The AudioNotch Tinnitus Treatment Blog

Tinnitus can be an extremely debilitating affliction. Sometimes people are devastated by the illness. Take, for example, the story of one young composer by the name of Fishkin, who was unable to continue in his field of work because of tinnitus. Creating an art show that incorporates sounds reminiscent of tinnitus was one way that this young man was able to cope. Indeed, much of the world’s finest art is borne of suffering. Read about the story here:

The condition of tinnitus, in its most common form, creates a sound that is totally subjective, a frequency that can only ever be heard by whomever it afflicts. Whether it takes the form of a ringing, hissing, or clicking, the noise makes itself a way of life for its host. When explaining his own experience with the condition, University graduate student Daniel Fishkin makes it clear that uncontrollable sounds are ever-present.

“I hear different things all the time. It comes and goes, grows and swells,” Fishkin said. “Doctors told me to get used to my tinnitus; I decided not to get used to it but to use it.”

Fishkin’s “Composing the Tinnitus Suites: 2014” is both a confrontational tour of the nature of tinnitus as well as an ode to his own relationship with the condition. He performed the 35-minute piece, part of his larger show “Transitions,” this past Tuesday at the World Music Hall. The Lady’s Harp, a musical instrument and installation of Fishkin’s own creation, was the centerpiece of the suite: He would manipulate a feedback amplifier connected to a set of 25-foot-long piano wires, carefully adjusted by Gabriel Greenberg ’14, Adam Johnson ’14, and Noah Rush ’14, sending a haunting, whining frequency throughout the room.