[MusicTlk] Question regarding best Braille printer and braille music translation software

[Ella Yu]

Hi Beth, I'm really not very familiar with the kind of music you're looking
for, so I'm not sure of the best sources for it. Musescore.com has a lot of
community-uploaded MuseScore/MusicXML files you can turn to braille, but
due to it being a place where anyone can upload, the quality varies
considerably. I have absolutely no idea about braille embossers as I read
all of my music on a braille display, but especially for vocal music paper
braille is strongly preferred because it allows you to see multiple lines
of material at a time. I'm not a vocalist so paper braille music is not
really necessary for me.
As for translation software, Goodfeel is definitely out there, but it is
very expensive so I highly recommend looking into the Sao Mai Braille
program, which converts MusicXMLs to braille and is completely free yet
very high quality. You may still want SharpEye for scanning printed music
to turn to an editable XML/notation format that is then turned to braille
(you can buy SharpEye separately), but bare in mind that musical OCR will
never be 100% accurate so as painful as it is, sighted help is necessary
for turning PDF/printed music into a convertible format.
Hope this helps.

On Sat, Oct 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM Beth Gustin via MusicTlk <
musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I appreciate this list for its wealth of knowledge and prompt responses.
>
> I am a trumpet player and a singer in a band. I also play some piano. We
> play primarily just for fun with a few local gigs out every now and then.
> We tend to play new songs each week, given that we don't play out often.
>
> I am looking for a way to hopefully find trumpet/brass lines and
> lyrics/vocal sheets, and piano sheet music to modern songs, and then be
> able to print them in Braille as I am relearning how to read Braille music.
> I know I need GoodFeel (Dancing Dots), and I believe Duxbury. I am looking
> at the Irie Braille Buddy as this is just for individual use. Will this
> meet my needs, or do I need something else? I like double-sided Braille,
> but this is not a necessity.  If I want to scan in sheet music to then
> translate it to Braille, do I need anything else?
>
> Thanks!!
>
> Beth
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