The Sound of Bass: How Do Deaf People Experience a Party?

The video from above interviews a few partiers who are deaf and begs the question, how do you enjoy music? They have really thoughtful answers and deep experiences even without being about to hear the music the same way hearing people can. They explain how music with a heavy bass is the best because its vibrations help them feel what others are experiencing. Proxy touch traveling to one's feet gives a sensational feel to an otherwise auditory stimuli. Dr. Dean Shibata, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Washington, says it best: "[Studies] suggest that the experience deaf people have when ‘feeling’ music is similar to the experience other people have when hearing music. The perception of the musical vibrations by the deaf is likely every bit as real as the equivalent sounds, since they are ultimately processed in the same part of the brain" (Neary 2001).

Neary, W. (2001, November 27). Brains of deaf people rewire to 'hear' music. University of Washington News. https://www.washington.edu/news/2001/11/27/brains-of-deaf-people-rewire-to-hear-music/.