Composing and performing with one ear
Prolific Australian artist Fletcher Babb's work is all the more remarkable when you consider he is totally deaf in one ear, having lost hearing in his right ear to a case of mumps at the age of two.
Working under the name Cold Ghost (a spoonerism of his location - Gold Coast), the Perth-born artist got his start in music playing flute at high school, before beginning to write songs on a nylon-stringed guitar.
‘Being a creative person I feel the urgent need to create regularly,’ he says. ‘Playing instruments, singing, audio production and songwriting are all ways I satisfy, challenge and better myself.’
Living in a mono world presents additional challenges as a producer and sound designer.
"Learning to appreciate stereo without hearing it takes some techniques of visualisation, ear memory and simple contrast,' he says.
‘I use headphones a lot too; this gives me a more detailed impression on the stereo mix choices I have made. I just have to keep swapping them from ear to ear and I will understand the picture soon enough.’
Two of his most recent tracks, Lip Reading and Headphones, explore his experience of living with hearing loss.
A fan of conceptual songwriting, his many other projects have included an album inspired by the failed New Australia Project of the 1890’s, a musical study of the Gold Coast's waterways, plus releases based on novels such as Moby Dick.
'I like to explore themes and ideas that both challenge and connect us,' he says.
He is currently facilitating creative projects in the hospital system.
‘It is meaningful work that keeps me inspired to be creative,’ he says.