Paper Music
A Brief History of “Paper Music”:
During my time as an undergrad music student at NMSU in Las Cruces, NM, I discovered a music
notation software program called “Lime.” At the time, this program more
versatile and user-friendly than all the other music editors on the market. I
produced all of my assignments and compositions in Lime and became quite
familiar with the program.
When I moved to Albuquerque in 2000 to continue
my education at UNM, I met Jessica Bachicha, a vocalist also attending UNM. I
learned from her that Lime is one of the programs used by Dancing Dots (a Braille music publisher
in Valley Forge, PA) to produce music in braille. As I was the only person in
Albuquerque that knew the program intimately, Jessica and I approached the
Accessibilities Department at UNM about contracting my services through the
University. I’ve worked with Jessica for several years, producing all of her
music in braille.
During this time, my research revealed that
there is a critical need for braille music transcribers and I started building
my resources to allow me to perform this service for other blind and
visually-impaired (BVI) musicians. I enrolled as a student at the Hadley School for the Blind through
their distance-learning program, to learn how to transcribe English literary
braille. I also began the process to become certified through the Library of
Congress to transcribe literary braille. I am now pursuing my certification in
music braille transcription.
In 2001, I started transcribing music into
digitally-enlarged format for another musician, Thomas Green, who has macular
degeneration and couldn’t read traditional music scores, and have since been
under contract with Dancing Dots, the
University of New Mexico, the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, the
New England Conservatory of
Music, Saginaw
ISD, University of the Pacific, Boston Latin School, IMH Academy Malaysia, 1st
Southern Baptist Church of N. Hollywood, the University
of Leeds, and many private individuals. I am a member of MENVI (Music Education Network for the
Visually Impaired), BlindSkills, and
the NBA (National Braille
Association).
In 2004, I officially declared “Paper Music” with the I.R.S.
as a home-business, but I prefer to considered a “social entrepreneur” because
I am not in it for the money, but rather to serve blind and visually-impaired
musicians as best I can. The only profit I earn returns to the business to
allow further services to be offered at more affordable rates. To date, I have
produced over 3,000 music files for musicians around the world.
“Paper Music” is a
self-sufficient endeavor in all respects, but there are some areas that I am
currently seeking funding, such as the purchase of a braille embossing printer and
a newer laptop computer that would allow me to produce braille on-site.
Currently, I need to send my computer files to a printing/binding service to
produce the finished braille copy, a process that adds several weeks to the
time it takes for braille production. This turn-around time can be detrimental
to the educational process that should be equal for sighted and blind students
alike. This limitation has become an asset, however, as all of my clients
prefer their music in electronic format. Ironically, “Paper Music” continues to
provide all transcriptions paper-free.
“Paper
Music” now contracts the services of a certified music braille
transcriptionist, Tina Davidson, and several braille proofreaders, as well as
maintaining continuous involvement in the blind and transcriber communities.
Sadly,
Thomas Green passed away in 2008, but we are continuing to develop his “Enlarged Music
Project” with the blessings of his wife and son, who worked with Tom on the
“ground floor” of the project. Our next challenge will be to update the system
for Windows 7 (we are skipping over Vista) using a wide-screen laptop computer.
We will soon have a full website up with detailed information and full system
downloads.
In
July 2009, I was honored to receive a portion of the Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award
from the National Federation of the Blind. We are overjoyed to celebrate Louis Braille’s 200th
birthday on January 4, 2009!
Contact Information:
John Andrew English
dba “paper music”
Music transcription and consultation services for the blind
and visually impaired.
www.papermusic.org
info@papermusic.org
(updated: July 9, 2009)
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