Adaptive Instruments

Involvement in music can be important to anyone’s personal development, whether emotional or social. Everyone likes listening to a piece of music; some a soothing orchestral arrangement; some a two minute blast of punk; some just like singing in the shower! Either way music is a catharsis. It allows the player to express themselves, and just have some fun. Yet disabled people may feel this world is closed to them, that they lack the necessary motor skills, or that they will “ruin” the performance. These are both overcome by various innovations and adaptations to instruments, and by the fact that music is subjective – there is no right way to play, or way to sound. Here I will list a brief selection of innovations or adaptations.

Piano

Piano is one of the classic musical instruments. Underneath by the feet there are two pedals, called emotive pedals. These create different effects on the sound when pressed along with the normal keys. Of course for someone in a wheelchair, or who has lost the use of their feet, pressing these pedals becomes a problem, and limits their range of sound. MERU came up with a neat innovation to get around this. They placed a “wooden actuator box” underneath the piano that would activate the pedals. The user could activate the box remotely by tilting a pair of glasses forward. With the glasses on, all the user has to do is tilt forward.

Wind Instruments

There are two main adaptions available for wind instruments, such as the flute, clarinet or saxophone. The first helps the player keep the instrument up to their mouth. It does this through a one leg stand which goes all the way to the ground, so if the user has weak arms or trouble holding on to things, the one leg stand can ease the burden. The second adaption involves removing a few holes or notes from the instrument, to make it compatible with people that have the use of only one hand.

Soundbeam

The future of music is electronic, and Soundbeam is on the cutting edge. Soundbeam is a musical instrument played by body movements picked up by sensors. It is therefore equally available to all. Even those with severe physical disabilities can express themselves through music created on Soundbeam.

“If you have never seen Soundbeam then you

have missed experiencing one of the greatest

single technological advances in music for

people with disabilities of all time!” – Further Education Resources for Learning

For more information click here.

Skoog

The Skoog is another example of a musical instrument designed for those that are unable to access or play conventional instruments. Simply by touching, stroking, bashing or twisting the Skoog, you play music intuitively. It plugs straight into the USB port of your computer, where you can change the range of samples on the Skoog.

These are just a small taster of available adaptations or new accessible instruments. Join the conversation; let us know if you play an instrument, or if you plan to!

Adaptive Instruments

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