Tom Green, a musician with Macular Degeneration, Provides How-to Information
on Making Enlarged Music on Paper, and His Use of a Portable
Computer to Magnify his part in an Ensemble.
Picture: The author is shown practicing his bass recorder at his
home computer setup. On the laptop screen computer enlarged music is displayed.
Beside the laptop from right to left are an Aladdin Classic reader, a desktop
computer connected to the internet, a scanner, and, in the corner, a MIDI keyboard.
Pictures of the laptop and the computer enlarged music are displayed with Article
II below.
The three articles which follow and the Pictures which accompany them are addressed to those who have macular degeneration, or some other form of low vision, which prevents reading music at the staff widths normally used by music publishers. They are based on my own experience of progressive vision loss. I play the recorder, and wanted a way to learn music and perform with a group. However, the music was not available in large enough print. I first experimented with enlarging pages at my local copy center. This worked for a while, until my vision loss progressed to the point where it was impossible to make pages physically large enough for practical use. There was just too much paper to fit on one music stand, or even two. The results of my experiments with paper music are described in the first Article. I have now developed a way to enlarge music to the size I need on a computer screen and have been playing regularly again for over a year. This development is the subject of the second Article. The story of this project is told on page 4 of this site.
Since I am in my late seventies and my eyes have lost their ability to accommodate for both reading and distant vision, I wear bifocals. When I play music I need to focus at the intermediate distance of about twenty five inches. For this I use single lens "music glasses". This has nothing to do with my vision loss due to macular degeneration. Younger musicians will not need glasses to compensate for the inability to accommodate.
Picture: 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. Details in Article I.
The width of the music staff is the best measure of music enlargement. Music notation computer programs often specify a staff width of 0.28 inches. Some modern music has a staff width of 1/4 inches; older music may be based of a larger staff width of 3/8 inches. A person with macular degeneration or some other form of low vision may only be able to read music with a larger staff width.
In the search for a better way to see one's music, the first step to take is to determine how much enlargement is needed. The simplest way to do this is at a copy center. Using an 8.5x11 in. sheet of your music, try enlargements of 130%, 150%, 175%, and 200%. One doesn't need the whole enlarged page to see if a given enlargement is sufficient. If an enlargement less than 200% works, you are in luck.
For a 130 % enlargement, just enlarge from an 8.5x11 in. original to 11x17 inches, using maximum automatic enlargement. I was able to do this for a year. However, I needed extra illumination from two music stand lights.
A 12 5/8 x16 1/2 in. single sheet of paper from the copy machine will work for a 150% enlargement. For a 200% enlargement, one must cut and paste. One enlarges half the original onto a 17x11 in. sheet in landscape format ( 2x8.5 = 17); this is repeated for the second half of the original. One then cuts the enlarged sheets midway between the staves to make strips. These are pasted onto two fresh 11x17 in. sheets to make a 17x22 in. page which fits the music stand nicely. I call this a "big page". Its area is four times that of the original sheet of music. With a short drive to the copy center, I made such a "big page" in about an hour.
What else can be done to make the music readable? One can use telescopic glasses. I got mine from a low-vision specialist. The magnification, 2x, of the lens cap that attaches to the left-eye telescope was chosen to match my 25 in. bass recorder playing distance. The telescopes are attached to a regular pair of glasses and narrow the field of view to a circle of diameter 3/4 inches. In reading a "big page", I scan from measure to measure across the page. This requires some head motion and a corresponding movement of the recorder. In my case an opaque cap covers the telescope for my right eye. I prefer the opaque cap to the much cheaper eye patch. The telescopic glasses are expensive.
With the telescopic glasses and a "big page", an overall magnification of twice 2x or 400% is achieved. If this is enough, and the music is all on a single page, the musician with low vision has a viable way to continue playing without spending a lot of time preparing his music. If scores rather than parts are used, one must extract his part by cutting and pasting. In my experience this is not a heavy cost to pay for the pleasure of continuing to make music.
If the original 8 1/2 x 11 in. music can be read with telescopic glasses, the player has no more pages to deal with than the others in a group. This is ideal. However, if copy-machine enlargement is required, a page turning problem quickly arises. The more pages in the original part, the bigger the problem. For example, to sight read printed music with a 3/8 in. staff width, using my telescopic glasses, I need copy machine enlargement of 250%. This produces a staff width on the paper of 15/16 inches. For one page of regular music the area of my computer enlarged music is 2.5x2.5 = 6.25 regular pages. This is about 1.5 "big pages" and won't fit on the music stand. I need to stop playing to turn the page unless two stands are used or someone turns the page for me. If, as is usually the case, there are two or more pages of regular music in my part, the page turning problem becomes hopeless. This is why I turned to the computer. As will be seen in the next Article, enlargements up to about 7 are readily obtained on the computer screen of a 15 inch laptop. Since the pages are now turned by pressing and releasing a foot switch, a piece of any length can be played without a page turning problem. I can look at my music with my regular music glasses and my hands and eyes are free to play my recorder.
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| Picture: Fifteen inch laptop computer with USB foot switch. The music is displayed in Finale 2003. A click of the foot switch turns the page. | Picture: A nineteen inch monitor provides a bigger, brighter display. The laptop sits on a special shelf. | |
A laptop computer provides a bright, clear, even beautiful presentation of music for those like myself who require substantial magnification to see their music. Two versions are displayed above. In the simplest version, a 15 inch laptop computer runs on batteries and sits on a Manhasset music stand. A foot switch is plugged into the USB port of the laptop. The music notation computer program, Finale, provides all the necessary tools for music entry, enlargement, editing, and display. I can carry everything without difficulty from the car to rehearsal in one trip.
In the second version, the laptop screen has been replaced with a 19 inch LCD monitor from NEC, and the laptop sits on a shelf attached to the pole of the music stand. The monitor has its own external power supply and extension cord. This version is pretty heavy to carry, but the music is about 23 percent larger and, thanks to the external power source, the display is very bright. The stand is more awkward to carry, but I can still manage to carry it, my bass recorder, and a canvas bag with the electronics, in one trip.
As illustrated in the picture below, there are from one to four measures of music on the screen at a time. (Lower magnification is readily obtained and the system would be great for a musician with normal vision who has a lot of music to play.) I sit in front of the stand and wear my regular "music glasses" which focus at a distance of 25 inches. (Younger people won't need glasses to compensate for a lack of accommodation.) This allows plenty of space to hold my bass and other recorders when I am playing. (See the picture at top of this page.) With my left foot on a pedal of the foot switch, I start playing with my group. A little more than halfway through the music on the page, a tap of my foot brings the next page of music into view. While the end of the last measure on the page is being played, the first measure on the next page is being read. There is no time to go backward while playing repeats, so the music is written out in its entirety from start to finish. Using the foot switch is an added complication to be sure, but it has become quite automatic for me at this point. Fortunately, the music we play is not very difficult and the tempos are kept moderate for the most part. The more advanced the player, the more difficult the music he can handle.
Picture: Computer enlarged music displayed by Finale on the nineteen inch monitor.
Note the magnifier window with which small items on the screen can be seen more clearly.
I have been playing weekly from the 15 inch laptop for over a year. I am now playing from the laptop plus monitor version in the monthly meetings of the Albuquerque Recorder Society. The Society goes to the extra trouble of providing me with the music for the next meeting in advance. This way there is time to enlarge my parts within the computer using Finale. It takes two and one half hours, more or less, to input, enlarge, and edit my part for a typical piece of music. Some music can be input by scanning; other music, especially manuscript, is entered at the computer keyboard using Finale's Speedy Entry Tool. Finale allows me to renumber the measures in my part so the measure numbers agree with those in the parts used by the conductor and the other players. A special computer program, Macro Toolsworks, enables me to jump to a new measure or to a new piece of music fast enough to keep up with the conductor and the other players.
The acquisition of Finale music files is the biggest problem facing the musician who wants to read computer enlarged music from a computer screen. Music entry and editing should be done by specialists with normal vision. This problem is completely analogous to that faced by the blind musician who reads Braille music.
One may wonder how I enter music into the computer which I cannot read. A good question! For reading unenlarged music, I use an Aladdin Classic reader. It sits between my desktop, which is connected to the internet, and my laptop on the music stand. There is a photograph of this arrangement at the top of this page. The Aladdin Classic has a moveable horizontal stage on which the music is placed. The reader also plays an essential role in proof reading all my computer enlarged music. The other important visual aid I use is the Windows Magnifier. (Start/Programs/Accessories/ Accessibility/Magnifier) It is essential for playing enlarged music, in order to read and locate precisely the unenlarged menus and buttons in the Finale Window. I read everything on the computer screen with the Magnifier. Whole screen magnifiers are fine for some things, but they cannot be used for playing enlarged music from the Finale window.
The ability to play computer enlarged music from a computer screen is exciting and fulfilling for me. Each person must answer for himself the question as to whether the rewards are worth the extra effort.
Article III below provides more information on how to get started. The first thing to do, which does not require any type of commitment, is to request to have e-mailed to you the Tutorial I have prepared, which not only provides step-by-step instructions, but ways to see whether this approach will work for you.
The Tutorial is available from Tom Green thomasa.green@worldnet.att.net or David Goldstein info@blindmusicstudent.org.
An enlarged music Template and Bass recorder music for the piece, Sospiri, can be viewed in the Finale Showcase at www.codamusic.com after one downloads the free Finale Viewer. (This isn't hard to do.) With the Viewer installed, go to www.codamusic.com, click on Showcase at the top right, and, under Browse Music, Find Thomas Green in Any Category. You can play Sospiri and advance the pages with the page advance button. The showcase display doesn't fill the computer screen, so the music will be bigger in practice.
My heartfelt thanks go to David Goldstein for his encouragement over the years since the beginning of this work. I also wish to thank Michael Frasier, who built the shelf for the laptop and gave it to me, one musician to another. Richard Geisler and Stan Davis have helped me greatly by sending me Finale and MIDI files of their original compositions or arrangements. I am grateful to them both. Two friends make it possible for me to play at the monthly meetings of the Albuquerque Recorder Society and the weekly meetings of its recorder orchestra. They give me the music enough in advance so it can be made into Finale files and enlarged. They are Ray Hale, the society's Music Director, and Lois Ario, its President. I count myself fortunate to have their essential support.
My son, Stuart H. Green, has rewritten the macros used in Macro Toolsworks. They are now easier to install and use. They also execute faster - a real advantage for the musician, in his effort to keep up with the other members of his group. Jay Todd of Albuquerque, NM used his expertise with Adobe Photoshop to help me explore the Slide Show method of music enlargement, which is described in Section 2 of the Low Vision page, Page 7. He also showed me how to use Adobe Photoshop to convert downloaded PDF music files into TIFF graphics files for entry into the music notation recognition program, SmartScore. His help is much appreciated.
As mentioned in the previous article, you can see whether the concept of my system will work for you by requesting a copy of my Tutorial, and following the directions outlined in Section A. The Tutorial is available by E-mail from Tom Green thomasa.green@worldnet.att.net or David Goldstein info@blindmusicstudent.org.
In Section A you use any computer connected to the internet, the free Finale Demo computer program, and Finale music files that accompany the Tutorial. In Section A you can determine how much enlargement you need and whether a 15 inch laptop screen will be big enough for your visual needs. Once you determine that this system will work for you, you can find complete details for system setup in the rest of the Tutorial.
Using my approach requires two major steps: First one needs to set up the computer system with its software. Then one needs a way to get printed music made into Finale music files for enlargement. Because there is quite a bit to learn, especially for the inexperienced computer user, I will outline steps that should simplify the process. I also provide names of people who can assemble a complete system for you and do some of the music transcription.
Physical Setup. As described in detail in the Tutorial, one needs a suitable laptop, a foot switch, and a Manhassett music stand. Three computer programs are needed for the system: Finale, SmartScore, and Macro Toolsworks Standard Edition. The first two programs are not inexpensive, but, as explained in the Tutorial, they can be purchased at a discount. In addition to installing the computer programs on the laptop, one needs to import the macros for Macro Toolsworks. These allow fast measure finding and automatic music enlargement. These macros must be adjusted to the computer operating system and the version of Finale being used. This process is straightforward for an experienced computer user, but tedious.
To simplify this process, it has been arranged with Steve Cabiedes at Comp USA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to deliver a "plug and play" laptop computer, starting with a laptop purchased from Comp USA. Steve will install the computer programs purchased by the eventual laptop owner. Steve's time, about an hour, will be charged in addition to the cost of the computer. I plan to install and adjust the macros free of charge. Steve can be reached at (505) 830 5336. This offer is subject to change. The way to obtain a "plug and play" USB foot pedal is described in the Tutorial. If an external monitor is needed, my NEC 19 inch monitor is currently available at Comp USA. Finally, the shelf the laptop sits on (when the monitor is used) can be purchased from Mike Frasier, its inventor, at (505) 980 7785. If the monitor is used, the circular stabilizing base for the music stand (See Article II) must be supplied by the user.
Preparing Music for Enlargement:
The production of an enlarged part starts with a Finale file. Short pieces can be entered from the printed music at the computer keyboard; longer pieces must usually be scanned using SmartScore. Scanned pieces always require some editing before they can be used for playing. I have enlarged some fifty pieces this way. In connection with the monthly meetings of the Albuquerque Recorder Society, and with its recorder orchestra, I have had as many as thirty pieces to enlarge in a few weeks. This is beyond my capacity, since, owing to my poor vision, I am very slow. For this reason, I sought out John Andrew English (Andy) of Albuquerque, who transcribes paper music into computer files for blind and visually impaired musicians. The information presented below will provide some idea about the details of music transcription for Finale and the cost of this service.
The music to be transcribed can be sent by post or FAX or, if you choose to do the scanning, the scanned graphical music can be sent by e-mail. Andy makes a Finale file with all repeats, D.C.s, etc. written out. This is essential since there is no time to go backwards while playing. The repeats, etc. are marked with Finale symbols to make the structure of the music clearer. Andy charges $20 per hour. Averaged over many pieces, the cost for this basic service comes to about 20 cents per measure, so a full page of music costs about twelve dollars. This service provides the notes with ties, meticulously proofread, but does not include the editing of slurs, hairpins, articulations, and expressions. These are largely absent from early music, but are plentiful in modern compositions and arrangements. Complete editing of an arrangement for recorders by Stan Davis, for example, will add five to ten cents to the cost of a measure. In all, I have spent $2400 for Finale parts to 270 pieces. The cost per piece is lower than that of the previous estimate of $940 for 70 pieces. This is because the music played in the past nine months is shorter and less heavily annotated than the earlier music.
Information on how to reach Andy and other transcribers can be obtained from Tom Green.
Since the use of a transcriber is not inexpensive, it is fortunate that the use of SmartScore 3 and Finale 2005 to make Finale files by scanning is very successful. The accuracy of the process improves from edition to edition of both programs. I recommend that scanning be used as the primary mode of music entry in most cases.
More and more music is becoming available on the Internet as Adobe portable data files. These PDF files can be converted to the black and white .tif files required by SmartScore, using the computer program Adobe Photoshop Elements.
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