Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Ok first off i,m not sure i,m in the right section. Anyways. About three years ago I had brain surgery that resulted in a total loss of hearing in my right ear. Well iv,e been playin in a band for about two years. My hearing in my left ear is fine but obviously everything comes in mono. I,m really having a difficult time with set up to hear vocal,guitar, drums and bass even through the stage monitors. The PA system is not mine so I have never been involved with the set up. The amp i,m using for practice runs into the PA so not problem for everyone else. One of the main problems i,m experiencing is location of my amp which is behind me along with a fellow band members Marshall half stack. (this sometimes is way too loud). We have played around with me moving to different locations on the stage. (this is just our rehearsal area). Sometime this helps a little but not perfect. I guess what i,m wondering is there any ideas for equipment that might help such as a different monitors, set-up of equipment etc. Any suggestions would be very appreciated. And trust me it sucks losing a complete loss of hearing in one ear but if I want to try and enjoy playing I have to suck it up and figure this thing out.

Have you tried an in ear monitor? Maybe just an ear plug may filter out some of the mids and highs allowing to actually hear better what is going on. A friend of mine used to use earplugs and it never hurt his playing. Of course that last thing you would want to do is damage the hearing in your remaining ear.

Since returning to music and joining a band, I've been wearing ear plugs in both my ears. I'm a firearms instructor and I' know I've done some damage to my hearing over the years being exposed to military style automatic weapons. I have tinnitus in both ears, so I hear a high frequency ringing 24/7. The ear plugs are a great proactive step to help insure my hearing does not degrade too much further. I've never had a problem hearing myself play or the others playing and or singing while wearing them. The style I use are made by Surefire,the makers of tactical lighting, hearing protection and suppressors.

Quite recently we've been experimenting with in ear monitors and I can't believe the high level of noise cancelling the Sure models are. That may be another option for you. While I feel wireless is the way to go, they can be wired to your mixer as well, through an interface.

Sepp

Thanks guys. Might have to try some of these suggestions.