| Autism and Audio [message #77267] |
Tue, 23 July 2013 13:46  |
RustyC
Messages: 44
Registered: July 2013
Location: AL
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Baron |
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My son is slightly autistic.
One of the things about him that is different is his amazing hearing. I haven't tested it yet, but I think he could probably hear bats! I know that he can tell when I've turned on the TV upstairs when he is in the basement. I can't hear it standing next to it, but he says it has a particular sound he can hear. Now that he's older and learned to deal with being bombarded by sounds, it's not nearly as bad, but as you can imagine, his childhood was a little hellish.
Of course he is a musician and has perfect pitch. This is both a blessing and a curse. He plays the piano, violin, cello and recorder. On the instruments he can tune himself, things are great. But for a piano, that can lose its tune every change of season? And that require special people with specialized tools to tune? Oh terrible.
Turns out, however, that electric pianos have come a long way. You can buy an electric piano that looks and sounds and plays like a real grand piano. The keys are weighted the same. The finish and styles are equally as wonderful. And they never go out of tune! Of course they cost as much as real grand pianos, but not more. So if you have a serious musician, I whole-heartedly recommend digital pianos.
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| Re: Autism and Audio [message #77291 is a reply to message #77267] |
Thu, 25 July 2013 20:53  |
RustyC
Messages: 44
Registered: July 2013
Location: AL
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Baron |
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Yes Roxxi, it upsets him when something is not right. He won't play his grandmother's piano, because she uses some tuner who, according to my son, doesn't get it quite right. Plus something about the way the cabinet vibrates...I don't know.
He's better now, at least in not complaining too loudly, but when he was young, he would get really nearly hysterical sometimes about some sounds.
We always tell the story about when he and his brother were both taking piano lessons. His older brother was ahead maybe a year. Baby had been taking lessons a few months. So Big Brother has this classical piece, Something in G (Key of G has one sharp, all the rest are the usual "white notes"). Every time he would practice it, baby brother would yell, from where ever he was in the house, "No!, that's not blahblah in G!" It sounded right to all the rest of us. But we get to the lesson, and the teacher asks BigBrother, is there some reason you're not playing the sharp note? He was playing the tune and all that correctly, but he was playing it in C, basically, because he was forgetting to "sharp" the F. So, Baby B was right it was not BlahBlah in G, because it was not in G! He'd been taking only a few months!
It's been an experience.
Some day I'll tell you about the 4 state search for the perfect violin.
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| Re: Autism and Audio [message #77303 is a reply to message #77267] |
Sat, 27 July 2013 21:27 |
The Mother
Messages: 34
Registered: April 2013
Location: The Deep South
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Baron |
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Well, Rusty, don't be shy, tell us about the four state violin search. We're always up for a good story around here. I assume you were eventually successful?
If at first you don't succeed, go back and do it the way Mother told you to.
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