Eh, just provide reusable earplugs to the crowd for a reasonable price. It won’t be as good as a custom molded pair of earplugs, but I’m sure a company like Eargasm would love to partner with a festival to sell from a merch booth. The thump of the beat is a large part of the concert experience, and reducing the volume would erode that.
I’m an audio technician, and I use earplugs at every concert I work. I get my mix dialed in, pop my earplugs in, and then I just pull them out occasionally to double-check that my mix still sounds alright. But to be clear, the vast majority of my mixing happens with earplugs. The days of rawdogging concerts is far past; even the talent uses in-ear monitors now.
There’s a reason all of the old rock stars are fucking deaf. Decades of stage monitors and guitar amps dialed up to 11, just to beat out the crowd noise. And the newer musicians have realized that they can get a much more accurate mix and protect their hearing, by essentially combining earplugs with monitors.
Yeah, the issue with free earplugs is that they’re… Well… Cheap. It’s a trade-off where the cheap earplugs are uncomfortable and make everything sound super muffled, so people are less likely to actually use them. Even a mid-range pair of reusable earplugs will be a huge upgrade in comfort and quality.
To be clear, the free earplugs should absolutely be available regardless. But there should also be a way to get some decent earplugs at a decent price, for those who are less inclined to use the cheap ones.
Just as a person who would like to go to concerts, please for the love of good, realise that there is more to audio than just cranking bass to 11 and doing fuck all with the rest of the spectrum. Thump is part of the concert not THE whole concert.
I use earplugs these days. Lifesaver and I wish I did this all throughout my 20s. I took my earplugs out at the last event that I went to momentarily and I was shocked and how loud it sounded.
The music shouldn’t be too loud either.
Eh, just provide reusable earplugs to the crowd for a reasonable price. It won’t be as good as a custom molded pair of earplugs, but I’m sure a company like Eargasm would love to partner with a festival to sell from a merch booth. The thump of the beat is a large part of the concert experience, and reducing the volume would erode that.
I’m an audio technician, and I use earplugs at every concert I work. I get my mix dialed in, pop my earplugs in, and then I just pull them out occasionally to double-check that my mix still sounds alright. But to be clear, the vast majority of my mixing happens with earplugs. The days of rawdogging concerts is far past; even the talent uses in-ear monitors now.
There’s a reason all of the old rock stars are fucking deaf. Decades of stage monitors and guitar amps dialed up to 11, just to beat out the crowd noise. And the newer musicians have realized that they can get a much more accurate mix and protect their hearing, by essentially combining earplugs with monitors.
Every concert I’ve been to here in Switzerland has provided them free of charge. Always use them
Free earplugs, that’s communism! /S
Yeah, the issue with free earplugs is that they’re… Well… Cheap. It’s a trade-off where the cheap earplugs are uncomfortable and make everything sound super muffled, so people are less likely to actually use them. Even a mid-range pair of reusable earplugs will be a huge upgrade in comfort and quality.
To be clear, the free earplugs should absolutely be available regardless. But there should also be a way to get some decent earplugs at a decent price, for those who are less inclined to use the cheap ones.
Just as a person who would like to go to concerts, please for the love of good, realise that there is more to audio than just cranking bass to 11 and doing fuck all with the rest of the spectrum. Thump is part of the concert not THE whole concert.
I use earplugs these days. Lifesaver and I wish I did this all throughout my 20s. I took my earplugs out at the last event that I went to momentarily and I was shocked and how loud it sounded.