1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,421 ♪ Opening theme music ♪ 2 00:00:14,264 --> 00:00:18,768 Hello and welcome to this episode of ArtsAbly in Conversation. 3 00:00:18,768 --> 00:00:21,062 My name is Diane Kolin. 4 00:00:21,312 --> 00:00:26,317 This series presents artists, academics, and project leaders 5 00:00:26,317 --> 00:00:33,366 who dedicate their time and energy to a better accessibility for people with disabilities in the arts. 6 00:00:33,616 --> 00:00:39,164 You can find more of these conversations on our website, artsably.com, 7 00:00:39,164 --> 00:00:44,711 which is spelled A-R-T-S-A-B-L-Y dot com 8 00:00:45,837 --> 00:00:49,215 ♪ Theme music ♪ 9 00:00:58,349 --> 00:01:02,395 Today ArtsAbly is in conversation with Jessica Tomlinson, 10 00:01:02,395 --> 00:01:06,441 who is a singer, an assistive technology instructor, 11 00:01:06,441 --> 00:01:09,027 and an audio recording editor. 12 00:01:09,444 --> 00:01:14,532 You can find the resources mentioned by Jessica Tomlinson during this episode 13 00:01:14,532 --> 00:01:18,286 on ArtsAbly's website in the blog section. 14 00:01:19,788 --> 00:01:24,459 ♪ Jessica sings Adele, Easy on Me ♪ 15 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,462 Okay thank you, Jessica, for being with us today. 16 00:04:56,462 --> 00:05:02,051 I am with Jessica Tomlinson and she is a singer, 17 00:05:02,051 --> 00:05:09,809 she's a RAMPD community member, which is the Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities network, 18 00:05:09,809 --> 00:05:18,609 and she's also an assistive technology instructor. She's working on podcast editing and other activities that we will discuss with her today. 19 00:05:18,609 --> 00:05:20,611 So, Jessica, thank you. 20 00:05:21,112 --> 00:05:28,161 Thank you very much for having me. It's great to meet you and learn about your work in your company, ArtsAbly. 21 00:05:28,286 --> 00:05:35,710 Yeah, so we are very happy to be able to give the opportunity to artists 22 00:05:35,710 --> 00:05:40,465 to express themselves on what their activities are, 23 00:05:40,465 --> 00:05:45,219 and what awesome work is here outside, because there are so many people 24 00:05:45,219 --> 00:05:50,516 who are doing work that should be known and should be out there, so, 25 00:05:50,516 --> 00:05:54,729 yeah, that's - I really like discussing with artists. 26 00:05:55,438 --> 00:06:03,196 And so I wanted to ask you to present yourself and also to provide a visual description. 27 00:06:04,030 --> 00:06:11,579 Okay, wonderful. Well, first of all, I am a petite white woman with shoulder length brown hair, 28 00:06:11,579 --> 00:06:21,089 and I am wearing a green sparkly top with a green and gold starfish pin on my shoulder, 29 00:06:21,089 --> 00:06:27,053 and I have these green and gold earrings that sort of resemble trumpet flowers a little bit. 30 00:06:28,346 --> 00:06:35,812 And I do have nystagmus. So for those of you watching on the video, if you see my eyes jumping around uncontrollably, 31 00:06:35,812 --> 00:06:42,276 I don't feel it happening. It's just a thing that happens, especially when I'm talking and when I'm very focused 32 00:06:42,276 --> 00:06:46,114 on a point I'm making, my brain just sort of - that's sort of what it does. 33 00:06:46,114 --> 00:06:51,536 So we will talk more about that in a little bit, but that is my visual description 34 00:06:51,536 --> 00:06:56,958 for those of you not able to see me on the video or for those that are listening in podcast form. 35 00:06:58,209 --> 00:07:03,923 Thank you so much. In the exchange that we had before we scheduled the interview, 36 00:07:03,923 --> 00:07:11,889 you told me that you graduated from Full Sail University. 37 00:07:12,723 --> 00:07:19,522 Yes. So I have had low vision all my life. I've had very low vision, 38 00:07:19,522 --> 00:07:25,069 and in the United States, that is considered to be legally blind. 39 00:07:25,069 --> 00:07:33,452 So of a certain visual acuity and description to get various accommodations in school, various services. 40 00:07:34,495 --> 00:07:41,836 I went to public school throughout my school age years. 41 00:07:41,836 --> 00:07:50,761 And then after graduating high school, I was a teenager with big dreams and big ideas, 42 00:07:50,761 --> 00:07:58,728 and I was bent on becoming a recording engineer. So a person that would work in the recording studio 43 00:07:58,728 --> 00:08:04,025 behind the glass, making everything sound very good and very professional. 44 00:08:04,025 --> 00:08:09,655 So I went to a trade school in Orlando called Full Sail University. 45 00:08:09,655 --> 00:08:17,121 They have since become a four year program, but at the time, they were a one year accelerated associate's degree. 46 00:08:17,121 --> 00:08:24,462 So I went through their recording arts program and gained a lot of very valuable experience 47 00:08:24,462 --> 00:08:31,260 and learned a lot of concepts. It was my first time away from home, 48 00:08:31,260 --> 00:08:39,393 growing and learning experience, first time with a roommate that we didn't always get along, but we were amiable, 49 00:08:39,393 --> 00:08:44,190 lots of great experiences. But back then, 50 00:08:44,190 --> 00:08:49,946 things were not quite as accessible as they are now. 51 00:08:49,946 --> 00:08:56,619 We can talk later on about that analog hardware versus in the box software, 52 00:08:56,619 --> 00:09:04,293 in terms of recording and gear, there are pluses and minuses in terms of accessibility to both. 53 00:09:04,293 --> 00:09:10,174 So back when I was going through the program, that was 2004-2005, 54 00:09:10,174 --> 00:09:15,972 there were still a bunch of accessibility pitfalls with the gear. 55 00:09:15,972 --> 00:09:23,604 There were transportation issues in all of the areas where one had to move to become competitive. 56 00:09:23,604 --> 00:09:28,234 And quite frankly, it was a boys club. 57 00:09:28,234 --> 00:09:35,992 So someone walking in that's petite and female and visually impaired and toting a step stool so that I could reach the top of the gear rack, 58 00:09:35,992 --> 00:09:39,954 that didn't always look like I was going to succeed. 59 00:09:39,954 --> 00:09:46,043 And to boot, I had a family that did not want me to be far away from them. 60 00:09:46,043 --> 00:09:52,675 So I went a different path. I went to St. Petersburg College 61 00:09:52,675 --> 00:09:57,013 in St. Petersburg, Florida, and got a bachelor's degree in education. 62 00:09:57,013 --> 00:10:02,935 And then I started working at a community rehab center 63 00:10:02,935 --> 00:10:05,021 for adults. 64 00:10:05,021 --> 00:10:08,899 And we also have programs for children, but mainly adults who are 65 00:10:08,899 --> 00:10:14,155 visually impaired and legally blind and losing vision later in life. 66 00:10:14,155 --> 00:10:21,662 And they said, well, we can bring you on full time if you go back to school and you get a master's degree. 67 00:10:21,662 --> 00:10:26,625 So I got a master's online from UMass Boston, 68 00:10:26,625 --> 00:10:30,921 and I am now a vision rehabilitation therapist 69 00:10:30,921 --> 00:10:36,010 who mainly does assistive technology. So I teach people how to use 70 00:10:36,010 --> 00:10:39,889 screen readers and screen magnification software 71 00:10:39,889 --> 00:10:46,520 on computers and smartphones. And I also teach independent living skills so that my clients can 72 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:51,776 live safely and independently in their homes and have fulfilling lives, 73 00:10:51,776 --> 00:11:00,576 etcetera, etcetera. So that was a lot, but that is basically the answer to that part of the question. 74 00:11:01,494 --> 00:11:06,832 But you also play the keyboards and sing. 75 00:11:06,832 --> 00:11:12,171 So when did you, when did that start, this artistic attraction? 76 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,424 So I've always been very outgoing, 77 00:11:15,424 --> 00:11:20,638 even back when I was doing the technical program at Full Sail, 78 00:11:21,180 --> 00:11:25,059 we had a music theory class 79 00:11:25,142 --> 00:11:28,938 required of all of us. And even before that, 80 00:11:28,938 --> 00:11:32,400 I very much enjoyed singing in the chorus 81 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:34,443 in high school and learning 82 00:11:34,443 --> 00:11:39,156 about how music is put together and how to connect with music. 83 00:11:39,198 --> 00:11:43,911 I really, really liked my chorus teachers in high school, 84 00:11:44,537 --> 00:11:48,374 and so I always kind of wanted to play an instrument. 85 00:11:48,749 --> 00:11:53,587 But it was one of those things where I didn't have a lot of role models around. 86 00:11:53,587 --> 00:11:58,300 I didn't have a lot of musical people in my family or friends of the family. 87 00:11:58,300 --> 00:12:03,013 So I just sort of picked up this notion that it was something you had to be like, 88 00:12:03,013 --> 00:12:08,769 quote unquote special or born into in order to do well with. 89 00:12:08,769 --> 00:12:12,106 So I didn't for the longest time, until 90 00:12:12,106 --> 00:12:18,904 I was at school in Orlando, and I had this music theory class, and I basically 91 00:12:18,904 --> 00:12:23,784 couldn't stand not to any more. 92 00:12:23,784 --> 00:12:28,539 So this is a ridiculous story. 93 00:12:28,539 --> 00:12:33,836 I had a shopping center right next to where I lived. 94 00:12:33,836 --> 00:12:41,135 I could walk from my apartment to my school. And in between the two, there was this shopping center. 95 00:12:41,343 --> 00:12:46,056 And in this shopping center, there was a radio shack. 96 00:12:46,056 --> 00:12:49,143 Remember those? [Laughs.] 97 00:12:50,102 --> 00:12:52,229 And I went in there 98 00:12:52,229 --> 00:12:58,068 and very embarrassed and very self conscious, I bought myself a 99 00:12:58,569 --> 00:13:03,407 kind of almost a kids 61 key keyboard 100 00:13:03,407 --> 00:13:08,704 and carted it home on foot when my roommate was away at class 101 00:13:08,704 --> 00:13:12,124 and pretty much hit it because I was afraid and 102 00:13:12,124 --> 00:13:16,212 self conscious and didn't want people to hear the inevitable 103 00:13:16,212 --> 00:13:19,465 fits and starts that happen when you're first learning something. 104 00:13:19,465 --> 00:13:27,556 I did not want to be so brash as to annoy people with that kind of stage that I was at. 105 00:13:28,015 --> 00:13:34,897 So I worked, in addition to being at school and learning all the nifty stuff about recording, I also 106 00:13:34,897 --> 00:13:39,610 worked on learning scales and learning chords and 107 00:13:39,610 --> 00:13:44,323 learning to play some little pop tunes and things. And 108 00:13:44,740 --> 00:13:53,582 fortunately, when I was finishing that program and preparing to come back to St. Petersburg, where I live, 109 00:13:53,582 --> 00:13:56,877 I had to tell my parents, look, 110 00:13:56,877 --> 00:14:01,006 this isn't really very 111 00:14:01,006 --> 00:14:05,594 fleshed out or very good yet, but there's something I've been working on. 112 00:14:05,594 --> 00:14:08,889 There's something I'm going to have to bring home with me. And 113 00:14:08,889 --> 00:14:12,977 you know I basically sat them down and played them a song, and that's how I, 114 00:14:12,977 --> 00:14:16,188 you know, showed them I had learned to play an instrument. 115 00:14:16,188 --> 00:14:20,901 And then I came back to St. Petersburg and found a neighbor who was giving lessons. 116 00:14:20,901 --> 00:14:27,408 That was like a classical piano teacher that taught me for two or three more years after that. 117 00:14:27,408 --> 00:14:32,913 And I picked up a lot of really great things from him. And that is how my 118 00:14:34,665 --> 00:14:41,547 artistic and performing side got started, and it's kind of been with me ever since. 119 00:14:42,464 --> 00:14:50,139 And is it - So what started first? Is that your - this idea that you wanted to 120 00:14:50,139 --> 00:14:56,228 be a professional recording artist or the singing part or musical part, 121 00:14:56,228 --> 00:15:00,316 how did that articulate? How did that come together? 122 00:15:00,524 --> 00:15:08,532 So I think the technical side started first. I've always been very curious about how things work. 123 00:15:08,532 --> 00:15:16,540 I've got a lot of mechanics in the family. I've always enjoyed listening to them talk about, like, their older cars. 124 00:15:16,540 --> 00:15:25,883 My parents had a home theater system. I was always very interested in how that's set up and how that stuff works. 125 00:15:25,883 --> 00:15:35,059 I would go to concerts and would see the front of house mixing console, which is basically the big 126 00:15:35,059 --> 00:15:38,896 board under the tent in the middle of the audience, 127 00:15:38,896 --> 00:15:42,733 and I'd see all these - or it would be - I take that back. 128 00:15:42,733 --> 00:15:48,447 It would be described to me, and I was allowed to come close and look at 129 00:15:48,447 --> 00:15:54,286 all the faders and knobs and things. And that's how I learned 130 00:15:54,286 --> 00:15:57,956 that each channel strip on the mixer 131 00:15:57,956 --> 00:16:03,170 is pretty much identical. So you pretty much have 24 or 32 copies of the same thing 132 00:16:03,170 --> 00:16:07,466 over and over again. And then you have a little main section over at the right 133 00:16:07,466 --> 00:16:12,930 or sometimes in the middle. So I was - when I found out that people did that for a living, 134 00:16:12,930 --> 00:16:18,769 oh, man, I was so hooked. I was so going to make a whole entire life out of that. 135 00:16:19,311 --> 00:16:24,400 But I always also really loved music a lot. 136 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:29,154 My whole life, I've always really connected with music a lot. 137 00:16:29,154 --> 00:16:35,244 So once I found out that, you know, I could also play, if even just for fun, 138 00:16:35,244 --> 00:16:38,664 then that had to come along for the ride, too. 139 00:16:38,998 --> 00:16:41,375 And you perform live today? 140 00:16:41,709 --> 00:16:45,713 I do. I perform at coffee shops 141 00:16:45,713 --> 00:16:49,133 and art markets and 142 00:16:49,133 --> 00:16:52,845 art gallery opening receptions, and 143 00:16:53,095 --> 00:16:56,098 I enjoy playing with other musicians. 144 00:16:56,098 --> 00:16:59,935 I have some people I kind of just jam with informally, and 145 00:16:59,935 --> 00:17:04,982 we might be playing out soon a little bit and that sort of thing. 146 00:17:06,108 --> 00:17:10,738 And you told me that you are also 147 00:17:10,738 --> 00:17:15,784 hosting a podcast. Can you tell me more about this podcast? 148 00:17:16,368 --> 00:17:23,250 Yes. So I belong to a group called Blind Pride International, 149 00:17:23,250 --> 00:17:30,007 which is a group of people at the intersection of blindness 150 00:17:30,007 --> 00:17:35,179 and the LGBT community and our 151 00:17:35,179 --> 00:17:40,642 visually impaired and blind allies, and also our straight 152 00:17:40,642 --> 00:17:46,148 sighted allies. Anybody who is interested in what we're doing and 153 00:17:46,148 --> 00:17:54,156 wants to connect with us and just as curious and open hearted is welcome to kind of be a part of what we do. 154 00:17:54,156 --> 00:17:58,577 But we host a podcast just for the broader community to 155 00:17:58,577 --> 00:18:02,706 give people a window into what we do and what we're about. 156 00:18:02,706 --> 00:18:06,210 And the podcast is called Pride Connection. 157 00:18:06,210 --> 00:18:10,047 We've had a number of really exciting episodes lately. 158 00:18:10,047 --> 00:18:14,301 One of the ones I'm most proud of that I actually edited and put together 159 00:18:14,301 --> 00:18:20,265 was a Halloween episode last October called They're Kooky and they're Spooky, 160 00:18:20,265 --> 00:18:25,354 talking all about our best Halloween stories 161 00:18:25,354 --> 00:18:30,776 and our memories, because Halloween in the queer community was always a chance to 162 00:18:30,776 --> 00:18:37,032 kind of let loose a little bit and be weird and be different and dress up and, 163 00:18:37,282 --> 00:18:41,954 and, um, be a little bit over the top. 164 00:18:41,954 --> 00:18:47,709 So that was a cool episode because I added a lot of music and a lot of sound effects. 165 00:18:47,918 --> 00:18:52,714 And one episode that we did recently was kind of making the case 166 00:18:52,714 --> 00:19:00,138 for our organization to be - Um, what's the word? 167 00:19:00,138 --> 00:19:06,144 As intersectional as possible and to acknowledge and uplift as many 168 00:19:06,144 --> 00:19:10,607 different groups human rights as we possibly can 169 00:19:10,607 --> 00:19:13,902 and why those issues are so important. 170 00:19:13,902 --> 00:19:17,656 So that episode just came out, and currently 171 00:19:17,656 --> 00:19:21,493 I'm editing an episode that's called 172 00:19:21,493 --> 00:19:27,958 Embarrassing Bloopers. So little weird and funny things that happen 173 00:19:27,958 --> 00:19:33,130 because someone doesn't see in the normative way, 174 00:19:33,130 --> 00:19:36,967 either not recognizing people or 175 00:19:36,967 --> 00:19:44,391 just walking, thinking you're walking into a health food store, when really you're walking into an art gallery. 176 00:19:44,391 --> 00:19:47,519 Different funny things like that. 177 00:19:47,519 --> 00:19:55,485 I work on a team, so I'm one of about three people that take turns editing the episodes, 178 00:19:55,485 --> 00:20:01,408 and I also enjoy hosting sometimes, we also take turns with that. 179 00:20:01,408 --> 00:20:08,665 So we recently hosted a show about books and a show about representation in film and TV. 180 00:20:08,665 --> 00:20:16,715 So I was asking a lot of people questions, and I was, like, in the host chair, and someone else edited those episodes. 181 00:20:16,715 --> 00:20:25,015 We try to trade off having one person host and another person edit. Kind of like having an author and an editor, 182 00:20:25,015 --> 00:20:30,562 or like a mix engineer and a mastering engineer to just get another pair of ears on the thing. 183 00:20:31,521 --> 00:20:34,733 And how frequently do you publish these podcasts? 184 00:20:35,275 --> 00:20:39,571 We publish an episode once every two weeks or so. 185 00:20:40,614 --> 00:20:47,579 Can we have the URL to know more about that? And I will also publish that on ArtsAbly's website. 186 00:20:47,746 --> 00:20:52,918 Yes. We're currently on a network called Pinecast 187 00:20:52,918 --> 00:20:56,713 and we're also on the ACB Media network. 188 00:20:56,713 --> 00:21:02,928 So the ACB stands for the American Council of the Blind. 189 00:21:02,928 --> 00:21:09,643 So Blind Pride International is currently a small subset or affiliate 190 00:21:09,643 --> 00:21:13,730 underneath the umbrella of the American Council of the Blind. 191 00:21:13,730 --> 00:21:19,528 So you can find us at Pinecast or at ACB Media Network, 192 00:21:19,528 --> 00:21:23,615 and I'm happy to share that link with you all. 193 00:21:23,615 --> 00:21:28,787 It's currently only in an audio format, and I don't believe we have transcriptions at this time. 194 00:21:28,787 --> 00:21:31,415 That's one of our future goals, though. 195 00:21:32,165 --> 00:21:35,377 I see. That's really, really interesting. I 196 00:21:35,377 --> 00:21:38,171 had the occasion to listen to a few episodes, 197 00:21:38,171 --> 00:21:41,508 including the books and the movie one, 198 00:21:41,508 --> 00:21:45,304 and that's very interesting. I encourage everybody to have a look 199 00:21:45,304 --> 00:21:48,849 and to hear all these podcasts. 200 00:21:48,849 --> 00:21:53,478 And I - Also, you told me that you are a visual artist. 201 00:21:53,478 --> 00:21:58,108 Can you talk about this part of your life? 202 00:21:58,525 --> 00:22:03,739 Yes. So that's fairly recent. That's actually a thing that started in 2020 203 00:22:03,739 --> 00:22:08,952 when we all were kind of indoors with not much to do, 204 00:22:08,952 --> 00:22:15,500 and I was feeling bummed because I wouldn't have audiences for my music for the foreseeable future. 205 00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:20,380 And I noticed that people's attention spans were very, very short online. 206 00:22:20,380 --> 00:22:24,676 So even if I practiced and practiced and prepared and set up the scene and 207 00:22:24,676 --> 00:22:27,512 did a video and posted a whole thing online, 208 00:22:27,512 --> 00:22:32,809 people probably weren't going to listen to the whole thing. I was not getting very many likes. 209 00:22:32,809 --> 00:22:38,857 I've - One thing about me and my social media presence is I've never been great at 210 00:22:38,857 --> 00:22:44,154 working the algorithm. I've never been something that the algorithm eats up, 211 00:22:44,154 --> 00:22:49,493 because I don't currently work with anyone to produce, like, 212 00:22:49,493 --> 00:22:52,662 slick, visual appealing videos. 213 00:22:52,662 --> 00:22:58,919 They're all kind of DIY or do it yourself stuff that me and my limited vision can produce. 214 00:22:58,919 --> 00:23:04,966 So that's why I just. I kind of regressed back to childhood a little bit 215 00:23:04,966 --> 00:23:08,595 and just decided to play, if you will. 216 00:23:08,595 --> 00:23:13,642 So my mom is an artist, and my uncle on my mom's side is an artist. 217 00:23:13,642 --> 00:23:16,186 So we have art that runs in the family, 218 00:23:16,186 --> 00:23:19,815 and I've always felt close to her side of the family. 219 00:23:20,023 --> 00:23:27,364 My mom does very realistic portraits, and my uncle does very realistic oil paintings. 220 00:23:27,364 --> 00:23:33,453 And I remember when I was growing up that we used to draw goofy pictures, 221 00:23:33,453 --> 00:23:42,045 and we used to trace, we used to turn cookie cutters into stencils, and we used to trace shapes out of construction paper, 222 00:23:42,045 --> 00:23:46,383 and then we'd cut them out and glue them on like a storyboard thing, 223 00:23:46,383 --> 00:23:52,305 kind of the way we did in school. The teacher had something like that in my kindergarten class, 224 00:23:52,305 --> 00:23:57,185 so we would do that kind of stuff at home, too. So 225 00:23:57,185 --> 00:24:00,772 when I do my visual art today, 226 00:24:00,772 --> 00:24:06,820 it takes a number of forms. It's either a drawing with colored pencils, 227 00:24:06,820 --> 00:24:11,867 or it's a paper craft, usually involving tracing a cookie cutter 228 00:24:11,867 --> 00:24:18,290 and then adding details with more paper or markers or colored pencils or puff paint, 229 00:24:18,290 --> 00:24:23,837 or it's an acrylic painting that is on the abstract side. 230 00:24:23,837 --> 00:24:29,801 And I love acrylic because the colors are so high contrast. 231 00:24:29,801 --> 00:24:35,473 They're very bold, they're very bright, and if you give them a chance to dry, they don't 232 00:24:35,473 --> 00:24:39,728 meld into one another the way that my mom's watercolors do. 233 00:24:39,728 --> 00:24:43,523 Watercolors just drip everywhere and get very messy very quickly. 234 00:24:43,523 --> 00:24:47,319 And I am a very neat freak that does not like mess. 235 00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:54,993 So I do use a very large magnifier that we call a desktop video magnifier, 236 00:24:54,993 --> 00:25:01,249 or some people call it colloquially a closed circuit tv or a CCTV. 237 00:25:01,249 --> 00:25:08,965 And it's basically a TV screen that's probably about a 20 inch screen 238 00:25:08,965 --> 00:25:14,054 with a panel of controls underneath it for, like, the size and the brightness. 239 00:25:14,054 --> 00:25:18,892 And there's a camera underneath it. And it's about a foot above 240 00:25:18,892 --> 00:25:23,980 a moving table tray that moves side to side and front and back. 241 00:25:23,980 --> 00:25:29,986 So you - it's mainly designed for reading it. You can put a newspaper or a magazine or a book 242 00:25:29,986 --> 00:25:35,158 or something underneath it and move the tray so that you can easily follow 243 00:25:35,158 --> 00:25:40,413 a line across the page. And it magnifies everything very large. 244 00:25:40,413 --> 00:25:46,628 And because it uses a camera, you can see movement on it immediately in real time. 245 00:25:46,628 --> 00:25:50,632 So it's very good for writing, for drawing, for coloring. 246 00:25:50,632 --> 00:25:56,555 I try not to use acrylic paint on it too much because, again, mess. 247 00:25:56,555 --> 00:26:04,479 And I will sometimes use puff paint on it that comes in a small tube that is 248 00:26:04,479 --> 00:26:08,984 easy to control and doesn't drip everywhere usually. 249 00:26:08,984 --> 00:26:16,032 But it's great for doing colored pencils. It's also great for cutting things out with scissors. 250 00:26:16,032 --> 00:26:21,788 I would like to think I'm getting better at that, making nice, rounded shapes with scissors. 251 00:26:22,289 --> 00:26:24,374 Okay, thank you. 252 00:26:24,374 --> 00:26:26,459 Okay, so I have - 253 00:26:26,459 --> 00:26:33,925 My next question is something that I usually ask to all the artists 254 00:26:33,925 --> 00:26:38,346 that come to ArtsAbly's interviews. 255 00:26:38,346 --> 00:26:44,686 It's about accessibility in the arts and how your own, 256 00:26:44,686 --> 00:26:50,400 your own feeling and your own, 257 00:26:51,026 --> 00:26:56,615 your own integration of accessibility in your artistic practices. 258 00:26:56,615 --> 00:27:00,035 Can you share a little bit about that? 259 00:27:00,744 --> 00:27:07,792 Yes. Let me think about that for a minute, I guess. 260 00:27:07,792 --> 00:27:13,965 So my first thought about accessibility in the arts, 261 00:27:13,965 --> 00:27:17,719 my first thought is toward audio. 262 00:27:17,719 --> 00:27:27,771 So the one thing about analog hardware, like an old fashioned analog mixing console, is that 263 00:27:27,771 --> 00:27:33,818 there is a fader, there is a knob, there is a button for everything. 264 00:27:33,818 --> 00:27:38,073 And a fader is just a slider that slides up and down or side to side, 265 00:27:38,073 --> 00:27:43,370 rather - so that you can push a lot with a lot of fingers at one time. 266 00:27:43,370 --> 00:27:48,875 Same thing with outboard gear like 267 00:27:48,875 --> 00:27:54,422 tube compressors or equalizers or preamps, all those things. 268 00:27:54,422 --> 00:27:58,385 There is a knob for every function. 269 00:27:58,385 --> 00:28:03,556 However, all of that older analog gear is very expensive 270 00:28:03,556 --> 00:28:06,768 and requires a lot of maintenance. 271 00:28:06,768 --> 00:28:12,482 And one also needs, if one is like me and doesn't see well 272 00:28:12,482 --> 00:28:16,945 and can't just very readily read the labels on things, 273 00:28:16,945 --> 00:28:22,075 one needs to either use a magnifier and take a lot of time or be told, 274 00:28:22,075 --> 00:28:28,748 you know, this control does this, this does that, this does that. And you almost have to memorize the layout of something 275 00:28:28,748 --> 00:28:32,043 before you're very comfortable and familiar with it. 276 00:28:32,043 --> 00:28:37,966 So when I'm in a situation like that, I like to have a lot of time alone 277 00:28:37,966 --> 00:28:44,055 with stuff, or maybe with somebody there that's just patient and will say the name of what I point to 278 00:28:44,055 --> 00:28:49,060 so that I don't get overwhelmed with too much at one time. 279 00:28:49,060 --> 00:28:56,860 We have made a lot of advances in software accessibility. 280 00:28:56,860 --> 00:29:01,322 Nowadays we have software programs which we call 281 00:29:01,322 --> 00:29:06,077 digital audio workstations, or DAWs. 282 00:29:06,077 --> 00:29:14,294 And when all of the mixing and processing and stuff is done within the DAW program, 283 00:29:14,294 --> 00:29:18,506 we call that quote unquote mixing in the box, 284 00:29:18,506 --> 00:29:24,637 because it's all within a computer, rather than being all these patch cables to all this outboard gear. 285 00:29:26,347 --> 00:29:30,685 So that's all great. 286 00:29:30,685 --> 00:29:35,607 If that software and its associated plugins, 287 00:29:35,607 --> 00:29:44,449 which are - the plugins in a digital audio workstation are like the equivalent to the outboard gear in a traditional recording studio. 288 00:29:44,449 --> 00:29:51,539 So the DAW itself and the plugins that one chooses to use 289 00:29:51,539 --> 00:29:56,836 need to be able to work with a screen reader on the computer. 290 00:29:56,836 --> 00:30:05,261 And if that, if the programs are written so that they don't, the buttons aren't labeled 291 00:30:05,261 --> 00:30:10,350 or they just doesn't give the screen reader a lot of feedback, 292 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:16,856 it's kind of a problem. Now, I can somewhat get around these problems because 293 00:30:16,856 --> 00:30:22,278 I have the privilege of being able to magnify my screen to about three or four X 294 00:30:22,278 --> 00:30:28,535 and to mostly, most of the time, be able to see what is going on somewhat. 295 00:30:29,661 --> 00:30:36,543 But there is still a lot that needs to be done with getting software 296 00:30:36,543 --> 00:30:42,048 systems to be accessible, particularly in the recording field. 297 00:30:42,048 --> 00:30:46,094 Some positive work that is being done in that area: 298 00:30:46,094 --> 00:30:52,350 I use a digital audio workstation software program that's called Reaper, 299 00:30:52,350 --> 00:30:57,146 and it is sort of open source. I say sort of because 300 00:30:57,146 --> 00:31:02,569 one does need to buy a license for it depending on the size of your business. 301 00:31:02,569 --> 00:31:11,369 But it is being worked on and developed by a community of volunteers. So that makes it somewhat open source. 302 00:31:11,369 --> 00:31:18,835 And particularly the extension for Reaper that makes it screen reader friendly is called OSARA. 303 00:31:18,835 --> 00:31:24,883 And OSARA is definitely worked on and improved upon over time by 304 00:31:24,883 --> 00:31:30,972 a community of users. So I would say that part is definitely open source. 305 00:31:30,972 --> 00:31:35,852 And there is actually a listserv called 306 00:31:35,852 --> 00:31:41,941 Reapers Without Peepers. I love that name! [Laughs.] 307 00:31:41,941 --> 00:31:46,154 So they are doing some great work. 308 00:31:46,154 --> 00:31:51,534 Also, I want to shout out, Native Instruments has a MIDI controller 309 00:31:51,534 --> 00:31:59,292 called Komplete control, and their plugin that goes with it has a lot of accessibility built in. 310 00:31:59,292 --> 00:32:06,466 And also Arturia has a virtual instrument called Analog Lab 311 00:32:06,466 --> 00:32:09,260 where some accessibility was built in. 312 00:32:09,260 --> 00:32:13,556 And also the MIDI association. 313 00:32:13,556 --> 00:32:17,977 MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. 314 00:32:17,977 --> 00:32:23,399 And there is basically a volunteer association that 315 00:32:23,399 --> 00:32:29,864 puts together the standards to basically make all these different digital instruments talk to each other. 316 00:32:29,864 --> 00:32:37,246 And they now have an accessibility working group which I'm very, very excited to follow what they are up to 317 00:32:37,246 --> 00:32:42,543 and hopefully contribute to, if I can, with my own experiences. 318 00:32:42,543 --> 00:32:48,383 I really wish that these software companies would do user research and talk to their 319 00:32:48,383 --> 00:32:53,429 users, not only who have blindness or visual impairment, but who also have 320 00:32:53,429 --> 00:33:01,354 all manner of other disabilities to just get a sense for how can we make this more universally usable to more people 321 00:33:01,354 --> 00:33:05,149 from the beginning rather than at the very end as an afterthought. 322 00:33:05,900 --> 00:33:10,154 Definitely. And we have that too in lots of - 323 00:33:10,154 --> 00:33:14,701 For example, software about music creation such as Sibelius 324 00:33:14,701 --> 00:33:18,997 have been very, very long not accessible, 325 00:33:18,997 --> 00:33:22,250 for a very long time not accessible. 326 00:33:22,250 --> 00:33:26,337 And now they start, thanks to the people who are using it. 327 00:33:26,337 --> 00:33:32,427 There was a group of blind people who were using it and who really worked with a - 328 00:33:32,427 --> 00:33:38,725 I don't remember the name of the association, but finally Sibelius started to include these 329 00:33:38,725 --> 00:33:44,355 plugins and easier ways to access the notes and 330 00:33:44,355 --> 00:33:48,985 the score itself and things like that. And now it starts to be here. 331 00:33:48,985 --> 00:33:52,739 So that's great to hear that in the recording world, 332 00:33:52,739 --> 00:33:57,285 we also have some kind of improvement that is going on right now. 333 00:33:58,745 --> 00:34:03,750 I'm so glad that Sibelius is finally starting to think about accessibility. 334 00:34:03,750 --> 00:34:09,714 I remember I used Sibelius in music theory class when I was doing my undergrad. 335 00:34:09,714 --> 00:34:16,012 I did take some music theory classes while at St. Pete College too, and 336 00:34:16,012 --> 00:34:20,641 again with a magnified screen I could sort of do it, but it was hard and 337 00:34:20,641 --> 00:34:26,773 headache inducing. So I'm glad that they're doing accessible now. That's great to hear. 338 00:34:27,315 --> 00:34:32,028 But yeah, there is also the access to the stage and the access to your - 339 00:34:32,028 --> 00:34:36,407 I mean, when you are performing, you should also consider accessibility. 340 00:34:36,407 --> 00:34:39,952 And I think you also have - 341 00:34:39,952 --> 00:34:42,872 We also chatted briefly about that, 342 00:34:42,872 --> 00:34:44,874 accessibility as performers. 343 00:34:45,249 --> 00:34:47,794 Yes. So, unfortunately, 344 00:34:47,794 --> 00:34:53,090 I'm not performing live as much as I would like right now. 345 00:34:53,090 --> 00:34:58,304 Number one, I have had some wonderful friends 346 00:34:58,304 --> 00:35:02,391 offered to help me when they are able, but 347 00:35:02,391 --> 00:35:07,230 not being able to drive is a big barrier right now. 348 00:35:07,438 --> 00:35:14,195 So currently I use paratransit, which is a door to door ride service 349 00:35:14,195 --> 00:35:19,242 that they farm out to a taxi company or Uber and Lyft, 350 00:35:19,242 --> 00:35:24,330 which is great for getting myself places. 351 00:35:24,330 --> 00:35:29,418 It may not be so good for getting my gear places 352 00:35:29,418 --> 00:35:33,256 because the standard paratransit driver 353 00:35:33,256 --> 00:35:37,176 is not going to be able to unload 354 00:35:37,426 --> 00:35:42,098 a giant 88 key digital piano that I have behind me, 355 00:35:42,098 --> 00:35:47,520 and a stand and a bench and two speakers and a mixer 356 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:50,648 and a microphone and a couple of other stands. 357 00:35:50,857 --> 00:35:54,861 I would need a whole van and some roadies for that. [Laughs.] 358 00:35:54,861 --> 00:35:58,865 So I've had to think a lot about 359 00:35:58,865 --> 00:36:04,120 how can I keep it small, how can I keep it light. 360 00:36:04,662 --> 00:36:08,332 And again, I have had some wonderful friends help me 361 00:36:08,332 --> 00:36:11,294 with some of that stuff some of the time, 362 00:36:11,294 --> 00:36:15,464 but I'm very self conscious and very aware of not wanting 363 00:36:15,464 --> 00:36:19,677 to overburden them and not wanting to burn them out 364 00:36:19,677 --> 00:36:24,098 and not wanting to take advantage of them too much. 365 00:36:25,933 --> 00:36:31,230 So I've done a lot of going to open mics 366 00:36:31,230 --> 00:36:35,359 where there's already a PA and bringing my tablet 367 00:36:35,359 --> 00:36:38,571 and maybe one or two other accessories, 368 00:36:38,571 --> 00:36:42,825 or I've, you know, I'm, 369 00:36:42,825 --> 00:36:49,916 you know, have started bringing a smaller keyboard to some gigs, even though I, you know, prefer to have more range. 370 00:36:51,334 --> 00:36:57,089 And I think it's generally just a perception, too. Like, 371 00:36:57,089 --> 00:37:06,474 it's perceived that people who don't drive are just automatically going to be less reliable than people that do. 372 00:37:06,474 --> 00:37:12,480 And also, I live in an area that has a lot of arts and culture, which is very good, 373 00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:17,401 but it's also very competitive. And there have been 374 00:37:17,401 --> 00:37:21,781 gigging long before I was born, and 375 00:37:21,781 --> 00:37:27,745 I, you know, certainly don't want to take gigs away from them. 376 00:37:28,454 --> 00:37:35,044 And I have to realize that I also have the privilege of having a day job, 377 00:37:35,044 --> 00:37:44,345 which, I mean, I would like to do more performing, and I would like to step more into that side of myself. 378 00:37:44,345 --> 00:37:52,436 The older I get, the more I want to perform and move into all of this creative side of things. 379 00:37:52,436 --> 00:37:59,944 But, yeah, I'm sure that I'm about four foot eleven, and I'm sure that I still somewhat look like a child. 380 00:38:00,069 --> 00:38:04,532 And it's a perception again. I may not be the most conventionally attractive. 381 00:38:04,532 --> 00:38:07,576 I'm not a person that usually wears makeup. 382 00:38:08,869 --> 00:38:11,956 Yeah. But that's okay for. 383 00:38:11,956 --> 00:38:17,253 For me, whatever your size or your ability are, 384 00:38:17,253 --> 00:38:22,842 as long as you can be on stage and share a bit of your, your 385 00:38:23,009 --> 00:38:27,888 artistry with us. Yeah, that's it. Right. We should - 386 00:38:28,306 --> 00:38:33,894 I watched some of your videos performing, and you have a beautiful voice 387 00:38:33,894 --> 00:38:35,855 and it should be out there. You should be, 388 00:38:35,855 --> 00:38:38,607 You should be able to show that a little bit more. 389 00:38:38,607 --> 00:38:45,072 So if you just go with your tablet in a place where there is always a microphone, that's great. 390 00:38:45,781 --> 00:38:46,240 Yes. 391 00:38:46,282 --> 00:38:48,075 I encourage you to do that more. 392 00:38:48,993 --> 00:38:52,121 Yes. Thank you. And that's definitely what I've been leaning into. 393 00:38:52,705 --> 00:38:58,044 What do you have on your tablet when you bring in your tablet? Is that a screen magnifier or what is that exactly? 394 00:38:58,085 --> 00:39:02,798 Well, I basically downloaded a bunch of backing tracks 395 00:39:02,798 --> 00:39:06,927 onto my iPad so that it can either connect 396 00:39:06,927 --> 00:39:10,347 via bluetooth to their PA or hardwired. 397 00:39:10,347 --> 00:39:14,935 I have a bluetooth adapter that just plugs in if they have a jack for it. 398 00:39:14,935 --> 00:39:19,440 And so, so that I don't have to bring an instrument, 399 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:24,987 I just play my backing tracks and sing, which I know doesn't have the visual appeal 400 00:39:24,987 --> 00:39:30,951 of watching someone play an instrument. But, hey, sometimes you got to do what you got to do. 401 00:39:31,577 --> 00:39:33,537 Exactly. [Laughs.] 402 00:39:33,621 --> 00:39:37,083 So a backing track means, like, an accompaniment. 403 00:39:37,083 --> 00:39:42,171 Some of them I create, some of them I've gotten from other places. 404 00:39:42,922 --> 00:39:49,011 Do you have any things like, for example, audio descriptions and other things that could 405 00:39:50,471 --> 00:39:56,352 improve the accessibility even more of a performance? Do you do that sometimes or? 406 00:39:57,269 --> 00:40:04,360 Yeah, I think I could. I think I could start saying things, you know, describing myself like I did at the top of the show. 407 00:40:07,446 --> 00:40:14,495 I do know there are some performing venues in my area that have some audio description. 408 00:40:15,746 --> 00:40:22,545 Not many of them do, though. And that's one thing that if they're interested in hearing about things 409 00:40:22,545 --> 00:40:29,260 that I try to bring up, that audio description might make it a little bit easier for some people. 410 00:40:30,177 --> 00:40:32,012 What about touch tours? 411 00:40:32,930 --> 00:40:35,850 Oh, yes. So. 412 00:40:35,850 --> 00:40:40,604 I'm pretty sure that your audience probably already knows what audio description is, 413 00:40:40,604 --> 00:40:45,860 but I'm happy to explain it if that might be helpful for some. 414 00:40:45,860 --> 00:40:52,283 Audio description is currently available on more TV programs currently 415 00:40:52,283 --> 00:40:57,246 and certainly on the streaming services. I'm very pleased with the increased offering 416 00:40:57,246 --> 00:41:02,001 of it on the streaming platforms because it's so easy to add. 417 00:41:03,544 --> 00:41:09,300 It is a narration track that describes the action on the screen 418 00:41:09,300 --> 00:41:17,224 for people that are blind or have low vision and may not be able to adequately see the screen and all the action going on. 419 00:41:17,224 --> 00:41:24,648 So what we're talking about here is that it's also done in some live performance venues as well. 420 00:41:24,648 --> 00:41:31,238 So a very good example is the Straz Center in Tampa, which is a big performing arts center. 421 00:41:31,238 --> 00:41:36,744 And they have Broadway shows come to town, and they have a season where they do, 422 00:41:36,744 --> 00:41:43,417 you know, seven or eight shows all throughout the year. And one show 423 00:41:43,417 --> 00:41:51,217 out of the - meaning, one particular showing of a run of a certain show, 424 00:41:51,217 --> 00:41:56,722 usually on a Saturday afternoon, they will have a live describer sit up in a booth 425 00:41:56,722 --> 00:42:03,729 and speak on a microphone, which people who need it in the audience can then listen on a headset. 426 00:42:03,771 --> 00:42:08,275 I think they have a phone app that they're using now for that purpose. 427 00:42:09,735 --> 00:42:17,993 And then one run showing usually on a Thursday evening, has ASL interpretation as well. 428 00:42:17,993 --> 00:42:22,331 So they have a really good start when it comes to accessibility. 429 00:42:22,331 --> 00:42:27,169 It would be great if more live performing venues had that. 430 00:42:27,169 --> 00:42:33,259 We are trying to get the word out about it and how beneficial it is and how to implement it. 431 00:42:33,259 --> 00:42:37,805 Also, a touch tour is something where 432 00:42:37,805 --> 00:42:44,061 people who may not be able to see clearly what's going on on the stage 433 00:42:44,061 --> 00:42:48,440 can get like a quote, unquote sneak preview, 434 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:55,114 where they get to go up close and look at and touch either the real or replicas of 435 00:42:55,114 --> 00:43:01,328 some of the costumes, some of the set pieces, some of the props, 436 00:43:01,328 --> 00:43:05,624 maybe get to go on stage before the show and 437 00:43:05,624 --> 00:43:10,921 get a feel for how the set is laid out, what furniture is up there. 438 00:43:10,921 --> 00:43:15,968 I kind of got in informal one of those 439 00:43:15,968 --> 00:43:24,059 when a small community theater was doing a local production of the Nutcracker one year for Christmas. 440 00:43:24,059 --> 00:43:28,647 I knew one of the people that was dancing in the ballet. 441 00:43:28,647 --> 00:43:34,570 So my family was just going kind of to the green room to greet that person. 442 00:43:35,112 --> 00:43:40,743 And while we were in there, we were talking with some of the dancers, and they were 443 00:43:40,743 --> 00:43:46,582 and they were in their leotards. I could see them stretching and warming up and doing some of their moves. 444 00:43:46,582 --> 00:43:51,295 And all the costumes were on hangers, just hanging around, 445 00:43:51,295 --> 00:43:57,635 and they were showing me some of them. And I just thought it was very, very, extremely cool 446 00:43:57,635 --> 00:44:03,098 that I happened to be in the right place at the right time. And it was a somewhat informal thing. So they were 447 00:44:03,098 --> 00:44:08,312 very willing to show me around and show me some of the things that they were going to be using. 448 00:44:09,605 --> 00:44:13,442 Lots of great ideas here for people who are listening to us. 449 00:44:13,442 --> 00:44:17,571 It would be great to have that, like broader. Like to have that 450 00:44:17,571 --> 00:44:22,659 automatically in that kind of settings where there is something happening on stage 451 00:44:22,659 --> 00:44:28,666 that should be, that could be felt by people via touch. 452 00:44:28,666 --> 00:44:32,127 Thank you. I learned something. 453 00:44:32,127 --> 00:44:34,505 Very good. Thank you. 454 00:44:34,505 --> 00:44:38,467 Okay, I have a last question, which is about 455 00:44:38,467 --> 00:44:44,306 people out there who might have inspired you in your own 456 00:44:44,306 --> 00:44:51,063 journey as an artist or people you admire in your life. 457 00:44:51,063 --> 00:44:57,111 If you had one or two people to name, who would it be and why? 458 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:04,827 The first one that comes to mind, and I know this might be a little cliche because he is so famous, 459 00:45:04,827 --> 00:45:09,957 but famous for a very good reason. I revere him. 460 00:45:09,957 --> 00:45:13,544 Stevie wonder, not only is he 461 00:45:13,544 --> 00:45:19,800 a social justice icon, his songs are about lifting people up, bringing people together, 462 00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:24,263 but he's also a very independent spirit. 463 00:45:24,263 --> 00:45:32,813 So he was on Motown Records for his younger years, his teen years. 464 00:45:32,813 --> 00:45:37,651 And Motown created some amazing and some wonderful records. 465 00:45:37,651 --> 00:45:42,239 However, they definitely had a formula and an idea 466 00:45:42,239 --> 00:45:47,202 of what they wanted their artists to sound like. And Stevie Wonder wanted to 467 00:45:47,202 --> 00:45:55,002 go beyond the formula and expand and open up and do more with his sound. 468 00:45:55,002 --> 00:46:03,093 So when he turned 21, that's when his youth recording contract expired. 469 00:46:03,093 --> 00:46:11,852 And everybody at Motown was expecting him to just automatically re sign a new adult contract. 470 00:46:11,852 --> 00:46:16,899 But what they didn't know is that Stevie Wonder 471 00:46:16,899 --> 00:46:21,236 went to a studio in England. If memory serves me correctly, it was 472 00:46:21,236 --> 00:46:25,282 Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady(land) studio, 473 00:46:25,282 --> 00:46:30,621 and recorded an album that sounded completely and totally different 474 00:46:30,621 --> 00:46:34,541 from anything he had done prior before and 475 00:46:34,541 --> 00:46:39,630 was definitely going to take his career in a new, broader direction. 476 00:46:40,088 --> 00:46:42,341 And I also admire, 477 00:46:42,341 --> 00:46:49,306 He has a lot - It appears to me that he has a lot of incredible technical skills as well. 478 00:46:49,306 --> 00:46:53,435 When he left Motown, 479 00:46:53,435 --> 00:47:00,234 he wrote songs and arranged them and played many of the parts by himself, 480 00:47:00,234 --> 00:47:05,656 which meant that he not only had to play various different instruments, but also 481 00:47:05,656 --> 00:47:12,746 use various kinds of gear. And back in the day, we didn't have any digital stuff that I was talking about. 482 00:47:12,746 --> 00:47:15,499 He had to use all analog gear. 483 00:47:15,499 --> 00:47:20,295 Which brings me to the part that is the most fun of all. 484 00:47:20,295 --> 00:47:26,844 He had this giant modular synthesizer, 485 00:47:26,844 --> 00:47:30,847 which means that it had various components 486 00:47:30,847 --> 00:47:35,477 that you would connect together, kind of like a Lego set for adults. 487 00:47:35,477 --> 00:47:40,816 You would connect cables from one module to the next. 488 00:47:40,816 --> 00:47:46,572 Kind of the way that telephone operators would connect your calls in the very olden days. 489 00:47:46,572 --> 00:47:51,952 Well, with a modular synthesizer, you had to do that sort of patching 490 00:47:51,952 --> 00:47:54,079 to build your sound. 491 00:47:54,079 --> 00:47:59,084 So he had some components from a company called ARP, 492 00:47:59,084 --> 00:48:04,214 and he also had some components from a company called MOOG 493 00:48:04,214 --> 00:48:10,012 and some other companies thrown in there for the mix. So this giant, giant behemoth 494 00:48:10,012 --> 00:48:14,016 modular synthesizer he had was called TONTO. 495 00:48:14,182 --> 00:48:18,061 And I can't remember what the acronym TONTO stood for, 496 00:48:18,061 --> 00:48:21,648 but I just know that I was 497 00:48:21,648 --> 00:48:25,068 floored and I was blown away. And I said: 498 00:48:25,068 --> 00:48:28,447 if he can do it, then I can do it, too. 499 00:48:28,447 --> 00:48:32,868 And I've recently, in the past year, really gotten into 500 00:48:32,868 --> 00:48:36,955 sound synthesis and learning what all of the big 501 00:48:36,955 --> 00:48:43,253 vocabulary words, the oscillators, the filters, the envelopes, the modulation, 502 00:48:43,253 --> 00:48:48,967 how it all works to craft a completely new, ethereal, otherworldly sound. 503 00:48:50,594 --> 00:48:54,765 That's very cool. Okay, thank you. 504 00:48:54,765 --> 00:49:00,437 Well, unless you have a second artist in mind to present? 505 00:49:00,437 --> 00:49:05,067 I was just going to give another shout out to the Reapers Without Peepers group 506 00:49:05,067 --> 00:49:09,112 and all the work that they're doing to keep the accessibility going 507 00:49:09,112 --> 00:49:15,035 and to encourage other software companies to make their plugins accessible too. 508 00:49:15,535 --> 00:49:18,789 Thank you. Yeah, it's really important. 509 00:49:18,789 --> 00:49:26,213 The more we have there, and the more accessibility we include and increase 510 00:49:26,213 --> 00:49:30,092 in these softwares, on stage, and things like that. 511 00:49:30,092 --> 00:49:40,268 It's one step to a more inclusive society, and we really, really need that in a lot of ways. 512 00:49:40,560 --> 00:49:47,317 Okay, so thank you so much for the conversation that we had today, 513 00:49:47,317 --> 00:49:53,907 and I hope I will have the opportunity to see you sing live one day. [Laughs.] 514 00:49:53,907 --> 00:49:54,908 Thank you. 515 00:49:55,742 --> 00:49:58,412 Thank you so much. Bye. 516 00:49:58,453 --> 00:49:59,830 Bye. 517 00:50:01,498 --> 00:50:04,918 ♪ Closing theme music ♪