[nabs-l] (no subject)

[David Andrews]

 >>> Earle Harrison <
earle at handytech.us
 > 4/1/2009 2:55 PM >>>

Wednesday, April 1, 2009.
For Immediate Distribution.

Sales contact:
Earle Harrison
651-636-5184
earle at handytech.us.

Dancing Dots Braille Music Technology & Handy Tech North America present:
Producing Braille and Print Music Materials with GOODFEEL Software 
from Dancing Dots.

When: Thursday, April 30, and Friday, May 1, 2009 - 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Where: Handy Tech North America, 3989 Central Avenue NE., Suite 402, 
Columbia Heights, MN 55421.

Telephone: 651-636-5184.

Email:
info at handytech.us.

Web: Handy Tech North America:
http://www.handytech.us.

Registration: To register, fill out our Online Registration Form:
http://www.handytech.us/prod_braille_reg.html.

Overview:

Many vision teachers and music educators who serve blind students are 
unsure how to help them to participate fully in school music programs 
and classes.
In this two-day course, they will learn how to prepare accessible 
music notation quickly and at the local level. Sighted people who can 
read print music
but who do not necessarily know anything about literary or music 
Braille can use the suite of software from Dancing Dots called 
GOODFEEL to enter, revise
and automatically transcribe print music into the equivalent Braille 
score. An audio playback option is available as an aid to Braille 
music reading and
for those students who cannot read Braille but can learn their part 
by listening to the notation being played back in tempo.

Participants will learn the basics of Braille music. In an hour or 
so, you will learn to read and perform simple rhythmic patterns and 
melodies notated
in Braille: hardcopy for blind readers, printed Braille font for 
sighted. The instructors will help participants to evaluate such 
questions as who should
learn to read Braille music and when? How can students who cannot 
read Braille use Dancing Dots technology to learn musical pieces?

With the release of GOODFEEL 3.0 in late 2005, Dancing Dots 
introduced the first version of their Braille music software that has 
been integrated with
an established music editor software called Lime. Consequently, for 
blind participants, much of this course will focus on using Lime to 
read and write
music.

Blind students will use Lime with the JAWS for Windows screen reader. 
They will hear musical tones accompanied by verbal descriptions of 
notes and other
score elements. This information is reinforced by reading the 
equivalent Braille music notation on an electronic Braille display 
connected to the PC.

Sighted students see the familiar five-line musical staff and 
conventional printed notation. Presentation of print and Braille 
notation is synchronized
so that sighted and blind students view the same information 
simultaneously in the medium best suited to their needs.

What You Will Learn:
All students will:

     * Learn the basics of Braille music notation using the "7 Little 
Steps" approach by Richard Taesch.

All students will use the Lime notation editor which has been 
integrated with the GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator. They will learn to:

     * Create new Braille transcriptions through direct keyboard 
input, import via MusicXML format, and music OCR (SharpEye Music 
Reader software).
     * Listen back to the music notation at various tempos and how to 
mute or solo different parts as an aid to memorization and practice.
     * Produce Braille music materials applying a range of 
transcription options.

Sighted participants will learn:

     * How to instruct blind students in the use of the accessible 
music notation software.
     * How to correct scanning errors.
     * How to enter details of the score not picked up by the music 
OCR software such as finger numbers in piano music.
     * How to compare music on screen to original hardcopy to ensure 
an accurate transcription before passing printed music to GOODFEEL to 
make a Braille
score.

Blind participants will:

     * Practice and reinforce Braille music reading skills.
     * Learn new pieces and exercises.
     * Produce printed musical scores using the Lime notation editor 
with the Lime Aloud access solution based on the JAWS for Windows 
screen reader.

Throughout the course, students will learn how to reference online 
help and user manuals. The instructor will discuss options for 
installation and how
to configure related hardware such as Braille displays and embossers 
to get the most out of the Dancing Dots technology.

Tuition:

$550 per person for two days.

$400 for each additional participant from the same organization or family.

Included:  Course materials, PC workstation loaded with GOODFEEL and 
related software, scanners, electronic musical keyboards, box lunch, 
coffee/snacks.


David Andrews and white cane Harry.