Sound Advice May Be Falling on Deaf Ears

“Practice Safe Sound!” shouted out Dee Williams, who stood in a booth inside the bustling L.A. Convention Center on Saturday. With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she held out a clear bowl filled with foam earplugs in little plastic bags.

Four young hip-hop deejays, led by Yoga Frog, walked by in puffy ski jackets. Each scooped up a handful of plugs and sashayed away.

“That’s good,” remarked Williams. “We want everyone here to take home the plugs. I call them ‘condoms for your ears.’ ”

Williams and two of her colleagues from the House Ear Institute, an L.A.-based nonprofit organization that specializes in solving hearing problems, worked the crowd at the International Music Products Assn. conference. Their purpose was to educate music professionals about protecting their ears from the damage that can come with repeated exposure to loud music.

Over a four-day span ending today, the trade show expects to attract about 60,000 music industry professionals from all over the world. The conference has featured an eclectic mix of music pros, from agents to amp makers, rock keyboard players to classical clarinetists, each of them on hand to pick through displays of the latest instruments and music-making gadgetry.

Those walking by Williams’ booth were sure to get an earful of education about protecting their hearing.

Ten years ago, the House Ear Institute, which has traditionally focused its efforts on research and education for the public, decided to develop HIP, an educational campaign targeting the music industry.

The campaign uses magazines, school lectures and conventions to drive home its message.

Dilys Jones, a spokeswoman for HIP at the convention, said hearing loss for those who make their living in music is getting worse as instruments and pop styles have pushed decibel levels higher and higher. Much of today’s rock and hip-hop music, particularly when played in concerts and recording studios, reaches the same decibel levels as a jet airplane.

Jones said such levels can cause continuous ringing and significant hearing loss over time.

HIP aims, Jones said, to prod music professionals to use earplugs, to get their hearing tested and to practice safety measures such as having guitarists in rock groups position themselves away from speakers.

Although many of the musicians acknowledged that the sounds they create can cause hearing problems, most took a cavalier approach to the issue.

Steve Campbell, a 29-year-old guitar player from New York, walked by the HIP booth and shrugged off the issue. He compared the high-pitched ringing he experiences after he plays to “a tennis player having tennis elbow.”

“Your body will find a way to bounce back,” he said. “It’s resilient.”

Michael August, 27, who plays drums in a San Diego rock band, said he wears earplugs but speculated that very few of the musicians he knows do anything to prevent problems. “They probably won’t do anything about it until they start to notice they are missing the sounds around them,” he said.

Jones admitted that probably only 20% of people in the industry take steps to protect their hearing.

She compared the issue with sexually transmitted diseases. Not only do musicians need to wear protection, she said, but many in the business simply live in denial.

“It’s strange, because the ear is central to anyone in music, but few people want to get their hearing tested,” she said. “It’s kind of like if you don’t admit there’s a problem, it doesn’t exist.

“But if they ignore it, slowly but surely they won’t be able to hear this wonderful art they produce.”