Expanding Access to Music Technology -- Rapid Prototyping Accessible Instrument Solutions For Musicians With Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract: Using open-source and creative coding frameworks, a teamof artist-engineers from Portland Community College work-ing with artists who experience Intellectual/Developmentaldisabilities prototyped an ensemble of adapted instrumentsand synthesizers that facilitate real-time in-key collabora-tion. The instruments employ a variety of sensors, send-ing the resulting musical controls to software sound gener-ators via MIDI. Careful consideration was given to the bal-ance between freedom of expression, and curating the pos-sible sonic outcomes as adaptation. Evaluation of adaptedinstrument design may differ greatly from frameworks forevaluating traditional instruments or products intended formass-market, though the results of such focused and indi-vidualised design have a variety of possible applications.