I received my custom Fader Plugs today. So just what are Fader Plugs and why do I have them?
Well, Fader Plugs are ear plugs where you can adjust the level of sound that is allowed in. That's important in a world full of noise. From live concerts to the iPod ear budsall of us should probably be taking better care of our hearing. Most orchestral musicians, including myself, understand that certain pieces, composers, and instruments are louder than others, many of us probably do not realize just how much the sound impacts their ears. Last summer, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the selections I performed as part of the New York State Summer School of the Arts Orchestra included“1812 Overture” by Tchaikovsky and “Billy the Kid” by Aaron Copland. Both pieces include a booming percussion section mimicking cannon and gunfire that is played directly behind the horns.
This experience led me to look further into the effects of exposure to loud noise/music, often referred to as Noise Induced Hearing Loss. What I found were just a few studies on the problem among orchestral musicians. Missing from this research was potential hearing loss among high school and college musicians. Just as injury is being studied in young athletes, young musicians can benefit from more information regarding the health of their hearing. PhilHEARmonic (www.PhilHEARmonic.org) became my research effort to examine NIHL in student musicians. It has led me to work with Fader Plugs testing and providing feedback on their latest designs of adjustable noise attenuation earplugs.
So what you see in the photo at the top of this post is the custom pair of Fader Plugs that were cast from a mold of my ear canal. I'll be reporting back on them in the next few weeks. In the meantime take a look at how the molds were made. I call them cupcakes in my ears as they look like pink frosting.