Music accessibility for d/Deaf people? How does that work?

Music, and other accessibility at a world-class event

Bonjour! Welcome, new subscribers! I’m away to speak about disability inclusion in the media at Bonn Institute’s b° future festival, (in fact, this is happening today!) so find me at the Museum of the Future at LVR Museum in Bonn at 11 am CET for the talk, or later, if you’re around and would like to catch up.

There will be no new content for both editions this month, but I’ll be sharing a story from an earlier issue for all new subscribers and those who missed it. This time, it is a piece from the India Inclusion Summit (IIS) in Bengaluru, an event celebrating disability, held in November 2023. I hope it will inspire you to attend the upcoming edition of IIS on 17th November.

Flipping the script on music accessibility for d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals

IIS invites the best musicians in the country to perform at the Summit. To make the music accessible to the deaf community, Indian Sign Language (ISL) interpreters take a prominent spot on the stage as well on the huge display monitors across the venue, signing the lyrics and the beats. 

Since it is not a common occurrence globally to find music interpretation in sign language, many IIS newbies were surprised. Questions like, “How do deaf people ‘listen’ to music?” and “Can music beats be interpreted for people who can’t hear?” came up in my conversations with fellow attendees. 

So, I reached out to Priyanka Kalyan, one of the ISL interpreters at IIS, Muskan Bhatia, a young Deaf university student, Pallavi Kulshreshtha, a researcher in d/Deaf education and psychology, and d/Deaf rights activist Alim Chandani, to explore how music interpretation works.

Muskan was born deaf, but ever since she was introduced to music at the age of 19 by a deaf friend, she has explored different kinds of music. Like any hearing person, she enjoys music on her phone, and keenly follows American rappers Doja Cat and ASAP Rocky.

“I like hitting up cafes and clubs which have music,” Muskan told me over a WhatsApp chat. “I feel the vibrations in the dance floor to connect with the rhythm.” 

According to a study, “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.” A 2020 report confirmed that for those who became deaf early in life, circuits throughout the brain reorganised to accommodate hearing loss.

Muskan said she avoids going to music concerts and events because they are inaccessible to her, as there are no sign language interpreters for the music. 

“A sign language interpreter could bring the music to life for me. It could help me catch every beat and every lyric,” she said.

Priyanka said that the awareness of music interpretation for deaf people is very low in India. Organisers reach out to her for music interpretation only if their events are about disability. Sometimes, deaf individuals request music accessibility at events, but their demands are not always met due to the additional cost, not to mention the paucity of interpreters. 

While there are signs for lyrics, it is tricky to interpret music beats. Muskan is a music interpreter herself and worked on a music video a few years ago. She said that sign language interpreters demonstrate the rhythm and the speed of the music using their hands, face, and body. They use different gestures and movements to express the intensity of the beats and the melody.

Amid the several sounds of musical instruments, interpreters pick the most dominant sound to interpret. So, if the flute and piano are being played together, they would interpret the more prominent one by replicating the instrument with their hands. If both are equally prominent, the interpreter would switch from one to the other. 

“My gestures and facial expressions follow the speed of the music,” Priyanka said. She often shows higher pitch and intensity by cupping one hand around her mouth and slowly pulling it up. 

Being able to prepare in advance is critical to an interpreter’s performance. For music videos, interpreters get enough preparation time. However, it becomes challenging to interpret accurately at music concerts when the songs are not shared in advance. “Sometimes, the music is quite loud and I miss the lyrics,” Priyanka said. Preparing in advance also helps an interpreter paint the complete picture and convey the proper meaning of a song.

Music interpretation is an art. Many times, sign language interpreters just sign the lyrics of a song. When the music appears, they just gesture ‘music’. That’s not enough for most deaf individuals. With sign language interpretation of music “I can fully engage in events and feel included,” said Muskan.

Alim said that making music accessible to deaf people can also give a boost to talented deaf individuals who desire to become songwriters or sign language interpreters for music. It’s important to have deaf interpreters as they can bring the richness of deaf culture to their interpretation.

How do deaf interpreters like Muskan work? 

Live interpretation of concerts by deaf interpreters is not yet seen in India. For the interpretation of recorded videos, Muskan and her colleagues from the tiny, but growing, deaf interpreter community read the lyrics and prepare for the music interpretation in advance before the recording.

Interested in learning more about sign language interpretation for concerts? I’d recommend this interview and this captioned video narrating the journey of American sign language interpreter Amber Galloway.

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How IIS made the Summit accessible

The first issue of Reframing Disability discussed how every small step towards accessibility counts. Folks at IIS take this seriously. Accessibility of music for deaf people was just one step for them. There were other simple measures for accessibility as well. Choosing an accessible venue - the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bengaluru was an important decision. Since the staff members at the hotel have been trained to interact with persons with disabilities, they were proactively providing support during the event. 

The first few rows in the auditorium were left vacant for easy movement of wheelchair users. To escape the chaos, there were separate counters for people with disabilities to access lunch, with low tables for wheelchair users. A separate ‘silent’ room was set up; here people with sensory overload could sit and watch the programme on a display monitor. 

From over 100 volunteers, a buddy was assigned to every person with a disability who needed support for registration, moving around the venue, and lunch. Buddies audio described the programme to blind people. Last but not least, every artwork at the art exhibition had a tactile replica, a write-up in Braille, and a QR code that directed users to a YouTube channel offering more insights about the piece.

Most of these measures didn’t cost extra; they just needed to be thought through from the beginning, and baked into the planning of the event. They made the Summit accessible, and therefore, comfortable and enjoyable for persons with disabilities. 

Would you consider taking these steps the next time you conduct an event?

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Warmly,

Priti