Rochester School for the Deaf
written by Sarah Benzuly for Mix Magazine
Hear Music Through Subs
At the Rochester School for the Deaf (Rochester, N.Y.; rsdeaf.org), Bag End S18E-C subwoofers placed face-down on a vibrating floor help deaf and hard-of-hearing children “hear” music by letting them feel the vibration of the sound through the floor.
The Multisensory Sound Laboratory (MSSL) is a special product developed by Oval Window Audio to provide sensory feedback to special audiences, usually deaf and hard-of-hearing children, to let them appreciate sounds through vibration.
Teacher and students at the Rochester School for the Deaf
The speakers are positioned face-down against corners of the floor, which is constructed using interlocking panels floating on soft acoustic isolation blocks. The vibrating floor lets participants dance and move to the vibrations.
“We choose Bag End speakers for the ‘driver’ of the floor,” says Norman Ledermann, director of research and development for Oval Window Audio, “because we wanted a compact, sealed enclosure of solid construction that could generously reproduce sound to 20 Hz and below. The black-carpet finish also complements the colors of the floor. In effect, the entire floor becomes one big subwoofer.”