Dancing Dots
Encyclopedia
Dancing Dots Braille Music Technology, L.P., is an American company based in Philadelphia that was founded in 1992 to develop and adapt music technology for the blind. Its founder, Bill McCann, is himself a blind musician. Among the products it offers are several programs that produce a musical version of Braille
by converting conventional musical notation
, allowing blind musicians access to the same musical scores
used by their sighted counterparts. The company also offers programs that aid blind musicians in transcribing
their own compositions in Braille. Dancing Dots created the latter product to help speed the process of Braille transcription for blind composers, who might otherwise have to wait between two weeks and six months to have their compositions transcribed by one of the less than one hundred certified Braille music transcribers in the United States. Dancing Dots has developed more products to help blind musicians in the areas of MIDI and digital audio
production and musician instruction.
player. It struggled financially in its early years, in the long lead between developing technology and releasing its first product in 1997, a difficult period assisted by federal contracts beginning in 1994. In 1997, the company released its GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator to positive reviews. The product was well received, and its company was a success. In 1999, the company, which was a recipient of a Small Business Innovation Research
Grant, was part of a display of assistive technology
at the White House
. In 2000, Dancing Dots released CakeTalking for SONAR, JAWS
scripts and tutorials that provide access to Cakewalk Sonar
, a digital audio workstation
, for blind or visually impaired users.
With GOODFEEL combined with a few mainstream products, sighted musicians can prepare a Braille score with no knowledge of braille. Music scanning software can be used to speed data entry. Blind users can make sound recordings and print and Braille editions of their compositions and arrangements. The company provides customers who may not need to purchase their own copy of GOODFEEL a transcription service for individual scores.
Dancing Dots is also the publisher of several music courses to assist blind musicians, including An Introduction to Music for the Blind Student: A Course in Braille Music Reading and An Introduction to the Piano for the Blind Student.
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
by converting conventional musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
, allowing blind musicians access to the same musical scores
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
used by their sighted counterparts. The company also offers programs that aid blind musicians in transcribing
Transcription (music)
In music, transcription can mean notating a piece or a sound which was previously unnotated, as, for example, an improvised jazz solo. Further examples include ethnomusicological notation of oral traditions of folk music, such as Béla Bartók's and Ralph Vaughan Williams' collections of the national...
their own compositions in Braille. Dancing Dots created the latter product to help speed the process of Braille transcription for blind composers, who might otherwise have to wait between two weeks and six months to have their compositions transcribed by one of the less than one hundred certified Braille music transcribers in the United States. Dancing Dots has developed more products to help blind musicians in the areas of MIDI and digital audio
Digital audio
Digital audio is sound reproduction using pulse-code modulation and digital signals. Digital audio systems include analog-to-digital conversion , digital-to-analog conversion , digital storage, processing and transmission components...
production and musician instruction.
History
The company was founded in 1992 by Bill McCann, a blind trumpetTrumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player. It struggled financially in its early years, in the long lead between developing technology and releasing its first product in 1997, a difficult period assisted by federal contracts beginning in 1994. In 1997, the company released its GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator to positive reviews. The product was well received, and its company was a success. In 1999, the company, which was a recipient of a Small Business Innovation Research
Small Business Innovation Research
The Small Business Innovation Research program is a United States Government program, coordinated by the Small Business Administration, in which 2.5% of the total extramural research budgets of all federal agencies with extramural research budgets in excess of $100 million are reserved for...
Grant, was part of a display of assistive technology
Assistive technology
Assistive technology or adaptive technology is an umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them...
at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. In 2000, Dancing Dots released CakeTalking for SONAR, JAWS
JAWS (screen reader)
JAWS is a computer screen reader program in Microsoft Windows that allows blind and visually impaired users to read the screen either with a text-to-speech output or by a Refreshable Braille display....
scripts and tutorials that provide access to Cakewalk Sonar
Cakewalk Sonar
Cakewalk SONAR is a digital audio workstation made by Cakewalk for recording, editing, mixing, mastering and outputting audio. The latest versions of the software are SONAR Home Studio 7, SONAR Home Studio 7 XL, SONAR X1 Producer Edition, SONAR X1 Studio Edition, SONAR X1 Essential Edition, and...
, a digital audio workstation
Digital audio workstation
A digital audio workstation is an electronic system designed solely or primarily for recording, editing and playing back digital audio. DAWs were originally tape-less, microprocessor-based systems such as the Synclavier and Fairlight CMI...
, for blind or visually impaired users.
Products and services
Dancing Dots maintains a website at which it markets its own products, as well as related and complementary products by other companies. Dancing Dots has customers throughout the U.S. and twenty-six other countries.With GOODFEEL combined with a few mainstream products, sighted musicians can prepare a Braille score with no knowledge of braille. Music scanning software can be used to speed data entry. Blind users can make sound recordings and print and Braille editions of their compositions and arrangements. The company provides customers who may not need to purchase their own copy of GOODFEEL a transcription service for individual scores.
Dancing Dots is also the publisher of several music courses to assist blind musicians, including An Introduction to Music for the Blind Student: A Course in Braille Music Reading and An Introduction to the Piano for the Blind Student.