[Athen] Music Braille software

[Gaeir Dietrich]

Hi Theresa!

I know that our local state university has been using Dancing Dots to create
Braille music for a blind music major and been quite pleased with the
results. They hired a sighted music student to learn the program and set-up
the files and it has worked very well.

My only other thought would be the Braille Music Kit. It is a plug-in for
Finale, and the nice thing about that is that Finale is pretty much the
standard for music notation programs. With the Braille Music plug-in, you
can do all your work in Finale, taking advantage of Finale's tremendous
power in terms of pulling out parts, separating the two hands, etc., and
then just run the plug-in.

I know that you can also work in Finale and then export MusicML that can be
imported into Dancing Dots, but it requires a few more steps.

If you want to check it out, here is the site:

http://www.dodiesis.com/asp/bmk.asp?language=2

It seems that they charge for the product that allows you to work directly
in Braille. The plug-in itself appears to be free (although you would have
to have Finale) so might be worth trying.

I haven't used Toccatta so can't speak to that one.

In terms of having the Braille done, there are fewer transcribers of music
Braille than there are of just about any other Braille system (with the
exception of chemistry Braille). It's a good idea to look at doing it
in-house.

******************************************************
Gaeir (rhymes with "fire") Dietrich
High Tech Center Training Unit of the
California Community Colleges
De Anza College, Cupertino, CA
www.htctu.net
408-996-6043

-----Original Message-----
From: athen-bounces at athenpro.org [mailto:athen-bounces at athenpro.org] On
Behalf Of Teresa L. Wells
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 1:09 PM
To: Access Technologists in Higher Education Network
Subject: [Athen] Music Braille software

Greetings.  Can anyone give me opinions on various music Braille products on
the market, such as Goodfeel, Dancing Dots, Toccatta, etc?  I'd like to know
how user-friendly they are, how much labor is involved in transcribing a
typical piece of music, any pitfalls you know of, etc.  We have never
produced music Braille before and are considering getting into the business
given the increasing number of requests we are receiving for the service, so
I'd like to invest in the best possible product from the beginning.  Your
opinions are appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Teresa Haven
University of Arkansas

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