Background: A review of literature shows that cochlear implant (CI) users face difficulties in terms of music interpretation when compared to regular hearing (RH) counterparts. The electrically pulsing nature of the CI acts differently than sound waves in a normally functioning ear, leading to different interpretations of musical concepts such as pitch or timbre. An exceptional case however has been observed in a university-level violinist with bimodal hearing (congenitally deaf in the right ear, and with very minimal residual hearing in the left; they use one CI and one hearing aid) at the University of Ottawa.
Objective: This study will compare the pitch recognition, timbre preference and audiation (linked to pitch and rhythmic perception) abilities between an exceptional CI user and case-control RH violinists. Data has previously been collected on CI users not playing the violin due to CI technology's limitations in pitch processing. Since the violin is considered a pitch-heavy instrument to play, it is expected that the study participant has exceptional pitch recognition skills when compared to other CI users (and perhaps RH peers), while still demonstrating comparable timbre preference and rhythmic audiation abilities to an RH comparison group.
Method: Three tests were administered relating to pitch recognition on a violin-like interface, timbre preference between two heard tones, and an Advanced Measures of Music Audiation (AMMA) test for general musical knowledge in pitch and rhythm-based melodic discrimination. Results were compared between the critical case-study with CIs and RH control participants to quantify a basis in pitch perception, timbre preference and melodic audiation (applied to pitch and rhythm) skills.
Implications: The study participant demonstrated comparable timbre preference and rhythmic discrimination skills to an RH comparison group. The study participant demonstrated pitch perception skills higher than previously tested CI users, despite being lower than the RH comparison group. The CI-using study participant would have developed these higher-than- average pitch perception skills through rigorous early-age training, and passion and persistence of music training on a pitch-heavy instrument despite known recommendations. This sheds light on the CI's technology not necessarily limiting users' choice of instrument due to its pitch processing, despite previous recommendations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/45663 |
| Date | 24 November 2023 |
| Creators | Laplante, Marc |
| Contributors | Comeau, Gilles |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ |
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