On being deaf and a singer...

Or a musician....

Due to being somewhat crippled, I was flipping channels, and came across a Sundance documentary on a deaf (profoundly, not completely) percussionist.

This is a link to something she has written to sound, as she experiences it:

http://www.evelyn.co.uk/live/hearing_essay.htm

For myself, I know there are things I've had to train myself to do. I don't have perfect pitch, so I have to know what the right notes feel like to sing. I also tend to try to 'lip-read' the piano, if I'm not careful. But when I 'listen' I listen with my whole body. I have found that closing my eyes and centering myself with the music helps. Sometimes I will place a hand on the piano, and feel the right notes, if I'm feeling lost. I try not to rely on crutches, but I do have my tricks to try to re-center myself. Its very odd, because sometimes I have a harder time matching to the human voice, and sometimes an easier time...for me, there is no hard-and-fast rule.

I'm also not profoundly deaf, I'm moderately so. But I am very aware of vibration.