[Athen] Help!! Low vision and music scores

[Evan S Yamanishi]

I wish I had caught this thread earlier. I got my undergrad in music education, now work in AT/accessible media, and have had low vision music students in the past.

My suggestion is to see if orchestral reductions are available. Scores of music traditionally have each instrument on its own staff, meaning you have to read dozens of staves in real time, which is likely the problem with enlargements. Reductions take all those staves and put them on just two: treble and bass. There are generally two kinds of reductions:


·         Piano reductions are meant to be played as-is by a pianist, and usually don’t have additional information about what instrument is playing what notes.

·         Orchestral reductions are usually still on two lines, but they do have information about what instrument is playing what line.

If she has to do any conducting (it was a requirement in my orchestration course), orchestral reductions would seem like the best choice since you’d be able to enlarge them without losing much info.

I know Finale and Sibelius both can do score reductions—it might even be possible to color code the lines with instruments, though I’ve never tried it. It’s pretty common practice to color-code scores with highlighters.

Evan Yamanishi
Coordinator of Reader Services<http://www.lcc.edu/odss/reader_services/>
Office of Disability Support Services<http://www.lcc.edu/odss/>
Lansing Community College
(517) 483-5263<tel:+15174835263>



From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Heidi Scher
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2014 6:55 PM
To: Gaeir; Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] Help!! Low vision and music scores

Hey Gaeir,

That's some good food-for-thought. I'll chat with the student to see what she thinks.

Thanks for giving me some direction!!

Heidi

+++++++++++++++
Heidi Scher, M.S., CRC
Associate Director
Center for Educational Access
University of Arkansas
ARKU 104
Fayetteville, AR 72701
479.575.3104
479.575.7445 fax
479.575.3646 tdd
+++++++++++++++

On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 4:28 PM, Gaeir Dietrich <gdietrich at htctu.net<mailto:gdietrich at htctu.net>> wrote:
Hi Heidi!

When you say that just enlarging doesn’t help, do you mean that she would have to enlarge one page of the score to larger than 11 in x 17 in paper to see it? How large does she need a page to be?

It would be cumbersome, but with PDF and tiling, you could literally enlarge sections of each page and reassemble them on something like a flipchart. That degree of enlargement should work for most folks who are still relying on vision, rather than braille. If she needs it even larger, the next step up would be poster board—extremely cumbersome, but still attainable. If that is still too small, you can get rolls of paper that are used for banquet tables, enlarge each section of the page 8 times or so and reassemble onto that. Beyond that you would need a wall. ;-)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Gaeir (rhymes with "fire") Dietrich
408-996-6047<tel:408-996-6047> or 408-996-4636<tel:408-996-4636>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu>] On Behalf Of Heidi Scher
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 1:35 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] Help!! Low vision and music scores

Thank you all for responses! Unfortunately, just enlarging doesn't help her out.  She has to be able to see the music for the multiple instruments at one time and refer between them quickly. For example, she has to be able to see in the fourth measure of the third stanza that the oboe is doing x, the violas are doing y, the bassoon is doing z, and the tympani is doing abc.

We had also talked about a CCTV for the hard copy, but again, she wouldn't be able to see the multiple rows of music at one time that is necessary.

Honestly, I'm coming up with very little to assist her.

Heidi



+++++++++++++++
Heidi Scher, M.S., CRC
Associate Director
Center for Educational Access
University of Arkansas
ARKU 104
Fayetteville, AR 72701
479.575.3104<tel:479.575.3104>
479.575.7445<tel:479.575.7445> fax
479.575.3646<tel:479.575.3646> tdd
+++++++++++++++

On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 2:52 PM, Patrick Burke <burke at ucla.edu<mailto:burke at ucla.edu>> wrote:
Let the record show that Bill McCann does have a low-vision solution. Sounds to me like a high-roller option: a portable flat-panel unit called Lime Lighter Leggiero. Marketed to performers, so aiming for the speed & portability that they would need.

Unfortunately the Dancing Dots site is down at the moment...

Patrick


At 11:01 AM 4/16/2014, Wink Harner wrote:
Both Sibelius and Coda Finale have screen enlargement capabilities and are commonly used in music composition classes & orchestral scores. See what your music department is using for this class. Could be THIS would be the accommodation needed for the class. Also possible to get the software on a tablet for mobility purposes for her. Worth a look-see, in any case, Heidi. Then ask Bill at Dancing Dots (smile).

Wink



Wink Harner
Assistive Technology Specialist
Southern Oregon University
541-552-8442<tel:541-552-8442>
<mailto:harnerw at sou.edu<mailto:harnerw at sou.edu>>harnerw at sou.edu<mailto:harnerw at sou.edu>




From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu>] On Behalf Of Heidi Scher
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 10:40 AM
To: ATHEN listserv
Subject: [Athen] Help!! Low vision and music scores

Hello all,

I'm needing your expertise and ideas on some accommodation options for a student we have. She has low vision, uses screen magnification. She is registered for a music orchestration course, in which she will have to read orchestra scores. Thus, screen enlargement won't work for her to be able to see multiple lines of the score. The only option I can think of is Dancing Dots. But music and a student with low vision to this extent is not a  combination with which I've dealt in the past.

Any thoughts or ideas on how we can accommodate her? Because of the program that she is in, this is a fundamental course for her degree.

Many thanks for any assistance you can provide!!

Heidi

+++++++++++++++
Heidi Scher, M.S., CRC
Associate Director
Center for Educational Access
University of Arkansas
ARKU 104
Fayetteville, AR 72701
479.575.3104<tel:479.575.3104>
479.575.7445<tel:479.575.7445> fax
479.575.3646<tel:479.575.3646> tdd
+++++++++++++++

--
Patrick J. Burke

Coordinator
UCLA Disabilities &
Computing Program

Phone: 310 206-6004<tel:310%20206-6004>
E-mail: burke at ucla.edu<mailto:burke at ucla.edu>
Location: 4909 Math Science


Department Contact: dcp at oit.ucla.edu<mailto:dcp at oit.ucla.edu>
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