Hearing damage in corps - serious problem or overblown?

[George Dixon]

Yea, I know. It wasn't necessarily personal. It does, however, demonstrate the importance of hearing to me, now that I have so much less of it. And, specifically, because of my love of music. And I think, imagine being deaf and watching a drum corps show, versus being blind and listening to a drum corps show.

I appreciate the visual, but I need the audible.

I'd bet you're not far from that view either. I don't think many of us here are. But I'd rather be blind than deaf.

And stupid jokes are stupid mostly because the jokester thinks they are the first to say it, not because it wasn't once funny.

agreed - I rarely get "sensitive" about my hearing loss but I have at times. One occasion during a beer festival (indoors, lots of folks and loud music) I was having trouble hearing the conversation... One of the guys in my group started speaking loudly and using his hands to "mime" out the words, thinking it was so funny. I said "I'm actually deaf in one of my ears" and he thought it was still funny to keep going and going. ###### the #### out of me.

I agree hearing loss sucks - totally suggest all the marching members consider this when thinking about ear plugs during rehearsal, headphone usage at other times. It really piles up over the years

[2muchcoffeeman]

Not overblown. The damage is real, and not reserved to old folks like me. Current MMs can experience pain on the practice field if not protected. The technology exists to minimize it without affecting performance. Silly not to take advantage of it.

If you're a musician, it makes sense to preserve your one, only and non-replaceable method of experiencing it.

[drumcorpsfever]

[JimF-LowBari]

Had to like the pic and avatar as my one UK cousin went to college with "Mr Bean". My aunt showed me the group pic with everyone smiling and RA so stone faced he stuck out like a sore thumb. I was starting to say "what is this guys problem" when it hit me who it was......

Hearing loss.... not bad but this year the allergies are clogging up one ear so bad I had problems hearing over the phone and the dial tone sounded half an octave low. Have some loss but is it allergies, age, corps or 2 1/2 years of not 100% using Mickey Mouse head phones in the computer room with the high speed printers loud as jackhammers.

Edited December 11, 2015 by JimF-LowBari

[Peel Paint]

Not overblown. I have moderate hearing loss due to trumpet, band, corps, orchestra. I wear hearing aids. Mine cost $4500 and have an expected lifespan of five years. Health insurance does not generally cover hearing aids; veterans who have service-related loss can often get them through the VA, though it's not ideal if they can otherwise afford them.

Hearing aids do not restore normal hearing. Music does not sound very good with them. Loud music overwhelms them. I still struggle with speech comprehension with soft-spoken or female voices or in a noisy setting like a restaurant, but my speech comprehension is much worse without hearing aids. It would be nuts for me to attend a drum corps show in an indoor setting without earplugs at this point.

We all have a list of things we wish we could reboot on. Taking better care of my hearing, as so many advised me when I was younger, would be high if not at the very top of my personal list. I used to joke about "what a way to go," sitting in the blast zone. I don't joke about it anymore because my hearing loss reduces the quality of my life. Do what you want, but many involved with drum corps who are not protecting their hearing are in for trouble in the decades to come.

[Pete Freedman]

The corps have not been proactive on this. 'Encouraged'. Required but not enforced. "Do they wear them? They're supposed to...". That's what I've heard.

You can go look at them practicing in the lot, or watch youtube videos of it. If you're close enough to see their ears, you can see that they are not wearing earplugs.

If one corps enforces it some kids might join a different corps the following year. Major punishment for the proactive corps.

Eventually some lawsuit will happen and they will all starting enforcing a mandate on this. Will that be a good thing?

[miketeachesclass]

Here's a study about hearing conservation that specifically addresses DCI:

http://www.edaud.org/journal/2013/3-article-13.pdf

And another that is addressing university marching bands:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/23800806/

There are lots of resources available to help protect against hearing loss; it's unfortunate that more people don't avail themselves of those resources. I have a colleague that has a fantastic workshop that tries to get our students to understand the issues and methods of protection. That workshop is at www.heartomorrow.org in case anyone is interested.

Hearing conservation is SO important. When I teach, I require battery and front ensemble members to wear hearing protection, and encourage it for the brass. I will say as a brass player, it totally sucks to play with earplugs in, even with my fancy pants custom molded "flat response musicians earplugs".

Mike

[Pete Freedman]

It would seem that most DCI drummers are likely to have permanent hearing loss from this activity, if the research and the people on here are to be believed. Although it may not appear until later in life.

We can divide health and safety issues to two categories; "finals-high-risk", those that are a high risk of impacting finals performance and scores, and "finals-low-risk", those that are not.

Finals-high-risk include such things as twisted ankles, dehydration, and even sunburn. Corps do a great job with these. BD even has a physical therapy group now.

Finals-low-risk include hearing loss and stunts featuring a relatively low probability of devastating injuries. In drum corps, kids with no certification in stunts routinely perform stunts taught by guard teachers with no stunt certification, let alone stunt instructor certification. Their typical qualification is that they were in color guard, and now they teach it. Stunts are a profession. Stunt instruction is a different profession. Neither type of professional is employed in drum corps (typically).

Any injuries would be kept secret of course, so we have no idea how many are actually hurt. They would only tell DCI if they have to, and DCI wouldn't tell anyone else. (And remember, the kids and parents all believe they've signed away their rights to sue. Those clauses don't mean much in court, but they would tend to cause most injured people to disappear quietly).

So if you want drum corps to reduce hearing loss, you first have to get them to reduce the risk in general of injuries that are relatively unlikely to affect the score.

[Ghost]

At the top of the list for those who are at risk for hearing loss are the DM's.

[drumcat]

I've been extremely fortunate that my ears have stayed in good shape. Pit was a fantastic decision.

Outdoor high school is generally not going to be that damaging; especially smaller groups. The problem isn't outside; the ear actually isn't that damaged by single shots (I wish I had a link to that research), but sustained decibels. As soon as you go inside, the damage goes WAY up. Most band rooms have some acoustic deflectors, but absorption is rarely enough to make any meaningful change. As such, you're really at risk where the pressure doesn't dissipate.

So to me it's not the end of the world if a drumline is outside for an hour, and no one is screwing around hitting snare shots for fun. Drumlines that are outside playing 8-10 hours, that's not good. ANY outdoor instrument inside is BAD. Hearing loss is all about accumulation, and while I will be the first to say I'm not an audiologist, I am darn certain that the increased air pressures of indoor rehearsals and performances are the largest culprits.