frogmonkey Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Does anyone have experience with hearing protection for kids? Specifically, I'm thinking of a 6-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy. A couple of my piano students are really drawn to the drums. With their parents' encouragement, I'm going to start teaching them drums as well as piano. I need to come up with a recommendation for protection and insist on it. So far I've found Peltor Kids, and Peltor Junior: http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/peltor-kid-earmuffs.html http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/peltor-junior-earmuffs.html Any other ideas? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoKen Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Those should do the trick. My son started on the drums about age 12. I didn't think of looking for small sized muffs. He used adult sized just fine. I bet the smaller ones would be better for the 6 yo. If either child wears glasses, earmuffs could be a problem. Then you're back to ear plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 From the variation of drum sets I've heared, I'd think that a decent, good sounding drumset (Yamaha?) probably doesn't need to generate powers in frequency ranges where a kid would have to worry about when played by a kid. Let them develop a good sense of what they find uncomfortably loud, while being sure hearing problems aren't even an issue in the long run. I'd be more worried making their amp ratings limited to 10 watts or so, and the speakers for playing along with to have good mid-range spread and no nasty resonances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT156 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 I don't know that I would let children "develop a good sense of what they find uncomfortably loud". Noise (either direct or background) is a major cause of hearing loss. Theoretically, any sounds that exceed normal conversation level potentially can damage your hearing. Loud noises close to your ears, even for a short period of time, can harm your hearing. Someone yelling close to your ears is a recipe for hearing loss. Noise that is sustained over a long period of time (like a lawn mower) will also damage your hearing. In that case, ALWAYS wear both ear plugs and a pair of ear muffs to protect your hearing. If it were my kids, they would be wearing some kind of hearing protection. Technology in hearing protection has improved. Damaging noise can be filtered so that the actual sound can be heard without causing hearing damage. Headphones that just muffle the sound may not be a tool a student would welcome. The parents of a student can also contact an audiologist to find out what's the best method to protect their child's hearing with the minimum amount of loss of the timbre of the instrument. "Musician ears" can be custom molded for individual ears and are not prohibitively expensive these days. Children only get one set of ears and eyes to last a lifetime and care must be taken to look into the best method of protecting their hearing. A "That's good enough" attitude may not be the best approach. Mike T. Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Any other ideas? Thanks! A good multiband compressor should solve all your problems, and get rid of all those nasty resonances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogmonkey Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 ...to worry about when played by a kid. Let them develop a good sense of what they find uncomfortably loud Man, it's really important to protect a kid's ears! They don't have a sense of what's too loud. And believe me, the kids play them loud enough to do damage! Even the 6 year-old girl, who is exceptionally small... and cute! Looking into this, I finally got around to making an appointment to get myself fitted for these: http://www.westone.com/hearing-protection-products/custom-fit-hearing-protection-products-4 I haven't been able to find anything that looks better than the Peltors. He used adult sized just fine. Hmm, that's a good idea- as long as they make a seal. Then he wont outgrow them. If it were my kids, they would be wearing some kind of hearing protection. Right? When I told the girl's mother last week that she needed hearing protection, she was really appreciative that I thought of it and said "My mother would love you- she's an audiologist". So I thought it was a sure thing. But she came to lesson yesterday without protection. I probably should have sent her home. With all the imaginary dangers that we worry about our kids getting into, here is a real and concrete danger- hop to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogmonkey Posted September 29, 2011 Author Share Posted September 29, 2011 A good multiband compressor should solve all your problems, and get rid of all those nasty resonances. You mean, like the ringing in my ears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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