DP for blind users?

[FrankD]

Hello everyone,

I have a blind student in my theater sound crew (high school level). In our current production, we have him triggering audio cues and EFX from a MacBook Pro using Q-Lab and a stream deck controller. He's doing a great job. He also plays drums and guitar, is excited about working with audio and wants to get into recording. Are there any blind members of our esteemed group who can offer any tips? Is DP a good platform for a blind user (he has no sight at all)? Does it work well with VoiceOver?

Thanks in advance for any info!

[HobbyCore]

It does not work well with voiceover. Of all the DAWs, it's probably one of the more difficult ones to use if you are visually impaired.

[FrankD]

Thanks so much for the reply. Which DAWs would be good in your estimation?

Logic comes to mind, since it is an Apple product. Pro Tools of course, and I have also read good things about Reaper. Do you have any experiences with those, pro or con?

Many thanks,

[stubbsonic]

I'm way out of my lane, here. And thanks in advance for tolerating my ignorant musings.

Perhaps stating the obvious, the DAW needs to have complete keyboard access (In DP, they are COMMANDS). In other words, we need to be able to execute all aspects of the GUI with keystrokes and/or MIDI commands. There are some macro programs out there, like Keyboard Maestro which can execute various UI tasks, but I've found it to be a little inconsistent when setting it up. A button/knob/slider hardware control surface could be very useful, to give the states of tracks, etc. I'm not sure which hardware product would be best, probably something with motorized faders. It would need two-way communication to show realtime track states. If button states could be shown on sliders that would help. And obviously programming buttons to arm tracks, return-to-zero, etc would be useful.

Though DP is complex and perhaps not well-suited in some ways, it does provide a very complete set of COMMANDS for both keystroke and MIDI control of MANY if not most of its features. The rest could be achieved via Keyboard Meastro or similar.

The next thing would be to have some audible feedback about the states of things: "Track six record enabled." "Counter one-one-zero", "Selection range from two-three-two-hundred-forty to nine-one-zero". I haven't really considered all the things I take for granted-- level meters, knob states, even regions in tracks, etc.

Setting up defaults, (like a starting point project) with everything configured as it needs to be is important. Could be that certain "tricks" could be used to differentiate which track is record enabled-- e.g., like putting temporary effects on different tracks to indicate which track is enabled.

I wouldn't rule out Garageband, as it is designed to reduce complexity. However, it is also very GUI reliant, and I don't use it enough to know how configurable it is in terms of keystroke commands, etc.

Keep us posted with your progress.

[cuttime]

I'm out of my lane here, too, but I would suspect tactile feedback would be very important, ruling out iOS devices and such. I seems like the Elgato Stream Deck would be ideal, but setting it up could require some real expertise.

[bayswater]

Lots of people in the wrong lane, and I'm one of them, but wouldn't iOS be a candidate having haptic feedback? Haptic feedback can be customized. Perhaps it could be programmed to provide useful information to a user to supplement audio feedback?

[stubbsonic]

It's an interesting idea. I think having sliders or duck-head knobs is good for reading actual positions. Buttons, even a cursor diamond are also good.

Seems like the set-up will be a very deep process, no matter what. Setting up defaults, macros, etc. I'm curious to know how much of Apple's Accessibility settings will handle much of these needs.

[FrankD]

Thanks everyone, for the feedback. I'm out of my lane here too...

We worked this past week on a show at his school, using lots of wireless mics and a digital console. He can find the faders he wants among banks of 8, and the fact that they are motorized helps when bringing up scenes. So much of the console depends on visual feedback though. I can show him how to apply EQ for example, but the selected channel is indicated by an LED. Encoders give no tactile cue as to their physical position, they simply spin around... From a live sound perspective, an analog console would be preferable. Each channel has its own set of controls.

The voiceover feature in MacOS gives audible feedback, but it seems that some apps implement it better than others. Starting with Garage Band, as Stubbs suggested, may be a good way to get his feet wet. I'm thinking an Apple product would be the most likely to work well with Voiceover. For a home setup, I'm thinking whichever DAW works best combined with an analog board might get him close. To add to the mix, he plays drums and is very much interested in recording himself using multiple mics. One step at a time...

As an aside, I remember reading about how Ray Charles could operate his studio alone. I mentioned this to Jake (the student) and he had not heard of Ray Charles. Way to feel old... he is aware of Stevie Wonder though, and gives him increased respect when I mentioned that Stevie played drums on a lot of his recordings.

[stubbsonic]

It is cool to see that there are some resources and supports out there. (I just googled "resources for blind audio engineers")

Keep us updated on this journey.

[bayswater]

he is aware of Stevie Wonder though, and gives him increased respect when I mentioned that Stevie played drums on a lot of his recordings.

Interesting, when I was reading the thread, I was wondering , what would Stevie Wonder do? I was reminded of a short video where he asked someone to play a note while he sampled it and used it in his next take on a song.

Maybe with the help of six degrees of separation, someone here knows someone who knows Stevie Wonder?

[FrankD]

Interesting, when I was reading the thread, I was wondering , what would Stevie Wonder do? I was reminded of a short video where he asked someone to play a note while he sampled it and used it in his next take on a song.

Maybe with the help of six degrees of separation, someone here knows someone who knows Stevie Wonder?

Interesting thought. Stevie always had engineers and techs, but he is quite a tech-head himself. I read somewhere that he could operate his Fairlight, and later the Synclavier. It would be supremely interesting to know what sort of technology he currently uses.

IIRC, Stevie was the one who challenged Ray Kurzweil to develop his piano synth, after being a user of Kurzweil's reading machine.

[HCMarkus]

Maybe with the help of six degrees of separation, someone here knows someone who knows Stevie Wonder?

You get three degrees... I know Shotgun Tom Kelly (Radio DJ and regular guest on a TV Show for which I am house keyboardist) who knows -and was honored by - Mr. Wonder.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce today honored local Los Angeles radio personality, Shotgun Tom Kelly with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 30, 2013. His star was unveiled at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard, next to the star of the late Real Don Steele, who formerly hosted the afternoon program on K-Earth 101. The star ceremony coincides with Kelly’s 40th anniversary in Radio.

Emcee Leron Gubler, President & CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and guest speakers Stevie Wonder and Jhani Kaye, Program Director of K-Earth 101, helped unveil the 2,496th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Category of Radio.