[MusicTlk] An idea - what are your thoughts?

Thu Aug 9 15:54:11 UTC 2018

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your idea.  It is a good one.  

I do think that most if not all of what you would want to do is possible with Lime Lighter.  I invite you to try it for 15 days at no cost.  Please write me off-list using my info at dancingdots.com address and I will send you current download directions.

Here is a brief functional description of the Lime Lighter software followed by current purchasing options.  You can purchase the software and the wireless pedal for $1,595 and install it on your preferred machine.  Customers also now have the option to subscribe to the software on an annual basis for $599 and renew for $299.  You can even subscribe on a monthly basis.  So, as you can see, your start-up costs are well below $4,000.  Again, please see details below.

...
Lime Lighter

Purpose:  Allows performers with low vision to read and to write magnified music in an accessible environment.  Touch gestures for score navigation and mark-up. Screen of at least 17 inches in diagonal width recommended.  

Users with low vision can read and write musical scores using magnification of zoom levels up to 10X; standard or inverted colors; option to color each degree of the scale; optional verbal and musical cues for practice sessions. Music tracks to the user’s eye.

Software titles: SharpEye (music-scanning), Lime Lighter (read/write magnified music notation).
Hardware: wireless pedal for scrolling music hands-free. Some models include all-in-one touch-screen PC’s.

Options for creating scores in Lime format 
1. Scores can be imported into Lime as MusicXML, NIFF, or MIDI from programs like Finale and Sibelius. 
2. Scores can be scanned with SharpEye or other music OCR applications and results passed to Lime. 
3. Score information can be entered manually into Lime using the mouse, PC keyboard, a musical keyboard, or any combination of all three.

Purchasing Options

Option 1
Conventional, perpetual Software License  
Price (perpetual license):  		$1,595 (Liberty model: Software and wireless pedal) 

Option 2
Annual Subscription

Annual Subscription:  			$599 (Hardware sold separately)
Renewal:				$299

Option 3 (Hardware sold separately)
Monthly Subscription:			$79.99

Details at:
www.dancingdots.com/limelighter/limelightermain.htm

Regards from Dancing Dots,
Bill McCann
Founder and President

-----Original Message-----
From: MusicTlk [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Donald Winiecki via MusicTlk
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2018 10:52 AM
To: musictlk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Donald Winiecki
Subject: Re: [MusicTlk] An idea - what are your thoughts?

The 'Lime Lighter' apparatus from *Dancing Dots* seems to have the features
you describe, and more.

See the following URL:
http://www.dancingdots.com/limelighter/limelightermain.htm

_don

On Thu, Aug 9, 2018 at 7:15 AM Mike Jolls via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Hi everyone
>
> I have an idea for a product that could help some people.  I wanted to
> find out what everyone thought.
>
> First, let me tell you about myself.  I’m a visually impaired musician.
> I’m very nearsighted.  I use a pair of telescopic glasses to read my
> music.  Due to the magnification I require to read a standard piece of
> music, I can only see a measure at a time.  It makes learning the music
> slow, and if I ever wanted to just sit down and read and play, it’s almost
> impossible to do that in a performance situation.  Consequently, with this
> experience, I’ve been thinking there has to be a better way.
>
> My idea is to have some software that allows you to read your music from
> an electronic file, then render and magnify the music and display it on say
> a 26” monitor.  The user should be able to set the magnification level in
> the software as desired. Plus, have a footswitch tied to the monitor
> (probably wirelessly) so that you just tap the footswitch, and the page
> advances or goes back.  I’ve been thinking about this for several months
> and the technology to do this appears to all be there.  The big problem is
> having the software that will render the magnified view.
>
> Here’s how it might be accomplished.
>
>   1.  Scan your music to graphic form
>   2.  Have software that “rips the music” from the graphic form and
> converts it to electronic format … maybe XML format (it appears this is
> already available)
>   3.  Store the music on a small flash card
>   4.  Have software running on a very small device such as Raspberry Pi
> computer which can read the files and render the music on a 26” monitor
> which is connected to the Pi.
>   5.  Have a wireless footswitch communicating with the Pi.
>   6.  Have the software recognizes the footswitch clicks, which are used
> to turn the pages forward and back.
>   7.  Have the software programmed so that it allows the user to increase
> the magnification / decrease as desired and updates the monitor display.
>
> The  Pi is a small device.  The footswitch is small also.  Therefore, it
> could be easily transported to a gig, or to a music lesson.  Or if you’re
> practicing, you put the monitor on your music stand or piano and you’re
> ready to read your music.  The software would allow you to pick which music
> you wanted to play from your stored music library.  If you were playing a
> gig, you’d want to be able select and sequence multiple pieces so you  can
> move seamlessly from one song to the next.
>
> All of this technology is relatively inexpensive.  The software would be
> the big undertaking.  From what I’ve seen, the only thing that approaches
> what I’m talking about is the LimeLighter / Dancing Dots system, and it’s
> like $4000.  That’s really unfortunate, because I think it prices a lot of
> people out.  What I would see is that the software I’m talking about would
> be a couple of hundred bucks, plus the hardware the end user would buy.  In
> addition to the Pi, the monitor, and software, you’d also need a good
> scanner.  One caveat, however, is that this software would probably not
> allow composition.  You’d have to use a different product to write the
> music, and then export the music to XML (or other) electronic format.  But
> once created, the electronic file could be read and rendered.
>
> So again, let me say this would be a VISUAL system.  Based on what I’ve
> said, would there be interest for such a system?  It would take a
> tremendous amount of work to do.  I’d be interested in in it.  Being a
> retired software engineer, it’s something I might be interested in working
> on for myself.  And if others could benefit, that would be even better.
>
> So, what kind of interest would there be in something like this?
>
> Thanks for listening.
>
> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for
> Windows 10
>
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