Improving on What is Possible with Hearing Aids for Listening to Music

Abstract

There is no difference between the inherent musicality of people with impaired hearing and those with normal hearing. This applies even to the profoundly deaf, provided that music can adequately be perceived. Recognising the shortcomings of hearing aids designed primarily for speech, the author shows how music listening for the deaf can be very considerably improved by using readily available equipment to process sound in particular ways to compensate for different types of hearing deficiency. He observes that some deaf people seem able to perceive music, especially the pitch of notes, more clearly than others who are substantially less hearing impaired. A possible explanation for this paradox is given.

Learning not to listen: the experiences of musicians with hearing impairments

“…There is evidence that cochlear implants can worsen pitch perception (Looi et al 2008) and digital hearing aids can be problematic too: distortions to pitch and timbre are caused by programming and fitting to maximise speech intelligibility using non-linear amplification or automatic gain control (Chasin and Russo 2004;Moore 2003). Nevertheless, analogue hearing aid technology can be optimised for use with music with good results (Dalgarno 1990) as can digital aids if the correct input, frequency compression, amplification and noise reduction parameters are applied (Chasin 2006). Unfortunately, such improvements usually cost both time and money.…”

Mapping Music Education Research in the UK

“…The literature includes research relating to those with physical impairments, e.g. hearing (Banks, 1986;Dalgarno, 1990;Disabled Living Foundation, 1986), vision (Ockelford, 1994;Stimpson, 1995), the mildly, moderately, severely or profoundly intellectually disabled (Ellis, 1995(Ellis, , 1996(Ellis, , 1997Ellis and Dowsett, 1987;Ockelford, 2000), children with specific learning difficulties, e.g. dyslexia (Backhouse, 1994;British Dyslexia Society, 1994;Oglethorpe, 1996;Overy, 2000), and emotional and behavioural difficulties (Packer, 1987(Packer, , 1989.…”

Creating an expressive performance without being able to play a musical instrument

“…It is also valuable in working with people whose hearing is impaired; dynamic range amplitude compression can be achieved in software (see Dalgarno, G. 1990), avoiding the need for a hardware compressor, and there is the bonus of superior control as well as options to carry out the scaling of the velocities in a variety of ways.…”