Recording artist advocate: Don’t write off the deaf guy…

I was recording a band. A really good one. As we were putting a rough mix together, one of the principals told me he was almost deaf. Not just the kind of deaf you get if your not careful, he actually has large parts of the audio spectrum that are just gone. And yet he was able to tell me exactly how he wanted the mix and took an active role in the process. I wanted to tell him to leave it to the folks who could actually hear, but I didn’t, and was impressed when the things he asked for sounded great.

I had a singer in recently who impressed me in the same way, especially when I realized she was just as hearing impaired. Another artist had a terrible time with his headphones at ear-splitting levels but was able to match the lead singers backing vocals with amazingly tight harmonies.

All this is to say that people will surprise you. The guy who can’t seem to 
put a sentence together may write a song that could make your career. 
The person asking you to play a song or say happy birthday may hire you 
for a private party at twice your going rate. 

Or a nearly deaf person may know how to make your music sound great.

Keep an open mind. 

Oh, and get yourself some ear-plugs or sound reducing inner-ears so you can 
protect your hearing.