Deaf drummer makes Arkansas marching band - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Mitchell Moore had always dreamed of one day marching with the University of Arkansas band. The challenge is that he is deaf.

Mitchell had to beat out 32 other students to land a spot on the Razorbacks drum corps.

"I woke up one morning and couldn't hear," says Moore.

Without his cochlear implants, the world around Mitchell Moore is silent.

He calls it, "the most isolated place on the planet."

Born deaf in the right ear, and nearly deaf in the left, Mitchell's ears eventually gave out for good by the time he was 8.

But Mitchell was playing the drums at 3 and got his own drum set by 5. His mom, Melissa, was determined to find a way to nurture his musical ability and beat his disability.

"Most people can hear and that's just how it is. So, I wanted him to hear," she says.

The adjustment to implants, which enable Mitchell to hear through a processor that sends signals to his brain wasn't immediate.

"Everything sounded like Mickey Mouse squeaking. It was hard to get used to," says the teen.

But, with hard work and practice using his own techniques like reading lips and sensing vibrations, Mitchell was soon doing what other kids were doing, including playing percussion in his high school band.

"I keep my legs close to the drums so I can also feel it when I play."

His smoothness since joining the Catholic High Rockets Band has even caused band director Jack Pritchett to see beyondMitchell's deafness.

"Mitchell stands out because he works hard," says Pritchett. "He has a keen sense of concentration."

Mitchell has now taken his talent to the next level. In April, he tried out for the Razorback marching band at the University of Arkansas. After a series of tryouts with evaluations on six instruments, Mitchell found out he'd made the band.

"I didn't think he'd ever accomplish what he has," rejoices his mother.

His mom says after the initial shock of giving birth to a son who was deaf, she decided she wouldn't dwell on fear.


Instead, she helped Mitchell grow his potential by treating him like everyone else.

His mom's decision may have contributed to the amount of confidence Mitchell exudes today.

"He thinks he's bionic, so he's not disabled. He's cool," she said.

Not only will he march to the beat of a 350 person college band next year, in class he plans to study Bio-Medical Engineering. He wants to develop technology for people with disabilities.

Statistics show as of December 2010, 219,000 people worldwide had cochlear implants. That breaks down to about 42,000 adults and 28,000 children in the U.S.