Page 7, Music and Low Vision -- Strategies for People with Macular Degeneration,
Retinitis Pigmentosa, and Related Problems, Students who are Partially Sighted,
and those with Print-related Disabilities Who Don't Read Braille
A "big page", magnification 2x, made from a single page of
regular music at a copy center. The pole of the music stand on which it is sitting
appears at the bottom of the picture.
Music is for everyone, and an activity for people of all ages. At the National Resource Center we often receive phone calls from people experienceing a vision loss who are looking for ways to read sheet music, to continue playing the piano and see the music in front of them, or find the continued social fulfillment of being active participants in an ensemble. The story we hear most is how what started out as the simple expedient of taking pages of music to be blown up at a copy center is no longer working, because the pages are so large that they won't fit on the music stand. can technology offer an answer? The nature of low vision being what it is, one solution does not work for everybody.
One solution which is proving to work well for students and seniors alike is the Lime Lighter from Dancing Dots. It displays Music notation magnified from 1.5 to 10 times original size. The push of a pedal scrolls to the next measure or system. Lime Lighter is mounted on a custom Manhasset music stand. You can write markings directly onto the touch screen.
But for those who need a different type of magnification, we look to the work of pioneers in this area, whose inginuity in developing solutions to meet their own needs have inspired us to keep seeking answers.
The late Thomas A. Green (front), at a workshop of the Albuquerque Recorder Society, using the computer system he developed .
This page is dedicated to the late Tom Green, who developed one of the first working computer-driven music reading systems. A retired physicist, he had as one of his chief pleasures playing with others in a recorder ensemble. Not wanting to give up this pursuit when macular degeneration started affecting other aspects of life, he conducted a whole gamut of experiments with magnifiers and copy machines to find a way to make his music large enough. Eventually, he turned to the computer, developing a system using the Finale music editor, a foot switch, and his own set of macros. The system, though time consuming to set up, worked not only for him, but was used by several musicians throughout the country. This system is theoretically still possible to asssemble, but its unweildy nature and now, the need to update it for Windows 7 and new versions of Finale has halted further development. The executor of this system is Andrew English, who can be reached at info@papermusic.org.
All of us in the field consider the number of options for those with low vision to read music inadequate and encourage the development of new ones. This page lists the ones we know of and how to find out more. Any new developments we hear about will be reported here.
Dancing Dots' Lime Lighter, mentioned earlier, does offer one solution and can be ordered for immediate shipment. Even if it does not meet your particular needs or budget, an understanding of the concept of how it works provides good background for anyone investigating the challenges of making music large enough to read and practical for participation in the chosen venue. We encourage you to check out the Lime Lighter from Dancing Dots with demonstration video.
The sections below are primarily links to pages on other web sites. They not only feature products you can buy or that are in the development stage, but also provide sources of the traditional large-note scores and methods developed for those for whom print or braille music is not an option. The No-C-note method provides a concise way of dictating music, simple or complex, in a spoken format saved as audio files.
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Section 1: Lime Lighter Music Reading System--Web Site of Dancing Dots
Section 4: Article, The "Slide Show" Method of displaying enlarged music
Section 5: Article, Suggestions for Enlarging Music on Paper, by Thomas A. Green
Section 6: Sources of Large-note Music and Other Resources
Section 7: Website of No-C-Notes, a Dictation Method for People with Print-related Disabilities
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