CymaSpace’s Research on Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Music Education Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts

PORTLAND, Ore. — CymaSpace, a Deaf-led nonprofit arts and cultural organization, is underway on a year-long research project testing how a Deaf-centered STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics) music curriculum can improve engagement, learning, and creative expression for K-12 students who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH). The project, Universal Music Design (UMD), is supported by a $90,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Over the next year, the UMD team will run a two-part study: testing cochlear implant programming for music rather than speech perception in Dr. Lina Reiss’ lab at Oregon Health & Science University, alongside lab experiments on multisensory listening, while piloting classroom lessons built on tools UMD has already developed. DHH students in partner schools will take part through Columbia Regional Inclusive Services, and findings from both tracks will shape a K-12 STEAM curriculum for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

Dedicated to increasing sonic agency for DHH populations, the research expands on work conducted by UMD to explore the universal qualities of Jazz, seeking to make Jazz concerts accessible for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing through its #deafjazz project funded by South Arts Jazz Road. The research also builds on tools UMD has already developed, including GestoLumina, a wearable interface that lets Deaf and hard-of-hearing musicians play music through gesture, haptic feedback, and light, presented at the 2024 New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) conference. A companion album produced by Deaf and hard-of-hearing artists will serve as both a listening tool for the study and source material for the curriculum.

“We are incredibly grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts for their support of this project. Cochlear implants are currently built and tuned for speech, not music. This project asks what changes when we design specifically for music instead, and allows us to build a curriculum for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students around those findings.”

— Dr. Shawn Trail, UMD Project Director

The project’s companion album and installation are being developed with Sean Wolfe, a Portland-based artist who records electronic music as Salvo Beta and will serve as lead audio engineer. Wolfe, who lost hearing in his right ear after surgery for an acoustic neuroma and now uses a cochlear implant, is curating the album’s visual counterpart and developing an installation using the study’s tools.

“Navigating the world with a cochlear implant has completely shifted how I approach sound. For a long time, technology wasn't designed for the richness of music, and that’s a gap we’re trying to close with this project. It’s deeply personal to be able to pair that journey with my work as Salvo Beta. I’m honored to work with this team not just to push the boundaries of hearing science, but to make music that sounds as vibrant and textured for the DHH community as it does for anyone else.”

— Sean Wolfe (Salvo Beta), Lead Audio Engineer

UMD is led by Dr. Trail, Assistant Professor of Practice: Audio Engineering and Director of the Jeffrey Haskell Recording Studio at the University of Arizona, and Lead Design Engineer Dillon Simeone, who is Deaf. Simeone also leads the Haptic Petting Zoo, a touring kinetic-sculpture installation using touch, vibration, and thermal feedback — a separate project supported by an Oregon Community Foundation Creative Heights Grant that will help shape UMD's school supply kits.

Project partners include Oregon State University’s OPEnS Lab, Eastern Washington University, Columbia Regional Inclusive Services, and Telegraph Mastering, with an advisory board of researchers from Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon State University, Gallaudet University, and Eastern Washington University.

“Growing up deaf, while hearing kids were in music class learning to share that rhythm, I was sent to the library to read. It got me to a college reading level early, but it also isolated me from how people connect. UMD is shaking up the haptic landscape to finally bridge that gap, giving Deaf people the physical, visceral music access we’ve always deserved.”

— Dillon Simeone, Lead Design Engineer

Also joining the research team is Misty Jones Simpson, Associate Professor in the Department of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). Simpson holds a bachelor’s in Music Education from Baylor University and a master’s in Music Technology Innovation from Berklee College of Music’s Valencia, Spain campus. In 2023 she became profoundly deaf in both ears due to Meniere’s disease; she now uses bilateral cochlear implants and is adapting to hearing and creating music bionically.

“Losing my hearing as a musician was certainly tragic, but being a part of this team allows me to combine this experience plus my expertise in order to help the greater good. I am thrilled to join this NEA-supported research effort to help re-imagine how bionic hearing technology and music education can better serve the DHH community.”

— Misty Jones Simpson, MTSU Associate Professor of Recording Industry

Additional NEA-supported project events, including public workshops and community demonstrations, will be announced in the coming months.

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