Understanding Signed Music
Cripps & Lyonblum
signed language knowledge on the part of the performers . Performers without signed language knowledge will not perform music using their hands and movements sophisticatedly and abstractly like the performances by Janis E . Cripps and Pamela Witcher .
Visual music is not suitable for deafblind people . These people usually rely on their sense of touch to obtain information through their hands ( i . e ., tactile ). They may use tactile signed language ( or ASL ) to communicate with either sighted or non-sighted peers ( e . g ., Collins & Petronio , 1998 ; Quinto-Pozos , 2002 ). It is likely that the deafblind population will enjoy the musical performances in the signed modality by touching performer ’ s hands in order to follow the hand movements . This contradicts the characteristics and properties of visual music pieces as discussed above . Visual music is best described as inaccessible to deafblind people .
One deaf performer involved with visual music is Rosa Lee Timm , who performed Tell Your Story ( https :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v = yfZ8fVf6Ldc ). She created this signed music performance that included some of the visual music properties . In this performance , Ms . Timm performed signed lyrics while underwater , with moving air bubbles surrounding her . The bubbles contributed to the visual effect . Along with Janis E . Cripps ’ non-lyric work , Eyes ( with its abstract water-like movements ), there appears to be a recurring pattern of making references to water . While the perception of sound is dramatically reduced underwater , the performance can still be appreciated through visual means . Another interpretation might be the notion that water is a source of life .
Future Directions
With more awareness and understanding about the concept of music and how it applies to deaf people , it should no longer be necessary to search for appropriate terminology to define this phenomenon . Instead , scholars in various fields ( signed language and literature , ethnomusicology , deaf-related studies , and the studies of cognition , aesthetics , and sound ) need to move forward by conducting research with existing musical performances to explore the appreciation of the art of signed music . Specifically , using the field of aesthetics as an example , in-depth structural investigation between the distinction of ASL poetry and signed music performances using the performers ’ use of hands , body and motions should be analyzed . Further investigation of the use of musical elements and motifs in signed music in both contemporary and historical forms is especially valuable for Music Studies .
There are some valuable videos demonstrating signed music available for further study . Cripps et al . ( in press ) suggested that the availability of these resources will allow a large number of signers to become more educated and conscious of what practices constitute signed music . With greater dissemination , these videos may impact scholars , performers , teachers , and students in their understanding of the characteristics or properties of signed music . In 2015 , the Canadian Cultural Society for the Deaf ( CCSD ) presented an art exhibition on the topic of signed music in its Deaf Culture Center in Toronto , Ontario . Parts of this exhibition were included in a handbook called Signed Music : Rhythm of the Heart – Deaf Arts Handbook Series Volume II , which is available online . 6 Also , CCSD produced a 20-minute documentary called Signed Music : Rhythm of the Heart . 7
gestural modality that do not rely on an audible source . Further research must be conducted to explain this in greater detail . 6 http :// www . deafculturecentre . ca / Public / Page / Files / 642 _ DeafArtsHandbook _ Volume2 _ FINAL2015-1 . pdf 7 To view “ Signed Music : Rhythm of the Heart ”: https :// www . youtube . com / watch ? v = FLazgI _ phNQ
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