Paralyzed by sound

Although Abunai was amazing, you can’t expect 5 days to go perfect. Also, although my problems don’t seem to be bugging me as much as normal, that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. I want to use one of these small moments as an example to explain why I never attend discos.

During the two hour SuperGopher meeting, we were walking around the convention so one of the Staff Events could tell us what was needed from us in the different rooms. At one point we arrived at the main stage where they were doing a sound check. Normally I can take that for a few minutes and since we were just passing by for a short explanation, I followed everyone inside without giving it too much thought. I wasn’t prepared for this though…

After taking a few steps inside, they suddenly decided to check the bass. This wasn’t checked by putting up some music with a bass sound in it, but just by purely using a bass guitar. I never join discos because I can’t handle the loudness and the bass. The bass is the worst of the two. This wasn’t just a song with a bass in it… This was a pure bass sound and loud too…

It went right through me. It’s hard to explain this feeling, but I will try to explain it. Ever stood so close to road workers, or a VERY loud concert, that you can feel the ground shake and feel it all through your body? Well, magnify this by a hundred and then add some pain in all your muscles and the inability to speak or move.

When I’m at a disco I usually feel terrible too, even get a bit nauseous if I stay for too long, it drains my energy, my mood instantly drops and my muscles tense up. But this pure bass… I’ve never felt anything like this before. I didn’t just tense up, I was paralyzed. I just stood there and I wanted to scream “TURN IT OFF!” but I couldn’t. I had to wait until it was over. Also, the rest walked on and didn’t notice anything, as I was walking behind everyone. I quickly ran back to them afterwards.

In reality all of this just happened for a few seconds, but it didn’t feel like just seconds to me. This is what a bass sound does to me. Normally, when it’s hidden within a song, it’s not this extreme, but if I have to be in a disco for a longer time, it does make me feel awful. The feeling the sound of this pure bass gave me explains why a bass hidden in a loud song in a disco can have terrible effects on me in the long run.

My sister told me that I should try and put in my ear plugs in the disco next year. I might just try that and see if that makes it better for me.