Inspiring Musicians with Disabilities

 

On May 20th, 2023, my band Dukes and I completed our first gig featuring myself, Pat Shepherd, Steve Fitzgerald, and Jenee Muller-Thym. After two years of hard work and collaboration, I am thrilled by the band’s progress in rehearsals that led to a successful live event.

 

Being a musician and a disabled individual means I am someone who has a unique perspective in representing people with disabilities in the music industry. My disabilities have never slowed my ability to to do something creative. After I received a cochlear implant at the age of six, I realized how well it responded to rhythm and volume. 

 

Because my disease challenges me physically too, I had tried all kinds of instruments to determine which ones work best for me. Since my father is a musician in a local band, Capital Groove, his offer to teach me music was a huge influence on my performing arts journey.  Back in 2011, I received a midi-pedal keyboard from him and started playing along with drums and bass as well as existing recordings played by other artists. Having my father’s guidance on how to play the keynotes effectively benefited my ability to keep track on specific directions while practicing on my own. But because a regular keyboard is technically difficult for me to control with my fingers, I continue to play the piano on a midi-pedal pad as a modification despite limited use of my hands. After loosing my hearing and vision as a child, listening to music and learning to play different instruments throughout the course of my lifetime has helped me develop the capabilities to perform artistic schemes. I spent a lot of time learning chord progressions on a keyboard, which has helped me to master the songs I’ve worked on.

 

Midi-pedals, the instrument that I practice frequently, provides a wide range of variants that are based on sound. Each variant has its own group of notes similar to a regular instrument. The midi-pedal machine reproduces the sound of any instrument to create sound tracks. This way I don’t have to exhaust myself by forcing my limbs to do movements that hurt a lot. I sometimes write lyrics that I sing in the background, and also have found the confidence to record vocal tracks and then synchronize the beats with drums and piano using a looper.  

 

Most evenings I go to the music studio on our property to record and mix background songs that combine tracks together with the help of my father. I use a program called Logic Pro for mixing and mastering which is easy and quicker than some other software applications.  I am currently learning music theory in order to enhance a deeper understanding of major and minor scales that contain a number of notes played. 

 

In my opinion, music is fun and a great way for people to express themselves, no matter what their ability level is. My first show with Dukes went well, and I’m even hoping to participate in more gigs in the future.