How bad do you think their hearing is?

[MikeyJB]

I was wondering this the other day when a family member commented about me not having heard what they were saying and I wondering what the health of my hearing is like - I've played in bands for several years, listen to a loud ipod almost daily and go clubbing fairly regularly.

What do you reckon our lads' respective hearing is like these days, I'd imagine it'd be fairly screwed - after around 34 years playing loud rock music both live and in a loud studio environment. I'm aware that sophisticated ear plugs exist now for live performance but this hasn't been the case for the whole of their career.

Just wondering what you thought

 

[digitize]

IEMs have probably helped since PopMart... and I noticed they had some sort of ear protection dating back to ZooTV (could have been an early form of IEM from before IEM signals were made into bootlegs). Plus, I'm not sure about this, but if you're on a big arena/stadium stage, can't you really only hear properly what's coming out of your monitor?

 

[corianderstem]

What do you reckon our lads' respective hearing is like these days,

What? Speak up, sonny. I can't hear you.

 

[MikeyJB]

Plus, I'm not sure about this, but if you're on a big arena/stadium stage, can't you really only hear properly what's coming out of your monitor?

I'm never sure about the logistics of that, how difficult is to get any sort of feeling from the crowd? Still though, I'm sure being blasted with concert-level music through IEMS or without them for the number of huge tours they have done, its gonna take a hell of a toll on the ears.

 

[macfesto]

just ask Pete Townsend

 

[jajanee]

I remember an article quite a while back that stated that bono, sting and others got a hearloss of more than 50 %. But dont know the exact detail of it.

I myself am playing in bands quite a number of years and going to a lot of concerts and i notice i really hear less than before.. So the changes that their hearing is bad is quite big.

 

[last unicorn]

I don't know about the guys, but I know that I myself hardly hear anything these days because I have spent to much time in front of giant speakers at various live shows.

Eh? What did you say again?

 

[Rachel D.]

I was wondering this recently, too. Shouldn't Mick Jagger be deaf as a post by now?

 

[indra]

I'm never sure about the logistics of that, how difficult is to get any sort of feeling from the crowd? Still though, I'm sure being blasted with concert-level music through IEMS or without them for the number of huge tours they have done, its gonna take a hell of a toll on the ears.

A band I know uses IEMs and they have a microphone set at the very front of the stage facing the audience and the feed from that goes to at least one of the band members (the lead singer) IEM. That gives them some feel for the audience. Of course, I'm sure U2 has a much more elaborate system (than one mic) which allows them to get a good feeling for crowd reaction.

Also the volume of the IEMs can be varied which can help limit hearing damage. The singer in the band I mentioned above has pretty major hearing loss and tinnitus and uses the IEMs to help prevent more hearing damage. He's supposed to keep the volume turned fairly low, and he does -- early on in a tour, but then he bumps the volume up as the tour progresses.

 

[MikeyJB]

^ Christ, so imagine how bad their hearing must be after over 30 years. In particular, I thought Larry would suffer the most. You'll know if you play drums, as I did for a bit last year, just how fucking loud they actually are! I used to practise wearing big headphones connected to my ipod and then when I took em off it used to knock me back how loud they actually were. If he's been sat behind an amplified drum kit for all that time, it must be taking its toll by now.

 

[major_panic]

just ask Pete Townsend

Who?

 

[The Disciple]

Huh? What ?

 

[MikeyJB]

Yeah yeah that joke was used after second post, come on!

 

[Purplereign]

okay . . . since everybody else seems to know I'll be the lone donkey . . . could someone please explain what does IEM stand for . . .

 

[U2girl]

The little headphone-like thingies in their ears in their live shows. It has the mix of the music (and audience), if you ever heard it on a bootleg you can tell by the clicking sound of the metronome.

 

[U2girl]

I guess the hearing is good enough for them to still make music and tour...

 

[lmixristhebest]

As a drummer, I have in-ear monitors for the music performances I do, and they're custom-fitted to my ears. An audiologist took a mold of the inside of my ear, so they really block out an amazing amount of sound, and only let in whatever I want in the mix. U2 has been using this sort of thing since Zoo TV, so for at least the past 17 years their ears have been pretty well protected.

 

[Purplereign]

The little headphone-like thingies in their ears in their live shows. It has the mix of the music (and audience), if you ever heard it on a bootleg you can tell by the clicking sound of the metronome.

- you must think I'm a complete fruit loop . . . I know they have those uncomfortable looking little headphone thingames, I just wondered what I E M stood for . .. bit of a nerd like that . . . had a tootle round google and perhaps the letters stand for In Ear Monitor ??? . . . I shall resume being a nerd on my own time . . . thanks for your help

 

[U2girl]

I thought of In Ear Monitor but it seemed too obvious...that's what it stands for ?

 

[digitize]

I thought of In Ear Monitor but it seemed too obvious...that's what it stands for ?

Oui

 

[digitize]

As a drummer, I have in-ear monitors for the music performances I do, and they're custom-fitted to my ears. An audiologist took a mold of the inside of my ear, so they really block out an amazing amount of sound, and only let in whatever I want in the mix. U2 has been using this sort of thing since Zoo TV, so for at least the past 17 years their ears have been pretty well protected.

That's what I figured.

I wish we had known how to make IEM bootlegs back in ZooTV... to the best of my knowledge, the first IEM boots were PopMart (at least the first ones I know of... I should check AchtungBootlegs).

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

just ask Pete Townsend

to be fair, pete lost his hearing due to an exploding drum kit, not neccesarily the years of loud music, although the loud music certainly couldn't have helped any.

 

[major_panic]

Yeah yeah that joke was used after second post, come on!

I meant (The) Who?

 

[U2girl]

That's what I figured.

I wish we had known how to make IEM bootlegs back in ZooTV... to the best of my knowledge, the first IEM boots were PopMart (at least the first ones I know of... I should check AchtungBootlegs).

I thought they had some kind of IEM-like earphones on Zoo TV...right ?

 

[digitize]

I thought they had some kind of IEM-like earphones on Zoo TV...right ?

Well, they might have, I'm just saying that we don't have any IEM bootlegs from before PopMart.

 

[johndarling]

I meant (The) Who?

Yeah and that was already used in the post before yours...kkhh! Would you pay attention please!!!

 

[johndarling]

I was wondering this the other day when a family member commented about me not having heard what they were saying and I wondering what the health of my hearing is like - I've played in bands for several years, listen to a loud ipod almost daily and go clubbing fairly regularly.

What do you reckon our lads' respective hearing is like these days, I'd imagine it'd be fairly screwed - after around 34 years playing loud rock music both live and in a loud studio environment. I'm aware that sophisticated ear plugs exist now for live performance but this hasn't been the case for the whole of their career.

Just wondering what you thought

Probably pretty screwed