Deaf Man Describes Hearing Music For the First Time.

 

A man who has been deaf his whole life has recently talked about the amazing moment he heard music for the first time with Vice's, "Noisey."

Austin Chapman's hearing disorder had him suffering through poor-quality hearing aids which made music sound like, "garbled trash," for over 20 years. He finally gave up on trying to listen to music long ago. "They only allowed me to hear the low tones and also had zero clarity," he says in his interview with Noisey.

Now he's been upgraded to a brand new set based on the latest technology - and the results have been dramatic.

"Before I could see some shapes and colors, but now I’m seeing every detail and layer. It's like I’m going from one or two colors to this fully 3D world," he says of his new hearing aids.


Austin has tried listening to as many genres as possible ever since the change. His favourite music so far? Mozart's "Requiem," which he rates at 99/100.

"The ones I like they're really harmonious and melodic. The bad ones are loud and over exposed," he says. "There are a few modern bands pushing music to the next level. I just didn't expect to love classical more than any genre. So, from my point of view, music has been in a confused and downward spiral ever since classical ended."

He's partial to a bit of guitar, though, with his score for the Blue rating at 91/100 with reggae close behind at 85/100.

Read the complete interview here