Presentation – Joining the Dots: Braille Music in the 21st Century

Introduction

This episode of the Sound Without Sight podcast features a presentation and Q&A hosted by James Risdon. James is a professional recorder player and a founder member of Paraorchestra. He is also the Access Lead at ABRSM, and previously worked as the Music Officer at RNIB. 

As part of the celebration of 200 years of braille, James takes a holistic look at how braille music fits into the practices of a modern-day classical musician. This is the third of three in a mini-series across 2024 devoted to braille music. The landscape for braille music is changing rapidly but the fundamentals are constant.

James covers a range of topics, including:

• Sources of braille music around the world.
• Ways of getting music transcribed into braille.
• Tips for making braille music files as useful as possible.

Catch up with the recording

You can access the recording at the following links:

Please continue for James’ handout.

Braille music as a tool

• Using braille music is not a binary decision.
• Braille music is not better or worse than other methods of accessing music.
• Whether or not to use braille music is not determined by genre.
• Braille music is neither easy nor complicated.

Sources of braille music around the world

UK

• RNIB Library
• Golden Chord catalogue

USA

• National Library Service (NLS) Music Service and Materials
• FMDG Music School’s Digital Music Library

France

• Association Valentin Haüy (Paris)

Italy

• Library of Monza
• E-mail: polomus@bibciechi.it

Denmark

• Nota

Japan

• Braille Music Transcription Server (files in MusicXML to convert to braille)

China

• BrailleOrch and Open Braille Music Project

Miscellaneous

• List of organisations offering braille music by country.

How to get music scores in braille

There are many different approaches, each with pros and cons.

1. Finding an existing braille music transcription

How it can work

• Contacting your local organisation such as RNIB or any of the other organisations mentioned above.
• They will proactively search other libraries to avoid duplication and delay.

Horses for courses

• May be perfect if you are looking for a particular piece for long-term study or reference.
• Great for amassing a collection of repertoire but less useful in time-pressured situations.

2. Commissioning a braille music transcription

How it can work

• Contact your local organisation such as RNIB. They will offer a quote and an estimated time scale.
• There may be other freelance transcribers available in the UK or overseas who could do the work. Ask them for a quote.

Horses for courses

• Good if you need a quick turn around.
• Often a useful option if you have funding.
• It may be the only option open to you if the piece does not already exist, or you need  a bespoke arrangement.

3. Working with a scribe or support worker to dictate the piece

How it can work

• A sighted assistant reads you the music and you write it down in braille music, probably in a braille editor on a computer.

Horses for courses

• Ideal for scores with unusual notation or graphic scores or scores where there is more explanation than notation.
• Ideal if you are workshopping a score and things may change after R&D/rehearsals.
• Perfect for a shorter piece you need quickly.
• Where the piece is long or has passages that could work through an automated approach, a combination of dictation and automated translation may be optimal.

4. Obtaining source files of printed notation to translate into braille music using automated software

How it can work

• Rather than commissioning a braille transcription, you commission a print score in MuseScore or Sibelius from which you export a MusicXML file. 
• You may be lucky and find the score you need is already online, such as through www.musescore.com.
• You may also be able to contact the music’s publisher who may be able to provide a MusicXML file, thanks to the work being done by the Accessible Music Publishing Action Group.
• The file can be imported into several different automated braille translation packages, often very quickly and accurately. 

Horses for courses

• You need a moderate amount of technical expertise to produce your own braille music.
• You ideally need access to a braille display to view electronic braille music files and an embosser for producing hard copy scores.
• But, probably the first option for most pieces of music in most situations.

Overview of available automated braille music transcription tools

• Automated braille translation for text has been established for decades.
• Music is more complex with more variables.
• Print notation is not standard and often imperfect.
• Many of the tools we shall consider today have been developed within the last 15 years, some within the last three years.
• Only considering tools that are under current development and offer reasonable quality and have some level of support.
• Please refer to the separate information sheet on automated braille music transcription available on the UKAAF website
• Also refer to the braille music hub on Sound Without Sight.

List of tools

• MuseScore Studio app
• Sao Mai Braille (SMB) app and online tool.
• MakeBraille online tool (DZB Lesen, Germany)
• BrailleMUSE (Braille Music Support Environment) online tool
• GOODFEEL app from Dancing Dots

Tips for making braille music files as useful as possible

The braille music you obtain from a library or transcriber may not be optimal for your purpose.

• It may be on plastic or paper
• It may be pocket-sized or a large book
• It may be set out to replicate the print original in matters of layout.

For performers

Braille music doesn’t have to be the full score. It might be helpful to have:

• The running order of your set with key signatures and/or opening lines
• The first line of lyrics and a key signature
• Sections that are particularly difficult to learn by ear
• Sections that are particularly difficult to memorise
• Sections that you can use in performance, such as music/lyrics to songs/vocal music or prompts for improvisation
• The full score for the opening 16 bars/section/solo

For learning and memorising

How we learn and memorise is a topic in itself. It’s also individual to each of us.

Some general principles can help:

Architecture

• Leave a blank line between sections of the piece, for example between movements or changes in tempo, time or key.
• Start new sections or movements on a new page or separate with a tactile line.

Reference points

• Decide what reference points are helpful, for example bar numbers, print line numbers, rehearsal letters, print pages.
• Make sure these are easy to find and consistent.

Structure

• Consider using layout to distinguish between verses and choruses, solo or tutti passages.
• Put each new entry on a new line, especially if this follows a long rest.

Sequences and patterns

• Use layout to highlight these obviously.
• Consider using your own conventions, such as repeating specific bars, going back X and repeating Y bars or putting brackets around a motif and indicating how many times it repeats.
• Consider using indented paragraphs for repeating sections.

Consistency

• If you do something once, do it again when the same music comes back.

Cues and notes

• Consider adding in cues or aide-memoires.
• Consider showing beat divisions in complex rhythms or indicating what is happening around you as a cue.

For blind teachers working with sighted students

• It’s helpful to have a braille score that resembles the print version your student is working from.
• If not the same edition, other common reference points might be bar numbers, rehearsal letters, sections or performance instructions.

For blind teachers working with blind students

• In this scenario, it’s helpful to have the same score, either hard copy or electronic.
• It doesn’t necessarily have to resemble the print file.
• You could produce custom files with or without specific signs or elements to aid in teaching.

Illustrations

1. Ortiz: Ricecarda Prima and Segunda

The braille was produced in MuseScore from a file on IMSLP, translated using GOODFEEL, and edited in Duxbury.

Observations about the video and the score

• The first part is in 4/2 time and the second in 6/2 which is not obvious from listening.
• In the score the top line for both parts actually starts immediately which is not the case in the video.
• The whole of the first part repeats in the video but this is not actually stated in the score.
• Generally, there are one or two places that are difficult to hear.
• The ending of the second part is not quite as written in the score.

2. Hannah Peel and Paraorchestra: Part Cloud

The braille was produced in Sibelius, translated using GOODFEEL, and edited in Duxbury.

Notes

The opening to this score is reproduced to illustrate how I coded 8-bar patterns to make the sequence easier to remember.

Other resources mentioned in the session

• Sound Without Sight’s braille music hub.
• New International Manual of Braille Music.
• Braille music communities on our list of external groups, including Braille Music Chat, Blind Music Readers, and MENVI.
• DAISY and RNIB’s Accessible Music Publishing work.
• Duxbury Braille Translation software.
• Braille Music film on Amazon Prime.