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DANCING DOTS
Latest Technology and Publications
Presented to
International Symposium on Braille Music Notes
November 13th and 14th, 2008
German Central Library for the Blind (DZB), Leipzig
By
William R. McCann
Founder and President
Dancing Dots Braille Music Technology, L.P.
USA
DANCING DOTS
Latest Technology and Publications
Automatic Transcription of Braille Music
Accessible Music Notation Editor
Series of Publications on Teaching Braille Music
Overview
GOODFEEL® from Dancing Dots® comes with a suite of software that make the following
possible:
Sighted non-specialists can create braille music scores without necessarily knowing braille or
braille music.
Blind musicians can learn new material prepared for them by receiving information via a multisensory experience. That is, they receive musical, verbal and braille information about the score
which is also displayed on the screen for sighted musicians to review. Print and braille music
scrolls in sync.
Blind musicians can independently enter, revise and print out music notation of all kinds so that
sighted teachers, colleagues and students can read and perform the compositions/arrangements
of the blind.
Automatic Transcription of Braille Music
One of the basic challenges for blind musicians is to learn new material from printed scores.
GOODFEEL and related software make it possible to prepare accessible materials in the form of
braille music notation, audio playback, and verbal description.
GOODFEEL works together with two mainstream pieces of software: the Lime notation editor and
the SharpEye Music Reader for scanning notation. Lime Aloud is a set of JAWS scripts that
make Lime accessible to blind musicians. GOODFEEL can not only transcribe musical
information into music braille but can also transcribe literary text such as titles and lyrics. There is
also an optional integration with the Duxbury Braille Translator to facilitate transcription of
materials with large blocks of text interspersed with musical excerpts.
All programs were originally published in English. Lime and Lime Aloud have been localized to
German and Spanish. There is also a German-language version of SharpEye.
GOODFEEL relies on mature, mainstream music technology to handle scanning and editing
tasks. Although there are 3 separate programs, each one can launch the next so that processing
flows from one piece of software to the next. That is, one can launch Lime directly from
SharpEye's menu and one can launch GOODFEEL directly from Lime's menu. Dancing Dots has
integrated GOODFEEL into Lime making it possible to display the equivalent braille music
simultaneously with the print notation on screen.
This approach has benefits and challenges. By using established scanning and editing software,
Dancing Dots can focus on development of the missing link, automatic braille music transcription.
On the other hand, the user must contend with 3 separate user interfaces, 3 different help
systems and sets of documentation materials.
The GOODFEEL software creates braille music scores from the same information used to print
music with a computer. GOODFEEL can transcribe Lime notation files or MIDI files. Sighted
non-specialists who prepare files for GOODFEEL need only read print music notation, not
necessarily braille.
The transcription process consists of the following steps: acquisition of musical information,
editing to revise or add missing information, and finally transcription by GOODFEEL.
Acquisition
Music can be scanned by SharpEye and passed to Lime for further editing. Music can be
imported directly into Lime via MusicXML. Or music can be played or typed directly into Lime
using a musical keyboard and/or the PC keyboard. These processes assure entry of all notes
and rhythms at the least. Scanning and importing also acquire the majority of related text and
graphic annotations such as crescendos, accents and lyrics.
Editing
Once scores have been entered into Lime by scanning, importing or direct entry, a certain
amount of editing is required before the Lime file is ready for transcription by GOODFEEL. At the
minimum, one must enter the title text and name the parts using traditional orchestral names. For
example, it is important to name a part "Trumpet" rather than as "Part 1". Other details of the
score may need to be added such as finger numbers which SharpEye does not usually pick up or
rehearsal letters which Lime does not always automatically import from a MusicXML file. If music
is played in directly, all text and graphic annotations such as dynamic markings and lyrics must
be entered manually.
Transcription
Once the Lime or MIDI file is passed to GOODFEEL, users can choose from a range of
transcription options that dictate the content and format of the braille score. Current styles
include common transcription options for North America, the United Kingdom and a general
"International" category. Results can be viewed on a paperless display or embossed. All
transcriptions are saved in an "Output" folder as formatted braille text files for future use.
Accessible Music Notation Editor
Blind musicians have always been challenged to express their musical ideas correctly in print
notation for the sighted to read. Dancing Dots has developed the Lime Aloud scripts to enable
users of JAWS to independently operate the Lime notation editor so that they can confidently
create printed scores. Lime Aloud also provides the accessible environment referred to above
that allows blind people to review and learn new material.
One can use keystrokes from the PC keyboard to hear the sound of the previous, current or next
note in the currently highlighted part, previous, current or next chord in the currently highlighted
part, or previous, current or next chord in all parts. While the note or notes sound, JAWS gives a
verbal description of the currently highlighted note including its pitch, octave and duration. The
current bar and beat value is automatically spoken when the user moves to a new position. A set
of status keys permit the user to request a report on value of current bar and beat, part name,
clef, staff and system number, page number and file name.
There are three ways to enter notes directly into your Lime document.
1. Choose desired rhythm and enter notes using only the PC keyboard.
2. Choose desired rhythm with PC keyboard and enter a note or chord by playing on your
electronic musical keyboard.
3. Press CONTROL+R to open Lime's Record Dialog and play notes to be entered in tempo on
your musical keyboard in sync with a metronomic pulse.
One can insert, delete or change individual notes and rests, groups of measures and a
comprehensive set of musical symbols. Lime can assign different parts to different general MIDI
instruments for a more realistic playback.
The braille music notation for the current measure is shown on the braille display. The cell or
cells associated with the currently highlighted note in the print score on the PC’s screen bounce
up and down to indicate the highlight. One can also bring a “braille window” to the foreground
and move through the current page of braille text.
Once all parts are complete, one can print the score or separate parts on any standard ink printer
in conventional staff notation. You can also create a companion braille score with GOODFEEL.
With Lime Aloud, blind musicians have excellent control over the content of their compositions to
be printed. However, at this stage of development, it is important that one recruit a sighted
musician to check score layout to ensure that there are an appropriate number of systems per
page and that notation has an acceptable density. That is, the notation should not appear to be
too crowded or too sparse.
Series of Publications on Teaching Braille Music
An Introduction to Music for the Blind Student:
A course in Braille Music Reading
Parts I and II
An Introduction to Piano for the Blind Student
Books 1 and 2
Dancing Dots publishes the courses above which have been authored by Richard Taesch. These
courses help blind musicians to learn how to read and write braille music. They introduce
concepts of music theory as related braille music symbols are introduced. Material is presented
in a graded, logical progression from very simple melodies to pieces for piano using both hands.
Plenty of examples, assignments and questions are provided. The author stresses the
importance of solfeggio on general musical principles and particularly as a means of avoiding
confusion with literary braille.
The books come in both print and braille. The print editions are especially designed to help a
sighted person who may not know braille and may not even know music that well to help a braille
reader to learn the music braille code. For example, print notation and braille notation for the
same musical examples are shown on facing pages. The braille is shown in a braille font with
annotations in print to highlight the use of signs introduced in the current lesson. Blind instructors
can also use the courses to teach a beginner to read braille music.
Dancing Dots introduced “Who’s Afraid of Braille Music?” a few years ago. This brief book
teaches the reader something about the structure of braille music but its main purpose is to
persuade readers of the usefulness, appropriateness and logic of Louis Braille’s system for
representing scores for the blind.