Developing accessibility in music

Help, tools and links for blind and visually impaired musicians.

Making music should be open to everyone. This page brings together resources for blind and visually impaired (BVI) musicians, producers and engineers.

To come: An introduction from Bradley.

Coming soon: presets and templates

Coming soon. Our shop is not open yet, so nothing below is available to download. No release dates are confirmed. We'll list each item here as it comes out.

Everything is being made to work just as well for blind and visually impaired (BVI) users as for fully sighted users. That goes especially for our multi-out templates and any NKS preset libraries we make.

What comes first

1. Black Salt Audio Artist Pass plugin presets.
2. Spectre Digital Extinction Level Event multi-out templates for Logic Pro and Pro Tools.

Everything else will follow as and when it is ready.

Black Salt Audio plugin presets

• Native AU presets for Logic Pro, for every Black Salt Audio (BSA) plugin except BSA Mixbus.
• TFX presets for Pro Tools, including BSA Mixbus. BSA Mixbus presets are for Pro Tools only.

GetGood Drums presets

• Native AU presets for GetGood Drums (GGD) Modern and Massive 2. These are for Logic Pro only for now.

Multi-out templates

• Spectre Digital Extinction Level Event, for Logic Pro and Pro Tools:
  • a template with every available output;
  • Marshall Fairbrother's own template, built around Marshall's current tracking kit: kick drum, snare, two rack toms, a floor tom, two crashes, hi-hat and ride. It has no splash or china outputs.
• GetGood Drums Modern and Massive 2, for Logic Pro only for now.

We are not affiliated with Spectre Digital.

Rock and metal tracking templates

Marshall's own rock and metal tracking templates for Logic Pro and Pro Tools, inspired by Jordan Valeriote's mixing templates. There will be three versions:

• Raw: guitar amp and drum plugins only, such as Spectre Digital Extinction Level Event (ELE), Neural DSP and STL Tonality plugins.
• Live FX: with effects on while you track, mixed to a good rough standard.
• Real mics: set up for miked amps and drums instead of samples.

Each one will clearly list the plugins and sample libraries you need to use it. Each template also comes with a guide to Marshall's track naming system, so you know how the workflow is normally set up.

Installing

Each set of AU and TFX presets will come with an installer that puts the presets in the right preset folder for you. There will also be instructions for installing them by hand.

Useful resources

• OSARA: a free extension that makes the REAPER digital audio workstation accessible with a screen reader.
• Reaper Accessibility: a community wiki with guides, tutorials and a mailing list for blind REAPER users.
• Drake Music: a national charity working in music, disability and technology.
• Attitude is Everything: improving deaf and disabled people's access to live music.
• PTAccess: a free Pro Tools tutorial for screen reader users, with chapters, audio examples and sample sessions.
• Flo Tools: free macros that make Pro Tools faster and easier to use for people with visual impairments.
• Logic Magician: Keyboard Maestro macros from The Blind Logic Pro that make Logic Pro quicker to use for blind users.
• Marshall Fairbrother's tools: accessibility tools for blind audio engineers, including macros that let VoiceOver read out loudness meter values.
• RNIB: the Royal National Institute of Blind People, with advice on technology, work and everyday life with sight loss.

Know a resource that should be here? Email contact@whystrugglemusic.com.