Tinnitus is often a warning sign that your are exposed to too much loud sound, for too long. It can be a symptom of other more serious medical conditions or even overuse of aspirin and some other medications, but is usually related to loud sounds. Assuming it is related to loud sounds, here is some information about tinnitus. I have to mention a disclaimer that if the ringing in your ears does not obviously seem to be a result of exposure to loud sound, you should see your doctor and make sure there is no other cause.
Loud sounds, whether noise or music, can cause temporary hearing loss, tinnitus, and permanent sound-induced hearing loss. Tinnitus (pronounced TIN it us) is the medical term for ringing in your ears. Percussive sounds like drum hits, gunshots, cowbell and clave hits, cymbals, etc are more likely than steady tones to cause hearing loss and tinnitus. The temporary hearing loss can last a few hours to a few days after the loud sound exposure, and can be accompanied by very noticeable ringing in your ears. At first, you will recover your hearing completely after a loud night, it may take until the next day, or a few days, but your hearing will return completely and the tinnitus will go away completely. With repeated exposure to loud sounds, the recovery takes longer and is less complete. There is a lot of individual variability in how much sound is required, how long recovery takes, and how complete is the recovery. Many of us in the music business have developed permanent hearing loss and tinnitus over the years. DJing is particularly common to cause this (and half-deaf DJs often assault the audience's hearing because they can't hear that the music is too loud, but that is another discussion).
Playing percussion can cause temporary hearing loss, tinnitus, as well as permanent sound-induced hearing loss. It is all about volume and how long you are exposed to the sound. There is a lot of variability among different people regarding how loud and long the sound has to be to cause these problems. Some people will get tinnitus and permanent hearing loss from the same loudness and duration of sound that will not affect another person at all. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulation (OSHA, no relation to regla de ocha) noise standard says that sounds less than 85 dB are safe to hear all day, but the louder the sound, the shorter the time you can safely be exposed to it. A useful table of loudness (in A-weighted decibels) and permissible safe length of exposure is on the OSHA website, OSHA regulation 1910.95, Appendix A, found here:
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp ... &p_id=9736High pitch, percussive sounds are the most likely to affect your hearing and cause tinnitus. Obviously, amplified instruments and vocals can do this too, especially when monitors are placed too close to musicians' ears. Even without amplification, some percussion sounds can do this, like most claves, some guaguas, open slaps on congas, drum set especially cymbals, timbales, even bongo slaps. When you are playing loud to be heard over a band, both the loud band and the loud percussion contribute to the sound level. Keeping stage volume down by skillful use of mics and monitors in addition to the Front of House speakers helps a lot with reducing exposure of musicians to loud sound, plus it usually improves the overall sound of the group in most performance venues. In-ear monitors, when done right, can greatly reduce the ambient noise levels and help a lot. When done wrong, they can pump too-loud sound directly into your ears and do more damage faster than floor and stage monitors and direct sound. Also I don't know a good way to measure loudness in the ear when using in-ear monitors.
Some of the best rumberos from Cuba that I have heard play soft enough that all the singers can be heard clearly without mics over the congas or cajones. Check out this clip on YouTube, these are some of the best rumberos (mostly) still alive in Cuba.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_OoShNfilkThe quinto slaps are soft but so clean and well timed that they are always heard clearly. That is really hard to learn but worth it. The congas are not fancy or high end, it is really about technique and listening carefully. The timing and clean percussion sound and style make loud banging unnecessary. In fairness, some of these guys can sing pretty loud without a mic, but the point is that you can get down on congas and really enjoy it without playing loud. Even with mics in stage performances, they still keep their stage volume pretty well under control. There is wisdom among these older rumberos who have made it to 70 or 80 years old y que estan todavia guarachando. There is a lot we can learn from the elders and the centuries-old traditions, and playing soft enough to preserve your hearing (and your hands) until a ripe old age is one of the most valuable lessons.
Here are my recommendations to prevent worsening of tinnitus and hearing loss:
1) Play softer! In a rumba, if you can't hear the lead singers and coro clearly when they sing without microphones, everyone is playing too loud. If you have ringing in your ears after the rumba, everyone was playing too loud.
2) If you are around loud sounds, whether acoustic or amplified, get a Sound Pressure Level meter and use it, along with the OSHA loudness table in the link above, to find safe loudness levels, then stick to those levels. Radio Shack makes a pretty accurate SPL meter for $50. From the perspective of enjoying your music for the rest of your life, that could be the best $50 you ever spend on sound equipment (or medical care), IF you use the meter to help control your exposure to loud sounds.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=21036673) If you are playing hard, struggling to be heard over ampified instruments or drumset, use mics and play softer. Make sure the monitors are not too loud or too close to anyone's ears and tell the other musicians to turn down if they are playing too loud.
4) Play claves softer or get lower pitched claves. I have tried to find claves that don't hurt my ears, but most do if played loud. The key is to play the claves softer and keep the overall sound level down.
5) If none of this works, get in-ear hearing protectors. They take some getting used to, and do take some of the "fun" out of playing at first, but they will help preserve your hearing so you can enjoy playing for many more years.