Miss-Delectable
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Albuquerque concert for deaf aims to stimulate senses : Music : Albuquerque Tribune
It's just something Deborah Reese wanted to do.
Like when she dropped out of the rat race and opened a lingerie store Downtown. And started a band two years ago.
At night on Aug. 4, she will perform with her band Black T-Shirt Monday in a concert for hearing-impaired people. It's called Deaf Jam, and it will include sign language interpreters; visualizations like you see on your computer screen when playing music; and sound devices that will create vibrations for instruments and vocals.
Reese said she didn't grow up with a deaf sibling or friend and isn't even fluent in sign language. It's just an interest she has always had and putting on a concert for deaf people is something she is passionate about.
"I know it sounds a little weird," she conceded. "I'm a performer, and it's been a lifelong dream of mine to be a singer in a band. And I've only been able to do that for a couple of years.
"And if I'm going to be a singer, to me, this is just a natural extension of performing. It's just rife for performing."
Reese said she will tap into technology to make sounds come to life through vision and vibration.
Reese said sound vibrations have been done for bass and drum, but for the Aug. 4 show technology will be used to bring out higher tones, like guitars and vocals.
And the visualizations won't be just one swirling image; they will be unique to different sounds that are being performed live.
"We're experimenting with breaking out the separate instruments, so you can actually see the tones," Reese said.
She said a software program from Sound Spectrum will create images of the varied tones. It's like the swirls and swooshes you see when you play music in iTunes or Windows media, except for this, the images will actually respond note-for-note with each sound — in all ranges.
As for feeling the sound, she said, a full-spectrum transducer — the kind often used by drummers to feel the other instruments — will provide vibrations, and not just the typical rumblings of the bass guitar you often get at rock shows.
And Reese said lyrics will be displayed via an overhead projector, and an interpreter will use sign language to illustrate the lyrics to three songs.
Reese said she worked with interpreter Caryl Williams to not just translate the lyrics word for word but also to convey the meaning and context.
"I always thought sign language was a rich thing and a beautiful way to perform," Reese said.
Guitar player Dru Vaughter writes most of the songs, Reese said, and she and Williams worked on the interpretations.
"We spent hours going through them," Reese said. "We would go through and talk about the meaning behind each line and find an interpretation that looks good, too."
Members of opening band Burning Moonlight, one of whom is a sign-language interpreter, saw a profile of Reese in ABQ Arts magazine and contacted her, she said.
"We met at Flying Star and hit it off immediately, and we have been working on this ever since," Reese said.
She said the bands are trying to put together another event for deaf people in November.
It's just something Deborah Reese wanted to do.
Like when she dropped out of the rat race and opened a lingerie store Downtown. And started a band two years ago.
At night on Aug. 4, she will perform with her band Black T-Shirt Monday in a concert for hearing-impaired people. It's called Deaf Jam, and it will include sign language interpreters; visualizations like you see on your computer screen when playing music; and sound devices that will create vibrations for instruments and vocals.
Reese said she didn't grow up with a deaf sibling or friend and isn't even fluent in sign language. It's just an interest she has always had and putting on a concert for deaf people is something she is passionate about.
"I know it sounds a little weird," she conceded. "I'm a performer, and it's been a lifelong dream of mine to be a singer in a band. And I've only been able to do that for a couple of years.
"And if I'm going to be a singer, to me, this is just a natural extension of performing. It's just rife for performing."
Reese said she will tap into technology to make sounds come to life through vision and vibration.
Reese said sound vibrations have been done for bass and drum, but for the Aug. 4 show technology will be used to bring out higher tones, like guitars and vocals.
And the visualizations won't be just one swirling image; they will be unique to different sounds that are being performed live.
"We're experimenting with breaking out the separate instruments, so you can actually see the tones," Reese said.
She said a software program from Sound Spectrum will create images of the varied tones. It's like the swirls and swooshes you see when you play music in iTunes or Windows media, except for this, the images will actually respond note-for-note with each sound — in all ranges.
As for feeling the sound, she said, a full-spectrum transducer — the kind often used by drummers to feel the other instruments — will provide vibrations, and not just the typical rumblings of the bass guitar you often get at rock shows.
And Reese said lyrics will be displayed via an overhead projector, and an interpreter will use sign language to illustrate the lyrics to three songs.
Reese said she worked with interpreter Caryl Williams to not just translate the lyrics word for word but also to convey the meaning and context.
"I always thought sign language was a rich thing and a beautiful way to perform," Reese said.
Guitar player Dru Vaughter writes most of the songs, Reese said, and she and Williams worked on the interpretations.
"We spent hours going through them," Reese said. "We would go through and talk about the meaning behind each line and find an interpretation that looks good, too."
Members of opening band Burning Moonlight, one of whom is a sign-language interpreter, saw a profile of Reese in ABQ Arts magazine and contacted her, she said.
"We met at Flying Star and hit it off immediately, and we have been working on this ever since," Reese said.
She said the bands are trying to put together another event for deaf people in November.