Lost Hearing In The Teen Years Or As A Young Adult

Is It Music To Your Ears?
What Adult Users Of Advanced Bionics Cochlear Implants Are Saying About Listening To Music...

The following statements were obtained from cochlear implant users in response to questions about their experiences listening to music before and after receiving a cochlear implant. The statements depict the unique experience of each individual and are not intended to be predictive or descriptive of the musical experiences of others.

Adults Whose Hearing Loss Began In The Teen Years Or As A Young Adult

Dorothy Filchak: I truly believed there would no longer be music in my life. For at least 10 years before my implant, music was nothing more than a horrible series of nerve-wracking sounds. I saw my last Broadway musical in 1989. I remember leaving the theater after seeing "For Me and My Gal" and thinking, thank heaven the costumes were great.

For more than a year after my implant, in spite of encouragement from my audiologist, I wouldn't consider listening to music. I kept putting it off until my son brought his CD player to my home and literally sat me down at my kitchen table and insisted that I listen to some Sinatra CDs. I couldn't believe that I could understand what I was hearing and could sing along. It is much easier in the beginning if your selections include familiar lyrics. In the beginning, I shied away from recordings with big-band backgrounds. I did much better with soft combos backing the vocalist. I also do much better with male vocalists. I still can't understand musical selections without a vocalist. I do best with my BTE plugged directly into the CD; however, last summer I purchased a boom box and now, I can listen to my favorite CDs while cooking and cleaning. It takes perseverance, and it doesn't happen overnight. Like everything else, you have to want it enough.

Lise Lyscom: I received a patch cord for a walkman and that made a world of difference with music listening. What I started doing was playing tapes of music I was familiar with when I was still hearing. One was The Platters (that's how old I am) and after listening to it three or four times, the music and song started to register.

Listening to classical and other types of music is how I learn to recognize the various instruments. I don't have them all, but can tell when a violin or a piano is playing. I also bought a CD of only guitar music to familiarize myself with that sound. It's helpful when the CD indicates what instruments are being used, and then I try to recognize them.

Kelly Gutshall: Music through hearing aids was very different from listening with a CI. With a hearing aid, I got more rhythm and fewer voices. With the CI, I get the voices and lyrics, but not quite the fullness or complexity of sound. Also, the sounds of music started out very rough, but keep getting better. It is more difficult to listen to music with the CI-I think because it is such a complex mix of sounds to process.

It took me about six months of intermittent effort to really begin to enjoy music. The simpler the type of music the better-Motown, reggae, drumming, and simple jazz without voices are the easiest. I also started by plugging a CD player directly into my body-worn processor. When I first heard the CD I would just get totally frustrated, but with increasing practice I started to get it more and more. It truly is a fascinating process! One day in the car, I recognized "Dancing in the Dark," and something clicked. I heard it to a point that I felt like I could dance to it-a strange and wonderful feeling for someone who has not heard music in years! This year, five years after hook-up, was the first time I enjoyed Christmas music in the stores as I shopped. This shows that even after all these years, it is still improving! A few months ago, I went to a book and music store and spent some time listening with headphones to different CDs. This was a perfect way to start venturing into new music. It was a huge personal accomplishment to listen to a new artist and be able to hear and enjoy it.

My biggest music endeavor is taking cello lessons. When my daughter started playing the cello, I would go to her lessons, and her teacher encouraged me to learn some of the basics so I could assist her at home. It was a wonderful way to train my ears to listen to the sounds individually. To learn what each note sounds like, play those notes, and hear the tonal variations was training my ear. Much of music listening is the brain identifying the sounds and putting them together. If your will and desire is strong enough, it is amazing what the brain will do! Music is not what I remember it was when I could hear normally, not as full or relaxing, but it is definitely better and more enjoyable then I ever imagined it could be with the CI.

Jackie Wistort: With my hearing aids, music sounded truly dreadful! Unfortunately, with the implant in one ear and the hearing aid in the other ear, it still sounds pretty awful. Occasionally, I can recognize a piece of music if it is a single instrument. I can't begin to describe what full orchestra classical music sounds like. Too bad, because I used to play the violin and played in a symphonic orchestra in high school and college. My respect for Beethoven continues to grow!

Debbie McClendon: When my implant was first activated, music sounded lousy. I could recognize some songs, parts of songs, and the beat, but they did not sound anything like they did when I had normal hearing. What I did to help with music was to print out lyrics from the Internet. Reading, while listening to a song, was a tremendous help in starting to recognize the melody and lyrics. I worked as much on music as I did on speech. I wanted the best music I could have, and I believe I have it.

I am at the two-and-a-half-year mark with my CI, and music is fabulous. Not a day goes by when I am not listening to music CDs. Some parts of music sound the way it is supposed to sound. Some parts of a song or melody might sound different-vague or slurry. Those are the parts which I need to work on, either with reading along with the lyrics or by paying more attention and concentrating on those parts. It can be work, but the reward is priceless!