Music is inherent to the human being. Since the most primitive times we have been able to channel emotions, communicate among each other and express ourselves through sounds that later evolved into oral language. Music touches the right neural connections of our brain to make our heart vibrate. And so it does to deaf people.
“So many deaf people love music, (…) They can feel the beat, but they don’t know what the artist is saying.” Sean Forbes, deaf musician and co-founder of Deaf Professional Arts Network (D-PAN), explained to his home town’s journal the main goal of this project: bridging the silent gap between sound beats and those who are deaf or partially deaf. “I think a lot of people have the perception that just because we’re deaf, we won’t enjoy it,” Forbes stated in an interview for Crain’s Detroit Business. “There’s more to music than just hearing it, you feel it. It’s emotional.” Since 2010 D-PAN works on creating music videos using sign language to bring arts and entertainment closer to the deaf community (visit here their Youtube channel ).
The following video is D-PAN’s most famous work, a sing language performance of the single We’re going to be friends by the White Stripes which became viral with the help of the band through social media.
Our first Musica fix is thus dedicated to those able to feel the music, whether or not they can understand the lyrics.
Written by Ana Escaso Moreno
Communication Trainee at TermCoord
Journalist & Social Media manager