So I went to the first concert I've ever seen yesterday-it was incredible. I loved it & it was a great experience. But I couldn't help but to wonder-how do the musicians not go deaf? They're the closest to the loudest amplifiers, and they're doing this almost every night, wouldn't they lose their hearing? :O Maybe there's a secret I'm missing...

pardon? 

Well, first of all, the guys who are playing over the stage hear the sound a lot more quiet than what you do as part of the audience. Is the way the speakers are set.
And anyway most of us ( I consider myself one of them as I do rehearsal and play live with my band) lose part of our hearing capacities with the years, although you can control that and take measures in order to stop hurting your ears too badly.

             > Iszil

With modern technology moving at such a rapid pace, competion, Plus an ego thing, somethnig like 'YEAH I've got a 5 Gig rig' pretty dam useless if your're only playing to a small audiance.

Tell me would you have enjoyed it MORE if they played less quite??

It's interseting, in that It's a personall thing, but In my experience every system has it's peak best, nothing worce than to overloade a system, YUK YUK

Cheers

There's nothing wrong with your eyes

Well Id imagine if I ever play THAAAAAAAAAAAAT loud id wear some sort of ear protection....ear plugs etc....

I know when I got to concerts I bring ear plugs just in case...some sound systems arent very good and its just too shrill...pop the ear plugs in and everything becomes crystal clear. (i sometimes cut the ear plugs in half so it doesnt block as much out, it just keeps that huge ringing shrill sounds of the equipment outta your ears.)

Yeah, the venue itself sold earplugs to the audience, even with them in the music was crystal clear and loud. I'm not complaining about that, if it were quieter then it wouldn't have had the same energy and excitement. I still think it was the most awesome experience.

That's cool to find out that the band hears differently than the audience Iszil, I didn't know that, thanks for the info. What type of preventative measures to the bands usually take? Just out of curiosity.

o i c wut u did there...
That made me laugh actually 

I teach my kids in performing arts and music about the dangers of loud sound all the time .........

specially tinitus

yep the live venue can be a dangerous place..........

awareness is the first hurdle!!!! just an mp3 player can cause irrepareable damage by age 18-19

check this site for more .....

http://www.youth.hear-it.org/

fish ............... what?

This is a section from the site above, it's interesting  

Enjoying your music
You run a risk when you listen to music, but few of us would want to live without it. Luckily, reducing the risk takes very little effort.
  
 
For example, wearing earplugs when listening to loud music is a simple and effective precaution, and always be alert to and act on warning signals such as ringing or pain inside your ears and difficulties hearing after the music has stopped.

Some people do not feel that their hearing ability has been overtaxed before the damage is done. Three factors determine the intensity of the noise and how damaging it is to the human ear.

When listening to your favorite music you should be aware of:

 
 
 The distance to the sound source, such as loudspeakers and headsets. The closer to the music source the louder noise levels. 
 
 
 The loudness of the music. Your ears are not created to tolerate continuous noise levels above 85 dB. he louder the music is played, the more you damage your hearing. 
 
 
 The duration of time listening. The longer you are exposed to loud music, the higher the risk of hearing damage.
 
 


Turn down the volume and give your ears a rest from the music on a regular basis, so you’ll be able to enjoy your favorite music in the future.

Stage volume is a lot less quiet. Stage wise a guitar amp doesnt need to be loud, once it's mic'd it wont matter other than for monitoring or tonal reasons. Ideally you want things on stage to be quiet so they don't leak over the front house speakers. Sound is a lot more 'coloured' out front for a better listening experience, a stage is normally rigged for a better monitoring experience (pitch and even selective instruments).

I pretty much always wear ear plugs now. Before I had not (teenager) and I have suffered permanent damage because of it (tinnitus).

Regardless I wear earplugs all the time I play shows and watch shows. You soon get used to the sound after 5 minutes. Not only does it sound better you can actually talk to people without difficulty. Most my friends who wear earplugs use them at all shows and clubs. Some places just have music too darn loud :P.

As for losing the 'oomph' factor, I think it depends on venues. Some places with bigger sound systems you will feel/hear the bass drum and bass, other places it can be quite empty specially with ear plugs in.

I normally offer friends and other bands ear plugs at gigs hoping to encourage them to keep a beneficial habit.

What?

its already been done

lol

and your point is????????

"stop shooting a dead horse" is how i think it goes lol

Still don't get your point...