How do deaf people in britain experience music by Stuartjnelson

How do deaf people in Brittan experience music? Stuart Nelson PopThink Summer 2013 Bath Spa University

Contents Introduction

Deaf Culture

Deaf Education And Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Relationship With Music

Deaf Musicians And How Deaf People Can Learn Music

Live Music

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Appendix

Works Cited

Introduction Deaf History

Deaf people are discussed in detail by the Greek philosopher Plato. Plato specifically mentions Deaf people who use a visual language made up of gesture and facial expressions (Stemman, n.d.). The first record of a Deaf person using sign language dates back to 1576 when a wedding ceremony in Leicester was conducted in sign language (Sacks, 1990). Sacks goes on to state that until the middle of the 1800’s Deaf people were widely considered as dumb and unable to learn. A Deaf person by law was regarded as ‘incompetent to inherit property, marry or receive education’ (Sacks, 1990. p-9). In 1760 Thomas Braidwood established a school for the Deaf in Edinburgh. Twenty-three years later he opened the first Deaf school in England (Payne, 2008). British Sign Language [B.S.L] began in the 1800’s at the time of the industrial revolution. Before this, the British Deaf communities did not have an adequate national language. A Deaf person from one village may well have been unable to communicate with a Deaf person from the next and therefore a standardized language lead to Deaf communities being formed. Deaf schools became more common and networking between the schools was very strong. Because of this, BSL began to develop regional variations for key signs such as colour and numbers and this is still the case today. Spence (2009) explains ‘British Sign language [BSL] is a visualgestural language which makes use of three-dimensional space and the movement of hands (and other parts of the body) to convey meaning. It has it’s own vocabulary and

syntax’. (Spence, 2009) BSL and English do have some similarities but are very different languages. In September 1880, a conference was held in Milan by The International Congress on Education of the Deaf [ICED]. This was to discuss the best methods for educating deaf children. The conference was made up of deaf educators from Italy, France, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain and America. The outcome had been decided before the conference had even begun. ‘Of the eight English delegates, six were ardent articulationists, and only two at all favourable to any alternative method—a proportion which entirely misrepresents the present sentiment of English teachers of the deaf’ (Gallaudet, 1881). This oralist view was in fact also already the opinion of all the European nations attending. 164 delegates, only one teacher actually had a hearing impairment. Two Deaf schools in Milan had recently started teaching exclusively orally and demonstrations were given at the conference which showed that deaf children had been orally educated successfully. The sign-supporting observers, particularly the Gallaudet brothers, Rev Thomas and Edward Miner were unconvinced by this. Later it transpired that the orally successful Deaf pupils were carefully selected prior to the congress and were not pre-lingually deaf. This meant that they already had natural speech when they lost their hearing and may well have not been profoundly deaf. The proceedings were dominated by oralist teachers from the schools in Milan who were the only delegates who were allowed to ask any questions (Sturley, 2005). The direct outcome of the conference was to ban the education of deaf children from the use of sign language. Deaf teachers would no longer be employed. Instead, deaf children would learn exclusively orally, having to lip-read what teachers were saying (Sturley, 2005) and this was still the case as recently as the 1980’s. 4

Parents would be advised not to let their child learn sign language for fear of hampering their chances of being able to talk and lip-read. Deaf children were educated in deaf only schools, many of which were boarding schools. As explained in BSL Zone’s documentary Deaf Education 1 (2012), the rules in regard to using sign language were very strict. David Duller, a pupil of the Royal School for the Deaf Manchester, 1968 to 1981 explains about his experience.

“There were six beds in the dormitory. Once the teacher had left we would all sit up and sign to each other. I was told off the first time I was caught. But after being caught again, they made this garment, a straight jacket effectively. I was strapped down and couldn’t move my arms. They were tied beneath me. And later in the night, when I wanted to go to the toilet. I couldn’t” (BSL Zone, 2012).

The intentions of the Milan conference were arguably positive, since if a Deaf child could talk and lip-read they would be able to function fully in the hearing world. The problem is that this meant a child without the ability to hear well, had to learn by using their weakest sense. This can often result in the child never fully acquiring language thus severely hampering their ability to learn. From 1880 until 2003 British Sign Language was not recognized as an official language. Even now it does not have legal protection which would entitle BSL users to have access to official documents like NHS forms and P45s (Sturley, 2005). It was not until August of 2010 that ICED apologized for the Milan congress of 1880 (Tucker, 2010).

Different Levels of Hearing Loss

This section will examine the factors that are involved in hearing impairment, these being, level of hearing loss, type of hearing loss and the age at which hearing loss occurred. This paper focuses on people that have severe and profound hearing loss. To give an accurate representation of what this means, the table below shows the varying levels of hearing loss as outlined by the World Health Organisation. They state that there are five different grades of hearing loss.

Figure 1 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A table to show the different levels of hearing loss (World Health Organisation, 2010)

Types of Hearing Loss

There are four types of hearing loss. They are categorised to describe how the individual suffered hearing loss.

â&#x20AC;˘

Conductive hearing loss -This is caused by disease or blockage to the outer or middle ear; the result being that sound does not reach the cochlea. This will affect all frequencies of the persons hearing. In most cases this hearing loss can be helped surgically or by use of a hearing aid.

•

Sensorineural hearing loss – This is caused by damage to the hairs of the inner ear or to the nerves that supply it. In this case certain frequencies can be heard better than others. In this instance, hearing loss will range from severe to profound.

•

Mixed hearing loss – This is a combination of Sensorineural and Conductive.

•

Central hearing loss – This is a result of damage to the central nervous system, either in the pathways or in the brain itself.

(NICHCY, 2010)

Figure 2 - How the ear works (ENT Centre, 2013)

Pre and Post Lingual Deafness?

The age that hearing loss occurs is a very important factor that often dictates if a person will be able to use spoken language. This can also affect if a person will be part of the Deaf community (James Madison University, n.d.). •

Prelingual deafness – deafness in a person from before they obtained a language.

•

Post-lingual deafness – deafness in a person from after they obtained a language.

Post-lingual deafness affects 45,000 children in the UK. At least half of these children will have inherited their deafness. Non-hereditary causes typically result in sensorineural hearing loss, the cause of which ranges from prematurity to rubella. (Canalis and Lambert, n.d.)

There are a few essential facts that surround the issue of prelingual deafness: more than 90% of prelingually deaf children are unlikely to ever develop good speech and good speech-reception skills, despite being fitted with hearing aids and provided with oral instruction and speech therapy at a young age; without developing a strong language base before age 10 years, deaf people are unlikely to develop and use abstract concepts, and,

despite about 90% of deaf children being raised orally, most end up using sign language as adults (Margolis, 2001).

The implications of prelingual deafness to the acquisition of language can be profound. A child must have learned a language before the age of eight, or they may never be able to. This is because in infancy, human brains are open to original language learning. This does not just apply to oral languages. Hearing children learn to speak by listening to sounds their parents make as well as copying the patterns they make with their mouth and tongue. For a Deaf child they can easily acquire language in a similar way by being in an environment where a sign language is being used. Madalena Cruz-Ferreira (n.d.) gave an example where a parent imitates their child by saying ‘is this your fis’. The child replies ‘No! It’s my fis’ but is unable to say fish. This is because the child has to yet sufficiently develop it’s speech skills. However, the child does understand what it’s trying to say. This is also shown by children of Deaf parents; they will develop the understanding of a signed language whether they are Deaf or hearing, even though they may not use it as their own language. The early acquisition of language is one of the most essential things in a child’s upbringing. Sacks speaks on this matter with great clarity.

To be defective in language, for a human being, is one of the most desperate calamities, for it is only through language that we enter fully into our human estate and culture, communicate freely with our fellows, acquire and share information. If we cannot do this, we will be bizarrely disabled and cut off whatever our desires, or endeavours, or native 10

capacities. And indeed, we may be so little able to realize our intellectual capacities as to appear mentally defective (Sacks, 1991. p 8-9).

A person who is post-lingually deaf will have normally already acquired an oral language. There are an estimated 150,000 post lingual Deaf adults in Britain. They often rely heavily on lip-reading and written communication (Action On Hearing Loss, 2011)

Deaf Culture Deaf culture is an intricate and at times controversial topic. From first hand research, it is proposed that a person’s Deaf identity and involvement in Deaf culture can be linked to their involvement in music. Culture is defined by the Collins English Dictionary as ‘The total of the inherited ideas, beliefs, values and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action’. (1986; p379) Deaf culture consists of five main points; language, identity, values, rules of social interaction and traditions. (Bornet, n.d.) A group of people known as the Deaf community uphold Deaf cultural values but opinions differ over what makes a person culturally Deaf as well as how a person is part of the Deaf community. These are topics that will not be covered by this paper, as there is not space to do them justice. What is important to bear in mind is that a hearing impaired person is not a member of the Deaf community by default. There are regarded to be four different groups of D/deaf people1.

1st Language

2nd Language

Deaf

Deaf/deaf

deaf/Deaf

deaf

BSL

Spoken

English

Spoken

SSE

English

This table has been constructed to simplify the some of the different concepts that make up a d/Deaf persons cultural foundation. It should not be taken as impermeable barriers or fixed categorisation. The second language does not refer that a Deaf person does not understand English, just is unlikely to be used as a form of vocal communication.

BSL

SSE Can Lip Read

Partially

Yes

Hearing

Possibly

Yes

Some friends

Hearing

A few

Some

Mainly

Yes

Family &

friends

Device Deaf friend and family

friends Type of

Deaf

Main stream

Main

School

with hearing

stream

impaired unit

Figure 2 - Table to show different cultural groups of deaf people

The Deaf group are the most culturally Deaf. The Deaf group can be very against cochlea implants. The documentary Deaf Family Finds Themselves Torn Between Deaf and Hearing Worlds; shows views of the American Deaf community that are very similar to that of the British Deaf community, and shows a general consensus amongst them that cochlea implants are ‘creating a generation of Robots’. (Paro77777, 2009) The exact reason for distrust is unclear but there is a feeling that hearing parents are poorly informed in choosing to give their deaf children an implant. The worry may be that they could grow up in a hearing-only environment, meaning they may lack a Deaf identity. A cochlea implant gives a person some hearing but they are still deaf. ‘They will still most likely need communication support at some point in their lives’. 13

(Nelsonh, 2013)2 There is also a fear from the Deaf community that Deaf culture could be lost. (Paro77777, 2009) Very few people outside the Deaf community are even aware of itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history, struggles and constant battle for equal rights. Deafness does not hold positive connotations in the eyes of the vast majority of the population. This is because deafness is largely viewed as a disability as defined by the medical model. The medical model views disability as something that should be fixed. The social model defines deafness as an impairment, and therefore would argue that the issues that many disabled people face is because of social inequalities. In the last twenty years the Deaf community has developed ideas around Deaf identity and now argues that Deaf people should be viewed as a cultural and linguistic minority group. (Morris, 2008) The fact that deafness is viewed very negatively throughout the majority of society can impact massively on the development of a child. If a child is from a hearing family with no connection to the Deaf community, there will not be any positive deaf influence in their lives. Communication with Deaf and hearing people can be difficult for someone in this situation. If they never learn BSL or SSE then they will not easily be able to communicate with Deaf people. Even if a deaf person is a skilled lip reader and uses a hearing device it can be difficult to keep up with a hearing [spoken] conversation in a group, especially a loud environment such as a pub. The result of which is clearly demonstrated in BSL Zoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s documentary, My Song, which shows the isolation that can come from being excluded from Deaf and hearing people.

With the exception of the interview with Julie Scriven, the interviews have been carried out in BSL and interpreted by the author.

As audiologist Julie Sciven points out, ‘a person with a cochlea is still hard of hearing. A cochlea does not give a person full hearing, what it does is provide them with the ability to be able to hear environmental sounds and really help with language development in children. An implant can also provide someone with the ability to be able to hear music’. (Nelsone, 2013) Deaf identity is now part of the curriculum for deaf children; as part of this, Deaf role models are invited to speak about their experience of growing up with a hearing loss and how they have overcome the barriers that hearing loss presents. Music is an ideal platform in which to demonstrate the overcoming of the barriers of hearing loss. If there’s one thing a deaf person is presumed to be unable to do, it’s become a musician. Danny Lane, the director of Music And The Deaf explains about a project where his charity set up after-school music clubs for deaf children. ‘The clubs were run by deaf musicians and through this the children had Deaf role models. This is very important to their Deaf identity and this directly correlates to the fact that they can enjoy music, whether it be making or listening to it’. (Nelsonb, 2013) Of the five very talented musicians that are discussed in this paper (Evelyn Glennie, Paul Whittaker, Ruth Montgomery, Danny Lane and Sean Chandler) all have hearing parents, learned BSL as a second language, use hearing aids, can lip-read and use spoken English to a high standard. This is not to say that for a deaf person to become a professional musician they must fit this criteria, just that at this moment in time, these are arguably the most successful British d/Deaf musicians and they all have similar factors surrounding their deafness and Deaf identity.

Deaf Education And It’s Relationship With Music

The earliest account of music education for the deaf comes from an 1848 issue of American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb (now the American Annals of the Deaf). William Wolcott Turner and David Ely Bartlett advised that music could be beneficial as a result of a case study of a young deaf woman who had learned to play the piano. (Wolcott et al, 1848; p 1-6) Maria Yennari (2010 ) highlights the ‘presence of an innate need to sing in the company of others’ (p294) and how hearing loss only imposes limitations on musical development rather than making in an impossibility (Yennari, 2010) Compulsory education is an ideal platform upon which to offer deaf children the opportunity to access music through resources and staff that are trained and motivated. This chapter will outline the history of deaf education and analyse the current opportunities and quality of music provisions that are being provided for deaf children. The Milan conference of 1880 dictated how deaf children were to be educated, ‘The oral method should be preferred’ (BSL zonea, 2012). This was to remain for nearly eighty years in Britain. Oralism is a method of educating deaf children exclusively by hearing led systems that encourage lip-reading, spoken language and hearing devices. Sign language was not part of the curriculum and deaf people were not permitted to become teachers (Deaf educators). (Ladd, 2003) There were two major flaws to the oralist method. The first being that deaf children could not understand what they were being taught because of the lack of clear communication. The second was that the focus of teaching at this time was to 16

teach deaf children how to lip-read and use spoken English rather than educating them. As a result, Deaf children received a very poor education and upon leaving school were academically a long way behind their hearing contemporaries. After World War II huge advancements were made in audiology and this started to feature in the classroom. In 1952 Bell laboratories made the first transistor hearing aid. These hearing aids were soon adapted so that they could be worn to fit behind the ear. (Lee, 2004) The use of audio equipment to aid the teaching of speech had become common but was of little use. Archie Thomson, a teacher of the deaf from 1946 to 1979 commented on the use of audiometry in the classroom, ‘This idea of Audiometry with children who had no hearing was just futile’ (BSL Zonea, 2012). This research uncovered that audiometric methods were quite abusive. Children would wear headphones and be forced to try and listen to what the teacher said.

‘We had to guess words that the teacher said from behind a piece of paper. When I got it wrong, the sound would be turned up and it would be painful. I protested. No, I had to hear. I was in agony and finished every session with sore red ears. The indoctrination was awful’. (BSL Zonea, 2012)

Paul Whittaker (2013) explains that at this time audiology and music was being used in deaf education ‘as a means to an end, to develop speech and language skills. This is why you can meet older deaf people for who music holds really, really negative connotations. They absolutely hate music simply because it has the childhood memory of forcing them to speak’ (Whittaker, 2013). 17

By the early 1970’s educators in Britain and the United States started to realise that deaf children were leaving school with much lower academic abilities that their hearing peers. A report published at this time revealed that, out of a study of sixteen deaf teenagers leaving school, their average reading age was just 9 ¾. (BSL Zone, 2012) In 1973 Margret Thatcher, then education secretary, appointed a committee to review how best to educate ‘handicapped children’. The Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People, 1978, more commonly know as the Warnock report, for the first time advised that deaf children should not be educated just by oral methods. The other important recommendation for the education of deaf children was that all children with disabilities should be educated in mainstream schools. (Lynas, 1986) Warnock explains: ‘Physiologists and physiatrists working with deaf people are all convinced that total communication must be employed from a very early age by deaf children and their parents if untold harm is to be undone’. (BSL Zone, 2012) The national curriculum was first introduced in 1988 with the aim of standardizing teaching and the ways in which British children were to be taught3. One of it’s main objectives was ‘to ensure that every child, irrespective of social background, culture, race, gender, differences in ability and disabilities received the same education entitlement‘. (Student-support.co.uk, n.d.) With the introduction of the national curriculum music become a compulsory subject for all. A recent study conducted by deaf academic Kate Rowley revealed disappointing figures in the quality of education for deaf children. She explains:

This does not apply to independent schools.

‘I’ve recently been part of a research project that involved 23 young deaf people aged 16 to 19 who had just finished their GCSE’s. They came from three different educational settings including a deaf school and those who were mainstreamed. I was comparing their language and identity. I also looked at their English skills. I found that only 2 out of 23 had age appropriate reading skills’. (BSL Zone, 2013)

Music lessons in school with hearing impaired children have to be approached in a different way to that of a class with only non-hearing impaired children. It is therefore essential to provide appropriate access and methods of teaching to allow music to be accessible to deaf children. Darrow (1987) explains how signed song in a mainstream classroom can be greatly beneficial for both hearing and deaf children alike. By singing songs, hearing impaired children can practice distinguishing between different sounds as well as pronunciation. Deaf students often have poor English skills, especially in understanding paragraph and sentence meanings. By teaching children songs, and signing them at the same time, a unique opportunity is created to bring together access to English and as well as practice of auditory and spoken senses. Many deaf children will be able to identify the rhythm of a song but will be unable to clearly hear the lyrics. Through signed songs children can practice following the music and have access to the words through signing. The only problem with this is that BSL has a completely different grammatical structure and syntax to English. Signing at the same time as hearing music can be difficult in BSL. The advantage for hearing students is that they learn a new language. This interaction could potentially stimulate an interest in BSL and thus encourage integration and

socialization between hearing and hearing impaired children in the class. (Darrow, 1987) On the other hand, signed songs can be regarded as a party trick as well as often being performed inaccurately. Abbi Brown, a deaf student reading English at Cambridge University is the most watched BSL signing singer on YouTube. She feels very passionately about the use of BSL and songs.

I’m quite against encouraging hearing people who have no prior knowledge or involvement in British Sign Language; learning sign songs purely for their aesthetic value…. If I was to teach a song like my Taylor Swift video 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’, [signed] from a teaching perspective, what I just signed is part of a language, but from a hearing perspective, without wishing to generalise when you're watching that without any knowledge of what each phrase means or how each sign signifies concepts and ideas, or the context in which each sign has been placed, you're not really learning a language, you're learning it as a dance, a party trick that you pull out to impress your friends etc. You're not using it for communication, you are never going to go up to a Deaf person and say 'we are never ever getting back together' - that's not (I hope!) how you'd introduce yourself. I think it trivialises the language. (Brown, 2013)

In a visit to a primary school, Paul Whittaker was invited to watch a signed song performance by a group of school children. ‘I was watching the performance and I didn’t understand what they were signing. Then I started to realize that they were signing in ASL (American Sign Language) then they switched back to BSL but the 20

grammar was off. I think the teacher must have seen a video on the Internet and copied it without researching if it was accurate. (Nelsonh, 2013) To attain accurate information about music education for deaf children for this study, two days were spent observing a music project at Elmfield primary school for the Deaf in Bristol. The project was called Beethoven Music Project. It’s aim was to give the thirty Primary school children the opportunity to learn and explore music as an art form. The project ran over two months culminating with a performance at the Colston Hall. At the Colston Hall performance, the renowned deaf percussionist, Evelyn Glennie opened the evening with a presentation. The project began with the children looking at Beethoven’s music and using his deafness as inspiration. Music and the Deaf’s, Paul Whittaker ran the first session with the children. The main outcome of the project was to give the children an opportunity to create, learn and perform music. Professional hearing musicians facilitated the project. Three out of the four professionals had never worked with deaf children before. This was an advantage as although they had no experience of working with deaf children their musical abilities and creative minds allowed them to help the children access the music. Members of staff and the project leader, Laurie Stewart (a signing, hearing musician) were there to provide support with communication. Ellie Goodson, the schools acting head mistress is a music graduate from Huddersfield University. She commented,

‘I have never seen the children all work so hard and be so focused on a project before. Maybe a few of the children, but never all of them. Music allows them to really come together and work in synchronicity. Although 21

they all have individual parts they are working together to create the piece. Before, when we have done performances [music] the children tend to need to be fed quite a lot. With this project, they just have taken to it. I think working with professional musicians has been really helpful and inspired them’. (Nelsonc, 2013)

By working with Paul Whittaker and Evelyn Glennie, the children were able to see that being deaf does not mean that they cannot make music. The provision of Deaf role models is the foundation of the success for this project. Catherine Drew is a teacher at the Frank Barnes school for deaf children. She organized hearing-impaired trumpet player, Sean Chanler, to run a session with her class.

‘Having Sean here today, he’s a real role model for the children. From the start, the children can see him as no different from themselves because of their shared deafness. There is an affinity there. “He can play music, so I can play music”. There’s a self-doubting that says, “I’m deaf, so I can’t do that. But he can, so I can”. That’s good for the children’s identity – their deaf identity. (See Heara, 2013)

Music projects such as these are one of the best ways to engage deaf children in music. By ensuring that their aim is to involve the children in music as an art form, not as a therapeutic tool, the sessions are more enjoyable for the children and have a natural set of positive outcomes that are attached to creating music. The inclusion of Deaf musicians reinforces that their deafness presents barriers, not impossibilities, as well as providing the children with Deaf role models. Making music in a group 22

releases a hormone in the brain that is only released at childbirth and other intimate situations (Nelsoni, 2013). A deaf child should be given the opportunity to create music, no one can say that they will definitely enjoy it, but their hearing loss is no reason to exclude them from it.

Deaf Musicians & How Deaf People Can Learn Music As well as massive changes in the education system for deaf children; the 1980’s brought media attention to deaf musicians for the first time. In 1983 Dr Paul Whittaker OBE began studying at Oxford Universities Wadham collage. Twelve universities had rejected Paul because of his deafness. They had ignored the fact that he had a grade 8 in piano, organ and music theory by the age of 15 and at 16 Paul had gained diplomas in organ and piano. (Thesixteen.com, n.d.) Dame Evelyn Glennie graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, London in 1985. At the age of eight she was awarded the highest mark in the United Kingdom in her grade one piano exam. Evelyn Glennie was the first person to ever have a sustainable career as a percussionist. (Evelyn.co.uk, 2013) High profile deaf musicians did not gain much media attention until the mid 1980’s. In fact it was still regarded that children could not make music or become professional musicans. Alice-Ann Darrow wrote an article about music instruction for the deaf children, she comments that ‘music instruction for the deaf seems impractical to many people. This may be due to misconceptions regarding the hearing-impaired communities capacity to hear music and appreciated music’. (1985: p33) This misconception stems from the tendency of the hearing community to judge Deaf culture by the standards of it’s own. (Padden et al, 1988) Another common misunderstanding by most hearing people is that a deaf person lives in a world of silence. ‘The congenitally deaf do not experience or complain of “silence” (any more than the blind people complain of “darkness”). These are our projections, or metaphors, for their state. (Sacks 1991) Depending on a persons hearing impairment, 24

they may well be able to hear some sounds as well as being sensitive to vibrations. To fully understand deafness, we firstly must understand the nature of hearing. Sound can be described as a mechanical wave. A mechanical wave carries a disturbance from one place to another. This disturbance is the back and forth vibrations of particles of the medium that it travels through. A medium is the material in which the wave is traveling through. It can be thought of as a collection of interconnecting particles. (Physicsclassroom.com, 1996) The diagram bellow demonstrates the sound of a drum where the medium is air.

Figure 3 - Sound vibrations travelling through the air (le.ac.uk, n.d.)

As the image above demonstrates there are areas of compression. This is the disturbance. The disturbance travels through the interconnecting air particles. The wave will travel outwards in all directions and becomes weaker the further it is from the source. (le.ac.uk, n.d.) A common way to visualise this is to think of a slinky.

Figure 4 - How do we hear (Australian Hearing, 2013)

Sound is simply a wave. Our ear carries this wave to the auditory nerve, which then takes the electrical signal to the brain and our brain perceives this as sound. Sound is not created just to travel to only the ears of humans and animals. When a sound is created, the sound wave travels in every direction, this means that a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s whole body will come into contact with the wave. With practice, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible for the entire body to become a receptor for sound. No one has been more successful in putting this into practice than Evelyn Glennie.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hearing is basically a specialized form of touch. Sound is simply vibrating air, which the ear picks up and converts to electrical signals, which are then interpreted by the brain. The sense of hearing is not the only sense that can do this, touch can do this too. If you are standing by the road and a large truck goes by, do you hear or feel the vibration? The answer is both. With very low frequency vibration the ear starts becoming inefficient and the rest of the body's sense of touch starts to take over. For some reason we tend to make a distinction between hearing a sound and feeling a vibration, in reality they are the same thing. It is interesting to note that in the Italian language this 26

distinction does not exist. The verb 'sentire' means to hear and the same verb in the reflexive form 'sentirsi' means to feel. Deafness does not mean that you can't hear, only that there is something wrong with the ears. Even someone who is totally deaf can still hear/feel sounds’. (Glennie, 1993)

There is no reason why a deaf person cannot become a musician. Like any disability, there are barriers in place, but they can be over come with patience and practice as Paul Whittaker explains in describing how he learned to play piano.

‘I had a score. It was explained to me that the note here means play this key and this note here means this key and so on. Piano is a very visual instrument. You can see all the notes laid out in front of you. When I play the key I can feel the vibrations from the hammer hitting the strings’. (Nelsonh, 2013)

Hearing devices can be an integral part of a deaf musician’s technique to access music. Devices such as cochlea implants and hearing aids do not provide a person who is hearing impaired with perfect hearing. They do however provide some hearing; this will vastly differ depending on the level of hearing loss and type of hearing device being used. (SJCtv Production, 2012) In the first survey conducted [appendix one], 81% of participants used some form of hearing device ranging from cochlea implants to a singular analogue hearing aid. [4]

To get a true understanding of how a cochlear implant actually portrays sound please refer to http://youtu.be/icPsm9RnO2E

Figure 5 - Cochlea implant diagram (East Carolina University, 2012)

Figure 7 - How a hearing aid works (Washing University Physicians, n.d.)

Hearing aids amplify sound so that a damaged ear will be able to detect them. Cochlea implants bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve, ( (NIDCD, 2011) they are both designed to pick up conversation, not music. The human voice in conversation typically ranges from 300Hz to 3400Hz. (Freeman, 2005) Matthew Spring DPhil Oxford University, a highly accomplished music lecturer stated that, ‘no hearing device can pick up sounds bellow middle c [262H].’ Spring has just 30% hearing in one ear and is profoundly deaf in the other, ‘after years of searching I haven’t found a perfect solution’. (Spring, 2013) Hearing aid technology has developed dramatically since 1895. Up until 1948, hearing aids had to be attached to glasses. In 1948 the NHS started to provide deaf people with hearing aids, placed behind the ear, that did not have to be attached to glasses. (Hearinglink.org, n.d.) Digital devices have different settings for different environments but as Julie Scriven, head audiologist at Royal United Hospital, Bath explains, ‘the music settings aren’t great. They can distort very easily’. (Nelsone, 2013) Digital devices have the advantage of being compatible with hearing loops, FM receivers, bluetooth tethering and can have a 3.5mm mini jack socket, enabling users

Hearing Aids are also different to cochlear implants. See this link to hear how they actually sound. This video is based in a classroom setting and shows examples in various settings - http://youtu.be/1l37lzLIgQU

to directly plug in a sound source to their device. These are all different ways to allow hearing aids or cochlea implant users to access sound more easily. By connecting the device via one of these methods, the user will receive a more direct signal. Analogue and digital hearing aids are completely different devices. Scriven details how it can be very difficult for hearing aid users to use digital hearing aids after growing up with analogue hearing aids. A user will have to retrain their hearing in order to use a digital device if they have previously had analogue hearing aids. (Nelsone, 2013) The production of analogue aids have ceased and hearing aids have an average life of four years. From the first survey conducted, numerous respondents commented that they found it very difficult to listen to music with their digital hearing aids ‘I don’t bother anymore as digital aids don’t pick up music as good as the analogues did’. (Respondent A, Survey 1)

Figure 8 - Hearing aid from 1985 (lee, 1900; p111)

Danny Lane is a highly accomplished Deaf musician and the general manager for the charity, Music And The Deaf. Danny uses hearing aids to help him access music: ‘The best range for me is the mid range, when it goes down, I still hear the sounds but they are not as clear. It’s like a pounding sound. Further up it’s shriller but because I know about the mid range then I know about the rest. From that I have an appreciation of pitch’. (Nelsonb, 2013) Danny explains that listening and playing music for him, is like the popular television program, Catchphrase.

‘Using my hearing aids helps a lot. I’ve always read music and scores. If someone talks about a piece of music and plays it, it would not be enough (only listening to it). I’d probably get something that is really distinctive. When I have the score with me I will follow it. Once the score it taken away I will use my oral memory and what I hear to follow the music. Through my experience of reading and listening I will be able to follow the music. It’s like the TV show, Catchphrase. There is a hidden picture with boxes in front of it. One box is revealed, as the game goes on more boxes are revealed and you guess what it is. It’s like that for me. My brain receives bit, abstracts (of the music through hearing) then I guess the rest.’ (Nelsonb, 2013)

For Danny his solid musical background helps him to enjoy music. This understanding of music allows him to piece together what his hearing aids pick up and combine this with mentally with what the music is likely to do. This use of ‘auditory 30

memory’ proliferates amongst deaf musicians and music lovers alike, hearing or deaf. When a person has listened to a lot of a specific genre of music they will know it’s traits and distinctive characteristics. In the 1983 documentary, Music Child, ‘The world’s leading solo bassist’, (Garrykarr.com. 2001) Gary Carr was invited to a Deaf school. A young hearingimpaired girl is bowing the double bass unaided and Carr is astounded by the way the girl is able to play it.

‘It’s so amazing that they’re drawing the bow at the right speed which, on the bass, is really difficult. The thing that fascinates me is that if you give a hearing person the bow for the first time, and have them draw across the strings, they would never synchronise with the vibrations because they would do it mechanically. They’d produce a scratch. She won’t do that (referring to the deaf child). She’s producing a pure sound. I’ve never had a beginning student who can produce a sound like that on the first attempt. It’s really amazing. (See Hearb, 2013)

In 2012 the Deaf music producer Troi Lee and The Midi Music Company set up a series of music production work shops for deaf people. The music is accessed through the use of Wowee One Speakers. A Wowee One is a portable speaker about the size of a mobile phone. This speaker is made by Gel Audio, a company who specialise in contact speakers. A contact speaker is a speaker that when placed on a surface, such as a table, will vibrate the surface, turning it in to a speaker. In the same way that classical musicians feel their instruments; through technology such as the Wowee One, a deaf producer will be able to ‘feel’ music. Aayasta Gurung who 31

attended the workshop commented, ‘Before, I didn't understand music, but after a music taster course I now understand music and different instruments. I can't believe myself that I can create music and am beginning to enjoy listening to music!! Kudos to technology! Kudos to Gel Audio!!’ (DeafRave, 2012)

The first survey that was conducted as primary research had 52 deaf respondents •

67% were profoundly deaf (23% severely)

•

97% were prelingually deaf

In the first survey conducted5 81% of the 52 respondents play or have played an instrument ranging from piano and drums to Mandola and flute. The respondents were educated at a mix of schools; main stream school [35%], main stream with a hearing impaired unit [30%] and Deaf school [35%] with ages ranging between 16 to 50.

A Graph To Show Age Of Respondents 16 -‐20 21 -‐ 25 26 -‐ 30 Age 31 -‐ 35 36 -‐ 40 41 -‐ 45 46 -‐ 50

Number of

Number of participants Figure 9 - 86% of participants wrote their date of birth (see appendix)

This survey was not advertised on any music related website or publications.

This shows that deaf people are interested making music and that some provisions are made so that they can access it. It is unclear as to what level the access provided and the ability of the musicians are, but what is clear is that there is a demand6. Physically playing an instrument is a direct and effective way for a deaf person to access music.

A study carried out in 2001 by Dr Dean Shibata, professor of radiology University of Washington] measured the brain activity of a group of people as they felt vibrations. Dr Shibata connected vibrating pads to the hands of his participants and used a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine to measure brain activity. There were ten hearing participants from the University of Rochester and eleven prelingually deaf participants from the National Technical Institute of the Deaf. It was discovered that when the deaf students felt the vibrations, it stimulated the part of the brain associated with vibrations as well as the a part of the brain known as the auditory cortex which is used to process auditory information. Dr Shibata concluded that altered experience can result in the brain rewiring itself.

These findings illustrate how altered experiences can affect brain organization. It was once thought that brains were just hard-wired at birth, and particular areas of the brain always did one function, no matter what else happened. It turns out that, fortunately, our genes do not directly dictate the wiring of our brains. Our genes do however provide a

It is worth noting that these figures seem inflated above what would be expected

developmental strategy – all the parts of the brain will be used to maximal efficiency. (ScienceDaily, 2001)

The results of Dr Shibata study also lead him to conclude that ‘The perception of the musical vibrations by the deaf is likely every bit as real as the equivalent sounds, since they are ultimately processed in the same part of the brain’. (Webmd.com, 2001). Ruth Campbell of University of College London commented on this conclusion, ‘Is it like hearing? This opens the question up’. (Klarreich, 2001) Vibrations are processed in a very similar way to sound, due to the similarity in their nature, as Shibata states ‘It’s the nature of the information, not the modality of the information, that seems to be important to the developing brain.’ (ScienceDaily, 2001) The most important finding of this study is that early exposure to music could result in deaf children’s brains ‘re-wiring’ so that vibrations are processed in the audio cortex. Without early stimulus, this development will not occur. This and other studies (Yucel et al, 2009; Stabej et al, 2012; Mitini et al, 2007) like it strengthens the medical community’s opinion that the use of cochlea implants at an early age is beneficial as an implant gives a person the ability to consume music orally. What these studies fail to do is to compare the musical ‘abilities’ of deaf children with and without a cochlea implant. These studies are presuming that musical capability is directly related to the ability to be able to hear, this is simply not true as is proved by the fact that none of the five Deaf musicians discussed in this paper have a cochlea implant. After thorough study, a d/Deaf musician with a cochlea implant does not seem to currently exist. As Paul Whittaker explains at the Music4u conference, ‘why does it matter what the child can or cant hear? Wouldn’t it be better just concentrate on what they can do’. (Whittaker et al, 2013) 34

With the correct tuition and communication support there is a no reason that a hearing loss will prevent a person from learning music. The factors that make a great musician are hereditary, environmental as well as plenty of practice. (Mcgreevy, 2012) As the studies of the three deaf musicians above show, these factors are not affected by hearing loss.

Live music In this chapter, issues regarding access for D/deaf people to live music events will be analysed. Going to see live music events is a cultural experience and the crowd have an important role to play in interacting with the artist. Witnessing a fantastic live performance by an artist you admire is an unforgettable experience. The audience can make all the difference, taking a concert from average to ‘the best ever!’ (OurStage, 2011) 92% of respondents from the first survey (see appendix) actively consume music but just 10% see a live musical performance more than a few times a year and 50% never watch a live performance. A major factor behind these figures is that D/deaf people do not feel that they can go to see live music as a result of their hearing impairment because they find it difficult to access the song lyrics and therefore feel they cannot be part of the cultural experience. There is a range of issues involved in providing access to events in general for deaf people. For live music, currently the most common method of access is via a BSL interpreter. However this is not necessarily the best way to provide access to music. BSL is very much an ‘interpretation’ of what is being said in English rather than a direct translation. (King, 2013) Just because the lyrics are communicated in BSL, it does not mean that they will convey the meaning of the song. It is the opinion of Paul Whittaker that there are very few interpreters in the UK that can accurately interpret music. ‘Interpreting is one skill but interpreting music is completely different. If an interpreter were working in a court of law you would hope that they understood the legal system to ensure that no mistakes made whilst interpreting. If they didn’t understand what they were interpreting how could 36

they accurately do their job?’. (Nelsonh, 2013) So in regard to live music; how can an interpreter be expected to interpret something they don’t understand; song lyrics contain metaphors and are also constructed to accompany a melody and vice-versa in order to convey meaning (prosody7). This view that signing in itself is not enough is echoed by Barbie Parker, one of America’s leading American Sign Language [ASL] interpreters [see appendix]. She runs LotuSIGN, who provide ASL interpreters at live music events. Parker even interpreted President Obama’s Inaugural Address in Washington.

A good interpreter is adept at signing but Ms. Parker also wants her team to impart the emotions and feelings music conveys. Lauren Kinast, 44, who lost her hearing gradually, attended a Rolling Stones concert signed by LotuSIGN interpreters. Ms. Kinast had listened to the Stones growing up, but when she saw Ms. Parker and a colleague interpret their music, she came away with a greater appreciation of the band. “Everything made it different, better,” Ms. Kinast typed in an interview. “Having the songs interpreted in my language, understanding the emotions behind it, the meaning behind it, and being a part of the concert experience just took my love for them several notches up”. (Jepsen, 2013)

In English only 7% of the meaning comes from the words themselves, 38% from tone, pitch and volume and 55% from body language. (Ronei, 2013) In BSL,

scale and depth of meaning is conveyed though facial expression and body language. A singer uses their body, as an instrument therefore just by it’s nature there is more human emotion inherent in singing. For an interpreter to accurately convey the lyrics as they are being sung, they will have to sign ‘emotionally’. Live music is a social experience; through interpretation Deaf people can be provided with ‘complete and total access, access to the emotions, access to the experience, access to the culture’. (Greenheart, 2011) From the first questionnaire [see appendix] that was circulated, only 7% of respondents believed it was essential for a BSL interpreter to be present at live music events. Whittaker and Parker seem to agree that to interpret accurately with sign language, performing with emotion should be something that all interpreters are capable of in order to provide a link through signing to the lyrics. The interpreter needs to convey the music by movements in their face and body as well as hand shapes. On questioning numerous deaf people about the quality of interpreters, the resounding response was that good live music and theatre interpreters are few and far between.

‘One year, Ms. Parker interpreted at a Sheryl Crow concert held to celebrate one of Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France titles. He was asked to take over on the drums for one of Sheryl Crow’s songs. “Well,” Ms. Parker said, “he wasn’t any good.” Ms. Parker let the discomfort show on her face as she imitated Mr. Armstrong’s uneven drumming. She nodded subtly to assure perplexed members of the deaf audience that she was indeed doing this on purpose.

As the audience reacted, Ms. Parker saw a deaf man elbow the hearing man next to him and cringe. The hearing man nodded and made a similar pained face. “They had this shared experience,” Ms. Parker said. The deaf man was truly part of the crowd’ (Jepsen, 2013).

If there are deaf members of the audience they are unlikely to use a BSL as a form of communication. If a person uses Sign Supported English or does not know any sign language, a BSL interpreter will be of no use. There are 10.1 million people in the UK that have a form of hearing impairment, of which around 820,000 have severe or profound hearing loss, and of which 3.7 million are of working age. (Action on Hearing Loss, 2011) There are an estimated 30 - 50,000 BSL users. (Scottish Council of Deafness, 2011) From the second survey conducted [see appendix] the question was posed; how could live music be made more accessible for you? 79% of respondents replied that lyrics on a screen would be best, with just 11% preferring a BSL interpreter. 25% of respondents use BSL as their first language (25% SSE) and 31% use BSL as their second language (25% SSE). Another factor behind the low interest in BSL interpreters may be that by having an interpreter, deaf people will have to stand in a specific area to be able to see the interpreter. At the Glastonbury festival, the interpreters are positioned on the disabled platform from where deaf and disabled members of the audience watch the show. Some deaf people would find this demeaning to their culture and others could dislike being excluded the main crowd.

Figure 10 – Barbie Parker interpreting at the Lollapalooza festival (Parker, 2013)

Figure 11 – The ‘Deaf section’ of the audience at the front of the Lollapalooza festival watching Green Day (Parker, 2013)

Cinema and theatre are two art forms with similarities to live music. Both cinema and theatre have a well established culture of provisions for deaf people. 95% of respondents to the second survey [appendix two] go to subtitled film screenings and 53% go to see BSL interpreted theatre shows. In answer to the question ‘Do you ever go to a theatre where there is not an interpreter?’ 42% stated that they go to see captioned performances. A captioned performance is delivered by a screen in the middle of the stage, with the script displayed on it. Of this 42%, 75% would not go to see an interpreted performance. If the question had been, ‘Would you go to watched a captioned theatre performance?’ – the response would undoubtedly have been high. Subtitles or captions provide access for a larger number of people than an interpreter. They also are subtler and provide access without any exclusion. At the theatre to watch an interpreter and to follow the play is difficult because the interpreter will be at one side of the stage. Live music in Britain has not embraced the Deaf community yet. It was only five years ago that the Glastonbury festival became the first British music festival to make provision for deaf music fans. The Womad festival is the only other event that makes any sort of provision; there provisions are limited (Nelsonf, 2013). In 2009 40

Paddy Ladd, the renowned Deaf scholar and activist started the Deafzone. Deafzone provide information and interpreting services for Deaf festival-goers. Interpreters are pre-booked for large acts and can be requested by anyone, meaning that deaf festivalgoers can have access to any artists that they want to see. (Glastonburyfestivals.co.uk, 2013) The interpreters are situated on the disabled platform. This is an advantage in that it makes it easy to see the interpreter and the stage. The disabled platform vibrates with the sound making it easier for deaf music fans to feel the music. (Nelsonf, 2013) The 1995 disability discrimination act states:

‘A service provider who offers services to the general public has a legal duty to provide a BSL/English interpreter if it would enable or make it easier for deaf people to make use of it’s services. Or to change a practice policy, policy or producer which makes it impossible or unreasonable difficult for Deaf people to make use of their services (with or without BSL or English interpreter).’ (The Department for Work and Pensions, 1995)

With the exception of Deaf community events, Glastonbury festival and a select few public events8 the act is not adhered. Lucy Barron, Deafplus9 comments that Venues ‘avoid the legalities by assuming that they have no deaf customers’. (Nelsonf,

Event where a BSL interpreter will be present will be local council funded and will be of an inclusive nature. E.g. Gay pride event or Feminist event where the theme of the event is inclusion. deafPLUS are a charity that encourage integration and equality between deaf and hearing people in all areas of life - http://deafplus.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=79&Itemid=174 9

2013) A customer would have to contact the venue to see the act is upheld. No information about this happening has been uncovered. Hearing loops are in place at many venues. A hearing loop sends a signal to a hearing device via Bluetooth or FM wave. A user will tether or tune into the hearing loop allowing their device to only process the hearing loops signal. By proving a direct signal a hearing loop means the user will not have to listen to their device picking up background noise. The quality of the signal depends on the source. If the source comes directly from the mixing desk then this would be a great way to access live music. As detailed by Louise Cantwell, a cochlea implant user who became profoundly deaf in adulthood, hearing loops at live music venues are not necessarily ideal. Cantwell saw her teenage hero, Chris De Burgh at the MEN Arena, ‘After the big build up I was so surprised and disappointed that I couldn’t stop crying and had to leave my seat. The staff offered me a variety of listening gadgets but none helped’. (Nelsonk, 2013) From interviews with many hearing aid users it is clear that although hearing loops have the potential to be an ideal form of access, they rarely work effectively. To provide access for deaf music fans at live music events is possible. Currently it is very sparse. Deaf music fans could do more to ensure venues uphold the disability act but the responsibility ultimately lies with the venues to provide ‘appropriate access’. (The Department for Work and Pensions, 1995)

Deaf Live Music Events

50% of respondents to the first survey [see appendix] attend live music events. The British Deaf community does actively create it’s own events. They range from the worldwide; Sencity to the London based Deaf Rave. Below, the largest and most influential Deaf music events are detailed. There are other events but they are not on the same scale. Deaf Rave is a significant event in music for the British Deaf Community. In 2003 Tori Chinaman Lee organised the first Deaf rave. It is a night organised by Deaf people, performed by Deaf people for Deaf people. The event provides an opportunity for Deaf musicians, dancers, signed singers and performers to showcase their work to an audience that will be able to fully appreciate it. It’s significance is that it Deaf Rave was the first live music event aimed a Deaf people. The reason for it’s success is that Deaf people have organized it, meaning that the access provided has come from the Deaf people who understand how people with different levels of hearing loss access music. (Welcome trust, 2013) Sencity is an event that takes places in cities all over the world, the aim of the night is to stimulate all your senses. It started in the Netherlands by a group of 30 people, half of which were deaf. The idea of this event is to provide a platform for deaf and hearing people to come together and be able to party with equal access provided. Aroma DJ’s, vibrating dance floor, vibrating suits, lyrics on screens, loop system, signed singers, signed dance and interpreters. These are all the forms of access provided by Sencity to try and ensure that everyone irrelevant of their hearing loss will be able to enjoy the music. (Heffernan, 2013) Sencity first came to Britain in

2011 where the event was held at IndigoO2 in London and has since become and annual event held in different cities around the country. (Sencity, n.d.) On the 26th and 27th of February 2013 the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Music and the Deaf organized two free concerts with the aim of providing access to Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing adults and children. Access was provided through a BSL interpreter, live subtitles, frequency visualisations and sound boxes. The audience were invited to sit in and around the orchestra as they played in order to feel some of the instruments as they were being played.

Figure 12 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The visual frequency representation from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales concert for deaf people (See Hear, 2013)

Figure 13 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Lyrics on a screen from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales concert for deaf people (See Hear, 2013)

From correspondence with MM, a post-lingually deaf member of the audience, the access provided was not complete. His hearing loss occurred later in his life, a term often used to describe this is deafened10. Action On Hearing Loss estimates that there are about 1.5 million adults in the UK that have become deafened. (2011) Deafened people are the most likely group to be disadvantaged at a live music event. This is because unlike a person who has suffered hearing loss at an early age they will not have grown up having to adapt to their hearing loss. Therefore, it is unlikely upon suffering hearing loss that they will know BSL or be sensitive to vibrations because of the level of hearing loss, hearing devices will have a more limited impact. It is difficult to provide access to live music for a deafened person. These events are centred around music but delivering it in ways other than just auditorily, allowing anyone to be included, irrelevant of their hearing loss. It is largely forgotten that music is much more than an art form to be consumed purely audibly. By itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s physical nature we are able to consume music without our ears. The British Deaf community has created it own events and ensured that access is provided in a way that deaf people want. The organisation of these events by Deaf people proves that the British community has an interest in live music.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;To be classed as deafened a person will have suffered sever or profound hearing loss after the age of 18â&#x20AC;&#x2122;. (Action On Hearing Loss, 2011) 45

Conclusion This study set out to determine how d/Deaf people in Britain experience music. By analysing the culture, education, professional and musical activities of this group, it has been proven that music is very present in their lives. Deaf children are now starting to be given better opportunities to study music and play instruments of their choice, rather than being excluded from the classroom. With the work of Music and the Deaf and similar organisations, appropriate access and opportunities will continue to improve. Live music is still an area where deaf people are not given access, and often the access provided is not necessarily appropriate. Although a BSL interpreter provides the most complete method of access, only a minority of deaf people would choose this as their preferred method of access and yet this is the most common (and more often only) provision. This shows the lack of support for non-culturally deaf people. Music is a perfect platform for demonstrating that deafness imposes barriers not impossibilities. For better musical opportunities in the future, deaf awareness needs to improve and the negative stigmas surrounding it to be corrected. For this to happen deaf people must be consulted not just dictated to.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the following for their help in preparing this dissertation.

Hannah King and Marky Lovell, who without your teachings and friendship I would not have even started this project.

Paul Whittaker and Danny Lane, for their time and inspiration.

The staff and children of Elmfield Primary School for the Deaf for allowing me to observe their music workshop and interview them.

The numerous interviewees and respondents to my questions and surveys.

Emma Hooper for her encouragement, guidance and support

Lastly and most importantly, Richard Falkus and Lucy Hunt, for their tireless work in assisting me with writing and re-writing this paper and ensuring that my dyslexia did not prevent me from achieving my potential.

Appendix Survey 1

1. A little information about you. If you are happy to be possibly contacted in the future about filling in another short survey, please leave your email address. All information is strictly confidential and will not be seen or shared with anyone else. Response Percent

Response Total

Date of Birth

100.00%

Email Address

84.78%

answered

skipped

2. How would you describe your level of hearing loss? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Mild

1.92%

2 Moderate

7.69%

3 Severe

23.08%

4 Profound

67.31%

answered

skipped

3. At what age did your impairment begin?

Open-Ended Question

Response Percent

Response Total

100.00%

answered

skipped

4. Do you use any kind of hearing device? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Hearing Aid

69.23%

2 Cochlear Implant

11.54%

3 Other (please specify):

19.23%

answered

skipped

Response Percent

Response Total

34.62%

30.77%

34.62%

answered

skipped

5. What type of school did you go to?

1 Main Stream 2

Main Stream School with a Hearing Impaired unit

3 Deaf School

6. Have you ever/ do you play a musical instrument? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Yes

1.92%

2 No

19.23%

78.85%

answered

skipped

Response Percent

Response Total

1 Radio

44.23%

2 In-Car

69.23%

3 Clubs

53.85%

4 Pubs

36.54%

5 Gigs

21.15%

6 YouTube

59.62%

7 Facebook

17.31%

8 None

7.69%

9 Other (please specify):

40.38%

answered

skipped

Yes - What instrument did/ do you play?

7. Where do you usually consume music? (please select all that apply)

8. How often do you go out to see a live band? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Once a Week

1.92%

2 Once a Fortnight

3.85%

3 Once a Month

3.85%

4 A Few Times a Year

40.38%

50.00%

answered

skipped

Response Percent

Response Total

1 Dance

57.69%

2 Rock

46.15%

3 Pop

65.38%

4 Classical

38.46%

5 Jazz

26.92%

6 Acoustic

36.54%

answered

skipped

Never - Do you feel this is because of your hearing loss?

9. Do you prefer a specific genre of music? (please select all that apply)

10. How often do you go out to a club night? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Once a Week

9.62%

2 Once a Fortnight

7.69%

3 Once a Month

19.23%

4 A Few Times a Year

30.77%

32.69%

answered

skipped

Never - Do you feel this is because of your hearing loss?

11. Have you ever been to a music event specifically for the deaf community?

1 No 2

Yes - would you consider a BSL interpreter to be essential?

Response Percent

Response Total

67.31%

32.69%

answered

skipped

12. Can you recall a specific event in which music played an important part? Response Percent

Response Total

1 No

53.85%

2 Yes (please specify):

46.15%

answered

skipped

Survey 2

Response Total

Date of Birth

100.00%

Email Address

100.00%

answered

skipped

2. How would you describe your level of hearing loss? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Mild

0.00%

2 Moderate

5.26%

3 Severe

21.05%

4 Profound

73.68%

answered

skipped

3. At what age did your impairment begin?

Open-Ended Question

Response Percent

Response Total

100.00%

answered

skipped

4. Do you use any kind of hearing device? Response Percent

Response Total

1 No

15.79%

2 Hearing Aid

57.89%

3 Cochlear Implant

26.32%

4 Other (please specify):

0.00%

answered

skipped

Response Percent

Response Total

26.32%

31.58%

42.11%

answered

skipped

5. What type of school did you go to?

1 Main Stream 2

Main Stream School with a Hearing Impaired unit

3 Deaf School

6. When you were growing up did you socialise with other Deaf people? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Yes

78.95%

2 No

21.05%

36.84%

answered

skipped

Comments:

7. In your opinion what does being Deaf (big D Deaf) mean?

Open-Ended Question

Response Percent

Response Total

100.00%

answered

skipped

8. Which methods of communications do you use? (Please rank in order. 1 being preferred) 1

Don't Use

Response Total

BSL

25.0% (4)

31.3% (5)

6.3% (1)

25.0% (4)

12.5% (2)

SSE

25.0% (4)

12.5% (2)

18.8% (3)

Spoken English

56.3% (9)

12.5% (2)

18.8% (3)

0.0% (0)

12.5% (2)

Lip Reading

31.3% (5)

37.5% (6)

12.5% (2)

18.8% (3)

0.0% (0)

answered

skipped

Response Percent

Response Total

1 Never learned

5.26%

2 Age

94.74%

answered

skipped

Matrix Charts

9. At what age did you learn BSL or SSE?

10. Is there a way in which live music could be more accessible for you? Response Percent

Response Total

1 BSL Interpreter

10.53%

2 Lyrics on a Screen

78.95%

3 Loop System

0.00%

4 No. Why?

26.32%

100.00%

answered

skipped

Other (Please specify)

11. Have you ever attended a music event that has been made more accessible via an interpreter, lyrics on a screen etc? Response Percent

Response Total

1 No

70.00%

Yes. Please could you name the event and 2 write a little about your

30.00%

answered

skipped

Response Percent

Response Total

1 Yes

42.11%

2 No

5.26%

3 Please explain why.

52.63%

answered

skipped

experince.

12. Do you consider yourself to be part of the Deaf community?

13. How often do you go out to a night club? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Once a Week

10.53%

2 Once a Fortnight

15.79%

3 Once a Month

15.79%

4 A Few Times a Year

26.32%

31.58%

answered

skipped

Never - Do you feel this is because of your hearing loss?

14. How often do you ever attend something specifically organised by the Deaf community. E.g. Deaf Club, Deaf sports team, Deaf pub events Response Percent

Response Total

Once a weeks

5.26%

Once every two weeks

10.53%

Once a month

15.79%

A few times a year

52.63%

Never

15.79%

Yes - would you consider a BSL interpreter to be essential?

0.00%

answered

skipped

15. How often do you go out to see a live band? Response Percent

Response Total

1 Once a Week

0.00%

2 Once a Fortnight

5.26%

3 Once a Month

0.00%

4 A Few Times a Year

36.84%

57.89%

answered

skipped

Never - Do you feel this is because of your hearing loss?

16. Do you ever go to a theatre where there is an interpreter?

1 2

Yes - How often? No - Do you ever go to a theatre where there is not an interpreter?

Response Percent

Response Total

100.00%

answered

skipped

17. Do you go to the cinema to see? (Select all that apply) Response Percent

Response Total

1 A subtitled film?

94.74%

2 A none-subtitled film?

15.79%

3 Don't go to the cinema?

5.26%

answered

skipped

Works Cited Action On Hearing Loss (2011) ďżźFacts and figures on hearing loss and tinnitus. Action On Hearing Loss. 6 March 2013

Australian Hearing (2013) How Do We Hear?. [image online] Available at: http://www.hearing.com.au/how-do-we-hear [Accessed 20th April 2013].

Brown, A. (2013) Talky Ranty Thing: Why I Don't Make Sign Song Tutorials. [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b2pT-548Qg [Accessed 17th April 2013].

BSL Zonea (2012) History of Deaf Education 1. [video online] Available at: http://www.bslzone.co.uk/bsl-zone/history-of-deaf-education/history-of-deafeducation-1/ [Accessed 14th April 2013].

BSL Zoneb (2012) My Song. [video online] Available at: http://www.bslzone.co.uk/bsl-zone/my-song/ [Accessed 17th April 2013].

BSL Zone (2013) The Hub 3: Programme 3. [online] Available at: http://www.bslzone.co.uk/bsl-zone/the-hub/series-3/the-hub-3-programme-3/ [Accessed 23 April 2013]. 59

Cruz-Ferreira, M. (n.d.) Is the language acquisition process the same for all children?. [online] Available at: http://linguistlist.org/ask-ling/lang-acq.cfm [Accessed 12th March].

Darrow, A. (1987) Exploring The Art Of Sign And Song. Music Educators Journal, 74 (1), [Accessed 20th April 2013].

Darrow, A. (1993) The Role of Music in Deaf Culture: Implications for Music Educators. Journal of Research for Music Educators , 41 (2).

Darrow, A. (1985) Music for the Deaf. Music Educators Journal, 71 (6), p.33.

Deaf Expressions (n.d.) Deaf Community and Culture. [online] Available at: http://www.deafexpressions.net/deaf_community.htm [Accessed 6 May 2013].

DeafRave (2012) Deaf Rave Music Production workshop. [online] Available at: http://www.deafrave.com/?action=news&id=55 [Accessed 13 May 2013].

East Carolina University. (2012) Cochlea Implant Diaram. [image online] Available at: http://mast.ecu.edu/modules/ici_intro/lib/documents/Ruder-CocklearImplantsIntro.pdf [Accessed 7th March 2013].

ENT Centre (2013) How The Ear Works. [image online] Available at: http://www.entcentergr.com/new/chronic_ear_disease.cfm [Accessed 7th March 2013].

Evelyn.co.uk (2013) Evelyn Glennie - Biography. [online] Available at: http://www.evelyn.co.uk/biography.html [Accessed 27th February ].

Freeman, R.L. (2005) Fundamentals of Telecommunications, Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Gallaudet, E.M. (1881) The Milan Convention, 26 January, [online], Available: http://saveourdeafschools.org/edward_miner_gallaudet_the_milan_convention.pdf [Accessed November 21 2012].

Garrykarr.com. (2001) Biography. [online] Available at: http://www.garykarr.com/purchase/fr_main.html [Accessed 21st April 2013].

glastonburyfestivals.co.uk (2013) Deafzone â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BSL Interpreting Service. [online] Available at: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/information/deaf-and-disabledinfo/deafzone [Accessed 19th April 2013].

Glennie, E. (1993) Hearing Essay. [online] Available at: http://www.evelyn.co.uk/Resources/Essays/Hearing%20Essay.pdf [Accessed 14 May 2013].

Greenheart, J. (2011) Feel The Music - LotuSIGN. [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BJSs-CByAY [Accessed 12th May 2013]. Hearinglink.org (n.d.) About Hearing Aids. [online] Available at: http://www.hearinglink.org/hearingaids [Accessed 19 April 2013].

Heffernan, C. (2013) Good vibrations, scents and sign help clubbers feel the music. [video online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/oct/10/deaf-rave [Accessed 10th May 2013].

James Madison University (n.d.) [Online], Available at: http://www.psyc.jmu.edu/school/documents/Deafness.pdf [Accessed 30 January 2013].

Jepson, K. (2013) For Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the Joy of Live Music. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/arts/music/sign-languageinterpreters-bring-live-music-to-the-deaf.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print& [Accessed 13 Apr 2013].

Klarreich, E. (2001) Feel the music : Nature News. [online] Available at: http://www.nature.com/news/2001/011127/full/news011129-10.html [Accessed 20th April 2013].

le.ac.uk (n.d.) Sounds travel. [online] Available at: http://www.le.ac.uk/se/centres/sci/selfstudy/snd2.htm [Accessed 18th April 2013].

le.ac.uk (n.d.) Fig 1 Sound vibrations travelling through the air. [image online] Available at: http://www.le.ac.uk/se/centres/sci/selfstudy/snd2.htm [Accessed 18th April 2013].

Lee, R. (2004) A beginner's introduction to deaf history. Feltham: BDHS Publications.

Lynas, W. (1986). Integrating the handicapped into ordinary schools: a study of hearing-impaired pupils. London, Croom Helm.

Margolis, A.C. (2001) Implications of prelingual deafness, 7 July, [online], Available at: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(00)052946/fulltext [Accessed 1 March 2013].

Mcgreevy, R. (2012) What makes a musical genius? [online] Available at: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/what-makes-a-musical-genius-1.1067288 [Accessed: 6 May 2013].

Morris, W. (2008) Theology without Words. Explorations in Practical, Pastoral and Empirical Theology [online] Available at: https://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Theology_without_Words_Ch1.pdf [Accessed 12th May 2013].

Nelsona, S. (2013) info@lotusign.com Re: A Few Questions. Email to Stuart Nelson, Sent 6th May 2013. Stuart.nelson09@bathspac.ac.uk

Nelsonb, S. (2013) Interview with Danny Lane. 4th April 2013.

Nelsonc, S. (2013) Interview with Ellie Goodson. 1st May 2013.

Nelsond, S. (2013) Interview with Hannah King. 6 March 2013.

Nelsone, S. (2013) Interview with Julie Scriven. 24th April 2013.

Nelsonf, S. (2013) Interview with Lucy Barron. 11th May 2013.

Nelsong, S. (2013) Interview with Matthew Spring. 4 March 2013.

Nelsonh, S. (2013) Interview with Paul Whittaker. 4th April 2013.

Nelsoni, S. (2013) Interview with Richard Barnard. 1st May 2013.

Nelsonj, S. (2013) louise.cantwell@virgin.net Musical Experience :(. Email to Stuart Nelson, 29th April 2013. stuart.nelson09@bathspa.ac.uk

Nelsonk, S. (2013) melowmeldrew@yahoo.co.uk Music. Email to Stuart Nelson, 30th April 2013. stuart.nelson09@bathspa.ac.uk

NICHCY (2010) Deafness and Hearing Loss, June, [online], Available at: http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/hearingloss#wrap [Accessed 20 January 2013].

NIDCD (2011) Cochlear Implants, March, [online], Available at: https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/coch.aspx [Accessed 2013 Jul 2013].

OurStage (2011) Live Wired: Why We Love Live Music So Much, 29 November, [online], Available at: http://www.ourstage.com/blog/2011/11/29/live-wired-why-welove-live-music-so-much [Accessed 6 March 2013].

Padden, C. and Humphries, T. (1988) Deaf in America. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Payne, N. (2008) A history of British Sign Language, 10 January, [online], Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?A-History-of-British-Sign-Language&id=920959 [Accessed 2012 November 2012].

Paro77777 (2009) Deaf Family Finds Themselves Torn Between Deaf and Hearing Worlds . [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0uAx7N1TYs [Accessed April 16th 2013].

Physicsclassroom.com (1996) Sound is a Mechanical Wave. [online] Available at: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/sound/u11l1a.cfm [Accessed 18th April 2013].

Ronei, A. (2013) ‘Management of Actual Potential Aggression Training’. Proceedings of Management of Actual Potential Aggression Training.

ScienceDaily (2001) Brains Of Deaf People Rewire To "Hear" Music. [online] Available at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011128035455.htm [Accessed 20th April 2013].

Scottish Council of Deafness (2013) Statistics. [online] Available at: http://www.scod.org.uk/Statistics-i-152.html [Accessed 12th May 2013].

See Heara (2013) Brass workshop with deaf musician Sean Chandler. [video online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s0s89 [Accessed 28th April 2013].

See Hearb (2013) See Hear - Series 33 - Episode 2. [video online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01rwhdr/See_Hear_Series_33_Episode_2/ [Accessed 30th April 2013].

Sencity (n.d.) Side Performances. [video online] Available at: http://www.yoursencity.com/index.php?page=explore&hl=eng [Accessed 27th February 2013].

SJCtv Production (2012) Hearing... but not as you know it. [video online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icPsm9RnO2E [Accessed 4 March 2013].

Spence, G. (2009) British Sign Language Information, 20 Jan, [Online], Available at: http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/types/hearing/communication/british-signlanguage.php [Accessed 2012 November 21].

Stemman, P. Deaf History, [Online], Available at: http://www.deafinfo.org.uk/history/history_index.html [Accessed 21 November 2012].

Student-support.co.uk (n.d.) Student Support Centre - The English National Curriculum. [online] Available at: http://www.studentsupport.co.uk/parents/nationalcurriculum/england [Accessed 20th April 2013].

Sturley, N. (2005) The Congree, [Online], Available at: http://www.milan1880.com/milan1880history/thecongress.html [Accessed 21 November 2012].

The Department for Work and Pensions (1995) The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. London: Stationery Office.

Thesixteen.com (n.d.) Paul Whittaker. [Online] Available at: http://www.thesixteen.com/page/3125/Paul-Whittaker [Accessed 20th April 2013].

Tucker, J. (2010) ICED 2012 Update, 19 August, [Online], Available at: http://www.nad.org/blogs/james-tucker/iced-2010-update [Accessed 21 November 2012].

Washing University Physicians (n.d.) How Hearing Aid Works. [image online] Available at: www.wuphysicians.wustl.edu/graphics/assets/images/FileUpload/3657image.jpg [Accessed 7th March 2013].

Webmd.com (2001) Deaf People Can "Feel" Music. [Online] Available at: http://www.webmd.com/news/20011128/deaf-people-can-feel-music [Accessed 20th April 2013].

wellcometrust (2013) Troi 'DJ Chinaman' Lee, organiser of Deaf Rave (HD) . [video online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJDMsXIy_o4 [Accessed 10th May 2013].

Whittaker , P. and Chandler, S. (2013) ‘Engaging Deaf Children With Music’, Proceedings of the Music to Young Ears, The National Centre For Early Music.

Wolcott, W. and Bartlett, D. (1850) Music Among the Deaf and Dumb. American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb, 2 p.1- 6. 69

World Health Organization (2010) Grades of hearing impairment. [image online] Available at: http://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/hearing_impairment_grades/en/index.html [Accessed 21st November 2012].

Yennari, M. (2010) Beginnings of song in young deaf children using cochlear implants: the song they move, the song they feel, the song they share. Music Education Reserach, 12 (3), p.294.