Hearing loss leads musician to make music from nature

Cheryl Beer experienced sudden hearing loss after returning from a gig

A musician who experienced sudden hearing loss says it has spurred her on to make music in new and creative ways using nature.

Cheryl Beer, 58, said her hearing loss "literally happened overnight".

She was diagnosed with severe tinnitus and hyperacusis - a reduced tolerance to sound - and began to spend a lot of time in the woods near her home in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.

"Nature taught me to grow in new ways," she said.

Ms Beer has worked as a musician, performer, songwriter and composer throughout her whole life, and plays the guitar and piano.

But one morning, after returning home from a gig in Switzerland, she woke up wondering why she could not hear the birds singing.

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"At first, I thought my career had ended," she said.

"Music wasn't just my work - it was how I defined myself."

Cheryl Beer recorded sounds in nature to compose music

Ms Beer was fitted with hearing aids after being diagnosed with partial hearing loss in both ears and a number of associated complications.

She began recording sounds from nature for older people in care homes during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Soon afterwards, she decided to study the technology behind her hearing aids to see if they could become part of the art she was creating.

She used the technology to measure the tidal rhythms of the sea at the flood defence walls in Llanelli, along the Millennium Coastal Path.

While taking the readings, Ms Beer began noting the pitches of the tides to compose music led by the sea.

Ms Beer composed music "led by the rainforests themselves"

She then repurposed equipment to record her surroundings elsewhere in nature.

"I recorded from beneath the bark and composed music led by the rainforests themselves, empowering them to have their own voice in raising awareness of fragile ecologies," she said.

Ms Beer said her hearing loss and the music she created as a result of it was helping to raise awareness of environmental issues, as well as deconstructing stereotypes about disability.

Her project was launched at the National Botanic Garden of Wales with a permanent installation, ahead of a worldwide tour.