Tinnitus, Auditory Knowledge and the Arts

this is a hand-drawn rendition of ‘how tinnitus feels… sounds that sound like my tinnitus’. The descriptions of the first four sounds are all underlined in pink. ‘the hum of a computer’, ‘a whine of a car engine’, the drone of a helicopter’, ‘an orchestra tuning up’. below this are a number of other sounds, in the centre is a heart with the words ‘masking soothing sounds’, with graphic equivalents in different colours.’a gentle shower ‘, ‘a trickling brook’ and ‘gentle rain’ feature drawings of water in turquoise; ‘birds’ corresponds to musical notes in black; ‘driving on a smooth road’ is underlined in pink; ‘gentle harp music’ and wind in the trees’ are just written, and ‘walnuts being rolled (ASMR) features a drawing of several small walnuts in pink. below this is the ‘sounds I dislike’ section. ‘high pitch beeps’, ‘dentist drill’, ‘fire bell’, ’noisy canal boat engine’, ‘screaming’ ‘screeching brakes’, and ‘train screeching on tracks’ are all accompanied by red lines, either dotted or jagged, with ‘tinny music’ being represented by red musical notes with lines drawn through them. The bottom section is in three parts: ‘feels’, underlined in pink, ‘background line of sound’; ‘mask’, with an orange heart drawn underneath, ‘intermittent sound, gentle, compliments, pleasant’; ‘dislike’, surrounded by jagged black lines’, ‘harsh, high, continuous, unpleasant’.

a collage of fluorescent strip lights on a white background. the same image is repeated using different sizes

text in italics reads: Buzz from an electric socket. hum of the fridge. high-pitched shrill of a bad violinist. A barely noticeable whistle.