Abstract
Across the UK, a growing number of charity organisations, social enterprises, academic researchers and individuals have developed music technology-based music workshops and projects utilising Accessible Music Technology to address the issue of access to music-making for people with disabilities. In this article, I discuss my ethnographic study of The Drake Music Project Northern Ireland (DMNI), a charity which provides music workshop opportunities in inclusive ensembles at the community level. My methodology of participant observation involved undergoing the training necessary to become an access music tutor for DMNI, attending workshops and conducting interviews with people throughout the organisation. Key findings were that consumer music technology devices that were not designed to be accessible to a wide spectrum of users could be made accessible through adapting them with other devices or different sensor interfaces more suitable for people with unique abilities and specific needs. Throughout my study I found that it was not in the design of music technology devices that made them accessible. Rather, meaningful music-making emerged through the interrelations between the access music tutors, workshop participants and the music technology interfaces in the workshop environment. The broader implications of DMNI music-making activities and effects on social inclusion are also discussed.
Highlights
Across the UK, a growing number of charity organisations, social enterprises, academic researchers and individuals have developed music technology-based music workshops and accessible devices to address the issue of access to music-making for people with disabilities
In this article I discuss the use of consumer music technology, Accessible Music Technology (AMT) and Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs) in Drake Music Project Northern Ireland (DMNI) through my research questions: 1) To what extent does the design of devices exclude certain users from engaging with music technology? 2) In what ways can inclusive music-making with music technology contribute to the lives of participants with different abilities?
In this article I have discussed my ethnographic study with DMNI, a charity that provides inclusive musicmaking workshops through the use of AMT
Summary
AMT practices entail matching or adapting a music technology device to a user’s specific need Another field which has influenced this sphere of musical activity is Digital Musical Instrument (DMI) design and research into new interfaces for musical expression. Academic researchers and independent technologists interested in musical instrument design see the challenges of creating new DMIs as a form of creative expression in itself In this area of DIY (hobbyist and alternative to consumer) technology making, highly customised adaptations and original designs are often customised and unique to the inventor. This high level of customisation is due to the versatility and variety of -available contemporary sensor interfaces that can be incorporated into instrument designs. In this article I discuss the use of consumer music technology, AMT and ADMIs in DMNI through my research questions: 1) To what extent does the design of devices exclude certain users from engaging with music technology? 2) In what ways can inclusive music-making with music technology contribute to the lives of participants with different abilities?
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