Alot of people have been asking me questions on how i managed to be able to work it out being in the band while being deaf, or what kind of instrument i play in the band, or what i do in case theres a rain coming that might put my implant in risk or how i get my fellow band members to communicate with me. So I decided to make a thread about it.
Any questions about it, can be answered here. SO please feel free to ask questions. I don't mind. I like answering questions.
1. Is it your implant that helps you achieve any abilities?
2. What instrument do you play.
3. Can you play along with the band without your implant.
4. Are you profoundly deaf or do you have some residual hearing.
Sometimes I can hear on my own when I'm playing, Sometimes I can't. When we are outside with the other band members, its kind of hard for me to hear myself of what I am playing. But i rely on my hands on where i play on my marimba. But I can hear the other people playing in my section. Not everyday but some days I can.
1. Is it your implant that helps you achieve any abilities?
2. What instrument do you play.
3. Can you play along with the band without your implant.
4. Are you profoundly deaf or do you have some residual hearing.
1) Yes and no, On my instrument I can only hear 2 octaves. The middle C and a higher octave. So I can hear the different notes on the instrument but I can't tell what note it is. Either if its "A" "B flat" "C", etc. But the implant helped me being able to hear a little bit of what other people are saying to me like my director while other people are playing. So being in a eviroment where it's pretty noisy helped me to kind of ingore it and listen to the person talking to me.
2) I play Percussion, But in the marching band i play the marimba in my section. We are called by the Pit or otherwise known as Front Ensemble.
3) I can probably play along with the band without my Implant. But I always have my implant on with me just in case something happens.
4) My left ear is fully deaf, but my right ear is HOH. So i can hear a little bit of noise in my right ear but my left ear i can hear nothing without my implant.
Nope. They never told me that. I actually have some pretty good band directors. They understand of me being challenged. We have a motto in our band, and we all live by it: Be your best. and to Never give up.
Some people actually thought that i couldn't do it because of the way I am. But i proved them wrong. They were pretty much amazed on how i played with my challenge of being deaf.
I have heard of many deaf musicians which I think is inspirational. I have been a musician for the majority of my life and I can't imagine life without it.
haha, My aunt Lisa encouraged me to be in the band in the first place. I thought that I wouldn't be able to do it because of me being deaf and with all the challenges that will come up to meet me. But my Aunt believed in me. Unfortunately my Aunt Lisa has passed away from breast cancer. I'm going to dedicate all of my shows from the band to her because she was the one that made me believe that I could do it being in the band. I miss her. This year is going to be a weird year. Last year I was hoping to have my entire family to come and see me peform. But since my aunt started treatments in winter of '07 i think, things went pretty bad during '08. And passed away in February '09
So ever since then, I started to love doing music. Being in the band makes me feel good because I have responsibilities in the band, and that I have to work hard at it and work as a team. And most of all that the Band actually gave me some friends. I should actually thank my Aunt lisa for that. But i never really got to.
