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Concertinas for the deaf ?


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I have been thinking about musical instruments for the deaf. I wondered if an Anglo would be an interesting possibility.

Each note can be played in a different direction. The timing would be easier than a number of instruments because of the bellows movement. There is no personal reason for this posting except it may open a few doors for a deaf person.

I would ask you to give it some thought and I would be interested in your views.

Al

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I wondered if an Anglo would be an interesting possibility.

Interesting thread!!

 

I would have thought that English, or Duet systems, would be more logical, as bellows direction would not matter. That way, the player would "know" that if he/she was fingering the correct button, then the right note would result.

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I have been thinking about musical instruments for the deaf. I wondered if an Anglo would be an interesting possibility.

Each note can be played in a different direction. The timing would be easier than a number of instruments because of the bellows movement. There is no personal reason for this posting except it may open a few doors for a deaf person.

I would ask you to give it some thought and I would be interested in your views.

Al

 

 

 

Totally deaf or impaired/restricted hearing ?

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well, this is an interesting question. there are in fact deaf musicians. there is a band called beethoven's nightmare, and all the members are deaf. they are pretty good. but the reason they play is cuz they can feel the music, so they enjoy it just as hearing people do, because when you crank rock music really loud, you can feel it throbbing.

 

so, definitely possible, but i wonder how much fun it would be for a deaf person to play the concertina. i guess it depends on the person... if you were really interested, it would be fun no matter what!

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Totally deaf or impaired/restricted hearing ?

 

 

Yes, I was going to ask that, too. I am hearing impaired (I have approx 40% of 'normal' hearing), so for me playing music is not too restricted. The only real problem I have so far found is playing along with other people, particularly if I don't arrive early enough to choose where I sit. I have had some disheartening experiences of not being able to hear myself play or even really many other people.

 

Assuming, however, the original post referred to people who are not hearing impaired but are fully deaf, one benefit I can see with the Anglo is the very rhythmic nature of the playing, of moving the bellows. If I ever found myself with no hearing at all I would like an instrument which was very rhythmic.

 

QL

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Totally deaf or impaired/restricted hearing ?

 

 

Yes, I was going to ask that, too. I am hearing impaired (I have approx 40% of 'normal' hearing), so for me playing music is not too restricted. The only real problem I have so far found is playing along with other people, particularly if I don't arrive early enough to choose where I sit. I have had some disheartening experiences of not being able to hear myself play or even really many other people.

 

Assuming, however, the original post referred to people who are not hearing impaired but are fully deaf, one benefit I can see with the Anglo is the very rhythmic nature of the playing, of moving the bellows. If I ever found myself with no hearing at all I would like an instrument which was very rhythmic.

 

QL

That is how I see it. The bellows in and out movement I think would be better to keep the timing. For total hearing loss the concertina being so small could be fitted with some technical equipment that could be felt by the player, for partial hearing once again the concertina lends itself to be amplified straight into the ear. Also a loop system could be fitted to the concertina that could be picked up by your hearing aid so you hear what others are hearing.That would solve your problem Queen Lud on a late arrival.

Thank you for the way you have received this difficult thread.

Al

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The bellows in and out movement I think would be better to keep the timing. For total hearing loss the concertina being so small could be fitted with some technical equipment that could be felt by the player, for partial hearing once again the concertina lends itself to be amplified straight into the ear.

 

I can understand the comment regarding partial hearing loss, and agree that it might be feasible.

 

However, from my perspective, I can't agree about total hearing loss. Maybe it's because I'm coming from the angle of someone who has played, by ear, for many years. I don't know in which direction the bellows are travelling; my ears tell me whether, or not, I am playing the notes which my brain is telling me to play. If I suffered total hearing loss, I wouldn't have a clue in which direction the bellows should be travelling.

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well, this is an interesting question. there are in fact deaf musicians. there is a band called beethoven's nightmare, and all the members are deaf. they are pretty good. but the reason they play is cuz they can feel the music, so they enjoy it just as hearing people do, because when you crank rock music really loud, you can feel it throbbing.

 

so, definitely possible, but i wonder how much fun it would be for a deaf person to play the concertina. i guess it depends on the person... if you were really interested, it would be fun no matter what!

The most famous deaf contemporary musician is surely professional percussionist Evelyn Glennie. She has this to say about her deafness:

http://www.evelyn.co.uk/Evelyn_old/live/hearing_essay.htm

 

When you've done reading that, have a look at the rest of her website, and if you ever get the chance to see and hear her in a live performance, do so; she is a simply astounding musician.

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I have been thinking about musical instruments for the deaf. I wondered if an Anglo would be an interesting possibility.

Each note can be played in a different direction. The timing would be easier than a number of instruments because of the bellows movement. There is no personal reason for this posting except it may open a few doors for a deaf person.

I would ask you to give it some thought and I would be interested in your views.

Al

 

Musical instruments for the deaf, Al? I beg your pardon? How about an ear trumpet? I am hearing impaired too, so I can empathise and also joke about it. The percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie has been profoundly deaf since age 12. This does not inhibit her ability to perform at the international level. She regularly plays barefoot for both live performances and studio recordings, to better "feel" the music.

 

Glennie contends that deafness is largely misunderstood by the public. She claims to have taught herself to hear with parts of her body other than her ears. In response to criticism from the media, Glennie published Hearing Essay in which she personally discusses her condition.

 

Chris

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I have been thinking about musical instruments for the deaf. I wondered if an Anglo would be an interesting possibility.

Each note can be played in a different direction. The timing would be easier than a number of instruments because of the bellows movement. There is no personal reason for this posting except it may open a few doors for a deaf person.

I would ask you to give it some thought and I would be interested in your views.

Al

 

Musical instruments for the deaf, Al? I beg your pardon? How about an ear trumpet? I am hearing impaired too, so I can empathise and also joke about it. The percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie has been profoundly deaf since age 12. This does not inhibit her ability to perform at the international level. She regularly plays barefoot for both live performances and studio recordings, to better "feel" the music.

 

Glennie contends that deafness is largely misunderstood by the public. She claims to have taught herself to hear with parts of her body other than her ears. In response to criticism from the media, Glennie published Hearing Essay in which she personally discusses her condition.

 

Chris

 

I have yet to read Glennie's essay but are 'profoundly' deaf and 'totally' deaf one and the same thing ?

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Our band used to play regularly at ceildhs for the Sheffield Deaf club and it always went down really well as long as Gerry and Pete were on bass and drums. They argued that they should do the gig on their own to get more money!

Edited by michael sam wild
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There were always several people at Halsway/Kilve using hearing aids, single ear or both ears, as I remember.

 

I presume that different types of hearing impairment will affect which frequencies you can hear and may then influence your choise of instrument (piccolo or bass).

 

Robin Madge

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I have yet to read Glennie's essay but are 'profoundly' deaf and 'totally' deaf one and the same thing ?

 

In effect, yes. Profound deafness is when a sound has to be over 90 decibels before a person can even begin to hear it (if they hear it at all). So it is functionally like being 'totally' deaf.

Edited by Queen Lud
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The only real problem I have so far found is playing along with other people, particularly if I don't arrive early enough to choose where I sit. I have had some disheartening experiences of not being able to hear myself play or even really many other people.

 

QL

My lady wife is a hammer dulcimer player and wear hearing aids. She is quite happy to play on her own with just the aids but gets lost when other players join in. So I have miked up the dulcimer and connected an inductive loop box to it and she plays with one aid listening to the world and one on the loop and that seems to solve most her problems.

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The only real problem I have so far found is playing along with other people, particularly if I don't arrive early enough to choose where I sit. I have had some disheartening experiences of not being able to hear myself play or even really many other people.

 

QL

My lady wife is a hammer dulcimer player and wear hearing aids. She is quite happy to play on her own with just the aids but gets lost when other players join in. So I have miked up the dulcimer and connected an inductive loop box to it and she plays with one aid listening to the world and one on the loop and that seems to solve most her problems.

Very interesting Lester ,would you mind for other posters giving us the details of how you did it. I suggested this idea earlier, but your details would be useful for many ,including me who's hearing is decreasing rapidly.

Al

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I have been thinking about musical instruments for the deaf. I wondered if an Anglo would be an interesting possibility.

Each note can be played in a different direction. The timing would be easier than a number of instruments because of the bellows movement. There is no personal reason for this posting except it may open a few doors for a deaf person.

I would ask you to give it some thought and I would be interested in your views.

Al

 

Musical instruments for the deaf, Al? I beg your pardon? How about an ear trumpet? I am hearing impaired too, so I can empathise and also joke about it. The percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie has been profoundly deaf since age 12. This does not inhibit her ability to perform at the international level. She regularly plays barefoot for both live performances and studio recordings, to better "feel" the music.

 

Glennie contends that deafness is largely misunderstood by the public. She claims to have taught herself to hear with parts of her body other than her ears. In response to criticism from the media, Glennie published Hearing Essay in which she personally discusses her condition.

 

Chris

 

it is this idea of feeling the music that makes me wonder how likely a deaf person would be to enjoy the concertina. the rhythmic nature of the bellows does seem to make it a bit more interesting, which is not something i thought about before. from my perspective, it is not that deaf people cannot enjoy music or make music, it's just that unless they have some way to experience it, i have a hard time buying that they would commit extensive amounts of time to learn how to play it. i have seen deaf singers, guitarists, drummers etc., but they could all experience their music in some way (the vocalist could feel their vocal chords, the guitarists and drummer could feel the sound).

 

for the hard of hearing, on the other hand, the concertina would probably be a good choice. if you play the concertina in a session or with others, sometimes you have trouble hearing yourself anyways, so in groups you end up playing phantom concertina. this is something all concertina players have to deal with at some time or another, so i think that this may at least psychologically level the playing field for the hard of hearing, as they would know if they could not hear their concertina in a session, that the other concertina players probably can't hear themselves either, :P.

 

 

note: on terminology, i say hard of hearing as i was taught in my american sign language class that within deaf culture, that is the appropriate term. i don't mind any other terms for hard of hearing, but i would just like to note why i am using it, just in case within different cultures (hearing/british/politically correct america, etc) it may sound offensive.

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David I have always Hard of Hearing to be partially deaf and Deaf to be totally deaf with no hearing at all.

I was at a Folk Club last night and one player in a small group played the Zob Stick. For many of you who knew the Bushwackers Folk Group from Australia (obviously)one of the members played one. Basically a broomstick decorated with beer bottle tops ,which was thumped on the floor and a small stick would beat the time at the top. A wonderful percussion instrument. As an aside the Bushwacker player got so enthusiastic at one gig he broke his wrist whilst playing it.

These things can not only be felt on the floor, but usually dislodges plaster from the ceiling below. One of these with a band of players with hearing loss, total or partial, would be able to feel the rhythm. We have also had the privilege of listening to more Squash Box Music, what a great style of music that would be for a band of partially, or totally deaf players.

I would feel fully confident to teach players with total deafness to play the anglo. I see no reason at all why it would not be enjoyed. As for music the old tutor layout with the number system and the push pull signs could be utilised.I visualise a twenty button Anglo as the ideal instrument for this purpose.

Al

Edited by Alan Day
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