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Music Technology which helps anyone with a disability. Assistive Music Technology (AMT) draws on mainstream and specialist music technology software and hardware and AAC software and hardware.

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How assistive technology helped a student with his disability.

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Assistive Technology Makes a Difference for Lukas Bratcher

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The Clarion is an accessible musical instrument that can be played independently with any part of the body, including the eyes!

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Overview

"This is the first music technology I've used that actually feels like an instrument! It's great that Clarion works with the movement of the musician, rather than the musician having to adapt to an instrument that has already been set." Jocelyn Watkins - Classic FM 'SEN Music Teacher of the Year' 2013

Young people play a wide range of musical instruments in Open Orchestras, including commonplace classroom instruments. But for some young disabled people, playing a conventional musical instrument is simply not an option. We've spent the last 8 years working alongside young disabled people, teachers and music leaders, to create the Clarion - an award winning, accessible musical instrument that can be played independently with any part of the body, including the eyes!

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This is an example page. It's different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there!

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For those individuals who are physically disabled.

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The acquisition of instruments through our international competition
Music Makers - our teaching support programme
Research into music education, instrument design, instrument manufacture, and social issues
Making instruments available through a national hire scheme

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enabling music making for the physically disabled

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The acquisition of instruments through our international competition Music Makers - our teaching support programme Research into music education, instrument design, instrument manufacture, and social issues Making instruments available through a national hire scheme

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Percussion (hand bells)
- This enables individuals with motor skills issues to participate in a performance.
- Also enables individuals with cognitive disabilities to still be apart of a performance.
- Electric Bongos

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Assistive Technology Design

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Is a musical instrument that allows connection of up to five standard accessibility switches.

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Music connects people; we see this often when conducting group-based inclusive music workshops, making work of this kind essential to Drake Music NI. There could be up to twelve participants of mixed abilities in a typical Drake workshop. As Access Music Tutors, we approach group workshops by first speaking to each participant in turn to identify their creative goals.

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Some students with special needs will find that an instrument like the guitar can be too challenging. This is particularly true of Down Syndrome students. The autoharp is a substitute for the guitar that is possibly within the reach of Down Syndrome and other developmentally delayed students.

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Just about anyone! The autoharp is sort of like the Othello of instruments. Othello is a board game that claims it takes "a minute to learn and a lifetime to master", and so it is with the autoharp. According to noted autoharp teacher Meg Peterson, "Everyone can play the autoharp at his or her own level. Young or old can 'mash the button' and stoke; school children learn basic harmonies and accompany singing; teen-agers can play favorite rock sequences and create unique strum patterns; and professional musicians can perform complicated and exciting melodies or rhythmic accompaniments" (Peterson, p. 2).

The autoharp is easy to get started on because you simply press a chord bar and strum the strings, but in the hands of a master, it is capable of surprising depth and intricacy. In fact, in the early going the hardest thing about the autoharp is getting it in tune, but tuning the autoharp, if you use an electronic tuner, is not overly hard. Fine tuners can make the tuning process much easier, so this is a feature to look for when buying an autoharp. Autoharps also usually come with either 15 or 21 chord bars. What you get depends on your budget. For additional autoharp information, click here.

The autoharp's simplicity is particularly useful for elementary school teachers, and for students with special needs.

If you are a classroom teacher who wants to learn an instrument to accompany singing and is relatively easy to pick up the basics on, then the autoharp is the perfect instrument. This is true for anyone who wants an easy instrumental experience.

The autoharp is also ideal for teaching developmentally delayed students. Some students with special needs will find that an instrument like the guitar can be too challenging. This is particularly true of Down Syndrome students. The autoharp is a substitute for the guitar that is possibly within the reach of Down Syndrome and other developmentally delayed students. In the early stages, the order of least difficult to most difficult to teach goes: guitar, piano, then autoharp. In typical learner students, the difference in difficulty between the guitar and piano will probably not be noticed, but difficulty is a real factor when deciding which instrument to choose for your special needs child, and the autoharp is the easiest of the three to learn. I have special needs students who have low expressive language skills that do fine on piano, but it all depends on how good the student's receptive language skills are, and therefore it is a matter of knowing your child.

There are many makers of autoharps, but the original is Oscar Schmidt.

Call Success Music Studio for autoharp lessons today.

Reference

Peterson, Meg. Mel Bay's Complete Method for Autoharp or Chromaharp . Pacific: Mel Bay Publications, 1979.

© 2014 Geoffrey Keith

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Just about anyone! The autoharp is sort of like the Othello of instruments. Othello is a board game that claims it takes "a minute to learn and a lifetime to master", and so it is with the autoharp. According to noted autoharp teacher Meg Peterson, "Everyone can play the autoharp at his or her own level.

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Creative Music Technology in the Classroom - Including Soundbeam & Wireless Switches

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At the "National Association of Music Educators" Conference October 2012 I demonstrate over twenty of the latest technology instruments linked to just one laptop showing how it is possible for any child, no matter what their ability or disability might be, to create, record and perform together sounding amazing!

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- Enlarged Manuscript/score paper
- Tuba stands
- Adjustable instrument stands
- Pencils with appropriate gel grips.

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Bebot is a musical instrument that anyone can play. Instead of a keyboard, it has an easy-to-use touch control system. And it's all built into a friendly animated robot, who performs your music while you play.

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Bebot is a musical instrument that anyone can play. Instead of a keyboard, it has an easy-to-use touch control system. And it's all built into a friendly animated robot, who performs your music while you play.

Although it looks simple on the outside, inside is a powerful synth engine which lets you create and edit your own sounds and apply effects. The controls are easy to use, making it fun to tinker and experiment with sound. If you just want to get playing, there's also a wide selection of preset sounds.

The touch control system lets you lock in a scale so that you'll never play a wrong note, which makes it easy to play, even on your iPhone. It's polyphonic, which means you can use multiple fingers at once to play chords and harmonies. Plus, you can perform sweeping slides and expressive gestures that would be practically impossible on a regular keyboard.

While it's designed to be simple and fun, that doesn't mean it's only for beginners. Bebot has been used both on stage and in the studio by accomplished musicians and performers including Dream Theater, How To Destroy Angels and The Flaming Lips.

To see and hear Bebot in action, check out the demo videos at normalware.com, including a walkthrough demo by keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess.

Now with Audiobus and Inter-App Audio, you can connect Bebot to other apps such as GarageBand to record, multitrack and add effects, making Bebot more versatile and useful than ever. For more information about Audiobus, visit http://audiob.us/

Version 2.1.1

- 64-bit compatibility
- Audiobus 3 support
- Bug fixes and minor improvements

Incredible! More looping functionality?

I absolutely love this app. It has honestly brought me so much joy since I've downloaded it, and I've used it in both casual and more "serious" musical contexts. One thing that I think would be amazing is updating the functionality of the looping on the app; being able to control exactly how long loops are, perhaps adding a click track, making much longer loops, and other functions would bring this to the next level for me. Thank you for making such an amazing product though.

Why complaining?

It's just an app for passing the time. My 7yo daughter and I enjoy it immensely. We don't play anything as one would play a piano. It's for having a good time. For just making nonsense yet at the same time it's very soothing. Sometimes, when I'm just by myself I might pull it out and play with it.
I guess the app has been around since 2010, maybe '11. I'm glad it still is. It deserves its own place as something unique and not cheesy. I hope it never goes out of date.
Best regards to the dev and for the rest of the people, download it.

Most FUN app out there ... I think!

Listen I've had this app for five years if that's possible and it never gets old. I never have any glitches whatsoever and I'm sure if I had some experience on a piano-I do on my Organ, eh thank you very much! Seriously a person that already has keyboard experience will really dig this.

Information

Compatibility

Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Family Sharing

With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.

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‎Bebot is a musical instrument that anyone can play. Instead of a keyboard, it has an easy-to-use touch control system. And it's all built into a friendly animated robot, who performs your music while you play. Although it looks simple on the outside, inside is a powerful synth engine which lets you...

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Music Technology for Special Needs Students

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Music Technology for Special Needs Students

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Music Technology for Special Needs Students

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- Dancing Dots
- Soundbeam
- The Magic Flute
- Skoog

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Singing Fingers lets you finger paint with sound. You can paint your own musical instrument and play it, play with your voice, experiment with sounds, or create whatever else you can imagine!

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‎Singing Fingers lets you fingerpaint with sound. Just touch the screen while you make a sound, and colorful paint appears. Touch the paint to play back the sound again! You can paint your own musical instrument and play it, play with your voice, experiment with sounds, or create whatever else you c...

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Assistive Music Technology can help widen access in Special Educational Needs and Disabled (SEN/D) settings by creating instruments that are uniquely set up to suit the needs of the player. From simple mechanical adjustments to sophisticated computer-controlled sensors, the technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last decade. However, to ensure progression within the field, there is a need for those working with disabled musicians to keep striving for both musical and technical excellence.

Technology has cemented its place with the world of music making, with latest developments often assimilated seamlessly into studio set-ups, instruments and live performances. Musicians, producers and listeners alike readily absorb advances in the sector to exploit the benefits of state of the art music making software, hardware and programming languages. Currently there exists a variety of accessible music making options available to disabled musicians but it still feels like there is a gulf between the latest technologies, and what is available commercially for disabled musicians. With the ever decreasing prices of sophisticated electronics and more electronic musicians taking on the role of programmer, and experimenting with 'hardware hacking' as part of their standard practice, is seems the world of assistive music technology is lagging behind because people are afraid of engaging with it.

Perhaps one of the main reasons for this fear is that there is little platform for discussion about how different practitioners and disabled musicians are making the most of what's on offer. With this in mind, here are a few tips for those looking to broaden their horizons and dip their toes into the assistive music technology world:

If Assistive Technology is completely new to you, have a look at the recent 'Engagement with Technology in Special Educational & Disabled Music Settings' paper. The Executive Summary provides a great insight for those looking to familiarise themselves with the field.

Don't undervalue the importance of training - organisations like Drake Music offer training that can teach you how to get to grips with the technology and offer guidelines for good practice. Rolling up your sleeves and having a go is the easiest way to get to grips with assistive music technology!

Often organisations invest in expensive equipment that is left unused because people are scared to experiment with it in case they break it. Don't be afraid to have a go - it is unlikely you will cause irreparable damage by pushing a few buttons, and most commercially available gear is surprisingly robust!

There's a need for technologies which are intuitive and user-friendly: new innovations using iPads have been very successful in SEN/D settings for this very reason - if you can get hold of an iPad have a look at this list of musical apps.

The technologies which are designed for SEN/D music making can be very expensive, but some of the same technologies can be found much more cheaply in commercial games consoles. If you have the skills, you can adapt them to do the same job as more expensive equipment! Check out Simon Glenister's informative blog on using the Kinect if you're interested in exploring this further.

In spite of the benefits of bespoke instruments, they can often present extra barriers to participation as their operation and upkeep requires substantial technical know-how. Make sure you keep things simple and start at the bottom and work your way up - progress can be surprisingly quick once you've grasped the basics.

If you are a real technophobe, consider partnering with an organisation who can offer expertise in assistive music technology. If partnership is not feasible, consider splitting the workload in your music making sessions - it is often much simpler to have one music leader running the session, and another operating the music technology.

Have a look around at what you already have in house - assistive music technology doesn't have to be expensive or sophisticated - if it improves access to music making then use it! It is considered and consistent application, not complexity of interaction that makes a good piece of assistive music technology. There are also some great pieces of free software available - for example software like Soundplant can quickly turn a PC of Mac keyboard into a sampler, or Audacity, which allows the recording and editing sound files on a computer.

Increasing the dialogue between disabled musicians, music leaders and technology experts is paramount to advance the progress of assistive music technology and should be encouraged at every opportunity. What's more, it is not just down to the experts to be sharing their knowledge, there is a huge amount to be learned by engaging with colleagues and musicians alike. Engaging in regular reflection, and sharing good practice really is the key to moving forward.

Next month I'll be writing some tips about how to get started integrating assistive technology into your music-making, so why not let us know about your experiences working with assistive music technology? Do you have a Soundbeam gathering dust in a cupboard, or are you working in a setting that regularly makes use of it? Have you found any useful resources to share? It would be great to hear about experiences of what works and what doesn't!

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A Rough Guide to Assistive Music Technology

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Assistive Music Technology can help widen access in Special Educational Needs and Disabled (SEN/D) settings by creating instruments that are uniquely set up to suit the needs of the player. From simple mechanical adjustments to sophisticated computer-controlled sensors, the technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last decade.

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Is a electronic wind instrument that an individual with disabilities can play without using their hands.

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The Magic Flute is an electronic wind instrument with a special purpose. A wonderful sounding instrument in its own right, it is conceived to be played without the use of the hands, making it practical for people with disabilities to make beautiful music. Since the sound of the instrument is produced electronically and played through amplified speakers, it is a also a terrific instrument for people with pulmonary dysfunction. In this video clip, you can see Karin van Dijk playing the Magic Flute despite her limited lung capacity www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK3lNIjXE-E.

Not only does it reduce the physical challenge of playing an instrument, but it is amazing to see how quickly a complete novice can produce interesting music. Watch Esther, who is blind, at the end of her first session with the instrument www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4EulBoILwo. Since the instrument lends itself to beautiful improvisation, as well as performing music written for it, it is very useful in many therapy settings, including very young players and musicians with lower cognitive levels.

The Magic Flute has two parts, a "flute" and a control module with integrated display. The flute piece is mounted on a tripod and can be easily tilted up and down by the musician's head movements. This selects the note played while blowing into the flute. Blowing harder produces more volume. Settings in the control module allow the musician to change the scale of the instrument and select from 128 different instrument sounds including flute, sax, trumpet, or even a screaming guitar. The musician can use the flute piece to change the control module settings remotely without help from another person. The control module also displays the note being played. This is helpful for the musician who prefers to play written compositions. A growing collection of sheet music specially written for the Magic Flute is available as a free download at the mybreathmymusic.com web site.

The Magic Flute is a self-contained instrument with its own tone generating hardware built into the control module. Plug into a simple set of inexpensive computer speakers, and you can make music. For the adventurous player who wants to go beyond the sounds of the Magic Flute, additional sound sources like keyboards, synthesizers, and music computers can be controlled by connecting the Magic Flute to them with a standard MIDI cable. Watch Karin van Dijk performing the love theme from Blade Runner www.youtube.com/watch?v=tICPTmz1gfo to have a better idea of what can be done.

The Magic Flute was developed for and by "My Breath My Music," through the efforts of David Whalen (New York - USA), Brian Dillon (Kilkenny - Ireland), and Ruud van der Wel (Rotterdam - Netherlands).

To see the amazing moment when one person with a "disability" discovers an "ability," please watch the video clip of six-year old Glenn as he tries the Magic Flute for the first time. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPgsS4UNKeM.

Daily Gazette article-The Magic Flute June 2007

BY BILL BUELL
Gazette Reporter

Dave Whalen can't actually do a drum solo, strum a guitar, or manipulate the keys on a saxophone. He can, however, make beautiful music, and thanks to the efforts of an enterprising physical therapist/musician in the Netherlands by the name of Ruud van der Wel, his musical options seem limitless.

The two men first met a few years ago on the internet, and since that time have worked together - through e-mail and e-conferencing - to come up with a ground-breaking musical instrument they call the Magic Flute. It's an amalgamation of the slide flute Whalen, a quadriplegic, had made for himself, and the electronic saxophone, or Wx5, that van der Wel uses as part of his respiratory therapy work with children.

"We're hoping that some day the kid with the most profound disability will be playing some wonderfully-sounding, electronically synthesized flute or trumpet," said Whalen, an attorney who works for the Office of Court Administration in Cohoes. "A kid who never dreamed he'd be able to participate, will be playing music in the school band."

They're not there yet, but Whalen and van der Wel are convinced they're on their way. A guitarist and keyboard player in his own band, van der Wel first started implementing music into his physical therapy program eight years ago.

"What triggered the idea was watching this fellow work with children and a wind controller," said van der Wel. "I thought, 'I have to try this at the rehabilitation center,' so I did and it worked very well. I started with just two kids, but I could see the enjoyment they got out of it, and I got so much positive feedback from parents and teachers."

The therapy does more than just make an individual feel good about playing music. It can make them healthier.

"One of the reasons I started was because, as a quad, your lungs get tight over the years and stop expanding as much as they used to," said Whalen. "I thought playing music might be a fun activity to fight that."

That's exactly what van der Wel was thinking.

"We're doing a pilot study with kids who have never had respiratory therapy with a musical instrument and we're going to see what kind of effect it has on their lungs after three months," said van der Wel. "The doctors like what we're doing, but they want more proof. As David knows, these kids have very little lung capacity, and without the music the therapy can get very boring. The music gets them emotionally involved, and they're more likely to practice every day."

For van der Wel's most disabled patients, however, playing a wind controller or an electronic sax was still quite a reach. What he was looking for was something that allowed a severely disabled person - a person with very limited use of their hands - to play the instrument by moving their head. Whalen, meanwhile, who was injured in a skiing accident in 1981, had been experimenting with making music for quite some time, and originally took up the harmonica, the only instrument he figured he would ever be able to play. However, when a close friend, B.J. Henry, created a slide flute that allowed Whalen to change the pitch with head movements, he started thinking of other possibilities. Then, one day he happened to come across van der Wel's Web site, www.mybreathmymusic.com. "David was one of the first people to contact me after I built my Web site," said van der Wel. "I had been having such great success at the rehabilitation center with the wind controllers, I wanted to share it with the world. David had been playing his harmonica and he and his friend [Henry] had come up with the idea to buy a slide scope. I had the electronic sax, they had the slide flute, so we realized that if we could marry these two things we might come up with a brand new instrument with endless possibilities."

Van der Wel and Whalen worked together to come up with a paper detailing exactly what their new instrument should look like, and sent the proposal to universities in the U.S., the Netherlands and Great Britain. They got no response. Fortunately, however, van der Wel made the acquaintance of Brian Dillon of Unique Perspectives, a company based in Ireland. "I asked him if he would please read our paper; he did on the plane back to Ireland, and he was mailing me the next day telling me what an astounding idea it was," said van der Wel. "He built a demo version about a year ago, and we've been getting feedback from my patients and from some other people with spinal cord injuries, and in April we got what we feel is the perfect final version."

The Magic Flute swivels on top of a camera mount and is moved up or down using the mouth piece. An internal gyroscope detects the angular position and converts that into a note or pitch, and the strength of the breath into the mouth piece determines the volume of the note. The instrument comes with a control unit called the blue box. A special feature called a sound card allows the musician to not only create flute music, but also other wind instruments, horns, guitar and even the piano and drums.

The Magic Flute created quite a stir in the Netherlands, especially when van der Wel's rehab center was broken into and much of his musical equipment was stolen. At the time, he only had one magic flute and had sent it back to Dillon for more revisions.

"Our therapy room had been stripped by thievery and I had gotten pretty emotional about it," said van der Wel. "Three days earlier I had sent the magic flute back to Brian, but everything else, all my Wx5's, my guitars, were gone. Well, some of the parents got really mad and started calling the television stations. The next day I was on national television and all over the newspapers talking about what happened and the Magic Flute. People wanted to hear about the kids. Seven times in two weeks I was on national television. I knew how Elvis must have felt."

The publicity surrounding the incident helped van der Wel get some sponsorship money for his musical therapy program and the Magic Flute, and much of his equipment turned up at a pawn shop and was returned to him by the police. Now, the goal is to build more Magic Flutes and sell them. The cost for each instrument, according to van der Wel, is around $2000 U.S. dollars.

"My immediate goal is to get some people to buy them so that Brian Dillon can be rewarded," said van der Wel. "He hasn't gotten any money for this, and without him the magic flute would still be just a dream for us. But my ultimate kick would be to get these instruments in rehabilitation centers all over the world, not just mine, and then eventually, because every kid deserves one, they should be in homes."

Whalen, meanwhile, is anxious to see how the magic flute will evolve into bigger and better things.

"This is just the start, and we're not leaving anybody behind," said Whalen. "If you have a disability of any kind, the point is that with the resources we have today, there might be a solution for you. New technology and computers are opening many doors for us."

Whalen knows that as well as anyone. Without the internet, he and Ruud never would have joined forces and created the magic flute. "I was sick in bed for a while, but because of the internet I could play my harmonica and make music with Ruud in Rotterdam," said Whalen. "He's really been the driving force behind this. It's amazing what he's done, and he's done it all without getting a cent."

Van der Wel, however, says he has been compensated quite nicely for his efforts.

"I wanted to make music accessible to my students," he said, "and we've done that. It's wonderful to get so much positive feedback, to see the kids get excited and to see their parents involved. It has so enriched my life, that I am very happy to do this."

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The Magic Flute - The Head Sets the Tone

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The Magic Flute is an electronic wind instrument with a special purpose. A wonderful sounding instrument in its own right, it is conceived to be played without the use of the hands, making it practical for people with disabilities to make beautiful music.

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Integrating Assistive Music Technology into your Music Making

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Integrating Assistive Music Technology into your Music Making

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Tangled cables? Blinking lights you don't recognise? Got strange equipment gathering dust in the corner? Here's some top tips for using technology to support young people in Special Education Needs & Disability settings.

One of the biggest barriers preventing practitioners from experimenting with Assistive Music Technology is not knowing where to start. If you are not familiar with the field it can seem like a nightmare to try and juggle seemingly complex technical setups with running a music workshop. However behind all the tangled cables and blinking LED's there is a world of new music making possibilities for SEN/D musicians that often is not as frightening as if first seems!

Following on from last month's Rough Guide to Assistive Music Technology here are a few tips on how to start integrating it into your music making. These tips are all based on my experiences of working in the field so I would love to hear any recommendations you have to add to these!

it's all in the planning

It can take time to set up Assistive Music Technologies so make sure you budget for the necessary set up time in your planning. Ideally, this involves getting access to the space before the workshop starts, but you might also consider asking a colleague to conduct warm up exercises whilst you set up.

It can be tricky to juggle facilitation and operation of assistive music technologies. Where possible, split the workload so one practitioner is running the workshop, and another is operating the technical side. This approach can strengthen both the interaction with participants and the scope for technical experimentation.

Consider if there is equipment that can be set up on a more permanent basis - either in a designated room, or on a portable trolley that can easily be moved around.

Make the most of what you've got

Often taking the time to get to know your setting can prove fruitful. For example, in a school, interactive whiteboards can be used to project images and their inbuilt speakers used as additional sound making devices.

Discarded tape players (from language labs) often have a line input and can make additional speakers. They can also be used to record performances.

A panned stereo signal can become two distinct sound sources - one left speaker and one in right speaker.

Take Your Time

Allow for extra time at the beginning and end of a session to set up and strike your equipment. You might want to consider only introducing one new piece of equipment in a session, allowing both the participants and facilitators to familiarise themselves with it.

Allow time for each musician to adjust to their instrument - Assistive Music Technology can be quite abstract, so make sure you give the musician time and the opportunity to identify their instrument and their sound.

Don't be afraid to focus on one participant at a time - it is important to give everyone the chance to hear their instrument solo.

Tailor The Set Up For Each Musician

Make sure the instrument is in the right position for the particpant, and keep a note of your set up for future sessions.

Keep the group sizes small where possible.

Find an appropriate sound that the musician likes. Most music technology equipment offers a plethora of different sounds (much more so than conventional instruments) so make sure you make use of the diverse sonic palette!

Try to provide a unique sound source for each instrument - traditional instruments tend to produce sound from one source, so if possible make sure your assistive instruments do too. In an ideal set up, each instrument would have its own speaker.

Remember that a disabled musician does not have to use complex assistive music technology. Anything that provides access to a musical instrument is assistive technology - if used properly, Velcro can be equally (if not more important) to a set up than a Soundbeam!

write it down

Record the music being made. This is both a great exercise for the participants, and provides a valuable document to be distributed on CD so the musicians can take ownership over their music. It can also be a great document for evaluation purposes and over a series of workshops it can be used to track musical progress.

Keep a Journal - as soon as the session is over, write a few lines down about how the session went for each participant. Be sure to keep a note of the technical set up too, so you can refer to it in future sessions. This provides a valuable way of tracking both personal and musical progress when it comes to evaluating your work and means you are less likely to lose valuable session time getting an instrument ready!

A HOME FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE

Assistive music technology requires cabling that can often get tangled and messy. Keep your cables tidy, and where possible designate an area for cables out of the way of facilitator AND participants.

For performance scenarios, or sessions where participants might be moving around the space it is a good idea to loom the cables together and Gaffa Tape them to the ground.

CREATE Space

It is a good idea to differentiate between the technology the facilitator requires access to, and that which the participants will be using by separating it out onto different tables. This will also ensure that the facilitator can easily 'tweak' settings during the course of a session without interrupting the participant's music making.

getting your organisation on board

Hands on experience really is the best way to get to grips with Assistive Music Technology. If your organisation has some budget to allocate towards it, it is worth considering if that money might be better spent training staff on existing equipment, rather than on purchasing new equipment. It's no use spending £1000's on equipment that nobody knows how to use! Recent Youth Music Grantee's Drake Music and MUSE both offer training in using Assistive Music Technology.

If you work in a school, or an organisation with access to existing technologies that nobody is making use of - why not get together as a group and experiment? Working together can often make the technical elements much less daunting, and sharing knowledge makes the process much more efficient!

BE CREATIVE!

Assistive Music Technology is by its very nature very versatile and it is best used in a considered but creative ways appropriate to the setting. Use your imagination, and be guided by the musicians you are working with. Most of all - don't be afraid to experiment!

It'd be great to hear your ideas and comments below. What set ups have worked well for you? How do you integrate Assistive Technologies into your music making? Have you found any pieces of equipment to be really beneficial to your participants?
Photo credit: http://www.deconstructive.co.uk

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Integrating Assistive Music Technology into your Music Making

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Tangled cables? Blinking lights you don't recognise? Got strange equipment gathering dust in the corner? Here's some top tips for using technology to support young people in Special Education Needs & Disability settings. One of the biggest barriers preventing practitioners from experimenting with Assistive Music Technology is not knowing where to start.

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Are you a beginner beatbox maker or even a professional one? Making your own music has never been easier. Download beatbox pad machine for an amazing

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Is a music therapy instrument with disposable mouth pieces which is specifically designed for music therapists who use music interactivity with their clients.

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Jamboxx - Hands Free, Breath-powered Instrument - Music for All

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Jamboxx is the world's leading hands-free, breath-powered accessible musical instrument. It is perfect for musicians with disabilities, music therapists and occupational therapists. Its adaptive music technology makes it easy to play regardless of cognitive or physical handicap.

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- Adaptive Use Musical Instruments (AUMI)
- SoundBeam
- Jamboxx

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Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)

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Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI)

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A technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors and allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments,
computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another.

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Generates music creation, part composition, artwork, highly visual, etc.

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Developed by ambient pioneer Brian Eno and musician / software designer Peter Chilvers, Bloom explores uncharted territory in the realm of applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Part instrument, part composition and part artwork, Bloom's innovative controls allow anyone to create elaborate patterns and unique melodies by simply tapping the screen. A generative music player takes over when Bloom is left idle, creating an infinite selection of compositions and their accompanying visualisations.

"Bloom is an endless music machine, a music box for the 21st century. You can play it, and you can watch it play itself." - Brian Eno

Features

- 12 different mood settings
- Random mood shuffle
- Adjustable delay
- Shake to clear
- Evolve when idle
- Sleep Timer

Recommended for headphones or external speakers.

"Bloom Raises the Bar for Musical iPhone Apps... if you're a fan of ambient music or music in general, you'll be wanting to get it right now" - Gizmodo

"A relaxing alternative to just about anything else you can do with an iPhone" Wired

"Hypnotic and ludicrously addictive" - Guardian

Bloom is now a Universal app and runs full screen on iPad as well as iPhone for the first time.
Updated for iPhone X upwards.
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To mark ten years since Bloom was first released, Bloom: 10 Worlds is now available from Opal Limited. Bloom: 10 Worlds is a reimagining of the original - not simply a remaster. If the original Bloom was a single, then this would be an album. The widely broadened palette of sounds and images can be experienced via 10 new 'worlds', each exploring a new direction for Bloom. The first world the user encounters is an echo of the original app, with circles appearing where the user taps, while the later worlds each introduce new combinations of sounds, shapes, colours and rules of behaviour.

"Few apps are truly iconic. Bloom was, and now its story lives on in this impressive and necessary follow-up." APP OF THE WEEK REVIEW, STUFF TV

One of my all-time favorite apps

Bloom represents a brilliant fusion of Brian Eno's ideas about "generative music" with the computing power and mobility of an iOS device, courtesy of software designer Peter Chilvers, a fine composer in his own right. It was innovative when it was first released several years ago, and thankfully Chilvers has now updated it to be compatible with iOS 10.

You could regard this as a sort of infinite album: a software engine that you can either customize or leave to its own devices, which will endlessly create a kind of music that Eno has, at different times, called ambient, generative, and "thinking music." The music never exactly repeats itself, though of course it's restricted in other ways by the specific design of the software and the limited number of sound-types available. If you've ever enjoyed the work of Eno and others in this vein, I highly recommend Bloom.

Essential app

I've had this app since it's release and use it almost every night to help calm down before falling asleep. The generative music and it's programmed forever changing order is both soothing, the almost repetition leading to a sort of gnosis.

Please give option to remove the self-advertisements??

I've been a fan of Bloom for 9 years. I wish SO much there were a way I could revert to a version where you don't see the ad on the initial screen for the other apps by the same people. For me those ads, even though they're small, are so distracting and against what I think the spirit and experience of Bloom should be. It's frustrating. Please give an option not to see them - I would pay for it!

Information

Compatibility

Requires iOS 11.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Languages

English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish

Copyright

© 2008 Opal Limited

Family Sharing

With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.

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‎Developed by ambient pioneer Brian Eno and musician / software designer Peter Chilvers, Bloom explores uncharted territory in the realm of applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Part instrument, part composition and part artwork, Bloom's innovative controls allow anyone to create elaborate patt...

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Offers technology, educational resources, and provides training for individuals who are blind or who have low vision. Blind musicians can independently create and print Braille scores with
GOODFEEL, Lime and Lime Aloud as well as producing sound recordings with CakeTalking for SONAR.

Below is a YouTube Video on how to use GOODFEEL:

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Dancing Dots - GOODFEEL - Braille Music Translator

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Individuals with low vision impairments.

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A full production studio, customizable scale options to create custom chord sequences and melodic phrasings, wide range of instruments, etc.

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GarageBand turns your iPad and iPhone into a collection of Touch Instruments and a fully featured recording studio - so you can make music anywhere you go. And with Live Loops, it makes it easy for anyone to have fun creating music like a DJ. Use Multi-Touch gestures to play keyboards and guitars, and create beats that make you sound like a pro - even if you've never played a note before. Plug in a guitar or bass and play through classic amps and stompbox effects. Use a Touch Instrument, microphone or guitar to instantly record a performance, with support for up to 32 tracks. Use the Sound Library to download additional free instruments, loops and sound packs created by some of the biggest producers in the world. And then share your song with friends and family.

Live Loops. Make music like a DJ
* Use Multi-Touch to tap and trigger a Live Loop cell or group of cells
* Get started with templates or build your own grid from scratch with Apple Loops
* Create custom loops by recording directly into a cell using any Touch Instrument
* Use Remix FX to perform DJ-style effects
* Tap record to capture your performance

Play your iPad and iPhone like a musical instrument
* Play a variety of musical instruments on the innovative Multi-Touch keyboard
* Play and record using the Alchemy Touch Instrument
* Build grooves inspired by classic electronic drum machines with the Beat Sequencer
* Download free instruments, loops and sound packs for GarageBand with the Sound Library
* Capture any sound and apply studio-class effects
* Recreate legendary guitar or bass rigs using virtual amps and stompboxes
* Record performances from third-party music apps directly into GarageBand using Audio Unit Extensions*

Drummer
* Add virtual session drummers to your song who take direction and play realistic grooves
* Choose from acoustic, electronic drummers and percussionists**
* Each character provides their own sound and the ability to create over a million realistic grooves and fills

Sound like a virtuoso with Smart Instruments
* Play an entire string orchestra using Smart Strings
* Perform with Chord Strips and autoplay using any keyboard instrument
* Groove with a variety of Smart Basses using upright, electric and synth sounds
* Strum chords or trigger autoplay patterns on an acoustic and electric Smart Guitar

Create a song anywhere you go
* Record, arrange and mix your song with up to 32 tracks using Touch Instruments, audio recordings and loops***
* Record multiple times over any song section and choose your favourite using Multi-Take Recording
* Use professional mixing effects, including Visual EQ, Bitcrusher and Overdrive
* Recording, mixing and exporting a song can be done at 24-bit audio resolution
* Trim and place musical regions exactly where you want them to play
* Automate the volume and record the movement of controls on Touch Instruments
* Add comments or lyric ideas to your song with an integrated notepad

Share your songs
* Keep your songs up to date across all devices using iCloud Drive
* Create custom ringtones and alerts for your iPad or iPhone
* Share your songs using email or to social media sites like SoundCloud****
* Remotely add new tracks to your Logic Pro project from your iPhone or iPad via iCloud

* Requires compatible third-party Audio Unit Extensions apps from the App Store.
** Requires free download from GarageBand Sound Library.
*** Multitrack recording requires a compatible third-party audio interface.
**** Sharing to some social media sites may require apps like iMovie, Clips or other third-party apps

Vocals...

This game is brilliant I play it quite often and it's fun making your own ringtones. I was loving it from the start. But... it is quite a complicated game and beginners like me might need a tutorial I haven't found one at all that worry's me for garage band because their rating might go down and things like that. Also when you're making a song you might want it to sound professional yes don't get me wrong you can do that but when I go into the game there is a lot of different instruments. But if you really want vocals I have found you have to record them yourself??? Why record them when you can get like preset ones for example the vocal from Worlds Smallest Violin. You could use those song's vocals for your song and that would be really nice and make the game much more enjoyable for me personally because I play this every time I can and the songs in the end make me feel a lot happier. Please respond developers and please fix these two things it would make your ratings a lot better. Have a good day 🤗🤗🤗

A Good App... Ruined.

Ok. "You can please some of the people, some of the time" etc. Yes it's a freebie. What do I want for free? As a committed long term LogicPro user I have recently entered the wonderful world of iOS music apps. To describe Garageband as not fit for purpose is to be polite. As a sketch pad for material designed to be transferred into LogicPro it needs to be redesigned from the ground up and made fit for purpose. Midi, audio, require seamless integration in the 21st Century. The fact that devices like AUM don't permit audio recording into the app drives me to consider buying Cubasis 2 which does what I need at a price. Have Apple just given up on business? Audio timing is way out of sync if your trying to do anything other than the most basic thing using the onboard stock sounds. If Apple want a proprietary sealed system why open it to outside development?
By all means use GB if you are new to making music but you will eventually want something to take your ideas forward and - at the moment - it won't be Apple.
Apple; no more cool ideas now is the time for cool implementation and building an iOS system which can actually compete with your competitors who are currently leaving you way behind. Or aren't you interested anymore?

Okay 👌🏼

It is a fun app and amazing but I would like to point out that when I try to make the free ringtone or whenever I go on the app it goes dark and I can't see the musical instruments I can click on the icon but as soon as it goes in the music part nothing is there apart from the record sign, the stop and the play button. Then if I try to put the music in there is no lasso loop in the right hand corner. I wanted to make a free ringtone because it's so much work if you download it onto the computer and I don't want to waste money on ringtones. This ringtone part has worked for my friend and she keeps trying to explain but nothing is there for me what they're talking about. I have deleted it and reinstalled it about 7 times and nothing has happened. I do wish this glitch could be fixed. I hope you see this review and fix it. I do suggest this app because it is amazing however this minor glitch is getting in the way. Download this app it is great. I hope this glitch can be fixed right away.

The developer, Apple, indicated that the app's privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy.

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

Privacy practices may vary based on, for example, the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

Provider

Apple Distribution International

Languages

English, Arabic, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian Bokmål, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

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‎GarageBand turns your iPad and iPhone into a collection of Touch Instruments and a fully featured recording studio - so you can make music anywhere you go. And with Live Loops, it makes it easy for anyone to have fun creating music like a DJ. Use Multi-Touch gestures to play keyboards and guitars, a...

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Is a customizable electronic musical instrument that has been designed to be inclusive and accessible especially for individuals who are unable to play conventional musical instruments.

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A device that enables individuals with severe disabilities (cognitive and/or motor) to participate in music making. It is an award winning 'touch free' device which uses sensor technology to translate body movement into music and sound.

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Soundbeam is an award-winning, state-of-the-art 'touch-free' musical device that turns physical movements into sounds and music. Using cutting-edge sensor technology, Soundbeam translates any physical gestures into musical notes, enabling people of all abilities to create music. It is a revolutionary device that has transformed the field of music therapy, empowering individuals to express themselves through music. With Soundbeam, anyone can create music, regardless of their capabilities, opening up a world of possibilities in terms of inclusive music-making. Its innovative technology and ability to bring people together through music have earned Soundbeam numerous awards and recognition, making it a true game-changer in the world of music technology.

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Soundbeam assistive music technology used by people with special needs including PMLD, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, disability and in aged care. Special needs music. Music in Special needs. Music SEND. Special needs music. Music in Special Education. Disability. inclusion.