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Parent of Blind Adult seeks info about audio equip

184.17.206.169
Posted on December 18, 2014 at 23:35:17
ltstangel
Audiophile

Posts: 2
Location: IN
Joined: December 18, 2014
 Greetings,
If I'm not in the right forum, please direct me. My adult daughter is blind and has autism. I'm wanting to get her a piece of audio equipment for Christmas, that I know next to nothing about, although I'm thinking it's either a synthesizer, an equalizer, or a dj mixer. I'm hoping that between asking a few questions and sharing our criteria, someone might be able to tell me what I'm looking for/needing. :) Thanks!


Joan

 

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You are in the right place ... , posted on December 18, 2014 at 23:39:09
three_sox
 ... Welcome.

What is it you want this piece of equipment to do?

Please give as much detail as possible and ramble on if you need to because the more information you give the better the advice you will receive.

 

RE: Parent of Blind Adult seeks info about audio equip, posted on December 19, 2014 at 00:56:34
Tom Schuman
Audiophile

Posts: 2632
Location: Bremen
Joined: October 22, 2003
 I recommend a keyboard with a few different sounds built in, and built in speakers. It doesn't have to be an 88 key keyboard to play and to have fun with. Brands to look for : Yamaha, Korg, Roland. You can add a pair of headphones so everyone else doesn't need to hear.
Investment probably under $200 or so.
DJ mixer, equalizer, etc., you would need a whole lot of other equipment (different recording sources) to start using.
I vote for the instrument.

 

RE: Parent of Blind Adult seeks info about audio equip, posted on December 19, 2014 at 06:36:14
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Welcome! Joan.

another vote for a keyboard with different sound-effects.

 

A counter-cultural suggestion or three, posted on December 19, 2014 at 07:51:06
John Marks
Manufacturer

Posts: 7806
Location: Peoples' Democratic Republic of R.I.
Joined: April 23, 2000



Hi-

This is just from my own perspective, and what your situation calls for might require a different approach.

But frankly I would be concerned that a conventional electronic keyboard, with its prepacked rhythms (beats) and songs, might be a little overwhelming or unrewarding. And, the conventional Western musical scale, while very flexible, presents the beginner with "too many options," in that to play a tune in any one key, you have to stay away from 5 notes while hitting only the 7 notes that are proper to that key.

Therefore I suggest a non-electric, non-diatonic (conventional Western scale), organic instrument designed for beginners.

The two things that come to mind are a Pentatonic Lyre (a lyre is a harp without a resonating body) and a Pentatonic Recorder (a recorder is a wooden or plastic mouthblown straight, not crosswise, flute).

The advantage of the Pentatonic scale is that it omits discordant notes, so that every note harmonizes with every other note. Pentatonic instruments are used in early-age music education in Waldorf Schools and Orff music education.

Here's a video about that option:







I'd recommend a 10-string lyre for an adult, as well as a music book and a tuner. If you live near a Waldorf school or a college that trains teachers for early music education, getting a teacher to help lay a solid foundation I think is very worthwhile.

Here's a place that makes a Pentatonic harp as well as lyre:

http://www.harpsoflorien.com/pentatonic.html

The other options are a pentatonic recorder, or a pentatonic thumb piano (often referred to by the trade name Kalimba).

It is also somewhat the case that once one has gotten the hang of playing one pentatonic instrument, the others have almost zero scare-off factor and so progress comes faster on new pentatonic instruments. But real proficiency requires dedication and practice and sensitive mentoring.

Here's a video of a very impressive pentatonic harp performance:







Once a person has graduated from a pentatonic recorder to a conventional one, there are in many places recorder ensembles that play together. Depending on the individual, once a pentatonic lyre or harp is comfortable, they may be able to make the transition to classical guitar, but that is a matter of individual temperament. The classical guitar presents the same challenge of "more notes than you really need at the moment" that the piano does.

Best of luck,

John

 

Maybe a karaoke machine or electronic drum?, posted on December 19, 2014 at 07:57:08
Kloss



I have a teen aged autistic son he loves his also he enjoys drum machines and listening to music.

 

Audio equipment to listen to music with, play music with or create music with?..., posted on December 19, 2014 at 09:07:32
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31879
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 More criteria is needed.

IF it's create music with, I think Tom Schuman has the perfect answer.

Only six shopping days left.

"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

Or open tune a six string guitar to A C D E G A..., posted on December 19, 2014 at 09:20:03
DeKay
 Open chord tunings would also be fun for a beginner.

 

most every state, NJ and SC do, have Asociation of the Blind..., posted on December 19, 2014 at 09:36:44
LCBIII
 ...organizations that provide proactive assistance to people sight handicapped (my mother is) and has greatly benifited from the skills and services and programs offered.

 

Yes, but..., posted on December 19, 2014 at 09:37:07
John Marks
Manufacturer

Posts: 7806
Location: Peoples' Democratic Republic of R.I.
Joined: April 23, 2000
 You are right to a degree, but even on an open-tuned guitar, and even using a slide, to play a melody you still have to skip over half-steps that are not part of the melody.

Please note that I would give just about the same advice to any person with no former musical training who wanted to play an instrument--some instrument, any instrument. I am not "dumbing down" my advice simply because a person is blind and/or somewhere on a diagnostic spectrum.

The nice thing about starting with pentatonic instruments, as just about 100 years of Waldorf education and about 60 years of Orff education have proven, is that it lessens the fear of "hitting a wrong note."

But each student is different. Perhaps if someone placed a French horn in this woman's hands, she would find her true voice, and within 90 days be able to play Gregorian chant on the French horn which, don't laugh, is otherworldly... .

If a person starts on a pentatonic instrument and 90 days later is feeling blocked by the instrument's limitations, no harm done. But if a person gets thrown into the deep end of the diatonic pool and feels hopeless, there often is harm done, IMHO.

ATB,

John

 

I like D-A-D-F#-A-D, posted on December 19, 2014 at 09:47:25
Brian H P
Audiophile

Posts: 1291
Location: Oregon
Joined: December 18, 2012
 Good ol' "Sebastapol" tuning, popular with Victorian parlor guitarists and long a favorite with blues & folk players.

Strum all the strings open and you get a nice rich D chord. Barre at the 5th fret for G and at the 7th for A. All the chords you need to immediately strum along and accompany thousands of tunes.

Learn where the notes of the D major scale are on the highest strings, and start picking out melodies with a drone accompaniment. Works real nice with Scottish bagpipe tunes. Learn the notes of the D minor pentatonic scale, and play blues. With modified D-based scales like D and G harmonic minor, over the drone, you get some cool sitar-like effects. Try playing major and minor pentatonic scales with a slide, letting open strings drone underneath.

This tuning makes it easier to get good sounds right off the bat, compared to standard where you have to learn a bunch of left hand chord positions, and it makes learning fun. Although it limits you to D and neighboring keys, there's no limit to where you can take it within those keys, once you start developing your technique. Remember, Derek Trucks started out with this tuning exclusively!

 

RE: Parent of Blind Adult seeks info about audio equip, posted on December 19, 2014 at 10:01:47
Sondek
Audiophile

Posts: 9630
Location: Fort Worth
Joined: May 17, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 5, 2002
 Joan,

Based on the little information you've given us so far, I suspect that what you want is a synthesizer, but I am only guessing. In the limited context presented, an equalizer makes no sense, and DJ mixer doesn't seem right either for someone who cannot see. Please help us help you by expounding a bit, or a lot.

Regards,

Mike

 

RE: Parent of Blind Adult seeks info about audio equip, posted on December 19, 2014 at 11:29:13
ltstangel
Audiophile

Posts: 2
Location: IN
Joined: December 18, 2014
 Wow! Thanks so much for all the input and ideas. I wasn't able to get back back in until now, so let me give some specifics. She listens to her music and videos through Youtube on the computer or the Wii, or an MP3 or DVD player all via various types of speakers and a big subwoofer that are connected via headphone jacks/plugs. She usually uses the sub woofer and a speaker simultaniously using a y connector. When she listens to things on the computer, she often has me make the recording go fast and/or slow, loves to change the pitch, add echo, etc. She also likes to hook her mic up or use her voice changer mic to sing a long in different voices. Finally she loves knobs and switches. Soooo, my thought was to find some kind of device that we could connect through the headphone jack or an adaptor that would allow her to change the sound FX, pitch, etc. on her own that would also have voice over controls if she wanted to use her mic. I know this is a tall order, but I'm optimistic that there is something that would come close to meeting her needs without spending an ungodly amount of money. I talked with someone at Sweetwater here in town and he thought something like the Roland VT-3 Voice Transformer might work. Said although its for voice, she might be able to run her music through it as well with the right plug. I have included the link below. I was also looking at dj mixers with voice over, but I'm not sure what they do exactly. Thanks again everyone for your help!Feel free to ask questions. :)
Joan

 

RE: Maybe a karaoke machine or electronic drum?, posted on December 19, 2014 at 13:13:04
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15524
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Music is excellent therapy for autistic people.
Nice pic!

 

How about some help here, please, posted on December 19, 2014 at 14:16:02
Sondek
Audiophile

Posts: 9630
Location: Fort Worth
Joined: May 17, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 5, 2002
 The kind of thing Joan is describing is not something I'm that familiar with. When you get to specific makes and model recommendations I'm lost.

 

Did not consider slide use @ all, nor..., posted on December 19, 2014 at 17:03:38
DeKay
 did I (more importantly) consider the initial pain of using a fretted instrument as far as a new comers finger pads go.

It also depends upon the girl as a traditionally tuned guitar may not be challenging @ all to her
(more complex than a keyboard in the that it's up/down as well as across, but to some it makes no difference - not one of the some myself)

Though less tactile I think the keyboard recommendations may be better as an introduction to composing playing music (piano was my first instrument) and with the electronic home versions it's even easier easy on the fingertips than a traditional piano.

 

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