[Menvi-discuss] piano methods

[Bettie & Bill Downing]

Sorry to rain on your parade but in my experience I can say that bands and choruses are using different music, not the same, so only one school might be purchasing the piece the transcriber worked on.  That means ONE PIECE for the one person in the band or chorus who needs it.  No music company is going to do that.

A lot of private piano teachers hire transcribers and get one piece at a time brailled since they don't use the whole book.  That doesn't cost so much.


On Jun 6, 2014, at 12:52 PM, Stephanie Pieck wrote:

> Unfortunately, there isn't enough money in it to make the politicians or the
> music publishers get on the bandwagon.
> 
> Some publishers, when approached directly, are eager to have their music
> produced in Braille. Mostly, they just have no idea that anyone would need
> such a thing. If memory serves, some of the Hal Leonard popular piano stuff
> was produced in Braille with HL actively involved in the process. (Not the
> transcribing, of course!)
> 
> What about having music publishers hire a transcriber in-house? (Gee, sounds
> like I'm coming up with as many pies in the sky as anyone else!) My thought
> is that, if a transcriber was hired, even as an independent contractor, then
> we might be able to get some traction.
> 
> For big publishers, the contractor could start by focusing on the areas of
> the catalogue where the Braille would have the most impact--i.e.,
> educational stuff for school music programs, then branching out into piano
> methods, etc.
> 
> Methods are great, but one of the things that I think we really need more of
> is intermediate-level repertoire collections that aren't classical. Yeah, I
> know; I was a piano performance major in college! But not everyone is going
> to get turned on about Beethoven or Mozart. There are many excellent
> composers producing attractive music today for this part of the demographic.
> But in Braille, it seems there are lots of things for beginners, and lots
> for really advanced players, with a big gap in the middle.
> 
> Stephanie
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Menvi-discuss [mailto:menvi-discuss-bounces at menvi.org] On Behalf Of
> Marc Sabatella
> Sent: Friday, June 06, 2014 11:46 AM
> To: menvi-discuss at menvi.org
> Subject: Re: [Menvi-discuss] piano methods
> 
> As a sighted educator, composer, and author of educational materials myself,
> who is a newcomer to thinking about accessibility issues, my opinions might
> be a bit naive, but here goes:
> 
> I think it's kind of shameful the lack of attention given to this in the
> music publishing industry.  It seems we're in the position that the software
> industry was in 30 (?) years ago.  Somehow, even though they don't all do a
> good job of it, software developers as a culture decided to own the problem
> of making their products accessible; they don't expect others to do it for
> them.  Of course, it made technological sense to do it this way.,  It's
> harder to "translate" a software application after the fact; it's easier to
> bake accessibility in.  But I think it also makes sense for music.  It's the
> music publishers who have the "source code" for the music they publish.
> With the right tools, training, support, and resources, it would be easier
> and cheaper for a music publisher to produce Braille editions of new titles
> in their own catalog than it would be for an independent Braille transcriber
> working just from the print edition.  Of course, this would require an
> upfront investment - and the necessary tools & infrastructure would need to
> be put in place  before it would start to pay off.
> 
> I wonder what would happen if laws like the ADA were expanded to require
> publishers to put out Braille editions of their work in order for it to be
> accepted for use in public schools?  Or perhaps some sort of subsidy / tax
> credit to give them incentive to do so?
> 
> Marc
> 
> 
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