We are all different when it comes to the perception modality we prefer when getting to know the world around us. The deaf cannot hear the music, but they can see and feel it if we provide them with the right visual (sight) and tactile/kinaesthetic (touch/movement) elements. For the first time in Romania, we implemented a unique musical project for the deaf and hearing-impaired people of Transylvania. The events were locally based, but were organized in several cities, so deaf people could literally feel and enjoy the wonderful world of music. Thanks to partnerships with various public and private institutions (among which there were schools, philharmonics, choirs, church communities, NGOs), the events were organized without a financial involvement of the deaf people from Transylvania, who also benefited from the services of several sign language interpreters. Inaudible sounds-according to the researcher Olivea Dewhurst-Maddock 2 Sound is a part of life. People have used sounds to convey information about the world around them and to communicate with each other since ancient times. From the beginning of our existence, even before we are born, we are surrounded by sounds, such as the mother's heartbeats and the suppressed noise of the outside world. We live in a world of sounds. Sounds that we hear or do not hear, musical or chaotic sounds, odd or familiar sounds, stressful or pleasant sounds, sounds that disturb us, and sounds that heal us. Sound is movement. Specifically, sound is a vibratory movement produced when objects are moved from one place to another or when they swing, like a pendulum's weight. At fundamental level, sound is the movement of atoms and molecules. Object-made sounds originate in the movement of the millions of atoms and molecules from which the objects are made of. Sound is the result of the vibration movement of objects-hence, it is also a form of kinetic energy. Each atom, every molecule, cell, tissue, and (human) body organ continually transmits frequencies corresponding to physical, emotional, mental and spiritual life. To produce sounds, an object needs to vibrate or perform a to-and-fro movement. The number of to-and-fro movement cycles in a second is known as the frequency. The frequency of sound is the main factor determining its application for therapeutic purposes. Low sounds have low frequencies and high ones have high frequencies. Air is made up of mobile gas molecules. Each vibration first produces the compression of the air molecules that are immediately next to the sound source followed by expansion or the increasing of the distances between them. These "waves" of compression and expansion move in the air, starting from the sound source, like the waves of a lake, but in three dimensions. These are the sound waves. Actually, airborne sound waves are made up of air molecules that move from side to side or longitudinally. In conclusion, travelling in the form of a wave, sound has the ability to pass through any environment-air, metal, glass, wood, water and so on. These waves are invisible. In the cosmos nothing is motionless. The state of absolute zero temperature, i.e.-273.15 °C, when 1 Györgyjakab Miklós studied Music-Theology-Education at the Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj and the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Currently he is involved in EU-projects regarding social non-governmental organizations and works as a sworn translator and court interpreter in Romania. Contact:
gyomiklos@yahoo.com 2 Dewhurst-Maddock, Olivea, Terapia prin sunete (The book of sound therapy), Ed. Teora, București, 1998, p 9-34.
