eatabean

Excellent insight. This is all true.

I would like to add that as a (almost) deaf former professional musician, my ears prevent me from hearing music as I know it should sound. If I could somehow disconnect my ears and stop the tinnitus and distortion I would enjoy music a lot more than I do now. I miss the good old days.

Are there any books about the history of magic devices? How does one gain access to that info? The brotherhood protects our secrets so well...

I have worn hearing aids for thirty years. When I shower I no longer hear the water, but with my hearing aids I can carry on a normal conversation. My musical training taught me to "hear" with my entire body, much as you describe. I played in orchestras in the USA and Europe, and the choice to give it up cost me dearly. The technicians who program the hearing aids were surprized I could hear the small changes as they tweaked the parameters. As for tinnitus, if you have no chance to physically reduce the perceived sounds, you simply need a strategy to cope with it. My strategy is to occupy myself with things I enjoy doing. That way I am distracted by the constant Niagara Falls-flock of birds-bell factory in my head! If you ever were able hear music I think you would definitely enjoy it, although it would be VERY different from your own perception of what it is. Thank you for this AMA, I think you have shown a great strength and have been an inspiration to many.

Listen, make your own way. Beethoven did. Mozart did. There is NOTHING to stop you from changing the way music sounds for all future generations. Lead, don't follow. Orchestral musicians are re-creating music, not creating it. I am one. I will played with the best. The best of the best. And then I discovered people who truly created music. Sounds that had never been hear before, and we're beautiful to hear. I love Mahler, Strauss, Sjostakovitj and Bartok, but I love my friends and my own music more. That's why we play. Not money