The MIDI Association is making a film called BREAKING BARRIERS — a three-minute introduction to the state of accessibility in music technology in 2026.
It isn’t a film about one exceptional person overcoming the odds. It runs from a child’s first deliberate note on a switch-adapted controller through classrooms, bedroom producers and working engineers, and ends on John Kelly playing Wembley Arena on a guitar that had to be invented for him. The argument is that this is an industry changing, not an individual triumphing.
We need you
We would like to feature a range of voices representing the community of disabled musicians, each saying the title: “breaking barriers”.
How to record
- Landscape, straight on. Not portrait. It’s the one thing we can’t fix later.
- Camera at eye level, look at the lens.
- Quiet room, and face the light.
- Leave a couple of seconds rolling before and after each take. We need the handles.
- Audio alone is fine if video isn’t practical — I’d rather have your voice than not.
How to say it
State it, don’t announce it. Say your line the way you’d say what you do for a living. Nothing in this film lifts at the end of a sentence.
“Breaking barriers” is a phrase, not an exclamation, and it invites you to declaim it. If a take sounds like a charity appeal it gets cut, so don’t make one. What would sink this film is twelve people doing the same inspirational voice.
Where and when
- Book a recording session whenever suits you — calendly.com/midiassociation/30-minute-meeting — and we’ll run through your line and get it in one sitting.
- Or come to the MASSIG meeting on Thursday 17 September and we’ll record you there.
- Or send your own: send a Google Drive or Dropbox link to: contact@soundwithoutsight.org
Either way, by 19 September. It’s tight, I know — if that doesn’t work for you, contact the email address above and we’ll find a way.
If you’d be interested in recording more of the script, just let us know.
