SHAWNEE — When Nicole Denney was a member of the Shawnee Mission Northwest marching band prior to graduating in 2009, she saw the effects of being around up to 155 students playing their instruments.

“I specifically remember when we’d have our indoor practices, we would (take a break) every hour, and my ears would be ringing a lot,” she said. “I played the flute, so we sat in the front. All of the sound from everyone was coming straight to us, and it was very, very loud.”

Now a student at the Kansas University Medical Center, Denney said those memories came to the forefront in December, when she visited her old band along with Kelsey McCoy, also a 2009 Northwest grad, and Alicia Williams, a 2008 Northwest grad.

Shawnee Mission Northwest students Alexia Bado, right, and Mio Ueki try out the new Etymotic ear plug that students from KU Med provided at a discounted price for marching band students in December.

“Just walking in, we were amazed at how loud it was,” she said.

But the trio was bringing the band members some relief — as members of the KU chapter of the Student Academy of Audiology, they were providing high-quality earplugs at an extremely discounted price for band members through the Adopt-A-Band program, sponsored by Etymotic Research Inc.

Denney, who is the president of the KU SAA chapter, said she learned about Adopt-A-Band through her hearing conservation class at KU Med and applied for a grant so the chapter could work with local schools. Many members of the chapter are former high school band members, she said, so they knew how important ear protection is, and Northwest was a natural place to start — though they hope to spread the program to other schools.

Penny Snead, Northwest’s band director, said students need to pay more attention to protecting their hearing.

“I always ask kids, when I work with my younger kids, ‘What do you think the hardest part of my job is,'” she said. “And the punch line is that the hardest part of my job is the volume of sound that I have to listen to every day. And it doesn’t matter that some of it is wonderful sound.”

Lauren Mann, a clinical assistant professor in KU’s audiology program, explained that 85 decibels is considered damaging if a person is around the noise for eight hours or more.

For every three decibels over 85, the amount of safe exposure time is reduced by half. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates a typical band class produces about 90 decibels, and the recommended daily exposure limit is two hours. And at the 115 decibels a marching band can produce, students not wearing earplugs reach their daily exposure limit within 30 seconds.

While some band members may have already had professional-level earplugs, many may try use the type that can be purchased in the drug store, but they are typically one-size-fits-all and don’t always fit or stay in very well. They also aren’t optimal for musicians, who need to hear the different tones in music.

“What ends up happening is it sounds like you’re in a tunnel, so it’s difficult to hear,” Denney said of the basic earplugs.

The ETY High Fidelity Earplugs reduce sounds by about 20 decibels at all frequencies and mimic a more natural frequency response.

“So you actually hear better,” Denney said. “They’ll be able to hear the nuances in individual instruments better. You’re protected, but you can still hear.”

The normally $20 earplugs were only $5 for the 80 students who purchased them through the Adopt-A-Band program.

Additionally, Snead got a $200 active noise-canceling pair that automatically detect loud noises and adjust.

With the fall-semester marching band class over for this school year, Snead said it will now be important for students to be religious about wearing the earplugs next year.

“It’s also a matter of discipline; you have to make yourself use them,” she said. “I do fully believe that when we get back into marching season next year, that we will be good about wearing them.”