my forties, but hopefully by then they miracle that is modern medicine will have a solution.”
Timmy Stewart (Jet Project)
“You really should protect your ears for your own future in this industry. I honestly wouldn’t like to imagine a life without listening to or making music. With this in mind I went for fitting of custom made ER earplugs a few years back, which also included a free but dreaded hearing test, time to see just how much damage had been done to date.
Thankfully the test results were OK, I only had some minor damage both to the surprise of myself and the hearing specialist, especially considering how often I was exposed to loud music and club sound systems. The plugs were expensive but a great investment, I’ll often wear them in a club after or before a DJ set as well, as in the booth I can at least control the level of the monitors but in front of a rig your ears can take a substantial bashing.
A good tip – I used to suffer quite badly with my ears popping on flights, now I fit the ear plugs ten minutes before and during take off and landing, the way the vents in the plugs have been designed completely eliminated that problem for me.”
Jim Rivers
“Protecting my hearing has always been at the front of my mind, but Ive not always been proactive in sorting it out! I’ve been through a few sets of earplugs now and as it happens my current pair are faulty – note to self to get it sorted! That said it’s obviously a very important issue for DJs now as sound systems are louder, but really it’s the fact that most of us are studio engineers of some description in the week and that’s where its so important to have your ears in as good shape as possible!
I’ve had gigs where its not seemed too bad and then in the hotel afterwards my ears have been ringing and then often well into the next day. Sometimes I’ve had the opposite too where I’ve been worried about them and my ears have felt fine – I guess there is a lot of factors that go into it. On the whole I try and always wear my earplugs. It really takes some getting used to at first, but the results are worth it. I can’t explain how good it is to get back to a hotel and not have ringing ears, but also my ears don’t feel tired either. That’s a bit more tricky to explain, but all in all I always feel better. Sometimes the monitoring at a club can make it very difficult to feel comfortable playing with them in, but I think you can just get used to it. If I take them out while I’m playing, they don’t usually go back in, so I try and avoid it unless I really have to.
I guess one of the biggest drawbacks can be a loss of ‘vibe’. The earplugs are great but you do loose the atmosphere of the sound a lot, so it’s about choosing to get used to that and experimenting with different types of earplugs and filters to get the right balance. At the moment my current pair are un-useable as one of them is vibrating and just is the most annoying thing ever to have rattling in your ear! At the end of the day for me, an investment in good moulded earplugs and the discipline to wear them is nothing in comparison too the thought of having some bad ear problems in the future.”
Perc
“After a few years of suffering ringing ears after gigs I am now looking into the ear protection that works best for me and my DJing. I’d like to think I am acting before any long-term damage has been done and I’d advise anyone that loves dance music and clubbing to look into ear protection as soon as they can.”
Tom Stephan
“In 1998, having experienced some ringing and thunder in my ears, I had my hearing tested and bought a pair of custom-fit ear plugs. But my hearing test was quite good and I couldn’t really be bothered to wear the ear plugs so I didn’t. In 2005, my ears were really bothering me again so I went back to have them tested and what was once a pretty much flat response was now a ski slope. Not good at all. If only I had worn them for those years. My hearing hasn’t improved at all since then but I’ve worn my ear protection without fail so at least I know I’m not making things any worse.”
Fleur (Soul Heaven) [her son pictured in Miami wearing ear protectors]
“It’s horrible. I had tinnitus in my early twenties when I worked on stage as a theatre spark and have recently got it back after an ear infection in December. You just lose any sense of silence with a constant white noise in your ears. I try not to stand in front of the speakers these days at gigs and sound checks and I hope this bout will go away once the cold weather stops.”
Tom Real (Disco OF Doom)
“Having spent over half my life in clubs, festivals and parties, there was a stage were I thought my ears were bulletproof in terms of succumbing to tinnitus. I’d happily locate myself right in front of the speaker and party the night away. As iI’ve got older and also more involved in music production I now find myself living with tinnitus. Initially it started a ringing that took a few days to go away but over the last few years I’ve just had to get used to the constant ringing. Initially it was not so bad but now as I lie in bed about to go to sleep or watch a movie, the ringing is constant and plays a much greater part in my life. Knowing this is with me for the rest of my life is quite a worrying concern especially as music is my life.
I find it a great surprise that many producer mates still are yet to wear earplugs and are happy to go to raves and concerts with no protection. I ensure that I have my earplugs with me at all times in case of going somewhere with loud music, I feel if you’re in this game and plan to be for a long time you only have one pair of ears. Don’t fuck them up!”
Dario Zenker
I had two hearing crashes already. One on the left side with 90 Db and one on the right side with 70 Db. I’m not sure if that only came from playing in clubs almost every weekend and making music the whole week, or from just having to much stress and afterparties…I guess a mix of everything. I am quite lucky and all my hearing capacity came 100% back so I do not have tinnitus. I’m using build Hearsafe plugs for my ears with – 9 Db filters always when I play or go out. I never take them out in a club or a concert or any loud area. I highly recommend them. Save your ears.
Luke Solomon
It’s something I have developed over a fair few years. Generally it’s something I have lived with. I.e. I could deal with it. The hardest time is at night, when all is quiet. Then, more recently it has become more extreme in my left, to the point that sometimes I can feel sick and otherworldy. I have never used ear plugs, but I have tried them, they are not for me. I now try to work at lower volumes and cover my ears with good headphones if the monitoring in a club is bad. I have found that the worse the club sound system, the worse the tinnitus. I also tend to use a small speaker that plays atmospherics during the night time. It takes my mind off of the ringing. Look after your ears.
Kiki
I didn´t know! But I have been having symptoms of tinnitus for a some years now, that come and go and strangely (I´m not making this up!) It has been worse this week. I actually had to cancel all the studio work, but luckily I will be having a weekend ahead of me with no travelling and gigs. From my personal experience, I think it has a lot to do with the flying and pressure in my ears. Last weekend was one of the very extreme cases for me and here I am again.
Burn The Negative
[Burn The Negative all have the condition to varying degrees, although they are able to be relatively comfortable to live with on a day to day basis, quiet environments can enhance Mark’s (lead singer) condition to an anxious and stressful degree.]
One of the main reasons we performed at the Tinnitus Awareness gig at Cargo was simply to help drive the idea to people that this is a condition which can easily be avoided and with basic knowledge can be liveable and made more comfortable. We’ve also took it upon ourselves to order bespoke ear protection. It is never too late to slow its effects and avoid further damage. Laws need to change for the supplying of basic ear protection and awareness, in public places where high volume levels are present. A cliche, but, prevention is better than cure.
Smokin’ Jo
I use ACs ear plugs which are moulded especially for my ears. Over the 20 years I have been DJing, I have had a loss of hearing in my lower bass levels, and I often get a slight ringing and my balance goes wonky for a minute or two. I am lucky as I have not got persistent ringing all the time, I always use my ear plugs now – in the past I did not. I’d be playing up to 6 gigs a weekend sometimes and after my ears would be humming and ringing for two days after and I’d get splitting headaches. The ear defenders are worth every penny and I wear them when I go out to party myself as often this can be worse than DJing as people shout in your ear…my pet hate!
For more information on tinnitus, head over to www.tinnitus.org.uk
