How
to Create Music Braille using SharpEye2, Lime and GOODFEELâ
For
Blind and Sighted Users
By Bill McCann
Dancing Dots
The
instructions below include specifics on using SharpEye with a screen
reader. However, these instructions
should prove useful to anyone trying to use SharpEye. The instructions refer to the JAWS for Windows screen reader, but
all popular screen readers should be able to deliver access to SharpEye2. If you should find otherwise, please post a
note to support@dancingdots.com or, better yet, to our ddots listserv. If you're not yet subscribed to our list,
see subscription instructions at www.dancingdots.com/techsup.htm.
Transcribing from print hardcopy to music
braille is a three-step process of scanning,
editing and transcribing. Each step is accomplished with a different
software program. Each program flows
into the next making the process seamless and intuitive. This article focuses on using SharpEye in
the initial scanning step. Here's an
overview of how to scan, edit and transcribe your work. After the overview,
I'll give detailed background and instructions:
Overview
of Steps to Create Music Braille with GOODFEEL
Details
of Steps to Create Music Braille with GOODFEEL
Step
1: Scan with
SharpEye
SharpEye uses
the scanning software supplied by the manufacturer of your scanner, e.g. HP
Precision Scan or CanoScan’s ScanGear.
You must configure your scanner’s software to read in Black and White,
OCR or Line Art mode or SharpEye will not accept the scanned image. This configuration may need to be performed
again if the scanner's software is used for other purposes. It is impossible to
give specific instructions for this step as there is a wide variety of scanners
and scanning software on the market.
See the section below entitled "Configuring your Scanning
Software" for general hints and specifics for CanoScan ScanGear
software.
How
to Scan with SharpEye2:
Run SharpEye
and press CONTROL+TAB to move focus to SharpEye's main window.
Selecting
Your Scanner:
This step is
only necessary if you have more than one scanner or if you have the software
drivers for more than one scanner on your computer. This step also only needs to be performed if you want SharpEye to
use a scanner that you did not use the last time SharpEye was run.
·
Press ALT+F
and then the letter T to open the Select Source dialog.
·
Tab to the
list of scanners and be sure that the scanner you want to use is selected. Tab to the Select Button and press ENTER.
Acquiring
an Image:
Press ALT+F
and then the letter Q to open the scanning software supplied with your
scanner. For me, that means that
SharpEye opens the ScanGear software for my CanoScan N656U scanner.
Configuring
your Scanning Software:
As noted
above, it is impossible to offer specifics on how to accomplish this step. Basically you want to select an image mode
of black and white (document), OCR or Line Art mode and a resolution of 300
dpi. Go to http://www.dancingdots.com/sp_scint.htm for help with different scanning
interfaces.
Here's
what I've done to set up my ScanGear software supplied with my CanoScan N656U
scanner:
I press
ALT+F, and then the letter Q. I can now press CONTROL+TAB to move to the
settings screen for ScanGear. On the
Main tab there is a setting called Color Mode. On tabbing to this combo box,
you'll be in a list of options. Arrow up and down until you hear "Black
and White" and select that option.
Tab to Output Resolution and make sure it is set to 300 dpi (dots per
inch).
After you
have made your selections, press CONTROL+TAB until you hear "Preview
Button." Now follow the remaining
instructions.
Preview
and/or Scan
SharpEye
offers a preview of the material to be scanned. This step is really only useful to sighted users. It tells them that the sheet music has been
placed right side up in the scanner and presents a small image of what will be
scanned. Unless I am demonstrating
SharpEye to a sighted customer I always skip the Preview step.
Press ALT+S
to begin scanning. You may want to set
JAWS to Say-all mode by pressing INSERT+S until JAWS says "All." JAWS will now report changes in the scanning
software’s status line which displays the percent completed.
When the
software reports 100 percent complete, press CONTROL+TAB until JAWS says
"SharpEye2."
Press ALT+R
and then the letter R to begin SharpEye's read/recognition step. Again, you may want to set JAWS to Say-all
mode to hear the percent-completed report.
You will
probably hear a query from SharpEye telling you that the image is unsaved. I always say OK to this query but you may
want to save the image for future use.
During this
read process you can also check the percent completed value by pressing
INSERT+NumPad3.
Cleaning
up Rhythm Warnings:
If all went
well, SharpEye reported "0 rhythm warnings." If so, you can go on to the steps below to
save your music file and go on to edit with Cakewalk or Lime and to transcribe
to braille with GOODFEEL. However, if
you have rhythm errors, you should correct them in SharpEye before continuing. Blind users will need assistance from a
sighted helper to clean up these warnings.
Correcting
Rhythm Warnings:
If SharpEye
reported 0 rhythm warnings, you can skip this step. Otherwise, press ALT+M and then G to move to the next rhythm
warning or, if you're sighted, click on the blue arrow that will point to the
problem. All I can write here, speaking
as a blind user, is that one presses the Left Mouse Button to change or delete
score information and the Right Mouse Button to insert missing musical
symbols. SharpEye presents a pallet of
symbols which can be selected and modified further. For example, if your time signature is missing, click on the 4/4
symbol. If the piece is actually in
3/8, you'll need to perform further editing to change the 4/4 to a 3/8. See SharpEye's excellent online help for a
much better explanation!
Saving
Your Work
Now you can
save your work and perform further editing in your preferred program. Blind users will press ALT+F, the letter D
and then the letter T. These keystrokes
save your music as a MIDI file in your Windows\Temp folder.
SharpEye will
then open this MIDI file in whatever program you have associated with MIDI
files. For most blind users, this
should be Cakewalk. I'll need to write
up a tutorial on how to make this association under Windows. Cakewalk users are given one opportunity to
make this association. During the
Cakewalk installation, you are asked if you'd like Windows to open Cakewalk
when a MIDI file is double-clicked.
Select this option to make the proper association. Whether SharpEye opens Cakewalk
automatically or not, you are now ready to go to Cakewalk or any MIDI sequencer
to continue preparing your MIDI file for transcription by GOODFEEL.
Step
2: Editing
From
SharpEye's main menu, sighted users should Select File | NIFF | Save and Open
Temp File. SharpEye will open Lime for you and you can continue preparing the
Lime file for transcription by GOODFEEL.
Note: You must run Lime once so it can configure Windows to open NIFF
files with Lime.
All users
should consult the article "Preparing Files for GOODFEEL to Transcribe"
under GOODFEEL's online help. Run GOODFEEL, press ALT+H, then h, CONTROL+TAB or
SHIFT+CONTROL+TAB to the Contents Page, arrow down to "Preparing Files for
GOODFEEL" and press RIGHT ARROW to open.
All users should review articles in this section before brailling
anything with GOODFEEL. In particular,
arrow down to either "Preparing MIDI Files for GOODFEEL" or "Preparing
Lime Files for GOODFEEL."
Launching
GOODFEEL from Lime
Choose
"Launch GOODFEEL" from Lime's File menu to pass your Lime file onto
GOODFEEL for transcription.
Launching
GOODFEEL from CakeTalking
Cakewalk
users who use CakeTalking 2.2 (soon to be released) can press INSERT+G to pass
their Cakewalk information to GOODFEEL. Otherwise, save your file as a MIDI
format 1 file, close Cakewalk, run GOODFEEL and use CONTROL+O to open that MIDI
file for transcription.
Step
3: Transcribing
with GOODFEEL
Set all
desired options by choosing Options (ALT+O) from GOODFEEL's main menu or before
choosing "Automatic Transcription" from GOODFEEL's Braille Process
dialog. Unless you want to take
advantage of advanced formatting options such as suppressing selected parts
from brailling, changing standard interval directions or specifying more than
one voice on a MIDI track, you will need to do very little work in GOODFEEL
itself.
Once you're
sure your options are set to your personal preferences, choose "Automatic
Transcription." If GOODFEEL finds no errors or things to bring to your
attention about your Lime or MIDI file, it will present a dialog that allows
you to view the music braille on screen or with a braille display. Or, you can simply send it directly to your
embosser. If warnings are found,
GOODFEEL will first show you a list of them.
Press F1 to get more help and to link to other areas of GOODFEEL's
online, context-sensitive help. If the
errors are serious, you will need to make corrections in Lime or Cakewalk and
reload the file into GOODFEEL. You can close
the list of messages with ALT+C or by clicking on the Close button.
In
Conclusion
I invite all
users to give us feedback on the usefulness of these instructions. We'll apply suggestions and revise as
necessary.
Technical Support
Support for
Dancing Dots customers is available to registered users via e-mail at support@dancingdots.com and on the web at www.dancingdots.com.
Postal
address:
1754
Quarry Lane
P.O.
Box 927
Valley
Forge, PA 19482-0927
Tel:
610-783-6692 Fax: 610-783-6732