A world without music... - Ensemble Lumina

Isn’t it terribly hard to imagine? A world without music? I can hardly fathom it, though it seems to be reality for millions of people with hearing impairments across the globe. Also, it is a very real possibility for me one day as I myself was born with an acute hearing impairment that will likely degenerate in time. A world without music…it’s not a place I look forward to visiting and I have researched to better understand how I might be able to perceive music if the little hearing I have does finally go one day.

Your brain on music

The good news is that all does not seem lost because even though those who are totally deaf may not be able to hear music, they can feel it. In the brain of a deaf person, the auditory cortex actually controls the sensation of touch along with the sensory cortex (see image on the right, taken from this great article on how deaf people experience music). Feel it…yes! You know this, as you have surely felt music, too. You probably have felt it both physically and emotionally. In concert halls or dance clubs you can feel the rhythms of the bass, and in opera houses the bell-like quality of the singers’ voices feels like it reaches your very soul.

All the feels

It is mind-boggling that those with complete deafness are able to be both physically and emotionally moved by music – more so by enchanting bass beats, driving rhythms, and strong dissonant chords that create significant sound vibrations. It is remarkable that the same parts of the brain are activated when both those with and without hearing impairments listen to music. This makes so much sense to me as I have always been drawn to music I can feel rather than just hear. This is why I tend to pump the bass and drop the treble.

This is why I get chills in choir rehearsal when the bass section has a particularly low note that supports the chord (think Tavener’s The Lamb; you can hear a stunning recording sung by King’s College Choir on the left).

This is why the sound of a chord with 6 clashing notes feels as though it clutches my chest and reaches down to my toes (think Gjeilo’s Northern Lights; you can hear a breath-taking recording sung by the Phoenix Chorale on the right)

Don’t stop the music

I encourage you to try to feel it the next time you are listening to or making music and experience it in a whole new way. As for me, I will continue to receive and make music in a multi-sensorial way as long as I am able. I can now say with conviction that a world without music just doesn’t exist.

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Your brain on music

All the feels

Don’t stop the music

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