Re: [Harp-L] Musician earplugs

[fjm <bad_hat@xxxxxxxx>]

I use the Etymotic Research musician's ear plugs which are custom ear 
moulds with snap in filters ranging through 9,15 and 25 dB.  They also 
sell a snap in plug.  I've had mine for decades, they work well.  I 
really only use the 25 dB cut even though I also have a set of the 15dB 
filters.  They are very comfortable and the sound attenuates flatly 
across frequencies.  Here's the one problem with ear plugs and 
harmonica.  The harmonica is in your mouth and coupled to a vibrating 
column of air in your vocal tract.  When you wear ear plugs what you end 
up hearing is the sound of your harmonica which gets to your ears vua 
bone conduction.  You lose your amp tone and I personally tend to play 
too quietly because from where I'm listening I'm the loudest instrument 
in the room.  When I played in a loud band I just used the plugs and it 
was way better than being in the high spl of the bars I played in. 
Currently I play in  much more moderate settings in terms of overall 
volume.  I use a 5 watt White Higher Fidelity amplifier.  I won't turn 
it up past 5 if that high.  If people complain that they can't hear me 
it means the band needs to come down in volume.

ER's can be found here, http://www.etymotic.com/

Their off the shelf product is pretty darn good and a lot cheaper. 
Again I've had my customs for decades.  They make going to other 
musicians shows do-able.  Pretty much everyone plays too loudly these 
days and by too loudly I mean at a level where listening for more than 
half an hour is likely to cause hearing loss to people who listen with 
no hearing protection in.  fjm