What It's Like for a Deaf Person to Hear Music for the First Time.
A young man born deaf got implants and when he heard Mozart's Lachrimosa. It blew him away! He said this was what angels must sound like. This is absolutely fascinating and moving. Interestingly, he said classical music is the most beautiful to listen to. This is a man who had never heard music before, didn't even know what it was. So he had no cultural references ( which he noted popular music has) to refer to, no ideas about music.
http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...t-time/260890/
A young man born deaf got implants and when he heard Mozart's Lachrimosa. It blew him away! He said this was what angels must sound like. This is absolutely fascinating and moving. Interestingly, he said classical music is the most beautiful to listen to. This is a man who had never heard music before, didn't even know what it was. So he had no cultural references ( which he noted popular music has) to refer to, no ideas about music.
Austin Chapman was born profoundly deaf. Hearing aids helped some, but music -- its full range of pitches and tones -- remained indecipherable. As Chapman explains, "I've never understood it. My whole life I've seen hearing people make a fool of themselves singing their favorite song or gyrating on the dance floor. I've also seen hearing people moved to tears by a single song. That was the hardest thing for me to wrap my head around."
But earlier this month, that changed when Chapman got new hearing aids (Phonak's Naída S Premium). Suddenly:
The first thing I heard was my shoe scraping across the carpet; it startled me. I have never heard that before and out of ignorance, I assumed it was too quiet for anyone to hear.
I sat in the doctor's office frozen as a cacophony of sounds attacked me. The whir of the computer, the hum of the AC, the clacking of the keyboard, and when my best friend walked in I couldn't believe that he had a slight rasp to his voice. He joked that it was time to cut back on the cigarettes.
Being able to hear the music for the first time ever was unreal.
When Mozart's Lacrimosa came on, I was blown away by the beauty of it. At one point of the song, it sounded like angels singing and I suddenly realized that this was the first time I was able to appreciate music. Tears rolled down my face and I tried to hide it. But when I looked over I saw that there wasn't a dry eye in the car.
But earlier this month, that changed when Chapman got new hearing aids (Phonak's Naída S Premium). Suddenly:
The first thing I heard was my shoe scraping across the carpet; it startled me. I have never heard that before and out of ignorance, I assumed it was too quiet for anyone to hear.
I sat in the doctor's office frozen as a cacophony of sounds attacked me. The whir of the computer, the hum of the AC, the clacking of the keyboard, and when my best friend walked in I couldn't believe that he had a slight rasp to his voice. He joked that it was time to cut back on the cigarettes.
Being able to hear the music for the first time ever was unreal.
When Mozart's Lacrimosa came on, I was blown away by the beauty of it. At one point of the song, it sounded like angels singing and I suddenly realized that this was the first time I was able to appreciate music. Tears rolled down my face and I tried to hide it. But when I looked over I saw that there wasn't a dry eye in the car.