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MusicPad Pro Case Study
Scott Houston is undoubtedly a talented drummer but his severe visual impairment has up until now prevented him from realising his full potential.
In addition, his condition has created a great deal of work for his teacher at Lenzie Academy, Scott Arnott. Mr Arnott has had to spend a lot of time photocopying music to A3 size, then laminating each sheet so that it would sit properly on a music stand. Even then he has been frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t really annotate it for him.
There was also the added complication that Scott, being a drummer, needed both hands to play, so music with more than a single page was very problematic.
Scottish education IT specialist LoNote Music was asked by the Principal Teacher of Music at Lenzie Academy, Mrs Aileen Kelly if there was a way around this problem and he quickly identified the MusicPad Pro as a potential solution. “I suggested the Music Pad Pro from Freehand Systems, and subsequently visited the school and demonstrated the system to Scott, who took to it immediately, and has been an enthusiastic user ever since.” said Martin Thomson of LoNote.
The
MusicPad Pro is a compact digital sheet music display system with a
clear bright touch-sensitive screen. The music can be imported from
Sibelius, Finale and other commonly used notation software so it is
simple to resize the music in a suitable format for any musician.
Mr.
Arnott says, “As Scott’s Percussion tutor at Lenzie Academy, I
totally agree that the Music Pad Pro from FreeHand Systems has
transformed Scott’s Percussion lessons. It is simply the best tool
for the job and has helped him to improve his music reading skills
dramatically. The use of new technology as a visual aid for music
reading is an invaluable tool which I look forward to using
extensively in my lessons in the future.”
Lenzie Academy is situated in East Dunbartonshire Council, who run a number of Bands and Orchestras at regional level. There are a number of visually-impaired pupils within the authority, and they have been viewing Scott’s progress with this system as a test case, with a view to enabling many more visually-impaired pupils the opportunity to take part in mainstream musical activities.
So what can we say about Scott Houston's experience of using the MusicPad Pro? Well he can probably sum up the situation better than anyone else can so we'll leave the last word to him.
“Both as a musician, a student, and a visually impaired person, the Music Pad Pro from FreeHand Systems has changed the way I think about and play music. Before using the Music Pad, my sheet music was large, cluttered, and generally impractical. However, now it can be displayed at an easy to read size on an elegant touch screen with ease. The simple and user-friendly interface makes it very easy to use and time doesn’t need to be spent getting to grips with the technology allowing more time to enjoy using the system and play the music. I truly don’t know where I would be without the Music Pad, and I look forward to many more years using the system.”
Scott
Houston,
Lenzie Academy, Scotland.
Contacts:
Scott Arnott
Senior Instrumental Instructor
East Dunbartonshire Council
Scott.Arnott@eastdunbarton.gov.uk
Martin Thomson
Music IT Consultant
LoNoteMusic