[MusicTlk] Braille display versus paper braille for music

Thu Jun 4 21:13:17 UTC 2026

I can also recommend Patrick. If you visit www.menvi.org and subscribe 
to their list serve, you'll find other transcribers. It's always good to 
have more than one to be able to call on.

I'm a hard copy enthusiast myself, although I do use my Braillenote 
regularly for reading and writing music.

Very best wishes,

Sandra.

On 04/06/2026 16:53, Julie A. Orozco via MusicTlk wrote:
> Hi Ruben,
>
> Yes, I work with Patrick from Braille Music and More: patrick at braillemusicandmore.com. He does an excellent job. Getting music transcribed is expensive, but our church was able to get a grant to pay for it. I'm not sure where you work or if it's affiliated with a church organization, but perhaps you could look into a similar grant for getting your music transcribed.
>
> I am not as comfortable with Muse Score and the newer Braille music technology, and I have been told that they do not work as well if you need music and lyrics on the same page. So I've continued to work with my transcriber.
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> Julie
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MusicTlk <musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ruben Rincon, Jr. via MusicTlk
> Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2026 10:21 PM
> To: Musicians Music Talk Mailing List for Blind <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Ruben Rincon, Jr. <rrj782 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [MusicTlk] Braille display versus paper braille for music
>
> Everyone,
>
> Thanks so much for your thoughts, insights, and opinions. You were all very validating. It is interesting how we all get our musical win done.
>
> Julie, yes it is great to see another person here who is in the exact same line of work! Do you have a local transcriber or do you send your music off to be transcribed? I've been doing it all myself using MuseScore, Sao Mai braille, or perky duck if it's something I can do quickly, but I probably need to offload this workload from myself soon.
> Thanks again, all.
>
> Ruben
>
>> On Jun 2, 2026, at 1:46 PM, Dan TeVelde via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> I used to work in the church music field as an organist. I have an extensive collection of organ music in a variety of formats. Some of it is from Germany and France and uses German and French contracted Braille. I studied German and learned enough German contracted Braille to get by. I have not studied French or been able to find any documentation for French contracted Braille. One of the challenges of reading older scores is that they use Braille music formats and signs which have been deprecated. A notable example is what is called the substation method. The idea is to represent multiple notes of the same rhythmic value as sixteenth or 32nd notes and indicate octave signs by changing the value to eight or quarter notes. The music as written in print would have one note value. You often see this in Baroque music where there are repetitive passages with notes of a single rhythm.
>>
>> I wish there were modern editions of Baroque keyboard music. I don't have any space in my apartment for more Braille music. Unfortunately, none of the currently-available multi-line Braille displays can represent 40 cells. I think that is the standard for music scores which have been electronically digitized. The situation for music written for single-line instruments or voice is easier as a person needs one line to read the music. This is true unless the musician is playing a keyboard accompaniment for a single-line instrument or vocal soloist. Choral music is a challenge unless a singer just needs their own part. Although, in that situation they need to deal with words and music. The most complicated score I have seen was for a Bach cantata. They aren't as complicated as a full orchestral score for a symphony. Imagine the complexity of a person needed to conduct a work for chorus, orchestra, and soloist. I don't know of any conductors though I suppose a person could memorize a score before conducting it. Organists often conduct using their heads while playing the accompaniment. I hope someday we have cheap enough displays for Braille and graphics and that Braille music translation software will be able to seamlessly transcribe print music. Who knows when or if that will happen. Our biggest problem is making music education available to blind students. A person can't purchase Braille music anywhere in the U.S. though NLS is digitizing their scores and will make them available on demand or as digital downloads. As far as I know anyone who wants to learn Braille music needs to find a teacher who knows it. We don't have schools for the blind where music was an integral part of the curriculum. I know an excellent Braille music teacher but she couldn't possible serve all the blind students in the U.S.
>>
>> Dan
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: MusicTlk <musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Julie A. Orozco via MusicTlk
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2026 10:31 AM
>> To: 'Music Talk Mailing List for Blind Musicians' <musictlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Julie A. Orozco <kaybaycar at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [MusicTlk] Braille display versus paper braille for music
>>
>> Hi ruben,
>>
>> First, I'm also a choir director, so it's great to come across another person doing this work. I am primarily a vocalist though.
>>
>> I prefer hard copy Braille for what I have to do. First, your comment about spacial memory is true. I have a hard enough time quickly finding measure numbers and sections of music in rehearsal. I can't imagine relying on a Braille display to do this. So, for conducting purposes, I will always prefer hard copy Braille.
>>
>> For singing, I prefer hard copy so I can read lyrics and music at the same time. But I can use a Braille display if I have to, especially if I know the song well enough. I am also happy to write out music on a Braille display if I have to transcribe my own part for a song. (Not my favorite activity.)
>>
>> As for music storage, I use binders. I have my main binder where I store all the music I'm using for church in any given couple weeks. Then, I keep binders on a book shelf in my church office that contain all the music I've gotten transcribed. This is also where I keep some books I got from friends and the NLS music Braille section. Like you, I prefer the letter sized paper and try to only use that. Even when I get pieces transcribed, I still have to hand Braille them myself, so it's easy enough to Braille on the letter-sized paper. My transcriber Brailles for 40 cells a line, so sometimes I have to adjust, but it always works out.
>>
>> Hope this helps. If you have other questions, I'm happy to answer them.
>>
>> Julie
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: MusicTlk <musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ruben Rincon, Jr. via MusicTlk
>> Sent: Monday, June 1, 2026 10:49 PM
>> To: MusicTlk at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Ruben Rincon, Jr. <rrj782 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [MusicTlk] Braille display versus paper braille for music
>>
>> Hey everyone. I may have asked this question before on social media but I don't think I've asked on this list, and if so it's been quite a while and ideas may have changed. For those who read braille music, do you prefer a braille display or reading on paper braille? I'm in a transition period with my vision, going from primarily low vision techniques to mostly braille music now.
>>
>> I am an organist and choir director and I very much prefer paper because it is much faster to read one line to the next and to go between sections, probably because of spatial memory. What I mean by that is that for me, it is easy to remember that a certain section starts at the top of a page, or in the middle, or something similar. This is probably common for many of you, too. I don't get this with a braille display but the convenience of not having to haul loads of paper around is quite nice.
>>
>> Secondary question about paper. I much prefer letter size paper (I'm in the United States, so that is quite close to A4 paper) over the standard large paper size just for the sake of portability. I do practice both at work and home and haven't figured out how to easily transport large braille paper easily. The smaller size fits in a backpack and also is easily stored in files without special sizes of folders or shelf space being needed. Just wondering your thoughts.
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Ruben
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