New Software a Cakewalk for Blind Musicians and Recording Pros.
Technology and Resources for the Blind Musician
Third Article in a Three-Part Series
By Bill McCann

Reprinted with permission from the AT Journal, Volume 45, March 15, 2002,

© 2002 California Foundation for Independent Living Centers

The AT Journal is a publication of the AT Network and operates out of the
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers. To view the current
issue of the AT Journal, go to
www.atnet.org.

Author's Note: This series of articles describes technology and related educational resources to support the blind musician. In the first article I described a new course in braille music reading. The Second article focuses on the importance of braille music literacy and the development of the GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator to automate braille music transcription. The following article covers access to mainstream music software for creating audio recordings and printed scores.

Greg Brayton of Brayton and Sons Productions of Coldwater, Michigan, runs a full service recording studio, doing everything from radio jingles to full demo and CD production. He knows that he must use the latest in digital audio technology to bring out the best in his client's recordings. He's also quite comfortable with the reality that his blindness must never prevent him from competing in his chosen field.

Until a couple of years ago, Greg operated most of his recording technology by feel and intuition. By sheer persistence and tenacity, qualities which will always benefit any disabled person, Greg worked as independently as possible and got results. But the price was many wasted hours and an elevated sense of frustration.

For the past couple of years, Greg's been using a mainstream program called Cakewalk Pro Audio whichAudio, which converts his PC into a multi-track recording studio. The key to gaining access to Cakewalk has been the CakeTalking scripts and tutorial from Dancing Dots. CakeTalking customizes the JAWS for Windows screen reader to deliver transparent access to Cakewalk's functions. The result: Greg can spend his time creating instead of trouble-shooting. Greg's just like any other creative musician. He'd much rather spend his time recording a hot guitar solo, singing some background or adding just the right audio effect to his project than trying to figure out just where his cursor is! For a sample of some of Greg's work, go to www.studio49.net/.

CakeTalking is the brain childbrainchild of David Pinto, a gifted musician, teacher and composer who began learning a new skill, JAWS scripting, a few years ago as a result of a "chance" encounter. David was teaching a college-level class in the use of digital audio technology one day when a blind student came into the classroom looking for a place to practice the piano. David helped him find another practice room and, in the course of their conversation, told him what he was teaching his class. Eddie Salcido, now a veteran CakeTalking user himself, asked David if it would be possible for a blind musician to use the kind of technology he was teaching. David didn't know but just had to find out. After thousands of hours of determined programming, he created CakeTalking. The package consists of the script software as well as an extensive tutorial document designed to teach the JAWS user all about digital audio and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) technology.

CakeTalking also opens up Cakewalk's notation facilities to the blind user. Many students now use Cakewalk to record, edit and print musical assignments such as counterpoint examples or variations on themes. Pinto added a feature to allow blind users to insert all kinds of notation symbols into their print score. Customers who also have the GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator installed can even braille their score with a single keystroke.

Pinto and Dancing Dots are currently testing an upgrade to CakeTalking that will be compatible with Sonar, the latest digital audio/MIDI product from Cakewalk Music Software. The team anticipates a release in spring, 2002.

In just a couple of years, CakeTalking has been adopted by blind musicians and audio professionals all over the world. In fact, a few well-known Grammy Award winning blind musicians are using it too. Most recently, Richard Synnott of the U.K. employed CakeTalking to produce his song "Safe Harbour," which was selected this month as the winner of the Song for Wales contest. Synnott collected a substantial cash prize and will be one of five competitors for the Pan-Celtic contest next month in Ireland.

For more information please see www.dancingdots.com and click on the CakeTalking link. Or call toll-free: 1-866-336-8746 (1-866-D-Dots-GO).

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