LUCIDMEDIA

Then I went to my first rock concert. It was outdoors, on a summer afternoon which lingered close to midnight, and many bands played, some of which I admired like Joel Plaskett and Emergency, as well as Matt Mays and El Torpedo. Naturally, I wanted to be close, I wanted to feel the raw energy which attracted thousands of people to come to this show. When I felt I was close enough I stayed there for nearly the entirety of the evening, and later that night, when I felt as though my head was stuck in a fishbowl, I deeply regretted my decision.

Perhaps, some background is necessary for me to build my foundation. Right now, we'll take a brief journey to discover; The Human Ear. Alright class, now we all know that sound travels in "waves", that a vibration moves particles around space and our ears pick up these vibrations. Well, let it be known as well, that the ear is a totally mechanical organ; unlike the nose and the tongue which rely on chemical procedures to transmit the information to the brain - Oh, and look at that, the most important factor of all; transmitting information to the brain. All information is gathered by a very sensitive device in your ear called (hand goes up in the back), yes Timmy? No, you may not go to the bathroom...any other guesses? It's called the eardrum. It's also reassuring to know that you're eardrum protects you against low-pitched sounds which can both distract you and damage your hearing. However, both low and high pitches can damage your hearing. Which brings me to decibels.

Of course, decibels are the measurement of sound and they determine what sounds can damage your hearing. Now, it's a well known chart, but let's take a look at it again and examine our own stupidity. Here is a quote from HowStuffWorks.com "Any sound above 85 dB can cause hearing loss, and the loss is related both to the power of the sound as well as the length of exposure." So, here's the list in truncated format: near silence = 0 dB, a normal conversation = 60 dB, a lawnmower = 90 dB, a rock concert (always compared to a jet engine) = 120 dB. Now, lets do our math. Lets see, that's a difference of...35 dB, so that equates to around...1,000 times louder than what is already considered permanently damaging.

Back to the story. A lot changed once I realized I damaged my hearing. Not only was the effect immediate (for example I couldn't hear myself whistle) it was also physically detrimental, and emotionally draining. For a while I couldn't listen to headphones, so music to calm me was out of the question. For about 3 weeks I had a constant undeniable ringing in my ear, that only submerged when loud noises counteracted it. I became much more fearful and cautious of things I couldn't hear anymore, and realized I could never again hear the purity of silence. However, let me tell you, on my walk home after the rock concert I felt a euphoria unlike anything I've ever known. It felt like I was literally outside of myself; people's mouths grew silent, my footsteps delayed, my voice unknown, my mind elevated. "This is the feeling of rock and roll" I thought.

But what did I realize when I was standing there, being barraged by painful melodies? I realized this feeling controls us. Not only is it the sensation that controls us, being lifted by amplified voices, vibrating bass guitars, pounding rhythms, the whole culture of it controlled out very lifestyle and way of perceiving the world.

As Mat Mays decided to turn up the volume on his set I noticed a very discouraging thing stuck in his ear; a hearing monitor. I told many people this and they simply replied "Of course, or else he'd go deaf!". But isn't that exactly the point? I sometimes wonder what it is like being deaf, or blind. You would have a heightened capacity of your other senses, but you would also feel alienated and detached. When I think of it, I think of the deepest blackness you can see, and the deepest unfathomable silence you can hear. I am sure it is some of the same sensations you would feel while, well...dying.

So why do we do it then? Why do we wish a slow death upon ourselves? So many people fight against polluting the air, and destroying the earth, and I am one of these very people, but don't we need information to travel clearly and undisturbed to our brains so we can react to situations which may harm us? We are being dulled by rock music. We are accepting whatever people with fine hearing can dish out to us. We are under the submission of large music corporations which can throw anything out to an audience who will jam close together in a stadium just to have their ears pulverized by sound. Personally, I don't want any part of it any more.

Some may rebut saying that the stadiums need the equipment to let sound travel as far as possible. But, I rebut them by saying, perhaps better sound distribution is the solution. Perhaps we can turn down the volume on concerts, distribute the sound properly so that everyone can hear it, as well maintain the energy of the performers. It all comes down to the responsibility of the performers though, to not only be aware of the damage they cause, but to control it so that we can maintain one of our most important information gathering organs. If no-one can hear anymore, where would music be? Mind you, with that said, it is also the responsibility of the listener to be aware of these dangers. They may say they want to blow their mind out, while if that's the case, good-bye world.

Now, I can already hear the calls and the shouts from the back, there's no need for that. I too realize that this has all been a development of history. Just as art moved from the somber quiet colors to brighter radical ones, opening up palettes and possibilities we never dreamed of, the same goes for rock music. When Bob Dylan plugged into an un-aware folk audience it was the biggest bang heard in the decade. These individuals though were not just going louder; they were testing, fighting, experimenting, challenging. It wasn't the louder the better, it was the feeling of emancipation from restraint. And now we've taken it too far and are simply wild again. In my opinion, we need control and discrimination back.

Perhaps the next direction for rock music isn't to find new ways to blow up speakers and to damage ear-drums. Perhaps the next step is looking for other means to induce the same feeling, and by not cranking up the decibels. I'm not saying all musicians should pick up acoustic guitars to play stadiums, but a little bit less provocation and a little more intimacy never hurt anyone*.

*I was very tempted to write "...any-drum" but decided it against it. On a side note, I have just been enlightened on my mistake in the article. I originally wrote that Matt Mays had a hearing aide in his ear, and now I have changed it to the appropriate hearing monitor. However, my questions still stands: how come the musician acts the more intelligent and wears a hearing monitor while deciding to pump of the volume on his set, further damaging the hearing of his audience?*