Do You Hear What I Hear? Music with a Cochlear Implant
- Part 2
By Cheryl Heppner
Editor: If you're at all interested in cochlear implants (CIs) , you
probably know that being able to enjoy music is one of the challenges that
is being seriously addressed by the CI manufacturers. Here's Cheryl's
report on Tins Childress' workshop on enjoying music with a CI.
This is part two of two parts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's Part One
Tina's tips about where and how to practice:
- Go to http://www.playmusic.org. You can listen to a variety of music
and train your brain or practice hearing different sections of the
orchestra.
- Try http://www.thirteen.org/publicarts/orchestra where you can listen
to the different sounds made by various instruments.
- Use http://www.apple.com/itunes. You can type in a song title to
sample different music. "Twinkle, twinkle" will pull up lots of artists!
- Advanced Bionics has sotware called "Hearing Your Life" to practice
with.
- Music therapists may be able to help you. You can find them at the
American Music Therapy Association website: http://www.musictherapy.org.
- For children there are resources at http://www.allegrowmusic.com.
- Listen to a variety of beats -- calypso, classical, jazz.
- Go to see live music; dance, lighting, singers and other elements
will give a new dimension to music.
- Choose recitals with one or two instruments and familiarize yourself
with the music or plot.
- Use assistive listening devices at music venues -- yours or theirs.
- Keep a music journal with the date, the music you listened to, and
what you liked or didn't like to help your audiologist create a music
program for you.
The Music Experience
Wendy Cheng has used a Platinum series cochlear implant since 1997. Her
hearing loss was diagnosed at age 9, the result of ototoxic medication
given to her at age 2. Prior to the implant, Wendy had profound deafness
in both ears. She is an amateur string musician.
Wendy played piano as a child. She switched to violin in college, and
recently switched to viola because she couldn'thear the violin's high
notes.
After getting her cochlear implant, Wendy took music very slowly. She
waited six months to touch a violin. She listened to the sound track of
the movie "Immortal Beloved" and waited for the piano to sound like a
piano, and string to sound like a string. When that happened, she was
ready to go back to play violin.
Judy Wagner became deaf at age five. She communicates through oral
English and American Sign Language. She was implanted in 2002 and now uses
a Harmony processor. She loves music and her iPod.
Judy thought she was hearing wonderful music with her hearing aid. With
her first High Res processor, music was "Oh, wow!" Now she has the Harmony
processor, her reaction was "Wow! Wow!"
Jane Payton played piano and booked bands for a local university.
Progressive hearing loss, a genetic condition, started at age 15 and she
got her Harmony processor in April 2007.
After her cochlear implant, Jane discovered she had forgotten what she
used to be able to hear with music. Suddenly, when her implant was turned
on, she could hear different instruments and singing. She finds it
amazing, and says that every day she gets a little bit more from music.
Tina pointed out that these three individuals illustrated how music
comes at different rates to different people Hearing aids and cochlear
implants do not give us back normal hearing, but they do give us more
information that we can fill in with auditory memory.
Live Music
Jane has been involved in the Minneapolis music scene and she really
likes live music for the visuals. She listens to iTunes and uses
headphones and an iPod.
Last April, Judy had an accident on her motorcycle. She was using her
iPod at the time. When the crash happened and she later came to, she was
relieved to still be hearing music from the iPod.
Wendy prefers live performances. She likes to see what others are doing
and the visuals such as plucking of strings. She tries to go to venues
that have assistive listening devices. At home she uses an iPod with
direct connect. She likes to listen without distraction. Playing viola has
changed how she approaches music. She can't hear the lower tones well.
Final Advice
Tina urged everyone to make their own music even if they do not play an
instrument.
Jane said music is social; throw yourself into it and just do it.
Judy said, "You only live once. If you love music, go for it, savor
it!" Everywhere she goes, she looks for karaoke opportunities.
Wendy said "Take your time; it's not something you learn overnight.
Start simple with one instrument, then two, then add more when you are
comfortable."
~~~~~
(c)2007 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of
Hearing Persons (NVRC), 3951 Pender Drive, Suite 130, Fairfax, VA 22030;
www.nvrc.org. 703-352-9055 V, 703-352-9056 TTY, 703-352-9058 Fax. You do
not need permission to share this information, but please be sure to
credit NVRC.
