Drummers beat the odds with mesmerising musical display

deaf drummers having their practice session together for inspiring story. team leader joseph liew (3rd from left), mackey chua (middle) and albert law (3rd from right) with their drum crew posing for photograph.

KUALA LUMPUR: Watching Joseph Liew vigorously pounding on the Chinese drums, nobody would think that he can’t hear what his audience is enjoying.

The 30-year-old is deaf, as are the rest of his team mates in DeafBeat Malaysia.

The self-taught drummer said he picked up the basics behind the instrument when he joined a lion dance troupe at age 13.

“From then on, my friends and I felt that we can inspire and teach those with a similar disability, and share with them our passion for and knowledge of music,” he said.

“So, we formed DeafBeat Malaysia in 2007,” the welder told The Star through a sign language translator at the YMCA in Brickfields here recently.

Despite the group members’ disability, Liew from Setapak, said they were determined to “hear” the beats, relying on the vibration levels and taking their cues from each other’s movements.

“We also learnt much from our coach Bernard Goh, who gives us basic lessons,” Liew said.

“Later, we began to create our own unique beats from the Internet and various other sources.”

The biggest challenge, added Liew, was in coordinating the drum beats with the team mates.

“We have trained more than 10 drummers. After each of our performance, we will transform the beats and rhythm so that our music will continue to be fresh to our audience,” he said.

The group had mesmerised audiences at various events, including at the Hong Kong Paralympic Games in 2008 and the Inclusive Arts Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2009.

Other events that Deafbeat Malaysia had performed included the Drumming Festival 2009 and Century Users Day in 2010.

The group practises every Monday and Wednesday. They will hold a free coaching and drumming workshop for children with hearing disabilities, aged from six years, or those with a passion for drumming, on June 16.

“Our aim is to create awareness in them that they can also enjoy playing drums like us,” he said.

For more information, contact the YMCA administrator for deaf work Morley Ng at 012-313 0365.