La musica prima di ogni suono | Antonio Dominelli | TEDxSpoleto

Quick Overview

Antonio Dominelli, a deaf singer, musician, producer, and performer, discusses his experience of perceiving music through physical vibration and visual cues, emphasizing that music exists before sound, which allowed him to navigate his world and create art despite his hearing loss.

Key Points: Antonio Dominelli, deaf since birth, speaks about his unique relationship with music, emphasizing that music is 'before every sound' and perceived through bodily vibration and visual input. He cites Beethoven's quote, 'Music before every sound,' which resonated with him two centuries later, highlighting the fundamental nature of music beyond audition. Dominelli describes how, initially, he struggled to articulate his deafness, but later embraced it, using it as a lens to perceive music differently, feeling vibrations through the floor and instruments. He contrasts the auditory experience of music (hearing 70% of what is intended) with his tactile/visual experience, which he implies is more direct or complete in its own way. Dominelli mentions composing a song using a reversed process: starting with the visual rhythm/movement (like a butterfly) and translating it into musical structure, using Italian Sign Language (LIS) for input. He points out that composers like John Cage and Arvo Pärt utilized silence as a concrete material in their compositions, providing a framework for his own experience. The presentation culminates in a musical performance where Dominelli sings and plays a keyboard, demonstrating how he processes music physically and visually.

Context: This video captures a TEDxSpoleto talk titled 'L'Uomo, Il Genio: Ad motum mutandum' (Man, the Genius: Changing by Motion), featuring Antonio Dominelli, who identifies himself as a singer, musician, producer, and performer who is completely deaf in his right ear and has approximately 70% hearing loss in his left ear. The talk centers on his unconventional yet profound connection to music, which he experiences primarily through bodily vibrations and visual interpretation rather than traditional hearing.