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With my hands, I translate music for the deaf

Laura M. Schwengber is a sign language interpreter. She doesn‘t just translate words, but also sounds. In an interview, the 28-year-old explains how this works and how she also makes it possible for deaf people to experience rock music or classical music.

Music is more than just sound waves

Laura Schwengber on stage.Laura Schwengber on stage.

How did you come up with the idea of ​​bringing music to deaf people in this way?
Laura M. Schwengber: Seven years ago, there was a request from NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk: North German Radio) about whether I could interpret music videos for an Internet project on World Deaf Day. At first, I was skeptical as to whether this could work, but it is incredible how often the films were actually clicked on. It was a huge success! Then out of this came the idea, to try out the whole thing live on stage.

You can still imagine what it means to translate lyrics into sign language. But how do you translate a melody?
Laura M. Schwengber: It has a lot to do with emotions. With my gestures, I also pass on what the music arouses in me. Besides, I can show with my hands whether a tone is high or low, and I can describe the rhythm of the music. Because music is more than pure sound waves. This means that you can experience music in other ways than through hearing.

Can you give an example?
Laura M. Schwengber: That is difficult to say. It is a music experience. As a hearing person, you cannot imagine this so easily. Indeed, we all also hear things in completely different ways.

Is that comparable to a „real“ listening experience?
Laura M. Schwengber: Schwer zu sagen. Es ist ein Musik-Erlebnis. Als Hörender kann man sich das nicht so leicht vorstellen. Wir hören ja auch alle auf völlig unterschiedliche Art und Weise.

You once translated a concert by Peter Maffay, where about half of the audience was composed of deaf persons. After a while, everyone was dancing together.
Laura M. Schwengber: I could hardly believe it myself. And something else happened: I had observed that in front of the stage some fans were talking with each other in sign language. That annoyed me at first. I thought: Hey, you are here at a concert! Afterwards I found out what was really going on. The people were singing along with the songs in sign language.

”With my gestures, I pass on what the music evokes in me.“

Laura Schwengber on stage.

What kind of response do you get from deaf people?
Laura M. Schwengber: Very diverse. It also depends on whether someone is deaf from birth or has first lost his or her hearing later on. The latter often recount that sign translation has evoked feelings in them that they used to have when listening to the piece. People who are deaf from birth sometimes say that now they can imagine how someone feels when listening to music. But there are also people who cannot make anything out of this and find it somehow laughable. It always depends a bit on whether someone has an antenna for the totality.

Could you also actually translate sensuous experiences of another kind into sign language, such as a taste or smell?
Laura M. Schwengber: Something like this is basically attempted in TV commercials for perfume. There a fragrance is translated into picture language, for example also with the aid of colors. But how do you translate the taste of a steak into sign language? (Laughs) I do think that sign language can convey a great deal. But there certainly are also limits.

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