Sonic Agency: A Group Autoethnography of Technology-mediated Performance Practice by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Musicians

Doga Buse Cavdir; Dillion Simone; Myles de Bastion; Shawn Trail; Nate Hergert

doi:10.1145/3663547.3746396

Sonic Agency: A Group Autoethnography of Technology-mediated Performance Practice by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Musicians

Doga Buse Cavdir
, Dillion Simone
, Myles de Bastion
, Shawn Trail
, Nate Hergert

Human-Computer Interaction and Design

CymaSpace
Confluence Recording Co.

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapter › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

Abstract

While many assistive devices and accessible technologies aim to increase access and participation of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) audiences, DHH people’s active participation in music performance remains limited. Through a 15-month-long group autoethnography, we present a case study of a Deaf-owned music and culture institution in a mixed-hearing, technology-mediated performance practice. We unpack how technologies are adapted and developed by DHH musicians and highlight the existing and emerging challenges of mixed hearing creative spaces. We use retrospective accounts, field notes, and performance artifacts to reveal the methods we developed for more inclusive music co-creativity. We lastly present three essential strategies that support DHH individuals’ sonic agency and access, with or without prior music knowledge, applicable by different actors who partake in the DHH or mixed hearing music performance ecosystem.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	ASSETS '25: Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
Number of pages	15
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Publication date	22 Oct 2025
Pages	1-15
Article number	14
ISBN (Print)	9798400706769
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3663547.3746396
Publication status	Published - 22 Oct 2025
Event	International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility - Denver, United States Duration: 26 Oct 2025 → 29 Oct 2025 Conference number: 27

Conference

Conference	International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility
Number	27
Country/Territory	United States
City	Denver
Period	26/10/2025 → 29/10/2025

Keywords

Musical accessibility
Autoethnography
Creative practice
Deaf studies
Performance-led, active participation

Access to Document

10.1145/3663547.3746396Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Cavdir, D. B., Simone, D., Bastion, M. D., Trail, S., & Hergert, N. (2025). Sonic Agency: A Group Autoethnography of Technology-mediated Performance Practice by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Musicians. In ASSETS '25: Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 1-15). Article 14 Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3663547.3746396

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title = "Sonic Agency: A Group Autoethnography of Technology-mediated Performance Practice by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Musicians",

abstract = "While many assistive devices and accessible technologies aim to increase access and participation of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) audiences, DHH people{\textquoteright}s active participation in music performance remains limited. Through a 15-month-long group autoethnography, we present a case study of a Deaf-owned music and culture institution in a mixed-hearing, technology-mediated performance practice. We unpack how technologies are adapted and developed by DHH musicians and highlight the existing and emerging challenges of mixed hearing creative spaces. We use retrospective accounts, field notes, and performance artifacts to reveal the methods we developed for more inclusive music co-creativity. We lastly present three essential strategies that support DHH individuals{\textquoteright} sonic agency and access, with or without prior music knowledge, applicable by different actors who partake in the DHH or mixed hearing music performance ecosystem.",

keywords = "Musical accessibility, Autoethnography, Creative practice, Deaf studies, Performance-led, active participation",

author = "Cavdir, \{Doga Buse\} and Dillion Simone and Bastion, \{Myles de\} and Shawn Trail and Nate Hergert",

year = "2025",

month = oct,

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doi = "10.1145/3663547.3746396",

language = "English",

isbn = "9798400706769",

pages = "1--15",

booktitle = "ASSETS '25: Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility",

publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery",

address = "United States",

note = "International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, ASSETS '25 ; Conference date: 26-10-2025 Through 29-10-2025",

}

Cavdir, DB, Simone, D, Bastion, MD, Trail, S & Hergert, N 2025, Sonic Agency: A Group Autoethnography of Technology-mediated Performance Practice by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Musicians. in ASSETS '25: Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility., 14, Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 1-15, International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, Denver, Colorado, United States, 26/10/2025. https://doi.org/10.1145/3663547.3746396

Sonic Agency: A Group Autoethnography of Technology-mediated Performance Practice by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Musicians. / Cavdir, Doga Buse; Simone, Dillion; Bastion, Myles de et al.
ASSETS '25: Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility. Association for Computing Machinery, 2025. p. 1-15 14.

Research output: Conference Article in Proceeding or Book/Report chapter › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review

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AU - Hergert, Nate

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AB - While many assistive devices and accessible technologies aim to increase access and participation of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) audiences, DHH people’s active participation in music performance remains limited. Through a 15-month-long group autoethnography, we present a case study of a Deaf-owned music and culture institution in a mixed-hearing, technology-mediated performance practice. We unpack how technologies are adapted and developed by DHH musicians and highlight the existing and emerging challenges of mixed hearing creative spaces. We use retrospective accounts, field notes, and performance artifacts to reveal the methods we developed for more inclusive music co-creativity. We lastly present three essential strategies that support DHH individuals’ sonic agency and access, with or without prior music knowledge, applicable by different actors who partake in the DHH or mixed hearing music performance ecosystem.

KW - Musical accessibility

KW - Autoethnography

KW - Creative practice

KW - Deaf studies

KW - Performance-led, active participation

U2 - 10.1145/3663547.3746396

DO - 10.1145/3663547.3746396

M3 - Article in proceedings

SN - 9798400706769

SP - 1

EP - 15

BT - ASSETS '25: Proceedings of the 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

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Y2 - 26 October 2025 through 29 October 2025

ER -

Sonic Agency: A Group Autoethnography of Technology-mediated Performance Practice by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Musicians

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Keywords

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