"Put a plug in it"

[Dave Nereson]

    I use the plain ol' foam earplugs -- the ones you squeeze and roll into a smaller diameter.  I bought a whole case several years ago (200 pairs) for $20, and still have plenty left.  Their attenuation rating is 29dB, which is more than most other earplugs I've seen.  I'm not sure about the custom "musician's earplugs" that one has made by an audiologist, however.  But I think their attenuation is about the same.
    So if piano banging is just over 100dB, then my ears are actually experiencing roughly 70 dB. 
    I always wear them when mowing the lawn, running loud power tools, frequenting loud bars, attending concerts with amplified music, at dance halls, and even in some loud restaurants.   
    As for tuning, I tune the whole piano with the earplugs in, then take them out for the final check and do any touching up that's necessary -- usually just a few unisons.    
    I can't believe how much loudness the general public tolerates and accepts as normal, nor how they stare at you, especially the younger ones, with that "Are-you-an-alien?" look when you suggest the volume may be a bit too high.
    This relates to the thread of a week or two ago about contemporary pianists playing their fortes as fortissimos, their pianos as fortes, their pianissimos as mezzo-forte, and having no sensitivity at all as to what a true pianissimo is, then faulting the piano when they can't make it scream like a several-hundred-watt sound system. 
    (O.T., but related, IMO) We're conditioned to accept extremes in many aspects of life.  People snicker or look at you like you're crazy if you exhibit any aversion to extreme volume, drivers exceeding the speed limit, "extreme" behavior in public, extreme dress, sometimes even foul language, etc. etc.)
    --David Nereson, RPT