Drummers are seen wearing headphones while rehearsing with the bands, recording, performing, or even while practicing. They need a quieter stage environment to confide to the sound and headphones provide them the ability to kill all the background noise, which includes stage sound and instruments. Headphones also provide them the opportunity to make their own mix.
So, let’s get to know the primary reasons why drummers wear headphones.
In This Article:
5 Reasons Why Drummers Wear Headphones
Drummers wear headphones as they reduce the direct sound to the ears from the drums and also allow them to hear the mixes from other instruments without the need for large floor monitors.
Here are the 5 common reasons why a drummer wears headphones when playing a song.
1. Listening to Click Track During Life Performance
It is important to stay in tune with the rhythm. A Click Track is a recording of a click sound that is running at the same speed, as long as being played. Thus, it keeps them in sync with the beat. So, keeping it in the right speed song or for the remaining track that has been already recorded and played in the crowd, headphones are a must.
During the live band performance to match the recording, drummers must play at precisely the same tempo as the recording. This is why the headphones provide the musicians with the Click and do not allow the audience to hear it, making the headphones a basic necessity.
2. Listen to the Monitoring Mix During Live Performance
Headphones are also a necessity during live concerts as they provide monitor mixes. Due to the drumbeats, it becomes quite difficult to listen to the other teammates and the sound also gets louder with the posting of the speakers. So, the drummer needs to wear headphones to hear the kick drum clearly. It helps to listen to the sound by pumping through the monitor directly to the ear. It also helps to improve the clarity by suppressing the drum noise.
3. Provides Hearing Protection
Drummers use headphones to absorb the 20 dB of sound, as drums are loud and they need to protect their hearing while performing for hours. These headphones are meant for protection against severe irreversible hearing damage, while all the drums and cymbals are working together.
Reducing the drum noise to a more secure level not only makes it more secure for the ears but also helps them to provide a better outcome. lt also helps them to play monitor mix at a safe level through the headphones and the drummer can hear and control the entire band. This also ensures that drummers do not suffer from long-term ear problems. Usually, the earpieces are meant to block high-frequency sound, so the drummers can easily hear what they are playing.
4. Following the Onstage Instructions
It is a fact that the stage gets quite louder and it gets difficult to follow instructions, so with a good pair of headphones, a drummer can hear the instructions and also the directions quite clearly, which are usually recorded beforehand. It is also a great alternative to the loud stage noise when conventional monitors and large-scale amplifiers are being used.
5. Better Recording Sessions
In a studio, while the recording is ongoing, you must not allow the microphone to pick up any sound other than the drums, thus, if you are playing the drums and want to hear the music out of the speaker then using the headphones can eliminate the chances of sound interference. Also, it is quite helpful during the testing of audio.
Which is the Best Ear Protection for Drummers?
The best ear protection for a drummer is to use moulded earplugs which are often held together through a leash. Most importantly, it is easy to insert and breathable so even if the drummer moves their head the chances of falling off are negligible.
