Music to our ears

23. February 2016

Many people affected by hearing loss have difficulty explaining how they perceive music. It is not just that everything becomes more quiet. But what does music really sound like when you have hearing loss?
In earlier times, music used to be a limited pleasure of social gatherings and ritual ceremonies. In today’s technological age, music has become a much more frequent companion in our everyday lives. We drink our morning coffee listening to the radio, we put on our favourite track on our headphones while riding the metro to work and spend our leisure time in fitness studios, cafés and bars listening to the newest tunes.
This potpourri of music and melodies surrounding us on an everyday basis appeals to our emotions and trigger our sentiments. This can all be experienced very differently by people affected by hearing loss. It could be that sounds louder than a soft voice might be heard as excruciatingly loud or as distorted tones. A baseline might turn into a drumming sound and a singer might sound as had he been processed by a ring modulator like in 1960s science fiction films.
To help you better understand what music sounds like for people with hearing loss we have created hearing loss simulations of different pop songs including Eros Ramazzotti’s “Un Pensiero Speciale”.