Fears Of A Deafblind Musician - Part 1

Time to dust off the cobwebs and do another post!

First of all, I want to say I hope everyone is well. Hopefully you haven't been hit too badly with any of the COVID-19 variants. I also want to say my thoughts are with those in Ukraine, fighting for their country. It is a shame that Russia has caused so much death and destruction. I can only hope that one day, the World will be united and at Peace!

Okay, I have something that I want to get off my chest right now. The thing is, as someone who is deafblind with significant sight and hearing impairments, I have my fears that one day these will deteriorate. As it stands, I still has a little bit of vision in one eye only, and some hearing which is a different degree in each ear, so I am grateful for that. I know my vision and hearing will be affected as per the normal aging process, but I also worry about any life events that may happen to me in future. I’ll tell you about a scary situation that happened to me over the Christmas period later. To help with my hearing impairment, I have Signia Pure Charge&Go 5Nx hearing aids that help me to hear not only the world around me, but also to enjoy listening to music and watching TV. Most importantly, they’re great for making or receiving phone calls on my iPhone!

 

Me on a phone appointment with my Audiologist

 

I want to make it clear here that I call myself deafblind. I wasn’t diagnosed or registered with that because my vision loss and hearing impairment were discovered at different times. I don’t have Usher’s Syndrome. My legal blindness was discovered in my first year of life but my hearing loss wasn't discovered until I was around 9 years old. In hindsight, my hearing impairment was obvious but family put a lot of my actions down to my blindness.  Though discovered separately, my vision and hearing impairments are both classified as congenital, meaning present since birth.

I can use my hearing aids alone to listen to music through normal speakers in a room like everyone else, or I can connect them via Bluetooth to my iOS devices and stream music to them like they are headphones. I love being able to listen to music through speakers, but it’s always great to have the option to listen to music, podcasts or audiobooks privately through my hearing aids with ear moulds made specifically for my ears. Most of the time, the quality is great, but sometimes, for about 30 seconds or so, one hearing aid or the other will have some kind of issue that causes the sound to become garbled which I don't like. When that happens too frequently, I take them out and change to other headphones.

 

My Signia Pure Charge&Go hearing aids on charge

 

When I’m making my music, I use proper over-the-ear closed back headphones (AKG K182, for those interested) that plug into my iMac or a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface. I think wireless headphones, and my hearing aids with the right connecting device, would cause too much latency (the time it takes for sound coming from a keyboard or microphone to travel through the computer and get to the connected speakers or headphones). I sometimes use VoiceOver, macOS’s built in screen reader, and I do utilise the Zoom magnifying feature to make the screen bigger (not to be confused with the Zoom video conferencing app). Sadly, this also means that I can only keep my eye on one part of the screen at a time. Unfortunately, with magnification on, I can't turn an on-screen knob or even tweak a fader using the mouse because this causes the screen to jump all over the place and it may bring undesired effects to the music or my ears.

When it comes to the TV, I can watch it and listen like everyone else, though with some difficulty, through the TV’s speaker or sound bar. Or I can connect my hearing aids, again via Bluetooth, to a TV audio streaming box designed to work with hearing aids. The latter also gives me the power to have the volume up to my preferred level if the TV volume is too low or even muted. Since I’ve been able to watch TV with my hearing aids through that box, it has made watching TV so much more enjoyable for me. If I have to deal without my hearing aids for whatever reason (eg, if sent away for repair), watching TV just isn’t the same, as I then have to struggle to listen. I can’t lip-read or read sign language due to my blindness. I would love to learn ways that deafblind people use to communicate at some point which I think involves being more tactile. I do rely on sound a lot, for speech and music.

 

 The Signia StreamLine TV box which enables me to the TV directly through my hearing aids.

Apart from magnification and screen readers on my devices, I do have other visual helping aids, such as 2 10x magnifying glasses, which come in handy if I don’t have my phone on me, which I can use as a magnifying tool also. I have a white cane to help me get around when I’m out and about. When I forget to take it with me, I feel lost and uncertain, even if I’m with family who can guide and tell me when a step is coming. My white cane has very much become a tool I rely heavily on.

This brings me to the reason I wanted to do this post. 

 

More to follow so stay tuned for Part 2...

Farewell 2016... Hello 2017!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my fellow bloggers and readers!

May 2017 be a better year for all! May you all have a happy, positive and peaceful year, no matter what happens.

Remember how I said I had big plans for 2016? Well, sadly, that kind of fell through because I had several distractions throughout the year. For one thing, I'm a terribly slow reader. I've got multiple books on the go, that includes novels, music, musician biographies, etc. I think 2017 will be the year I start reading one book at a time and I might have a better chance at getting them all finished. With multiple books on the go, I tend to forget certain things I've read, mainly in the music education books, so those particular books I'll have to re-read to take them in. 

For me, 2017 will be the year I throw myself into things I want to do.  This will include more practice on the guitar as I still feel like a beginner.  I was given the guitar close to one year ago by my brother, Beau. It wasn't a gift but rather, he passed on to me as he no longer wanted it.  I LOVE it but I do need to be more disciplined at playing it on a regular basis.

I purchased a couple of MIDI controllers made by Novation throughout 2016. With them came Ableton Live 9 Lite, a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), which pretty much turns your computer into a home recording studio.  It can create MIDI music and audio music also. I'll tell you more about those products in a future post.  I will be learning more about all these products as I put them through their paces this year. I want to be able to actually finish music that I've created and know that it's worth it.

On top of that, I look forward to singing again with the Mater Hospital's Sing For Health Choir and also hopefully joining a local choir earlier in the year.

I also want to lose more weight as I've still got a fair bit to go before I get down to my goal weight of 71kg. I'll talk more about what's given me the push in a future post.

Well, that's it from me, I hope to keep you up-to-date each week with what I'm up to, voice my opinions on any music related issues and other things that I care about. You can expect some reviews of albums too by artists I enjoy listening to.

Take care all, and may you have a happy, peaceful, prosperous 2017!

Love and peace to you all!

Choir Performances And Outings

Hi everyone! 

I'm really sorry it's taken me a while to do another blog post. So much for trying to keep you all up-to-date regularly, but I'll try to improve on that score. I do enjoy posting on my blog and I am determined to get into a habit of more regular posting. The last thing I want to do is wait until the beginning of next year to start again.

Anyway, all has been going fine for me since my last blog post with a few specialist appointments, including an ophthalmologist appointment back in early March. All is good as my eye sight is pretty much static. I do worry about the future though, especially when I get older, when eyesight tends to deteriorate as you age. I'm told this will happen with me too and, when that happens, I'll have to become more reliant on screen readers and audiobooks. I shall cross that bridge when I come to it, so I shouldn't let it worry me now. I want to fill my days with as much music as I can, be it creating music, singing in choirs, jamming with family and friends or anything else that may take my fancy. I have, in recent weeks, been dealing with severe Tinnitus in my left ear. It's been frustrating, but I'm dealing with it as best I can with techniques my Occupational Therapist  told me to use after I had a bad Tinnitus bout 3 years ago before the Mater Choir started.

You all may remember my last few posts of 2015, where I was talking about being part of a choir run by my friend Alyssa. Well, this year, I've joined her other choir, which is called Let's Get Singing! I've been having a lot of fun learning songs like Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror", Moving Pictures' "What About Me", Cyndi Lauper's "True Colours" among others.  However, I had to temporarily put attending Let's Get Singing on hold from mid-May, as Mum and I had also started back with the Mater Sing For Health Choir for our 3rd year. Unfortunately both choirs were on the same day so it wasn't doable.

Our June performance with the Mater Mother's Sing for Health choir

Photo courtesy of Mater Mothers Facebook page.

One of the songs we did with the Mater choir is called "You Raise Me Up", which has been sung numerous times over the years.  The ones I mostly know of are Josh Groban and Westlife. We also performed a song written by Pete Churchill called "Dig Deep" plus a few shorter songs I'd never heard before. The performance day on June 15 went very well. We had a great time, as always. We actually had a specially requested performance date after that, which fell on my Birthday, August 15. All went pretty good, though not all our choir showed up, but we still sounded great! Now that's done, we're be on break until mid-November when we start preparing for the Christmas season and I'm looking forward to it.  

I've recently rejoined Let's Get Singing, all good as we've also been doing other songs!

Apart from choir performances, Mum, my brother Aaron and I, have been on a few nice day outings to our regular relaxation spots we often go to. We often go to a place out country called Burgess Park. People can camp there if they want, or spend through the day. We went there back in June. The great thing there is we can take our two much-loved dogs, Cody and Jack, when we go. We often get KFC chips on the way, stop at the nearby park for a little while, then go to Burgess Park to relax. Mum would sketch, I'd read. 

Burgess Park

We all also went to Wellington Point, our favourite bayside area. We had a wonderful time, Mum sketched (check out her blog to see what great sketches she has done), and I read more of my songwriting book. It was a beautiful day out, perfect weather! We took along a nice picnic lunch. In the old days, we used to enjoy fish & chips when going to Wellington Point, but nowadays, it's a nice healthy picnic if we don't feel like chips.  

Wellington Point - view of the jetty

Wellington Point - the beach side

Me on the walking trail at Wellington Point

We've also recently gone for a nice walk around the lake at Forest Lake, where we've seen different birds, swans, lizards and Mum and Aaron even see turtles in the water. I sadly can't see them very well.

Black swans with cygnets

Partial view of Forest Lake

Back briefly on the subject of music and choirs, August was special to me as it has been a year ago since my performance as part of Under This Sky - Logan's Musical Celebration. I was part of a mass choir of at least 300 voices singing 3 songs at the end of the show. I thought I'd share with you some footage from the show. For those interested, I'm in "Pachelbel's Chanson", "I Have A Dream" and "Get There From Here"! That show, done for 2 nights in a row to the public, was a massive highlight of 2015 for me and still brings a smile to my face and excitement! I'd do it all again if I could.

A part video from the Under This Sky celebration

Well, that'll be it from me for now, I hope to be posting again very, very soon! 

Until then, take care and stay safe wherever you are in the world.

Big Plans Are Coming For Me In 2016

Hi everyone!

WOW! 2016 is here and do I have a lot I want to get done this year. For those who brought in the New Year, I hope you all had a wonderful time, however you spent it. I'm the type of person who loves to party when it comes to New Year's Eve or birthday parties, etc. Even if everyone is just sitting around and no one intends to dance, if music is playing and a great, upbeat song comes over the speakers, I'll either be moving in my seat or (if it's OK with everyone there) up dancing. If the song is good, I just can't help myself! I brought in the New Year with Mum and Aaron (my brother). Mum and I played Yahtzee that evening before putting on party music and dancing until the Countdown. Aaron came and joined us for the Countdown. I was having radio problems, so thankfully Mum was able to save the day by getting a clock app for her phone that showed the seconds! We cheered in the New Year and then played Yahtzee again, one of our favourite games. As Mum and I intended on staying up to greet the dawn (I usually do that each year, it's a bit of a tradition to me), we even watched a DVD. I think it was after 6am that I went to bed for a few hours.

All my life, I've always been drawn to music, whether upbeat or slow, it just draws me. Even now, if I go to a gathering and music is playing, if I find it hard to jump into a conversation, I'll often just sit and focus on the music for a little bit. I'm usually quiet when people converse, however, I'll listen and try to involve myself when I can. If I can't join the conversation, I will let the music take over. I view music as my saviour when those situations happen.

While my last post of 2015 was reflecting on the year gone by, I'd like to focus now on what I hope lies ahead for 2016. My plans for this year have me motivated and excited for what is to come! I mentioned in my last post about the Mater Hospital Sing For Health Choir that Mum and I are a part of. We'll be looking forward to reconvening with that great group of people mid-year.  On top of that, I feel I want to get other things happening and, no surprise, it's all music-based. I'm actually quite excited about it!

I'm breaking away from doing web design as I'm done with trying to build one. Around 2003, when I got into web design, I was into MIDI music, which is basically music made by a keyboard/synth stored in .mid files as Note On/Note Off signals, and those are played back either through the computer sound card's built-in Soft-Synthesiser or a keyboard attached to the computer. I wanted to make a MIDI website featuring MIDI files to download. Some time later, I'd created a website that I thought was ready to publish, then my computer of that time failed, so I lost everything. I've been trying since then to still make websites, having even paid for a HTML editor, but never had the same spark, I can't even think of what to make a website about anymore. The enthusiasm is totally gone, not to mention the ever-changing web technologies I'd have to re-learn. I learned HTML 4, then there was XHTML, now HTML 5, and trying to make websites suitable for screens of all sizes. When I got into web-design, the only things you could view a website on was a desktop computer or a laptop. My website developing days are over and I'm about to start on a new venture...

Songwriting and music creation!

Yes, I'm finally trying my hand at something I wish I'd tried to do back in 2002.  I wish I'd shown more of an interest in music creation and songwriting back then but maybe I wasn't meant to at the time. I feel nowadays, technology is giving me the resources at my fingertips to help me out. Back then, there were probably only a few books about songwriting, but nowadays, there's probably more books and e-books on the subject, not to mention websites dedicated to songwriting tips, and podcasts to listen to on the subject and dedicated computer programs/mobile apps specifically designed for songwriting.  As far as the music creation is concerned, there's books, websites and podcasts dedicated to it. Also, YouTube is a great help if you want to learn quickly on how to use your recently purchased music composing/creating software.

I feel quite motivated to do it and I can't wait! I may let you all know each week how I'm progressing. Depending on how things go, I may share something with you of the progress, depending on how I feel I'm doing at the time. When I go on outings with Mum, while she's sketching, I'll be trying to find inspiration and writing thoughts down or using Garageband on my iPad to capture any music that comes to mind. I feel I'd much rather make use of that time doing things like that rather than reading or playing games on the iPad. I'll share with you all whatever books I may read, either novels or on the subject. I recently purchased a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Art of Songwriting.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what advice it may give!

I'd like to get myself into a local choir that runs in the evenings if I can too. I love being part of a choir for the singing and also the happy feeling I get, along with the health benefits.  So as you can see, I have a big year ahead! As long as I practice the art of songwriting every day, along with practicing on the guitar and bongos, I know I'll get much better. So stay tuned for next week and see what I have to say then! Until then, I hope you all have a great week.