ALDAcon Karaoke

The Karaoke party on Saturday night of ALDAcon was scheduled from 8:00 to midnight, but we were having so much fun, it actually ran over!  I honestly had no idea what to expect from this party.  I hadn’t done karaoke in almost a decade, and I admittedly have no rhythm (although I do like to dance, I’m just awful at it!).

Here is the first e-mail I received about the ALDAcon Karaoke, a few weeks before the ’Con:

“Since 1992, ALDA has hosted its Karaoke Party at our annual ALDAcon through the generous support of the Verizon Foundation. Karaoke has become a cherished and fun source of support by reconnecting us to a huge missing part of our social environment—music. While we may not be able to hear or understand music as we remember it, by feeling vibrations, reading familiar lyrics on a screen and dancing with our ALDA family, it recreates those wonderful moments we've missed since losing our hearing.” 

And from the flyer for it:

“Your friends can all hear.  Your family can too!  They laugh and cut up, but you have no clue what's goin’ on.  You wanna sing your heart out and dance yourself crazy, but you are afraid of being off key and you can't hear the rhythm of the song.  Why hold back?? That’s not YOU!!!”   

These really helped me to understand the purpose of karaoke at a conference for deafened people (you have to admit, it sounds strange at first).  It was amazing to watch this group of deaf people singing, signing, and dancing along to all eras and genres of music.  Everyone was having a blast, myself included.  Yes, the singing was mostly off-key; but, mine was too!  I got up to dance to “Walk Like an Egyptian,” “YMCA,” “Stayin’ Alive,” and “Macarena.”  It was a surreal experience, to say the least.

My favorite thing about the karaoke was the balloons.  To “re-discover” music, you can blow up a balloon and hold it on your lap while loud music is playing—it’s incredible!  I’m not sure who first discovered this, but ALDAcon Karaoke prides itself on making the music accessible to everyone, with both the lyrics on the screen, and the balloons that allow deaf people to feel the beat.

I was worried about the loudness of the music, since my mild hearing loss was probably at least aggravated by listening to music too loud over the years.  Luckily, there are special earplugs made for musicians that allow you to still hear all the frequencies of music, but lowers the decibel level just enough that it doesn’t damage your hearing.  I ordered the smaller size of musician earplugs, thinking that the adult size might hurt my ears.  They fit perfectly, and did exactly what they were supposed to!  I could still talk to people, and hear the music just fine; it just wasn’t loud or hurting my ears.  I actually started to wonder if the music was loud at all, until a Hearing lady at my table complained of splitting headache caused by the music. 

For the final song, “Wind Beneath My Wings,” we all stood around in a big circle singing.  Bob and Sarah were to my right and ended up standing right in front of one of the speakers, and I was just to the left of it with my leg pressed against it.  I could feel it shaking, hard, but the sound didn’t bother my ears at all.  After the song ended, Sarah yelled, “WOW, that speaker was LOUD!  I am in PAIN!  My ears are going to be ringing for a while!”  I felt guilty because with my earplugs, I was able to enjoy the music without any of the pain!

And now for some pictures.  Here’s a shot from “Hotel California”; Ken in the middle is signing while he sings.  They had a lot of cute props for people to wear on the stage:

This picture is from “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”  I didn’t participate because I don’t know this dance, but I did sing along: