it will probably sound strange but i wana know if i’m the only one to feel some stress int the hear when i play the second octave of the chanter. it begin whit the G of the second octave. the first time i play there were no problem but now that i pratice two hours a day i’m almost forced to put hear plug. when i play in a litle room it is worst but when i play in a large room or outside there is no problem. i have to admit that i begin to feel worry 
Protect your hearing… you will not get a second chance.
I used to play bass guitar professionally and damaged my hearing from many years of abuse. Now, I wear ear plugs when I play pipes. If I don’t, I often get sharp pains in my ears that last for days.
Protect your hearing
Protect your hearing
definitely, my grandfather lost his hearing in one ear during WWII - it’s not something you wan to mess around with.
on a lighter note, I posted those fingerings you wanted in the crossfingering thread 
)
Does anyone wear earplugs while playing piano, recorder, fiddle or similar? To my opinion the uilleann pipes, as a comparable indoor instrument, should be playable without ear protection - at least this is something, I would try to avoid. So did you consider to quieten your chanter? I assume it is simply a bit too loud and bright.
Those instruments do not hold a sustained level comparable to most sets of Uilleann Pipes. It doesn’t hurt in the least to wear earplugs, so why not do so if it’s apparent that the pipes are too loud for someone’s sensitive ears. It’s a crime to discourage people from wearing ear plugs. Protect your ears. If you dislike the slightly muted sound, then don’t wear the earplugs and in a short while you’ll get used to the level. In a decade, you’ll get that muted sound again. Without the earplugs.
Dionys
In the eloquent words of Michael Jackson “that’s rediculous”. If it’s that much of a problem just play in a room with a carpet on the floor… if it’s still too loud take up air guitar!
Maybe your reeds are set up too open and therefore too loud? I dunno?
Dionys…it depends. I have to open up
the reed on my chanter to match the volume
of the fiddler in our band. But, she has a
GREAT old vintage violin with some excellent
strings, and a bow that has been apprasied for 10K!
Pianos have widely different volumes too. Some are
LOUD, but have the soft pedal. The recorder…nah.
You know it’s possible to make a U-pipe
chanter reed that is nearly as soft as the
northumbrian pipes..for the same chanter?
It will lack certain qualities, but works…
and easy pressure! I’ve used’m.
I think we’d all be amazed if we could play
our pipes in the same room and see what
some are thinking is right or normal for a
reed and what isn’t. I’ve been on the phone
with quite a few of our C&Fers and at times
have been blown away at what some are
putting up with. But I’m amazed at what I
use to put up with too.
The U-LIST recently had several pipers
complaining that their Robert’s chanters
were being drowned out by fiddle and guitar.
Hey all:
My first chanter reed was so quiet that I had a tough time being heard over a single guitar (it turned out that one side of the reed was not moving) and my second was (and is) so loud that I have a tough time not forcing other people out of the room.
I don’t wear ear protection but I do take care about my hearing- if your ears start to ring, you’ve done some damage, simple as that. I have tried using a loose bit of rubber band around the reed above the staple and I have put some cotton batton (sp?) inside the chanter cap, both of which work, more or less, with the pitch of the notes oddly affected. I have also noticed that it is possible to quieten my reed by carefully (!) fiddling with the combination of reed depth and staple placement. Not 100% effective, but it does work.
I remember another thread in which Peter Laban said something about the difference in volume between narrow and wide bore chanters. (I’m just remembering, not quoting, so if I’m incorrect please don’t flame me too hard.) I know chanters are being built more and more to be heard in a room full of other instruments, and that’s a good thing (no amount of recording equipment will realistically emulate the sound of a set, but that’s another topic) but hearing is critical for musicians.
I play in a couple of percussion bands, mostly african and cuban styles, and I did some damage to my ears before I smartened up and started playing more quietly, which forced me to be in better control of myself and my instrument, and overall improved my quality as a musician.
Ups are not as easily subject to such things as volume control but perhaps there is the possiblility of using two reeds, one set up to be played quietly for practice and one set up to be played out? I realize there are numerous difficulties with this, but if you don’t like earplugs (they give me headaches) perhaps that’s an alternative.
Mark
Thanks for the hint, Dionys! 
To make my statement clearer than it obviously was: If a chanter is too loud then, of course, you have to wear ear plugs. I once had one of this type and I wore plugs myself. If you re-read my previous post, I just mentioned that this is not what I would want to have, and thus, I use to tune my chanters at the lowest possible level. This is the most convenient way for me, my family and the neighbors. Audio technology is sophisticated enough to enhance the sound of quiet chanters during performances, so the only problem with low-level chanters is session playing. In his case one could put in a loud reed and ear plugs.
I should have made it more specific. Thanks for doing so, Idwood. If your pipes are loud enough to warrant needing to wear earplugs, then do so. I have a variety of reeds for my own sets that range from quiet/muted to bright and blaring. When I use them depends on the timbre/tone I’m after, the audience I’m playing for and the group I’m playing with.
Considering that it takes only a few moments to put in squishy earplugs that sound by at least 12db, I can’t see a reason to not wear them if you feel in any way that the sound you’re being exposed to may be a danger to your ears. Granted I don’t wear them all the time or the majority of the time when I play solo, but in settings/performances where I know the level will be high, I certainly do. I’d like to be piping/building well into old age without that lovely muted sound so many people end up with.
Dionys
I’m thinking that a reed/chanter that is set up right should be about 70-80dBs (to player)…just guessing though.
http://www.1uphealth.com/health/occupational_hearing_loss_info.html
Sounds above 90 decibels (dB, a measurement of the loudness or strength of vibration of a sound), particularly if the sound is prolonged, may cause such intense vibration that the inner ear is damaged. Ninety decibels is about the loudness of a large truck about 5 yards away. A jackhammer emits sounds of about 120 dB from 3 feet away, and a jet engine emits sound of about 130 dB from 100 feet away. Motorcycles, snowmobiles, and similar engines range around 85 to 90 dB, and a rock concert may approach 100 dB. A general rule of thumb is that if you need to shout to be heard, the sound is in the range that can damage hearing.
Taking apirin, quinine and some antibiotics is another thing that can cause ‘sensorineural’ hearing loss.
EXAMPLES OF dB levels:
Faint
30 whisper, quiet library
Moderate
50 rainfall, quiet office, refrigerator
60 dishwasher, conversation
Very Loud
70 traffic, vacuum cleaner, restaurant
80 alarm clock, subway, factory noise
90 lawnmower, shop tools, subway
100 garbage truck, chain saw, loud stereo systems, snowmobile
Extremely Loud
110 rock concert, power saw
Painful
120 jet takeoff, nightclub, thunder
130 jackhammer
140 shot gun
180 rocket launching pad
I’ve been wanting a DB meter for a while and this topic was good enough reason. I bought a Radio Shack ‘sound level meter’ tonight. Part # 33-2050 on sale for $29.99US. This device has an analog display and very basic features, but there’s a digital version (with more features) for $49.99 for those who need the ability to record peak readings when you’re unable to see the scale.
Initally, I tested my Mackenzie chanter in ‘studio B’ (the bathroom) and got readings of 90-100 DB in the first octave and peaked at 106+ DB in the second octave!
The meter was approximately two feet from the chanter, off to the side and mid height… probably in a place where one would locate a microphone for recording and about the same distance away from my ears.
I did not wear ear plugs during this test and 100DB is much more than my ears can tollerate, even for a few minutes. As I sit here typing, my tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is hissing to the point of pain.
I have a friend who plays saxophone and GHB professionally and wears earplugs for practice and performance.
Again, protect your hearing…
Time permitting, I’ll do more tests later with flat chanters and different room acoustics.
B chanter (same studio) first octave 80+DB, second octave 90+DB
C chanter (also in studio B) first octave in the mid 80’s and second octave peaked around 93DB.
Wooff narrow bore D (same studio) first octave 85DB, second octave 95DB peak.
Not to go off topic here but I have done work as a carpenter in a closed room putting down inch and 3/8 plywood with framing hammers for eight hours a day . A nice 4 bedroom colonial was built , and I went to bed at night with my ears ringing . I t did go away and heal . I would reccomend some tai chi , and not playing in a small room , or a new , quietier chanter . These piping maylladys will heal but , the virtue of patience is patience , why play on a bad chanter ? :roll: p.s the probs pipers seem to have include pulled muscles ect ,
Tom,
It’s not off topic. Typically a few high level exposures over a lifetime wear off… I worked with a guy who re-fueled helicopters in the Vietnam war and claimed they rarely had time to put on the ear muffs, usually when they did they got knocked off rushing around. He wears dual hearing aids now and says he can hear what you are saying but it sounds like his head is in a tin can.
I started oboe in 1964 and guitar around 1965, switched to bass guitar around 1967 and played semi-pro until 1970 when I went professional for another few years. The stack of nine cabinets behing the drums were mine and for years I used an amp with 800 watts peak.
My tinnitus was so severe I decided to leave music around 1975. After 10 years, it had subsided but always acted up when I was around loud noises, which is hard in my business as I’m always around construction sites.
After a car accident some 10 years ago, I started back on electric bass to strengthen my hands and help overcome nerve damage causing numbness in my fingers. The tinnitus that was always there became worse. Piping is the icing on the cake!
As long as I wear hearing protection I can control the tinnitus… well, at least, keep it to a minimum.
thanks tony .
Tony…a couple of things you might experiment with while trying out your new dB meter. Try mounting the meter up by your ear, behind your head, facing the same way as your ear (might need another person to read the meter). And try different rooms, larger (not a bathroom!), with carpet/curtains, and without tile, vinyl, brick, glass, mirrors, porcelain or cement in the room. Try outside too, around grass, trees, and vegetaion, if you have a quiet area available.
If your meter was 2’ away from the chanter, and in front of the chanter-to the side, facing the chanter, that may not be typical of what the ear is hearing.
Also, this could be with the blades squeezed down to minimum or opened to maximum, or middle range volume level. Reeds vary alot. My tok reed is loud (I can get it to play a lot softer) but it’s still as quiet, or quieter than the violin player. When playing my AlanB reed, the illusion of a phone ringing is from the “ping” in the reed, not the volume. It’s softer/quieter than my Koehler reed–which doesn’t produce that effect at all! (I just happened to think–violins are often louder and right next to the ear! I wonder if they have hearing problems).
Police departments often have some good equiptment for measuring dB levels, to confirm violations of noise nuisance ordinances. Anyone not in possession of a meter could ask for a test to verify if levels are within accepted ranges!
Lorenzo…
I know the small tiled bathroom would give higher readings than a large room with carpeting and furniture, I consider it a ‘worst case’ scenario.
I’m on hold right now for renovation to a small room addition suitable for a music room. I plan to make it acoustically dead even if I have to line the walls and ceiling with thick carpeting. This would be dual purpose as I keep wierd hours and would like to practice whenever I want and not disturb anyone.
For now, I have no problems with ear muff type hearing protection, I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve been known to take foam type earplugs with me when going to concerts, movies, night clubs, etc.
My B chanter came back yesterday from re-reeding and I spent a few hours breaking the reed in. I lowered the elevation as much as I could while still being able to play and got the numbers down to 75-80DB
That’s not too shabby as I can play it without the need for ear plugs. Let’s see what happens to the reed in a day or two.