Ringing in my ears.......

Here is my own experience with this:

https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=390

Also, try this:

https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=176

Bottom line - there is no good reason for rehearsing too loud!

-Laz

Laz is right. You shouldn't practice or perform too loud. Everyone equates volume with excitement. Nonsense.
If you play well at low volume it KICKS!

I don't know how many times I've walked out of a club because the band was so loud you had to shout at the person next to you. From 3 inches away!

Some people have the hardest time comprehending this, but if you play at moderate volume you will be far more successful.

Plus, you won't go deaf.

What, I can't hear you!  ;)

First of all, congratulations on your first official band rehearsal!
Second, I have to echo Laz & Wes' recomendations to try to practice at safer decibles. I know it's hard sometimes, but it does sound better. It's different also when you get your first gig,  :D , and you have amps, monitors, and mains, oh and don't forget the drums, and everyone wants to be the loudest! Everyone can be heard if the volume is not overpowering. This sounds funny coming from me, because I too like it loud, but after being preached at by our sound person for I don't know how long, I think I'm finally getting it.
I'd still say wear some ear plugs if you have ringing in your ears, 'cause I know you guys will probably just crank it up anyways!  :o  Those soft foam ones that are used in factories are good. Hear is a link with 49 factory safety suppliers in the UK. You can enter your UK postcode & find the ones closest to you.
http://www.kellysearch.com/gb-product-33021.html
Aearo LTD. is located in Stockport, Cheshire, don't know how far that is from you, but it looks like a good place. Check them out & protect your ears!  8)

That's really good advice, thanks everyone.  Those articles definitely made sense.  And I'll check out some suppliers for those earplugs...Cheshire is a little far from me, but I will seek out somewhere closer.  Know a few people in bands so I'm sure they can advise me too.
And thanks for the congratulations, we did OK seeing as it was our first practise together.  I'm even more excited about our first gig now (on April 6th).  ;D

xx

Best place for hearing protection, other than industrial suppliers, is your local gun shop.

Try Norton ear plugs. They are silicone with a special insert that allows "normal" sounds through, but anything that moves air, like loud sounds, is blocked off. You can remove the insert and wash the silicone plug.

The foam plugs are only supposed to be used once and then thrown away, which gets expensive after a while.

There are also mouldable silicone plugs, but they somehow look disgusting and only come in fluorescent colours, yuch.

Hehe, unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately  ;) depending on your gun control beliefs!) I live in the UK, where we don't really have local gun shops......
I'm guessing that guys in my local guitar shop will probably be able to advise me on my options....

There are gun shops in the UK, you're still allowed to own rifles and shotguns. Try mail order over the internet

Doc's Earplugs are widely used by drummers, theyre pretty good aparently.

Its true, you shouldn't practice to loud, but sometimes it is beneficial (and rather fun) to have a loud practice. This allows you to find out how you sound at the sort of volumes that you would play at live. When my band first played live it was quite hard for us all, because we always used to practice at low volumes.
 However, you don't need to do this very often, but it is quite useful occasionally

Hi all

Just to let you know, we had a practise yesterday and I used my recently purchased "Ear Guards"  ;D and it was fine!  I thought it would put me off, but I was overjoyed to see that I could hear everything pretty well, including my own voice very clearly, which helped with my singing the harmonies!  It was also such a relief to go to bed that night without the constant ringing........
The ones I got in the end are "screw-in" plastic thingys which look sorta weird but are actually quite comfortable.  They only cost £4.99 for two pairs, I might invest in some other even better ones later, but these will do for now.
xxxx

PS. we also tried playing quietly while we perfected a song, and it really helped.  Thanks all!

Cool, great it all works out :) When I played with a drummer for the first time, a few months ago, it was a shock as well. In a small concrete room it is simply NOT possible to play soft enough not to need ear protection. Only bass and guitar, ok. But with drums, no way.

Anyway, good luck with the band. Maybe dump some rehearsal recordings, always cool to hear other bands play around 8)

Our website is http://www.chinmusicrocks.co.uk and there are links to some demo MP3's from there! They're a bit rough and my vocal needs work, but we're working on them.
Hope ya like.

xxx

Right now I'm doing some research on different ear plugs. Thanks for the post to get us thinking about ear protection.

I had to come back and get this post to the top of the stack. Tuesday night we practiced and, as usual, the lead guitar player turned his electric WAY up so much so it made me and the bass player very hard to hear. It's frustrating so I walked over to my amp to turn up a little so I could at least hear myself. All I heard were drums and his lead guitar. The last 4 songs of the night were played at unreasonable volume to my ears. They were hurting on the drive home and felt weird the next morning. Mind you, I'm furthest away (off to the long side of the room) from the drummer. I'll try to draw:

###################################
#PA###########DRUMMER###########PA##
###################################
#BASS###BASS##################LEAD##
#AMP###########################AMP#
#MY##ME#############LEAD############
#AMP################GUITAR##########
###################################

The '#' show the shape of the room. 40' long by 12' wide.

The drummer faces south and I'm off in the lower left corner of the room. I duck further behind my and and away from the PA on the left when it gets ridiculous.

Don't be an idiot like me. The past many practice we've kept it somewhat reasonable but that night I could not control his volume and I paid the price. I've been wanting to find the perfect earplugs but now I'll settle for anything. Don't make the mistake I made!

I get foam ear plugs in packs of 4 sets at the local drugstore. Too many of us older musicians end up just nodding and smiling in social situations, while I want to continue taking part in the conversations :)