The field of research dedicated to Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs) is growing and there is an increased interest in promoting diversity and inclusion in music-making. We have designed a novel system built into previously tested ADMIs that aims at involving assistants, students with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD), and a professional musician in playing music together. In this study the system is evaluated in a workshop setting using quantitative as well as qualitative methods. One of the main findings was that the sounds from the ADMIs added to the musical context without making errors that impacted the music negatively even when the assistants mentioned experiencing a split between attending to different tasks, and a feeling of insecurity toward their musical contribution. We discuss the results in terms of how we perceive them as drivers or barriers toward reaching our overarching goal of organizing a joint concert that brings together students from the SEN school with students from a music school with a specific focus on traditional orchestral instruments. Our study highlights how a system of networked and synchronized ADMIs could be conceptualized to include assistants more actively in collaborative music-making, as well as design considerations that support them as facilitators.

The field of research dedicated to Accessible Digital Musical Instruments (ADMIs) is growingand there is an increased interest in how different accessible music technologies can beused to promote diversity and inclusion in music-making. Researchers currently voice theneed to move away from a techno-centric view of musical expression and to focus more onthe sociocultural contexts in which ADMIs are used. In this study, we explore how “Funki”, aset of ADMIs developed for students with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities(PMLD) can be used in a collaborative music-making setting in a Special Educational Needs(SEN) school, together with assistants. Previous findings have suggested that the musicalinteractions taking place, as well as the group dynamics, were highly dependent on thesession assistants and their level of participation. It is therefore important to consider theactive role of assistants, who may have little or no prior music training. The instrumentsprovided should allow the assistant to not only help the students in making music but alsoenable the assistants themselves to create sounds without interfering or disturbing thesounds produced by the students. In the current work, we show how the Funki instrumentscould be expanded with WebAudioXML (waxml) for mapping user interactions to controlmusic and audio parameters and make it possible for assistants to control musical aspectslike the tonality, rhythmic density, or structure of the composition. The system was tested in acase study with four students and their assistants at a SEN school, including semi-structuredinterviews on how Funki supported inclusive music-making and the assistant’s role in thiscontext. The findings of this work highlight how ADMIs could be conceptualized anddesigned to include special education teachers, teaching assistants, and other carers moreactively in collaborative music-making. 

In this paper we report on the inaugural meetings of the Musical Care International Network held online in 2022. The term “musical care” is defined by Spiro and Sanfilippo (2022) as “the role of music—music listening as well as music-making—in supporting any aspect of people's developmental or health needs” (pp. 2–3). Musical care takes varied forms in different cultural contexts and involves people from different disciplines and areas of expertise. Therefore, the Musical Care International Network takes an interdisciplinary and international approach and aims to better reflect the disciplinary, geographic, and cultural diversity relevant to musical care. Forty-two delegates participated in 5 inaugural meetings over 2 days, representing 24 countries and numerous disciplines and areas of practice. Based on the meetings, the aims of this paper are to (1) better understand the diverse practices, applications, contexts, and impacts of musical care around the globe and (2) introduce the Musical Care International Network. Transcriptions of the recordings, alongside notes taken by the hosts, were used to summarise the conversations. The discussions developed ideas in three areas: (a) musical care as context-dependent and social, (b) musical care's position within the broader research and practice context, and (c) debates about the impact of and evidence for musical care. We can conclude that musical care refers to context-dependent and social phenomena. The term musical care was seen as useful in talking across boundaries while not minimizing individual disciplinary and professional expertise. The use of the term was seen to help balance the importance and place of multiple disciplines, with a role to play in the development of a collective identity. This collective identity was seen as important in advocacy and in helping to shape policy. The paper closes with proposed future directions for the network and its emerging mission statement.

This study takes inspiration from provocative design methods to gain knowledge on sound preferences regarding future vehicles’ designed sounds. A particular population subset was a triggering component of this study: people with hearing impairments. To that aim, we have developed a public installation in which to test a hypothetical futuristic city square. It includes three electrical vehicles whose sound can be designed by the visitor. The interface allows the user to interact and play with a number of provided sonic textures within a real-time web application, thus “playing” the design. This opens a design space of three distinct sounds that are mixed into an overall soundscape presented in a multichannel immersive environment. The paper describes the design processes involved.