Ruth Hansford: The Musician at the Cocktail Party

Most of us have heard about Beethoven or Evelyn Glennie's deafness. But all musicians' hearing, just like everyone else's, deteriorates over time, with age and especially because of noise. So how do you keep performing as a musician when your hearing deteriorates? What techniques do musicians develop to cope with it? And what do cocktail parties have to do with it?CONTRIBUTOR BIORuth Hansford is getting closer to finishing her PhD in the Music and Media Department at Surrey. She has a background in languages and literature and a long-standing interest in listening and storytelling. Her PhD journey, which started off over a decade ago with a project on noise, music and hearing with the BBC Performing Groups, has involved a series of interviews with musicians who have been talking about their changing relationship with their ears. Ruth is a classically trained singer and freelance opera surtitler, and manages digitisation projects at the British Library. She has been learning about sound editing – and trying to put it into practice.Here she is interviewed by the founder of the Technecast, Jo Langton, who finished her PhD last year.Twitter: www.twitter.com/ruthhansford=====Interviewed by Jo Langton.Presented by Julien Clin.Royalty free music generously shared by Steve Oxen. FesliyanStudios.comThe Technecast is run by Julien Clin and Polly Hember. Please email [email protected] if you would like to be featured on the podcast, or if you have any questions.