Drop the mic

If you have any software, hardware or performance tips you would like to share, email editor@makingmusic.org.uk

In the last issue of Highnotes (spring 2020), we featured an anonymous letter from a choir singer who is struggling to read the music due to deteriorating eyesight.

Lots of members got in touch with some interesting ideas to make things easier. Here’s a selection — could any of these help someone in your group?

‘As long as you have an original copy of the music as evidence, it is perfectly legal to make a larger print photocopy of any music (which is then destroyed after the concert). I find that often I can enlarge music for my visually impaired friend by at least 110-125% on A4 which deletes all the unnecessary ‘stuff’ and still fits the music onto the page. The above will allow for highlighting the voice part and, if necessary, numbering each bar above the music for fast recognition of bar numbers.’

‘I’d make a light clipboard to go behind my music, like a sheet of A3 landscape corrugated plastic board, onto which I’d clip a stand light. The best light that I’ve found, that has a choice of brightness settings and two horizontal bars which spread the light right across, is the AROMA AL-1 Rechargeable Music Stand Lamp. As it implies, it has a rechargeable battery that lasts about 6 hours at a time. It folds away quite compactly too.’ ‘For conducting I invested in a Mighty Bright Orchestra Light (available via Black Cat Music), which is excellent, and more than adequate for singing too, as it clips to the top of a folder.’ ‘A head torch! It can be adjusted in angle without having to bend your head to the music.’ ‘Try the app forScore on iPad, using the ‘Reflow’ function. It takes an ordinary score and converts all the systems on a page into a continuous ribbon which can be scrolled across the page. If the original part is highlighted, and large bar numbers written in (using ‘Annotation’), the ribbon speed can be set to automatic, or, more importantly and usefully, controlled manually by a light touch. I tried this out last night at rehearsal with our member who has visual difficulties, and she thought it was fantastic.’

‘Youtube and practice apps are great for supporting learning the pieces by ear.’

This app is a practice companion for all abilities so whether you’re just starting out with chamber music, missing playing along with others, or even if you’re just plain rusty (as I am) then it’s a great way to find your way back in.

You can search for pieces by composer, difficulty (easy, moderate, hard, advanced), era, and instrument (clarinet, strings and piano are all catered for but the repertoire is constantly being updated). Pieces are classical but there is some folk and traditional.

Download the sheet music for the part you’d like to play (if it’s out of copyright) and you can watch a high quality recording of professionals playing the piece in real time, along with interviews with the players who give useful tips.

You can mute each player in the recording (handy when you want to hear just your part, or when you want to mute just your part and play along with the others). The performers are filmed in such a way that makes it possible to look at what they’re doing if you need help with bowings or fingering for example. On iPhone you can also slow pieces down.

As a rusty violinist it was fun to play the pieces I know and love with what feels like a live group in my living room but I also really appreciated being able to explore pieces I’d never encountered before and use all the app’s tools to get to know them before gradually attempting to play along.

At the moment this app is only available for iPhone and desktop devices but an android version is in development. Natalie Joanes