Hearing protection and tinnitus for musicians: the numbers that matter

Your ears are the one piece of gear you can't replace. This guide sets out what the World Health Organization and the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) say about safe sound levels, then turns that into habits for rehearsal, gigs and the studio. Sources were read on 30 Oct 2026. It is general information, not medical advice: if you notice any change in your hearing, see a doctor or audiologist.

1. The scale of the problem

WHO's fact sheet on hearing loss says "over 1 billion young adults are at risk of permanent, avoidable hearing loss due to unsafe listening practices", and names loud sound as a preventable cause of adult hearing loss. NIOSH's noise overview says about 1 in 13 people in the US working population has tinnitus, which it describes as "an annoying buzzing, rushing, or ringing noise in your ears or in your head".

2. Time and level trade off

Two numbers anchor everything.

• NIOSH: the recommended exposure limit is 85 dBA averaged over an eight-hour workday. People exposed at or above it are at risk of significant hearing loss over a working lifetime. NIOSH also reminds you that decibels are logarithmic: a sound 10 dB louder is ten times more intense.
• WHO: its safe-listening Q&A gives weekly allowances: 40 hours at 80 dB, 12 hours 30 minutes at 85 dB, 4 hours at 90 dB, 1 hour 15 minutes at 95 dB, 20 minutes at 100 dB and 8 minutes at 105 dB.

Note that WHO's figures are per week, not per day. A three-hour band rehearsal that sits around 95 dB uses more than twice WHO's weekly allowance in one evening.

3. What WHO recommends

From the same WHO page:

• Keep personal device volume at or below 60% of maximum.
• Use well-fitted, noise-cancelling headphones so you don't turn the volume up to beat background noise.
• Wear earplugs in noisy places, and stay away from loudspeakers.
• Take regular breaks; at clubs or concerts, rest your ears somewhere quiet for 10 minutes every hour.
• Use a sound-level app and keep the average below 80 dB.

WHO's warning signs are persistent ringing (tinnitus), trouble hearing high-pitched sounds, difficulty understanding speech on the phone, and difficulty following conversation in noisy places. If you notice them, get your hearing checked. NIOSH similarly advises a test if you notice a change in hearing or develop tinnitus, and a yearly test for anyone regularly exposed to hazardous noise.

4. Turning it into habits

These are our suggestions, built on the sources above rather than quoted from them.

1. Measure your own rooms. Put a sound-level app on the music stand at one rehearsal and at one gig. Phone readings are rough, but they tell you whether you live at 85 or at 100.
2. Plugs in from the first note. Put them in at soundcheck and keep them in to load-out, as in our small-gig soundcheck checklist. Ringing after a show means you went over.
3. Turn the stage down, not just your ears. Quieter backline and wedges help everyone in the band, and often the front-of-house mix too.
4. Mix at moderate level. Long studio days at high monitor volume add up across the week. Check loud only briefly.
5. Budget the week. If Saturday's gig is loud, keep headphone listening low for the days around it.
6. Book a baseline test. A hearing test while you hear well gives you something to compare against later.

What we think

Musicians tend to treat hearing damage as a career risk for later. WHO's weekly table says otherwise: a single loud rehearsal can use the whole week's allowance. The cheapest upgrade most players can make isn't a pedal or a plugin; it's a pair of musician's earplugs worn every time, plus a habit of turning the stage down. Hearing loss from noise is described by WHO as preventable, which also means the habits are what count, not good intentions.