How the Brain Allows the Deaf to Experience Music
nautil.us
nautil.us
We (and many others) used to run events in nightclubs and we built sound systems that reverberated everything in the room. It was impossible to not feel the rhythm as drinks shook off the bar if you didn't hang onto them. Everyone loved the vibe, but the coolest thing I noticed was that I made a lot of good friends from nearby Gallaudet University, who I didn't know were deaf until we spoke outside of the club... We slowly realized that Gallaudet students represented a rapidly increasing audience within events at the time as well because of the favorable party experience of deeper sound systems in comparison to other nightclubs, and specifically because of Drum & Bass Music's rhythmic depth.
They were able to read my lips flawlessly within the club at peak volume, and to differentiate songs literally based on the rhythmic patterns and bass reverberations they felt from the air pressure the sound system created on their skin... The connection is that hearing people actually went to the events for the same feeling, they just never realized the experience wasn't primarily about using our ears... It was truly an amazing time.
Many of the people I met and work with from that era are still good friends years later, and we always talk about how that vibe is missing from life now. Music is life.
Reference clips (NOTE: You may not experience the deep bass well on mobile phones or small sound systems) -
Dillinja Live in New Delhi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWOD2uw9TXA
Our Music:
Most US health plan insurance companies will defray the cost of CI surgery (starts at $33,000 total) by knocking 80% off; 90% off, if having a premium health plan).
I’ve actually gained something that I never had before: higher frequency (8Khz+) so now I can distinguish between similar IPA inflections like e, v, b, t, p, Z, and d; and that is the greatest feeling in the world.
You may also pick up strange things like staircase creaking, distant flatulent, different insect buzz, and best of all, distinguishes bird song.
The only downside is that if you were musically-inclined, pitch-perfect, or a musical-savant, then you WILL be disappointed because instead of an average human being able to discriminate some 1000 different audible frequency, you will be limited to around 32 narrow bands. Behind the ear processor will fully capture the full hearing spectrum and spread that across those 32 bands. This is where CI-specialized audiologist will spend a couple of months doing the “map” those hearing frequency span into your limited number of bands.
But hey, it is far better to hear further and recapture your missing frequency range just to be able to interact with society verbally, assuming you have had that trained experience. Also another factor is your prior childhood auditorial exposure and the extent of your speech and language development then; all are easily recaptured through CI-specialized speech therapists depending on your willingness to relearn; Most do.
Of course, it goes without saying, you can alternatively learn how the Deaf culture functions with Federal assistance of making phone calls for you, adding signaler throughout your house (think SmartHome), and pick up a new language called American Sign Language. I’ve done all that as well.
So, CI may be your best option. Contact your local audiologist to get started.
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/cochlear-implants
IPA chart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabe...
CaptionCall app will let you converse using your own voice with the caller and type back what they are saying. I find that to be an excellent tool in the last bridge of divide between HoH and hearing world. Use it all the time to interact with DMV, doctors’ appt desk, and voice mail systems.
Even with my now superhearing, this tool is actually less stressful than trying to decipher their voice myself. Kinda like a messaging app but with voice one way and text and voice stream the other way.
So far, no headache but lots of positive gains. And I got the best of both worlds (silent and hearing).
Good luck. I can always relate.
And music is still remain a tonic of the mind albeit now a wider range of frequency spectrum but dovetailed into 32 narrow bands.
You are definitely going far. I am quite sure some DJs would pay (dearly) for this to be displayed on one of their large screen TVs.
I am truly excited for you and your work.
Wow. Just awesome, totally.
As for my DJ virtual turntables. The idea behind them is to use in virtual reality with finger tracking. So they work just like the real world counterpart. I have the drumkit working already using oculus touch controllers. I'll try and wire up the synth next, but that will be more problematic because of my hearing or lack of. Thanks again for the kind words about my project and thank you for the advice. I appreciate that very much.