Being in the DJ booth is an awesome experience because you are in control. You have the power to manipulate the dance floor and make memories for the club goers. Something you are also in control of is your hearing. Have you ever gone to a concert or a loud club and come out with your ears ringing? That is the beginning of developing permanent hearing damage and that is why it is important for DJs to take control of their headphones and monitors to protect the most important sense for DJing.

DJing and Tinnitus

Sometimes DJs will be required to be more than just a performer. In smaller bars and clubs especially, DJs will have to monitor like the house engineer as well as create a great mix for the dancefloor. That being the case, it is important to understand sound and ways you can protect your hearing from tinnitus.

What is tinnitus? Tinnitus is a condition that will change a DJs life and it can become a handicap for performers. Like I mentioned in the beginning of the article, anyone who has gone to a loud concert or club has experienced an annoying, ringing sensation. DJs and performers know this all too well and it can take anywhere from one hour to five hours to go away. Long exposure to abnormally loud sound can cause this ringing to become permanent; tinnitus.

Protecting Your Instruments

Our ears are the only tools we have to mix properly and truly express creativity. That is why it is important to remember how to protect your ears from the dangerous sound levels of the club and what you can do as a DJ.

• Take a Hearing Test

The Australian government came out with a brilliant hearing test that can give you an estimation of how well your hearing is. This isn’t a replacement for an actual clinic test and you should always consult a physician for professional advice.

The Australian government launched a new website recently that gives a pretty good gauge to test your hearing and evaluate your risk when it comes to hearing loss. Know Your Noise has a Noise Risk Calculator which looks at leisure and work activities to determine one’s risk of hearing damage from noise exposure. This is a comprehensive survey that takes about 8-10 minutes and goes into pretty much every aspect of one’s life.

Taking the test is really easy to understand and I had no problem getting in each part of my life. The results also show how each part of your life contributes to your overall hearing score. What is admirable about this Noise Risk Calculator is that it displays the leading categories of hearing loss while offering resources on how to prevent hearing loss. A big thing that I need to start doing more is wearing my ear plugs while DJing and going to concerts.

• Don’t Drink and Mix

It can suck showing up to a club and not have a drink with friends but it is important to remember that as a DJ the number one thing you have to focus on is the music. When it comes to drinking and DJing, alcohol can make it hard for you to realize how loud the sound in the booth is and how much damage you are really doing to your hearing.

There is scientific evidence to suggest that drinking can lead to hearing damage for performers. One such study reports:

Our results showed that there was a positive association between increasing breath alcohol concentration and the magnitude of the increase in hearing threshold for most hearing frequencies. [...] Alcohol specifically blunts lower frequencies affecting the mostly 1000 Hz, which is the most crucial frequency for speech discrimination. In conclusion alcohol does appear to affect auditory thresholds with some frequencies being more affected than others.

• Monitor Your Monitors

While loud noise in a small amount of time most likely won’t cause permanent damage, DJs are not exposed to loud music for short amounts of time. DJ sets can last from 30 minutes to a whole night. It is important to set your monitors in the beginning of the night and not to go past a certain level. Over time, your ears will get used to a sound and you will think it needs to be turned up higher. Trust the monitor and leave it at a maximum level that will prevent you from developing tinnitus.

Keeping the total amount of time you’ve got the monitors blasting at you will keep you below the maximum safe repeated exposure time for loud noises. Booth Levels are subjective but the rule to follow is: Run the monitors loud enough to cancel reflections during the mix and then turn them down to the point where they serve as a local fill.

These are a few ways to get started with protecting your hearing in the DJ booth. Join us in a discussion on Twitter by tweeting @DigitalDJPool with the hashtag #InTheBooth.

Dean William can be found gallivanting about the clubs of San Francisco. He's on Twitter: @deanithon.