IMPORTANT PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

breedsound · Post by **breedsound** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:19 pm

i feel itz my duty as a production enthusiast to warn my peers to....

TURN THE VOLUME DOWN! ESPECIALLY IN A SET OF HEADPHONES.

YOU CAN GO DEAF!
AND YOU WILL DEFINITELY SHAVE YEARS OFF YOUR HEARING LIFELINE W/OUT CARE.

seriously. train yours ears to mix/monitor at lower levels. some say it actually helps your mixdown process by slowing the 'ear fatigue' process and other reasons....

i've been making beats for 8 years now...started out at 15. i'm now 23...and for a strong half of my pursuing this...i used to BLAST my music...being young and dumb. i'm now paying the price. TINITUS SUCKS. my ears can ring for up to 6 hours at a time...

i've been takin' it easy the last couple of years...and my ears feel much better...but i'm lucky.

anyways.

stay fly and keep the levels low.

_breed

laurence · Post by **laurence** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:45 pm

tinitus man, what a shit- watch "its all gone pete tong" and you'll be scrabbling for those ear plugs you got frree at that festival...

breedsound · Post by **breedsound** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:03 pm

just read a review on the movie you mentioned...definitely looks like something i'd dig.

i love a good independent, low-budget film.

should hit close to home for alot of us.

hacktheplanet · Post by **hacktheplanet** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:44 pm

"Engineers who damage their ears find themselves with short careers."

laurence · Post by **laurence** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:50 pm

breedsound wrote:just read a review on the movie you mentioned...definitely looks like something i'd dig.

i love a good independent, low-budget film.

should hit close to home for alot of us.

definetly- its a brilliant film- even my fiance thinks its amazingly done, and shes a cruel intentions sorta girl!- on a serious note, it highlights the career ending damages that can, and have happened to djs/producers/engineers etc- really recommend it!

jasefos · Post by **jasefos** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:18 pm

laurence wrote:tinitus man, what a shit- watch "its all gone pete tong" and you'll be scrabbling for those ear plugs you got frree at that festival...

absolutely - one of the most wicked films I've seen in a long while.

I only wish a movie like this existed back in the early 90s when I was absolutely caning my poor little eardrums ...

[recalling fond memories of dropping acid and crawling into huge sub cabinet at old rave parties - wow]

I had my hearing tested not too long ago prompted by finding it difficult to have conversation with people in loud and noisy environments ... The report concluded my hearing loss is "within Normal Limits" however I wasn't convinced. One ear is 15dB less sensitive on average across the frequency spectrum than the other ... not cool however I've learned to live with it.

Headphones are killer - treat with care particularly if you like using high SPL models like HD25's. When forced into a headphone session now I have a good little test. I set the volume where I feel I can hear everything and then take the headphones off - they're set too loud if you can hear your tune clear as day with the headphones sitting on the bench .... adjust volume downward until you can only just make out the high end (e.g. hats/snares) with the headphones off your head. I don't have any scientific evidence to prove it however I feel this is a safe operating level. Learn to appreciate hearing your headphones working well within headroom rather than pumping and compressing ...

And the next time some over zealous clubber tries having a "shouting" conversation directly into your ears at a loud dance party \....\ just say (shout?) "no - ow - fuck off!".

; )

"It's All Gone Pete Tong" should be mandatory viewing for EVERY producer ...

It's never too late to turn it down for most of us to preserve what hearing remains.

For one dear close talented producer friend, now in his early 30s, has rapid onset of heredity hearing loss (his mother has become profoundly deaf). His silia (the little hairs which vibrate and convert sound energy into sensation of sound) are DYING-OFF in patches in his ears. Poor guy. He relies heavily on watching FFT scopes to gauge his mixes and tone adjustments. He hopes to one day make his mark with a forthcoming release before he gives away producing for good.

I can't imagine how soul destroying it would be to have a studio full of gear mockingly with all of it's pretty blinking LED's staring at you mockingly while it becomes completely useless to you. So sad ...

So yes, once again, PLEASE everyone look after those ears of yours otherwise your only remaining creative pursuit will be visual arts in future years! [Fortunately so many of us musicians are often graphic designers by day]

Cheers !