The EM Poll

Overcoming Adversity

May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Joanna Cazden and Scott Wilkinson

           

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, people have grown accustomed to blue stripes in parking lots, wheelchair-size restrooms, and sign-language interpreters in classrooms and churches. Disabled musicians have benefited from the increased recognition of accessibility as a common good, just as nondisabled folks have benefited from a richer, more diverse community environment.

But how accessible are the tools of the musician's trade? How has technology helped disabled musicians practice their art and profession, and where does technology fall short? The answers may surprise you.

Mobility Crisis

Musicians coping with spinal-cord injury or systemic conditions such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, or multiple sclerosis must learn to compensate for the limited mobility of some or all of their limbs. Like ALS-afflicted physicist Stephen Hawking and wheelchair athletes, mobility-impaired musicians manage their creative work using a variety of methods.

FIG. 1: Greg Harry’s studio is designed so that he can access what he needs to make music despite a severe spinal-cord injury.

Georgia musician Greg Harry (see Fig. 1) played guitar professionally for 15 years before suffering a fall in 1991 and becoming paralyzed below the shoulders. He didn't play music for five years after having his accident, until he began to realize that computers and music technology might actually help him make music again. Producer and friend Chris Blackwell helped set up a studio in which Harry could control everything with a simple wooden mouth stick. He credits a grant from Georgia's Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund, a program funded by DUI fines, for making the studio setup possible.

Harry explains that using the stick is easier than talking to the computer using voice-recognition software. Furthermore, he says, “It doesn't conflict with any other software.” With the help of Microsoft Windows' Accessibility and Sticky Keys functions, he uses the numeric keypad (with the number 5 key for Enter) to move the mouse cursor anywhere on the screen. He can also modify cursor speed and acceleration for different tasks.

Slowly but Surely

Harry's process in the studio is similar to any able-bodied musician's, only slower. Composer Don Taylor (see Fig. 2), who is a quadriplegic, likewise explains that he can do almost anything he wants to in his studio, but “it takes four or five times as long as the average guy.”

Taylor was a multi-instrumentalist until he was injured in a hit-and-run accident in 1990. Unlike Harry, Taylor's use of music technology predated his injury. He started a company called Syntech in his garage, making MIDI interfaces and software for Apple IIe and Commodore 64 computers. He also started Sonus, a company that created sequencers, MIDI interfaces, and other music gadgets for Atari, Apple, and Commodore computers.

Taylor's accident left him with permanent spinal-cord damage, paralyzed from the chest down with only limited arm movement. To operate his computer, he straps a pencil to each of his two hand braces and uses them to hit the keyboard and manipulate a trackball, painstakingly entering one note at a time.

FIG. 2: Don Taylor straps pencils to his hand braces in order to manipulate a trackball, entering one note at a time.

“It's very tedious,” he says. “I have to hear everything clearly in my head and try to get it right the first time, but I can't know how it sounds until I hear it played back.” His current studio is based on a Macintosh G5 running Apple Logic Pro. He also requires extra time to make any changes in his setup; installing a new piece of software can take hours.

“When I first started in music technology, I remember thinking, ‘This could be really helpful for disabled people,’” says Taylor. “I never expected to become one of my own candidates.”

Drummer Donald Jaeger tells a slightly different story. In 1981 he suffered a fall that seriously injured his spinal cord. When he was able to resume playing again, access to his instrument was not the problem. “I could still play drums,” he recalls, “but my endurance was limited because of chronic pain. I needed to find people to play with me who understood.”

His desire to connect with others led him to found the Coalition for Disabled Musicians (CDM), which now has a Web site of resources and support (see the sidebar “Resources”). The coalition has created three ensembles so far: two rock bands (Range of Motion and Rockin' Chair) and a jazz-swing group (the CDM Orchestra). Jaeger has also developed many adaptive devices for his colleagues, mostly instrument stands to aid physical accessibility and help support weight.

Composer Taylor has launched a service project called Artists, Musicians, Composers Against Paralysis (AMCAP), which advocates for research into curing that affliction. He donates a portion of his CD sales to the Christopher Reeve Foundation. “So far, no big-name musicians have taken on paralysis as a cause,” he says. “Maybe someone reading this article will step up to the plate and help.”

Stands, pencils, mouth sticks — the mobility-impaired musicians we spoke with do not use as much advanced technology as one might expect. In some cases, the coolest gear is just too expensive for musicians who have steep, ongoing medical bills. In other cases, creative mechanical adaptations are enough.

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