Originally Posted by lj39

For me it isn't really based upon an hourly time frame.It's more along the lines of how many artists I want to listen to in one day. I tend to track how many albums I to through in a given day, although it does depend on what I'm doing.

I mostly just listen at my house or in my car, and anywhere else I just sort of tune it out. One reason for this is I like the difference between music that I'm interested in, and weighing that with the sounds of real-life/real world. Also, I really, REALLY hate passive listening. Either I try to give things a solid 70-80% concentrated listening effort, or I don't listen at ALL. It's too important to me to just regulate sounds to the background. So I absolutely will NOT listen to anything at work or while I'm doing errands because it's just easier for all parties involved, lol.

Finally, I'm also a drummer, and after practicing for a few hours whether on a practice pad kit or the real thing, I gotta take a break for my ear's sake!

Originally Posted by RonaldSays

You must have a loud practice pad kit! Wear ear protection dude! I'm a drummer myself and the best investments I did were ear protection and a proper drum throne.

Originally Posted by lj39

Heh..no no..it actually isn't loud at all..I think it's more the constant 'tapping' sound..often my ears need a rhythmic 'break' after practicing.

So, to expand on this: if I only practice for an hour-hour and a half- then it's no big deal - on to music! If I go over two or three hours, then after I finish I feel the need for a little hiatus from music. (Certainly not the whole day or anything..)

For actual kit practice I work on brushes and quiet playing..it's too loud to really let loose in my neighborhood (hence the addition of the practice kit along with my regular kit).