Thanks for sharing such good news with us, Berti.
Your enthusiasm is so contagious that it's given me a boost this morning!
It's amazing how quickly you are adapting. I'm sure that's a very good sign.
how a deaf fluteplayer gets to hear again
-
swizzlestick
- Posts: 670
- Joined: Sun Jul 31, 2005 5:34 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Boulder, Colorado
-
mutepointe
- Posts: 8151
- Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 10:16 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: kanawha county, west virginia
- Contact:
-
anniemcu
- Posts: 8024
- Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2003 8:42 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: A little left of center, and 100 miles from St. Louis
- Contact:
This whole thread is one big, ear to ear, joyous grin!Berti66 wrote:mutepointe, you are making me blush!!!!
happy I could make you smile....
berti
anniemcu
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
-
Berti66
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2003 10:52 am
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: south east netherlands
yes it is absolutely amazing.
two minutes ago, I heard the cat licking himself while sitting next to me!!!
and I am not even supposed to listen to music but I do
they told me speech is most important right now and should have priority, it DOES, I DO practice....but now music is sounding so much richer and fuller EVEN when it does not yet sound like it should (sounds deformed in places and I still miss high octave notes) I cannot live without it anymore already..........
now back to daily SPEECH exercises......part duuuhhh but very important too. days of the week, months of the year......things like that.
close my eyes and learn to interpret what I am hearing.
june and july (in dutch it is juni and juli) is very hard to get still, same as for march and may (maart and mei) .
well, what am I SAYING! it is only three days still!!
berti
two minutes ago, I heard the cat licking himself while sitting next to me!!!
and I am not even supposed to listen to music but I do
they told me speech is most important right now and should have priority, it DOES, I DO practice....but now music is sounding so much richer and fuller EVEN when it does not yet sound like it should (sounds deformed in places and I still miss high octave notes) I cannot live without it anymore already..........
now back to daily SPEECH exercises......part duuuhhh but very important too. days of the week, months of the year......things like that.
close my eyes and learn to interpret what I am hearing.
june and july (in dutch it is juni and juli) is very hard to get still, same as for march and may (maart and mei) .
well, what am I SAYING! it is only three days still!!
berti
-
Berti66
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2003 10:52 am
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: south east netherlands
Somebody asked if I wanted to give more background information on my hearing history (part duhhh 
) and to keep up a running commentary.
First the blah part.
Age 4 I lost my hearing due to unknown causes.
At that age my speech was better than average kids.....according to my mom. They never found out what happened, was not on medicines, not sick, no accident, nothing. They discovered it when I went to kindergarten school.
The hearing loss at that time was already 90 db and it stayed that way till three years ago.
I have been on boarding schools for hard of hearing till I was 18, then was set free in the community
Have been wearing one of those dinosaur hearing aids from then till my 12th, the ones you sometimes see in movies, bodyworn little box in pocket with wires to your ear, HORRIBLE.
From 12th onwards I had a BTE (behind the ear) one which worked fine.
Till five years ago, I could hear very well for my kind of hearing loss, recognize speech from familiar voices, sing along with songs from cd's (not that I can sing ) and didn't feel handicapped a lot.
When I was 16, taught myself classical guitar and later western (with john denver being a favorite....still need to get his cd again to listen to, now I can ).
Nobody at the boarding school believed I would be able to learn guitar but I DID, even managed to play classical music with others and took some lessons, and did some improvisation here and there.
When I got kids, I gave up.
Fast forward.......2003 or thereabouts.
Got a new hearing aid which turned out to be a crap thing. Nothing than technical problems with it, which they most of the time could only detect AFTER they sent it to the lab.......
That year I also started to learn whistle......six months later went to a well known whistlesmith living over the german border and got to hear a LOT of whistles and fell in love with the flute.
That summer, problems with my ears started, one morning I woke up, and everything was SO loud, I had to turn my hearing aid WAY DOWN and even then things were too loud.......it lasted for two weeks and then all of a sudden I couldn't hear anymore and panicked........it took a few weeks for it to return.
That was the start of lots of problems with the ears itself and gradually lost 15 more db the last three years.
What I could hear BEFORE the surgery: with the hearing aid, I could hear daily noises, voices (and tell them apart), music but I now know I missed a LOT of detail and also fullness and depth especially in singing and understand why I disliked it so much sometimes.
I could not hear the very softest sounds like the cat licking himself, kettle boiling (which is not soft but mine is a high pitched whistle).
Could not tell by ear what tune or what note.
Without hearing aid: NOTHING.
It is the love for the music and especially the irish flute that kept me alive.
No kidding.
So, where are we now?
One week after I was activated:
My brains are starting to work, and they are SCREAMING for sound.
The people in the hospital are surprised that I wear out a new program in less than 24 hours where others do a week.
With the exercises, I am at a level where others are after a few months.
Sometimes during the day I need to take the processor off for a few hours because of a kind of sensory overload, meaning, all of a sudden the sound deforms into a mush and I cannot make anything of it anymore.
But then, I can now hear:
The kettle boiling (not last monday yet)
The cat sneezing
Washing machine beeping when it is finished (NEVER HEARD THAT)
My own heart beating (cool)
Traffic passing my house and tell most times what it was
The second octave is now slowly coming
I hear much more detail in familiar tunes I have on the iPod, things I NEVER thought that were there
Don't have to tell strangers as often that they need to speak slow and articulate well.......sometimes only have to ask for ONE repeat. (depending on the kind of voice)
Can follow the tv with subtitles and tell where the subtitles are "off" with what was being said.
Yesterday, I heard my daughters say : sexy cat.....without looking
During morning news, I can pick up a few words sometimes without subtitling (friday)
The list goes on.
It is not smooth sailing every day, but THEN, it is only ONE WEEK.
I am experiencing things that I thought would come MUCH MUCH Later.....like in, six months.
I hear sounds now as soft as 35 db!
And does it sound natural?
OH YES YOU BET!
to be continued
Berti
) and to keep up a running commentary.First the blah part.
Age 4 I lost my hearing due to unknown causes.
At that age my speech was better than average kids.....according to my mom. They never found out what happened, was not on medicines, not sick, no accident, nothing. They discovered it when I went to kindergarten school.
The hearing loss at that time was already 90 db and it stayed that way till three years ago.
I have been on boarding schools for hard of hearing till I was 18, then was set free in the community
Have been wearing one of those dinosaur hearing aids from then till my 12th, the ones you sometimes see in movies, bodyworn little box in pocket with wires to your ear, HORRIBLE.
From 12th onwards I had a BTE (behind the ear) one which worked fine.
Till five years ago, I could hear very well for my kind of hearing loss, recognize speech from familiar voices, sing along with songs from cd's (not that I can sing
) and didn't feel handicapped a lot.When I was 16, taught myself classical guitar and later western (with john denver being a favorite....still need to get his cd again to listen to, now I can
).Nobody at the boarding school believed I would be able to learn guitar but I DID, even managed to play classical music with others and took some lessons, and did some improvisation here and there.
When I got kids, I gave up.
Fast forward.......2003 or thereabouts.
Got a new hearing aid which turned out to be a crap thing. Nothing than technical problems with it, which they most of the time could only detect AFTER they sent it to the lab.......
That year I also started to learn whistle......six months later went to a well known whistlesmith living over the german border and got to hear a LOT of whistles and fell in love with the flute.
That summer, problems with my ears started, one morning I woke up, and everything was SO loud, I had to turn my hearing aid WAY DOWN and even then things were too loud.......it lasted for two weeks and then all of a sudden I couldn't hear anymore and panicked........it took a few weeks for it to return.
That was the start of lots of problems with the ears itself and gradually lost 15 more db the last three years.
What I could hear BEFORE the surgery: with the hearing aid, I could hear daily noises, voices (and tell them apart), music but I now know I missed a LOT of detail and also fullness and depth especially in singing and understand why I disliked it so much sometimes.
I could not hear the very softest sounds like the cat licking himself, kettle boiling (which is not soft but mine is a high pitched whistle).
Could not tell by ear what tune or what note.
Without hearing aid: NOTHING.
It is the love for the music and especially the irish flute that kept me alive.
No kidding.
So, where are we now?
One week after I was activated:
My brains are starting to work, and they are SCREAMING for sound.
The people in the hospital are surprised that I wear out a new program in less than 24 hours where others do a week.
With the exercises, I am at a level where others are after a few months.
Sometimes during the day I need to take the processor off for a few hours because of a kind of sensory overload, meaning, all of a sudden the sound deforms into a mush and I cannot make anything of it anymore.
But then, I can now hear:
The kettle boiling (not last monday yet)
The cat sneezing
Washing machine beeping when it is finished (NEVER HEARD THAT)
My own heart beating (cool)
Traffic passing my house and tell most times what it was
The second octave is now slowly coming
I hear much more detail in familiar tunes I have on the iPod, things I NEVER thought that were there
Don't have to tell strangers as often that they need to speak slow and articulate well.......sometimes only have to ask for ONE repeat. (depending on the kind of voice)
Can follow the tv with subtitles and tell where the subtitles are "off" with what was being said.
Yesterday, I heard my daughters say : sexy cat.....without looking
During morning news, I can pick up a few words sometimes without subtitling (friday)
The list goes on.
It is not smooth sailing every day, but THEN, it is only ONE WEEK.
I am experiencing things that I thought would come MUCH MUCH Later.....like in, six months.
I hear sounds now as soft as 35 db!
And does it sound natural?
OH YES YOU BET!
to be continued
Berti
all music is what awakes within you
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
-
pixyy
- Posts: 710
- Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: Just updating my profile after 16+ years of C&F membership. Sold most of my flutes, play the ones I still own and occasionally still enjoy coming here and read about flute related subjects.
- Location: Denmark
Berti I am so glad to read your stories!
I have not been visiting the pub so much, so it's a big boost of happy news and excitement to read the thread!
I'm very happy for you!
Jeroen
I have not been visiting the pub so much, so it's a big boost of happy news and excitement to read the thread!
I'm very happy for you!
Jeroen
flute clips
Some Tunes on my Box.net
Some Tunes on my Box.net
-
Terry McGee
- Posts: 3339
- Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2004 4:12 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Malua Bay, on the NSW Nature Coast
- Contact:
-
Berti66
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2003 10:52 am
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: south east netherlands
haha terry!!! allowed????????????? GOODNESS.........of course I am!!!
my brains are still learning so take this into account please.
before this all, I could hear it was a flute playing but I could NEVER tell what tune except of course when I put on a cd with my favorites.
I am working with the flute now and it is still hard.
Mind you, only ONE WEEK now.
People are not even SUPPOSED to recognize things as MUSIC then.
So I can now tell:
it's music
its a reel or a jig or slipjig or slow air (not familiar yet with hornpipes)
the difference between two tunes if you would let me hear the first two bars, say, john joe gardiners and christy barry's. (cannot remember which christy barrys right now sorry....still early morning)
but
working on learning the notes tell apart, this is gonna take time!
the flute does not sound yet as I was used to when I wore a hearing aid, but it does already sound much better than last monday.
last monday when playing myself I could only hear the D, E and Fsharp as notes, now I can hear the full first octave as NOTES, the G, A and B were just noise at first.
the next thing should be the second octave. I can now hear more high sounds than I did last monday.
Strange thing is when I listen to my iPod, things sound much better than when I play myself, sound wise and there I get ALL the notes most of the time.
A friend of mine (who was late deafened)which is a bass guitar player, had the same problem, and it was a matter of fine tuning of the processor by getting more middle and lows....I think for me it might be more middle and highs as I am the opposite story from her but we will see.
They won't fine tune now already but some further down the road and I hope that meanwhile by practicing I can get some more things up.
So I don't worry too much but keep working with the flute and whistles.
The soprano whistle is not taken out as much because that really sounds crap, something I had not expected as with a CI you are supposed to hear high pitches better.
YES that is true, BUT...my brain needs to interpret them first.
So if I can now already hear the waterkettle whistling (OWWW) and things I NEVER heard, I don't worry and it will be fine I am sure.
Another guitar playing friend who also has a CI (late deafened he was) told me when he visited me he could hear my flute fine, both first and second octave and both these friends have the same system as me.
I am more like my first bass guitar playing friend, but she started with hearing all the highs and I started hearing most lows and middle tones.
It doesn't matter.
The end result will be fantastic!
Meanwhile I will keep listening to a lot of music on my iPod and get more familiar with the music I used to listen to, where I can now hear things that I didn't hear before which will make things a bit easier to understand with some more time.
And hopefully make me a better player.
I have still a long way to go though, but with the lessons of my teacher this year, things have REALLY improved a lot and next month the first lesson with the CI will start .......it is going to be interesting.
I must say that now, I am happy that I already do have the basics to work with, so that I know how to get the octaves and also, since I can feel too when things are ok (vibrations) that helps me tremendously right now. (so YOU were so right by telling my flute maker..... )
have a nice weekend full of music
Berti
my brains are still learning so take this into account please.
before this all, I could hear it was a flute playing but I could NEVER tell what tune except of course when I put on a cd with my favorites.
I am working with the flute now and it is still hard.
Mind you, only ONE WEEK now.
People are not even SUPPOSED to recognize things as MUSIC then.
So I can now tell:
it's music
its a reel or a jig or slipjig or slow air (not familiar yet with hornpipes)
the difference between two tunes if you would let me hear the first two bars, say, john joe gardiners and christy barry's. (cannot remember which christy barrys right now sorry....still early morning)
but
working on learning the notes tell apart, this is gonna take time!
the flute does not sound yet as I was used to when I wore a hearing aid, but it does already sound much better than last monday.
last monday when playing myself I could only hear the D, E and Fsharp as notes, now I can hear the full first octave as NOTES, the G, A and B were just noise at first.
the next thing should be the second octave. I can now hear more high sounds than I did last monday.
Strange thing is when I listen to my iPod, things sound much better than when I play myself, sound wise and there I get ALL the notes most of the time.
A friend of mine (who was late deafened)which is a bass guitar player, had the same problem, and it was a matter of fine tuning of the processor by getting more middle and lows....I think for me it might be more middle and highs as I am the opposite story from her but we will see.
They won't fine tune now already but some further down the road and I hope that meanwhile by practicing I can get some more things up.
So I don't worry too much but keep working with the flute and whistles.
The soprano whistle is not taken out as much because that really sounds crap, something I had not expected as with a CI you are supposed to hear high pitches better.
YES that is true, BUT...my brain needs to interpret them first.
So if I can now already hear the waterkettle whistling (OWWW) and things I NEVER heard, I don't worry and it will be fine I am sure.
Another guitar playing friend who also has a CI (late deafened he was) told me when he visited me he could hear my flute fine, both first and second octave and both these friends have the same system as me.
I am more like my first bass guitar playing friend, but she started with hearing all the highs and I started hearing most lows and middle tones.
It doesn't matter.
The end result will be fantastic!
Meanwhile I will keep listening to a lot of music on my iPod and get more familiar with the music I used to listen to, where I can now hear things that I didn't hear before which will make things a bit easier to understand with some more time.
And hopefully make me a better player.
I have still a long way to go though, but with the lessons of my teacher this year, things have REALLY improved a lot and next month the first lesson with the CI will start .......it is going to be interesting.
I must say that now, I am happy that I already do have the basics to work with, so that I know how to get the octaves and also, since I can feel too when things are ok (vibrations) that helps me tremendously right now. (so YOU were so right by telling my flute maker.....
)have a nice weekend full of music
Berti
all music is what awakes within you
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
-
The_Celtic_Bard
- Posts: 220
- Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 9:46 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Milwaukee
-
Berti66
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2003 10:52 am
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: south east netherlands
geeez celtic bard, you make me blush!!
yes there are musicians who went deaf, and got a CI and went back on stage again. there is a guitarist who did just that.
but, to be deaf, you have to have a hearing loss of more than 90 db...to qualify, it starts with hearing losses of 80 db nowadays, depending on country.
most often, with sudden hearing loss, (ALL of your hearing) these hospitals will get you through as soon as they can.
berti
yes there are musicians who went deaf, and got a CI and went back on stage again. there is a guitarist who did just that.
but, to be deaf, you have to have a hearing loss of more than 90 db...to qualify, it starts with hearing losses of 80 db nowadays, depending on country.
most often, with sudden hearing loss, (ALL of your hearing) these hospitals will get you through as soon as they can.
berti
all music is what awakes within you
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
-
Berti66
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2003 10:52 am
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: south east netherlands
I did some experimenting this morning with solfege program.
I noticed it was easiest for me to hear second and third octave with white keys only. With practicing sometimes I was one key off.
Seems I am missing middle or high tones, can someone shine some light here? The sixt octave was hearable but did not make any sense at all.
Fourth was hardest, that is where the differce starts to be less noticeable.
With flute, I could the G and D scale apart this morning, if someone would ask me to tell which of the two.
I could say if it was the lower three notes D E and Fsharp or the upper three G A or B.
I find it easier to tell it on flute than on solfege training.
I mainly stick to second octave now on solfege training on separate notes, where it seems I hear the first, third,fourth, sixth and seventh key of the left side best......the second and fifth are hardest.
it is a lot of fun finding out stuff but I am not familiar with piano keys so I don't know what this says hehe....
and that piano sounds "off" too, the lowest tones are too low and the highest barely hearable.
berti
I noticed it was easiest for me to hear second and third octave with white keys only. With practicing sometimes I was one key off.
Seems I am missing middle or high tones, can someone shine some light here? The sixt octave was hearable but did not make any sense at all.
Fourth was hardest, that is where the differce starts to be less noticeable.
With flute, I could the G and D scale apart this morning, if someone would ask me to tell which of the two.
I could say if it was the lower three notes D E and Fsharp or the upper three G A or B.
I find it easier to tell it on flute than on solfege training.
I mainly stick to second octave now on solfege training on separate notes, where it seems I hear the first, third,fourth, sixth and seventh key of the left side best......the second and fifth are hardest.
it is a lot of fun finding out stuff but I am not familiar with piano keys so I don't know what this says hehe....
and that piano sounds "off" too, the lowest tones are too low and the highest barely hearable.
berti
all music is what awakes within you
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
-
Berti66
- Posts: 1163
- Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2003 10:52 am
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: south east netherlands
WHEW! only a few days further down the road.
today in the hospital, I had THE EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!!
because.........
when the trainer had postcards with pictures on them and was first saying words and then sentences about what was on the pictures
I COULD UNDERSTAND HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
now I am home I am still kinda dazzled..........WOWWWWW!!
I didn't expect anything like this in say, six months!! not after two weeks already!!!
this keeps promises for the future
new sounds discovered also.......kettle boiling, lots of small sounds, can often detect where something is coming from and describe it.
right now I need a new fine tuning program, which will come thursday, and that is a bit of a disappointment they had no time to do that today.
but even with this, and the ABOVE results when I am NOT hearing my very best!!!
so things are already coming.
music wise, with the iPod things are working well enough, I am for the moment enjoying Harry Potter on it (along with the real book) which is quite something for me to do.
I have discovered the processor has compression on it, that might explain why the live playing (practicing) of anything I own sounds like crap.
far too soft, the higher I go, the softer.
so the Bb is my best friend right now and thursday I am going to ask to make me a music programme (I have three programming possibilities on the processor) with the compression OFF and maybe see if I need any adjusting in the middle and low tones.
the smallest sounds are really HURTING my ear right now so that is a sign the hearing nerve/ brain has learned and that might need tuning DOWN a bit.
now I need a relaxing evening and off to practice
cheers to all
berti
today in the hospital, I had THE EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!!
because.........
when the trainer had postcards with pictures on them and was first saying words and then sentences about what was on the pictures
I COULD UNDERSTAND HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
now I am home I am still kinda dazzled..........WOWWWWW!!
I didn't expect anything like this in say, six months!! not after two weeks already!!!
this keeps promises for the future
new sounds discovered also.......kettle boiling, lots of small sounds, can often detect where something is coming from and describe it.
right now I need a new fine tuning program, which will come thursday, and that is a bit of a disappointment they had no time to do that today.
but even with this, and the ABOVE results when I am NOT hearing my very best!!!
so things are already coming.
music wise, with the iPod things are working well enough, I am for the moment enjoying Harry Potter on it (along with the real book) which is quite something for me to do.
I have discovered the processor has compression on it, that might explain why the live playing (practicing) of anything I own sounds like crap.
far too soft, the higher I go, the softer.
so the Bb is my best friend right now
and thursday I am going to ask to make me a music programme (I have three programming possibilities on the processor) with the compression OFF and maybe see if I need any adjusting in the middle and low tones. the smallest sounds are really HURTING my ear right now so that is a sign the hearing nerve/ brain has learned and that might need tuning DOWN a bit.
now I need a relaxing evening and off to practice
cheers to all
berti
all music is what awakes within you
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman
when you are reminded of it by the instrument.
walt whitman