Banjos don't HAVE to be loud. Many are PLAYED too hard/loud.

I remember this chart.  A very thorough experiment, comparing various banjos and combined bridge designs.

In ordinary playing, banjos don't have a wide dynamic range, compared to a violin or piano (pianoforte - "softloud") or even acoustic guitar.  So banjos are going to sound fairly loud all the time.  And, banjos put out zero dBA when they are in the case.  

All I know is that when I play in a jam or busking for a few hours, the next day my ears are ringing a lot more than usual.

I cannot recommend hearing protection enough. As musicians, we should value our hearing more than the average person. But the opposite seems true. I find musicians are much more likely to put themselves in loud environments without any thought to their hearing in the future.

Hi Fi ear plugs are cheap and readily available. The banjo is loud enough that you will still be able to hear it clearly even while you have the plugs in.

I wear a set to jams and when I practice indoors and it really helps cut down on the post jam ear ringing/muffled sensation.

Anything at or above 80db IS damaging your hearing, and such damage is cumulative. Science has not yet figured out a way to repair hearing once it's lost.

I damaged my hearing early on in life, and now I live with constant tinnitus that there is no fix for.

A lifetime of earplugs is substantially cheaper than a single pair of hearing aids.

-Just a few good reasons why you should value what you have before you lose it.

Living in a condo, and practicing with a mute, has probably been a godsend for my hearing. When I play with my friends, I’m always the furthest from the mic, and come through loud and clear. Interestingly, when I play my resonator banjo, I can’t gauge where I am in the mix, as good as I can with my open back banjo. I hear a lot more of myself with the open back, and what I hear in the mix, is very accurate. With the resonator banjo, I can be blasting folks out, and not realize it.

as retired career jet engine mechanic, I have that wonderful tinnitus ringing 24-7, but don't even notice it unless something reminds me of it... like a BHO thread. I have to protect what hearing I have left.

I have had both fiddles and dreadnaught guitars drown out my banjo, and it's a Stelling! Instruments are often played too loud as people don't realize how different the sound is from behind the instrument and in front of it.

We had one banjo player in our group that always played too loud, played over other instruments, grabbed breaks away from other banjo players and was just generally obnoxious. He was asked several times to tone it down but when he ignored the suggestion several times, he was told to shape up or get out. He got out. What a relief.

Yeah I can't stand those banjo players! Oh, I resemble that remark..... (Ha!) banjered

I'm not saying a banjer can't get loud, but horns are arguably louder. We had a flute player who was a pleasure. I understand most of the time it's the operator, but horns with an ambature like a trumpet or trombone, well, they can and should mute them in a circle jam.
I can't recall the name, but there is a musician's ear-plug that knocks down the sound 10db. If I remember them ; )

I love the look and feel of my Wildwood Troubadours, but they are loud. I have to stuff them with some bubble wrap and swear by my Mike's Banjo Mutes. I have had Tinnitis for 40 yrs now.

I practice with this homemade setup…..

I certainly agree that we should all take far more care with our hearing. I've been playing banjo now for more than 50 years, and for the past four years I've needed to use hearing aids. In truth, I should have started using them about ten years ago as my wife noticed my hearing was failing then. I'm in my 70s, so I guess a degree of hearing loss is to be expected, but I'm convinced that half a century's exposure to two hours' banjo playing every day must have contributed to the problem. When we were newly married, we lived in an apartment and had very little money to buy furnishings. I played banjo in a spare bedroom containing nothing but the chair on which I sat. I was young and never once considered the volume a problem. The apartment was well soundproofed and my neighbours heard very little of my playing. I suspect that the damage was done in the four years we lived there.

No disrespect intended, but this strikes me as data in search of a problem.
However, in the spirit of saving our hearing, here's a pretty good guide to loud things in life-
noiseawareness.org/info-center...e-levels/

But, but, but Joseph .... playin' banjo [especially if you're doing renovations and using it to remove paint] isn't included in the data on the list in the link.  Wot to do?*  

* Maybe some TIMing [using a mute] ....... while I figure it out.

[However, it's good to know. Thanks]

It's up to each of us how loud we play.
A banjo can be played at a "whisper" if needed.
Learn how to play in balance (fit in) with what's going on.

quote:

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Originally posted by NNYJoe

No disrespect intended, but this strikes me as data in search of a problem.
 

yeah, whatever...

". . .  data in search of a problem."

The original experiment was not about hearing loss, but about the performance of various bridge constructions on different banjos.  And the results were measured and repeatable information, where prior to that there was only anecdotal speculation  (a common communication device on the BHO  )  on what made a difference in the output of various bridges and how that was different on different banjos.

If exposure to loud dBA is not a "problem" for some, then the original experiment doesn't add anything to the hearing loss situation, only retains its value as banjo bridge experimentation.  

The poster noted:  "The laws in Ontario, Canada (where I live) say that employers must make workers wear hearing protection when the volume in their surroundings exceed 80 dBA."

If exposure to loud dBA is a a situation that some want to be aware of, then the experiment provides evidence that being around banjo picking can cause exposure to sound well above 80 dBA.  As the poster said, "for whatever it's worth . . ."  Maybe worth it for some, not worth it for others.