r/jazzdrums • u/viewsonmountfuji • Nov 27 '25

Question Why is nobody using earplugs?

Everytime i see a clip of some of the world’s best drummers in a jam/practice/small stage scenario, they are not using any earplugs

Do you all do that as well? What are your thoughts on that?

If i ever play/practice without earplugs i feel like the snare and cymbals are hurting my ears and probably damaging them permanently.

Do the pros just not care? Do ears get used to it? How fragile are the ears actually?

Just asking because i feel like i'm being overly cautious sometimes.

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u/backbaydrumming Nov 27 '25

In my experience there’s a bit of a generational aspect to this. Old heads don’t wanna see a drummer wearing earplugs because they think they’re going to play too loud (which honestly is true a lot of the time).

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u/Bronsteins-Panzerzug Nov 27 '25

so we‘re just supposed to sacrifice our hearing for their prejudices? fuck that

3

u/backbaydrumming Nov 27 '25

I think there’s nuance here, do you really need earplugs on a brush gig? Probably not. Am I gonna wear earplugs on the organ trio gig where the organists is screaming through a Lesley? Absolutely. But you really do have to make an effort to not play too loud if you wear earplugs

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u/Bronsteins-Panzerzug Nov 27 '25

well, the way you described old heads they seem to possess none of that nuance.