The fragility of sound.

The fragility of sound.

Sound overpowers. It crushes. It can envelop. It can tickle. But it can also break and leave us in an underwater world of mute isolation.

I've been through punishing environs, and my ears haven't failed me yet. But I think they've finally met with their most dangerous opponent, my drumming. You see, as our set list progresses, and we play songs more frequently, my confidence grows. As that grows, so does my willingness to take chances and hit a few more fills, or add in a cymbal crash here or there, and so grows the intensity behind each swing of the stick, since I grow ever more sure that the resulting thwack is going to fall in the right place.

I should have been prepared for the volume, but I don't remember it being so loud the last time I spent a good deal of time behind the kit. My ears must be growing older, more fragile, more precious; and I think it's time I made sure that they remained my friend and started protecting them from the noise.

Immediately, I'm going to run out and grab some ear plugs, but in the long run I'm going to do what someone who hangs around as much live music as I do should have done years ago and get a custom pair on in-ear plugs*. I already have one recommendations, but if anyone out there has a guy who's made them a pair they were happy with in the past, drop me a line and send me their contact info via email or in the comments.

I love the noise I'm making, when the washes over me, and inhabits me, and throbs from inside my own chest, and I just want to make sure it continues to do so well into my own dotage.

*And if there someone that can make a pair that functions both as standard plugs and as sleeved for my Shure E4c plugs, that would be super awesome. Or someone that would make both and give a discount if they're both created at the same time.