Unlocks The Power Of Music For People With Disabilities

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Unlocks The Power Of Music For People With Disabilities

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070513074258.htm

Science Daily — Since his freshman year at Rensselaer Polytechnic

Institute, Zane Van Dusen has played in 13 bands — and he founded 11

of them. A vocalist who also plays five instruments, the New York

City native has been expressing himself through music for years. Now

he has combined his lifelong passion with a keen set of technical

and computing skills to create a device that allows all people,

regardless of physical mobility, the opportunity to experience

music's positive effects.

The resulting project – called an adaptive use musical instrument –

was a true labor of love.

Van Dusen, a senior majoring in electronic media, arts, and

communication (EMAC) and computer science, worked with an

interdisciplinary group of students led by ine Oliveros, a world-

renowned musician and distinguished professor of the arts at

Rensselaer. The team designed and implemented a computer interface

that tracks the movement of a user's head to allow them to produce

electronic sounds and compose music on a virtual keyboard in both

solo and ensemble settings.

The device provides a much-needed outlet for creative expression for

people with extremely limited mobility, particularly individuals

with severe cerebral palsy (CP) – a neurological disorder that

permanently affects body movement and muscle coordination and has

the capacity to render people unable to speak or move. It also has

therapeutic benefits, according to Van Dusen.

" We recently tested the adaptive use musical instrument in a clinic

and noticed that many of the children were more focused on their

movements because they were motivated by the sounds they were

creating, " he said. " One child played the instrument for almost an

hour, even though it took a lot of effort for him to keep his head

up that long. "

Beyond musical communication, Van Dusen sees potential for the

device to allow users to create verbal exchanges: " The interface

could be adapted to create speech software, allowing those who

suffer from CP to form full sentences, rather than just yes or no

responses. "

Following his graduation on May 19, Van Dusen plans to continue

working with Oliveros through the summer to perfect the prototype

adaptive use musical instrument, and to create additional

interfaces. Oliveros will spearhead the project with a group of

Rensselaer students and volunteers from her Deep Listening

Institute, an organization that fosters a unique approach to music,

literature, art and meditation, and promotes innovation among

artists and audiences in creating, performing, recording, and

educating with a global perspective.

Making Sure Rensselaer Rocks

In addition to opening musical opportunities for the disabled, Van

Dusen has also opened the ears of his fellow classmates as

activities manager and president of Ground Zero (GZ), Rensselaer's

underground arts and culture club located in the basement of Nugent

Hall, a residence hall for upperclass students.

The group hosts bi-weekly open mike nights – where students perform

pop, rock, rap, punk, jazz, metal, and electronic music to a crowd

of their peers – and is responsible for recruiting bands to play

concerts on campus.

Since his sophomore year, Van Dusen has been bringing independent

artists from all over the United States and Canada to the

Institute's Troy campus.

" I knew that many students at Rensselaer would like the bands that I

had seen in my hometown in New York City, but never would have had

the chance to see them play. So, I contacted some of these bands,

found a few student bands to open, and then we charged students just

$3 admission for the concert to cover the cost of the band's

performance and transportation. Since our concerts typically draw a

sizable, excited and open-minded crowd, GZ has become a fairly well-

known destination for underground bands. "

Van Dusen has been responsible for helping put together more than 50

GZ events including concerts, open mikes, art shows, and film

screenings.

" The work that goes into coordinating GZ events and working for

Rensselaer's Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)

is probably equal to that of a really hard class, " he says. " But

it's all just an extension of my mission to promote art on campus. "