Quote:
Originally Posted by brunets  I personnally think that reducing noise level is the way to go. Wearing earplugs makes the experience of playing music less enjoyable because what you hear isn't exactly what is coming out of the instrument. If the feedback of our playing is poor, it will have impact on the way we play. |
Well, the counter-argument is that the audience doesn't care whether you enjoy playing or not. They are there are to hear the music, and as musicians it is our job to give them our best performance. They don't care if you're sick, if you had a death in the family yesterday, or if you're wearing ear plugs. They only care that you're giving them the best performance possible. Personal enjoyment only factors into the equation a little bit for me when I'm playing a professional gig. More often than not I enjoy what I'm doing, but that doesn't (and shouldn't) determine the performance/musical choices we make, especially about whether or not to wear ear plugs.
The last sentence from brunets, is one that is very similar to what the oboist I quoted from the original article is saying. See, I think it's just another skill musicians may be required to learn in the future, especially if decibel levels continue to go up. While at first, when you begin learning to play with ear plugs it WILL negatively impact your playing, but that is simply because the player hasn't learned how to play with them in yet. It is my opinion that musicians should be able to learn to play just as well with ear plugs as without, but it would just take a different kind of understanding about sound production. At first it may be uncomfortable, annoying or just simply "different". But like all new things, I believe we could begin to appreciate them for the sake of our hearing. As a side note, I currently do not use ear plugs, but I have considered getting custom-made form fitting one for years. And the more experiences I have performing the more I see the need for ear plugs.