Do join us for our next instalment of the HearMus seminar series.

HearMus 8. Wednesday 8th October 14:00-16:00 BST (15:00-17:00 CEST)

Speakers:

Vinzenz Schönfelder (Mimi Hearing Technologies GmbH)

Dr Pauline Mouawad (UCL Ear Institute)

Zoom details:

Topic: HearMus Seminar 8 (Wed 8th Oct 3-5pm CEST)

Time: Oct 8, 2025 02:00 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

https://universityofleeds.zoom.us/j/82380577236

Meeting ID: 823 8057 7236

Hands-on experiences with measuring subjective benefit of music processing strategies for HI listeners

Vinzenz Schönfelder, Mimi Hearing Technologies GmbH

Reliably quantifying the benefit of signal processing strategies represents an essential part of developing products for hearing impaired listeners. However, unlike in the speech processing context, there is no standard method or metric to determine the extent to which the enhancement of music signals improves the individual listening experience. In addition to the specific differences between speech and music stimuli, this is primarily due to differences in the purpose of speech vs. music processing: preference for one or another music signal is highly subjective and individual, and thus inherently hard to quantify.

In this presentation, we will provide an overview over the specific challenges and potential solutions in the context of measuring subjective preference for processing strategies aimed at music signals. We will present and discuss study designs and data analysis methods that we have used to quantify processing benefit and share some study results along with our hands-on experience in the general context of music processing for hearing impaired listeners.

Musical complexity governs a tradeoff between reliability and dimensionality in the neural code

Dr Pauline Mouawad

Previous studies have explored neural responses to simple musical sounds, but the neural coding of complex music remains unexplored. We addressed this gap by analyzing multi-unit activity (MUA) recorded from the inferior colliculus (IC) of normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) gerbils in response to a range of music types at multiple sound levels. The music types included individual stems (vocals, drums, bass, and other) as well as mixtures in which the stems were combined.

Using coherence analysis, we assessed how reliably music is encoded in the IC across repeated presentations and the degree to which individual stems are distorted when presented in a mix- ture. To explore neural activity patterns at the network level, we used PCA to identify the signal manifold, the subspace where reliable musical information is embedded. To model neural trans- formations, we developed a deep neural network (DNN) to generate MUA from sound. To assess the impact of hearing loss, we compared results for NH and HI at equal sound and sensation levels.

We identified strong nonlinear interactions between stems, affecting both the reliability and geometry of neural coding. The reliability of responses and the dimensionality of the signal manifold varied widely across music types, with reliability decreasing and dimensionality increasing with increasing musical complexity. The leading modes in the signal manifold were reliable and shared across all music types, but as musical complexity increased, new neural modes emerged, though these were increasingly unreliable. Our DNN successfully synthesized MUA from music with high fidelity. After hearing loss, neural coding was strongly distorted at equal sound level but these distortions were largely corrected at equal sensation level.

Music processing in the early auditory pathway involves nonlinear interactions that shape the neural representation in complex ways. The signal manifold contains a fixed set of leading modes that are invariant across music types. As music becomes more complex the manifold is not reconfigured; instead, new, less reliable modes are added. These new modes reflect a fundamental trade-off between fidelity and complexity in the neural code. The fact that suitable amplification restores near-normal neural coding suggests that mild-to-moderate hearing loss primarily affects audibility rather than the brainstem’s capacity to process music.

The interdisciplinary, open access online journal Music & Science has just released a special issue on music and hearing loss.

Music and hearing loss

Description

It is estimated that by 2050, 2.5 billion people will be living with hearing loss* (WHO, 2024). Hearing loss is a major barrier for accessing music, which can impact negatively on music perception and appreciation and lead to a reduction in musical activities and associated reduction in quality of life. This special collection is focused on scientific research which seeks to understand how hearing loss affects music experiences (perception, listening, performance) and how these can be improved for people with all levels of hearing. This might include approaches to hearing conservation, technical improvements to hearing devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implants, and audiological practice. It might also include alternative approaches to traditional rehabilitation such as vibrotactile perception and other promising augmentation strategies.

We invite submissions from a wide range of disciplinary areas such as music and creative practice, psychology, audiology, acoustics, psychoacoustics, engineering, computer science.

Topics may include (but not be limited to):

• Hearing conservation and hearing protection devices
• Hearing aids for music: user experiences, technological innovation, application design
• Cochlear implants for music: user experiences, technological innovation, sound coding strategies
• Deep learning and signal processing for hearing devices for music
• Music augmentation strategies (e.g. vibrotactile, personalised listening)
• Audiological/hearing therapy practice
• Music-based aural rehabilitation strategies
• Music perception and hearing loss
• Creative practice for those with hearing loss

The Special Collection welcomes the full range of paper types (including empirical research articles, theoretical papers, position papers, discussions, and reviews).

*Please note: We are using ‘hearing loss’ as the term most commonly used in scientific research papers which address the impact of different levels of hearing on music experience. We appreciate the complexity and diversity of terminology and philosophical perspectives on this matter, and that different terms are preferred and commonly used. Given variations in terminology use (e.g. ‘hearing impairment’, ‘deaf’, ‘hard of hearing’, ‘hearing difference’), we ask that authors use their preferred terms, along with any relevant critique of terminology.

You can find out more, including the submission guidelines here: https://journals.sagepub.com/topic/collections-mns/mns-1-music_and_hearing_loss/mns

Deadline for submissions: 31 December 2025

Editorial team:

Alinka Greasley, Scott Bannister, Kai Siedenburg, Kate Gfeller, Gerardo Roa Dabike

Please contact me or one of the editorial team if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Alinka

The HearMus seminar series provides a monthly forum for the discussion of a broad array of topics around music and hearing health. The series aims to yield a state of the art of research on music perception and hearing impairment, hearing aids and music, and individual differences in music perception and production. Besides presentations from experts in academia and industry, the seminar series seeks to foster lively discussions and exchange of ideas, with the joint goal of sustaining and enhancing access to music for people with diverse hearing needs.

Seminar leaders: Prof. Alinka Greasley, Prof. Kai Siedenburg

You can find out more and watch seminars back on our dedicated page: https://musicandhearingaids.org/hearmus-seminars/

 

In this post, I would like to introduce Lena Batra, a hearing care consultant and trainer and a registered hearing therapist, who writes about how her firsthand experience of music and hearing loss led to her launching Hearing & Music in Hearing Care Practice: PROM-T⁵ ® Foundation Course. This is the first course of its kind to provide audiologists and other hearing care professionals with comprehensive training for delivering music rehabilitation within hearing care services. A course which brings together healthcare science, hearing technology, music and a fully holistic view of the individual’s needs.

 Hearing and music in hearing care practice…are we listening?

It’s hard to imagine that it was over 22 years ago that I first stepped into the hearing care industry, in my capacity as a hearing therapy trainee at the former Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital in London. This step was actually very familiar territory for me,  seeing as I had lost a significant part of my hearing in childhood and had been under hearing care services most of my life.

This time, however, it was my job to empower and facilitate rehabilitation, change and adjustment for those who have developed hearing issues.  It felt both a natural calling and a hugely rewarding career choice for me.  However, it wasn’t long before an incident arose reminding me that I was still very much an end user of hearing care services myself.

In short, I was involved in a car accident, which lead to further complications with my hearing and this time there was a difference.  I had lost my access to music and there appeared to be nothing that could be done to help. It was through this incident, spurred on by my life-long love and deep connection to music that I began my professional deep dive into the subject of hearing and music, and of the impact of changes to hearing on music perception.

This process led me to successfully rehabilitate my own music perception and subsequently go on, within my professional practice, to deliver individually tailored programmes of care for others with music needs. This raised an important question for me: “What, if anything, are we doing to address the music needs of individuals coming through hearing care services?”

My answer to this, is “not enough”.

I feel there is a commonly held (mis)belief that music is a luxurious add-on to the fabric of our lives; it’s true to say that music creates a fulfilling pastime for many, but for a significant portion it is central to their existence.  What is also less obvious to the naked eye (or should that be ear?) is not only the sheer amount of music we are surrounded by in our daily lives, but also the sociocultural and health benefits which come from being engaged in music.

You need to take only a cursory look at the literature to begin to understand the ever-increasing place that music is occupying in the domain of health and wellbeing research and to see its practical application in healthcare – from dementia care pathways, to singing for lung health and beyond.

It’s important, therefore, that audiologists and other hearing care professionals (HCPs) play a central part in ensuring the continued access to music for those with hearing issues which are impacting their music engagement – in much the same way as they do for speech.  Our aims as HCPs in hearing care are to facilitate hearing and brain health and social connectedness, for which music can play an important role. However, in practice music rehabilitation is not routinely provided.

Training in music-related issues and interventions is not routinely part of the standard curriculum of training for audiologists and other HCPs.  This was confirmed in my time as an advisory board member for the Hearing Aids for Music research project, led by Professor Alinka Greasley (read the final report here). In the time since this report, hearing aid manufacturers, such as Oticon, have worked hard to deliver dedicated music programmes which offer an enhanced experience over earlier generations of music programmes.  However, there is still a need to address the training needs for audiologists and other HCPs. Music and speech are different entities acoustically, perceptually and experientially and the issues that individuals may develop with their music experience can vary significantly from one to the other.

My course, Hearing & Music in Hearing Care Practice: PROM-T⁵ ® Foundation Course, meets this education and training gap. It is a comprehensive course which takes the audiologist and other HCP through the whole rehabilitation process from assessing needs to developing individually tailored programmes of care, based on a dedicated care framework.

In the first part of the course, the attendee will learn about the sociocultural importance of music and the value of including music as part of hearing care services. They will then go on to develop a detailed understanding of the experiential process of music perception and the implications of changes to hearing on these processes. This will enable the attendee to develop a keener awareness of the individual and combined impact of a range of inter-related issues that can  come to bear on music perception.

In the second part of the course, the attendee will begin to understand the process of rehabilitation with respect to music and will be introduced to the PROM-T⁵ Care Framework® which encompasses tools for assessing and navigating the individual’s care pathway, as well as practical steps to help ensure a harmonisation between hearing, and music including the use of a specialist software tool for tailoring music to the listening preferences of patients.

In the 17 years since my initial experience of challenges with hearing and music, and of my specialism in music rehabilitation for individuals, the questions I have now for all audiologists, HCPs and other interested parties are:

Would you like to understand….

• …Why some individuals have more challenges than others when it comes to music?
• …Why these challenges may not correlate with the audiometric picture of the individual?
• …When hearing aids should be used for music, and the best way to use them?
• …How to optimise the music outcomes for individuals, including identifying and assisting those with more complex needs?

If your answer to any, or all, of these questions is “yes”, then this course is for you.

The Hearing & Music in Hearing Care Practice: PROM-T⁵ ® Foundation Course is open for enrolment now and has all the information, tools and resources you need to guide your interventions for individuals with music needs.  It is fully remotely accessible, accredited by the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists (BSHAA) and successful completion of the course leads to recognition as a certified PROM-T⁵ ® Practitioner.

To enrol on the course, or to view further details of the course please scan this QR code, or click on the link:

https://lenabatra.thinkific.com/courses/promt5foundationcourse

 

 

 

Lena Batra is a Hearing Care and Deaf Awareness Consultant and Trainer and a registered hearing therapist.  She is the founder of the PROM-T⁵ ® approach to music rehabilitation and the author of Hearing & Music in Hearing Care Practice: PROM-T⁵ ® Foundation Course. Lena identifies as deaf. www.lenabatra.com

Hashtags: #hearingandmusic #hearingcarepractice #musicrehabilitation #PROM-T⁵  #PROMT5 #PROMT5foundation #PROMT5careframework #musicperception #audiologists #hearingcareprofessionals #HCPs

 

We are leading a panel presentation at the forthcoming Virtual Conference on Computational Audiology on Thursday June 20th 15:15pm GMT.

“What people with and without hearing loss want from music”

Musical engagement, whether listening or performing, is highly prevalent in everyday life and plays a key role in health and wellbeing. Music is a pleasurable activity that can enhance mood, regulate emotions, help with activities and bring back memories. These functions tend to be similar despite individual variation in preference for musical genres and characteristics. For those with hearing loss, who may be hearing aid and/or cochlear implant users, music appreciation can be challenging. Research highlights difficulties with pitch and melodic perception, problems identifying instruments and lyrics, distortion and poor sound quality. This panel will critically discuss the key factors influencing music appreciation for those with and without hearing loss. After a brief discussion of motivations for engaging with music, the panel will consider the musical, listener and contextual factors that shape our responses to music and patterns of preference. The panellists, who have knowledge and expertise in music, performance, psychology, acoustics and audiology, will reflect on their own musical experiences and how these are shaped by musical contexts and changes in hearing. The discussion will broaden to assess how music experiences might be improved for those with hearing loss, considering hearing devices, technological innovation and clinical practice.

You can find the programme here:

https://computationalaudiology.com/vcca2024-conference-program/

And register to attend for free here:

https://computationalaudiology.com/vcca2024-registration/

We have just published the first sensory panel study from the Cadenza project in Frontiers in Psychology which you can access freely here.

Abstract

Background: Previous work on audio quality evaluation has demonstrated a developing convergence of the key perceptual attributes underlying judgments of quality, such as timbral, spatial and technical attributes. However, across existing research there remains a limited understanding of the crucial perceptual attributes that inform audio quality evaluation for people with hearing loss, and those who use hearing aids. This is especially the case with music, given the unique problems it presents in contrast to human speech.

Method: This paper presents a sensory evaluation study utilising descriptive analysis methods, in which a panel of hearing aid users collaborated, through consensus, to identify the most important perceptual attributes of music audio quality and developed a series of rating scales for future listening tests. Participants (N = 12), with a hearing loss ranging from mild to severe, first completed an online elicitation task, providing single-word terms to describe the audio quality of original and processed music samples; this was completed twice by each participant, once with hearing aids, and once without. Participants were then guided in discussing these raw terms across three focus groups, in which they reduced the term space, identified important perceptual groupings of terms, and developed perceptual attributes from these groups (including rating scales and definitions for each).

Results: Findings show that there were seven key perceptual dimensions underlying music audio quality (clarity, harshness, distortion, spaciousness, treble strength, middle strength, and bass strength), alongside a music audio quality attribute and possible alternative frequency balance attributes.

Discussion: We outline how these perceptual attributes align with extant literature, how attribute rating instruments might be used in future work, and the importance of better understanding the music listening difficulties of people with varied profiles of hearing loss.

Thanks

We want to say a huge thanks to our participants for giving up several days of their time to help us with this important work.

Cadenza is a 5 year UKRI-funded project involving four UK Universities and associated industrial partners. The aim of the project is to organise open challenges for music processing algorithms to improve the listening experience for those with hearing impairment.

Workshop – 8th December 2023

We are now pleased to announce the 1st Cadenza Workshop for Machine Learning Challenges to Improve Music Listening for People with a Hearing Impairment. This will be a four-hour online event taking place on the 8th of December, starting at 12:00 GMT (07:00 US East / 20:00 Taipei Time).

The event will summarise the work that the team has carried out so far, which includes a sensory evalaution study to explore perceptions of audio quality among hearing-impaired listeners and derive scales to be used in listening experiments, the development and implementation of the first ever machine learning challenge targeted to improve music for those with a hearing impairment, and the results of a listener panel study in which people with hearing impairments have rated the systems that challenge entrants have developed. There will also be guest speakers talking on a range of topics including the development of a musical scene analysis test and remixing music for people with hearing impairment.

You can register for free here: https://cadenzachallenge.org/cadenza2023-workshop/

This time last week, I delivered a talk at the danalogic GN Complex Needs Eductional Day (6th June 2023, London) . This event is run annually to provide NHS audiologists with opportunities for Continuining Professional Development. Hosted by the GN dedicated NHS team, and joined by speakers from the UK and internationally, the event focuses on key areas within Complex Needs, including how to support patients. Drawing on the Hearing Aids for Music project findings, my talk focused on the problems hearing aid users experience and clinical strategies that audiologists can use to improve musical experiences. You can access the slides of my talk here and watch the recording here.

 

We have recently started a new project called Cadenza (http://cadenzachallenge.org/), which aims to improve the musical experiences of people with hearing loss by developing innovative signal processing strategies for music for use in hearing aids and consumer devices. This leads on from our Hearing Aids for Music project which identified that hearing aids need improving for music listening and performance.

As part of this research, the team will be carrying out some music listening studies to explore and understand the experiences of those with hearing loss. These studies will involve listening to various music samples and describing these in terms of their audio quality, and possibly discussing this with others, to understand better how music quality is perceived by people with hearing loss. Some of these studies will take place online, and some studies may involve participating at the University of Leeds campus.

The research team are currently looking for people with hearing loss who would potentially be interested in taking part in these music listening studies. This project has the potential to be transformative for millions of people with hearing loss in the UK and globally, and peoples’ reflections on their musical experiences would really help to achieve this. Participants will be paid for their time.

If there are any people who would be interested in learning more about this project, and who would want to express their interest in participating, please do get in touch via email with Prof. Alinka Greasley and Dr. Scott Bannister at [email protected].

Thank you very much!

 

On behalf of Dr Lauren Ward (University of York, [email protected])

Want to play games to help us understand how we can make mixed reality more inclusive and accessible?

Sky and Reflex Arc, with the XR Stories project at the University of York, are investigating how to design more accessible and inclusive experiences for diverse users. We have designed a new mixed reality game and are taking expressions of interest to be a user tester.

Who are we looking to participate? We are initially recruiting individuals who are hard of hearing, blind or partially sighted.

When? Leeds: October 10^th-14^th, York: October (Dates TBC). You will be contacted to book a specific time and date – sessions take approximately an hour.

What will I have to do?

Go to Eventbrite and register your interest. The researchers will then get in contact to organise a session and go through the formal paperwork for the study.

You will then be invited to Sky’s UX Lab in Leeds or the University of York’s Labs in York. These spaces are like a living room and you will get to play around with some new mixed reality TV technology. The researcher will then have a chat about what you thought of the game (what worked, what didn’t, would you use technology like this again?).

Find out more

To find out more about the study and how we use your data, read the full information sheet or contact [email protected]