Cue the music: Ball State student with disabilities fine-tunes conducting technology
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowEthan Atterson, who uses a wheelchair, has overcome obstacles to master many aspects of music—from playing the trumpet to performing in marching bands—but one element has long eluded him: conducting an ensemble. He just surmounted that too.
Atterson, who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), is fine-tuning a technology that will help people like him who have limited hand and arm mobility still experience the magic of being a maestro.
“Us disabled people deserve to make art too and be able to connect with people on that deeper level,” says Atterson. “In order to do that, we have to have adaptations made.”
DMD is a genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle degeneration, affecting breathing and mobility; as a result, Atterson can’t lift his arms and has very little hand mobility. Developing the assistive technology is an ongoing project for Atterson, who’s working toward his master’s degree in music with a focus on orchestral conducting.
The first piece of Atterson’s project borrows a method from James Rose, a conductor in England with cerebral palsy. Rose developed the method to attach a baton to his glasses and move his head to move the baton, which displays the tempo for the ensemble.
But Atterson is writing his own soundtrack by expanding Rose’s method. Conducting communicates not only tempo, but also musical expression, with each hand assigned one role. Tempo is traditionally shown with the hand holding the baton, and expression (volume, phrasing, emphasis) is shown with the empty hand.
“My idea is to take [Rose’s method] and amplify that with assistive technology, basically,” says Atterson.
Atterson’s method, which he’s still developing, involves tapping a touchpad with his thumb to indicate the tempo; the taps would be translated to flashes shown on a large screen facing the ensemble. Because this approach would display the tempo on the large screen, the baton attached to the conductor’s glasses would be free to show musical expression.
“With the baton, I could paint the sound a little bit; move my head a certain way and come up with my own gestures to represent things like crescendo or decrescendo, or loud and soft,” says Atterson. “You could also add a third element that’s kind of cool: using facial expressions to conduct. That could be explored.”
Atterson explains how conducting helps him feel connected with other musicians.
Just days ago, Atterson’s aspirations hit a high note when he successfully debuted the baton-and-glasses portion of the method while conducting a Ball State recital; the tempo screen is still in development.
“This performance symbolizes hope for many of us with disabilities,” Atterson said to the recital audience, “and stands as a testament to the importance of accessibility in the performing arts.”
His time in the spotlight is turning up the volume on his message that more people with disabilities should be in the music industry, and “we have to give them the tools.”
“[Assistive technology in music] gives disabled people, who tend to have harder social lives and can’t get out as much, a reason to go out into the world and do something that can make them feel empowered,” says Atterson. “That’s one of the most important elements of music for anyone, but for the disabled community in particular, that can be quite a life-changing thing.”
He plans to continue working on the conducting technology so it could be used at high school and college music programs and in professional settings to help people with disabilities experience the thrill of conducting. It could also be a building block for his own career; Atterson aspires to be a conductor at a university, where he would undoubtedly inspire other students.
“Conducting can be an adventurous life. You have the opportunity to travel, meet all kinds of different people and see new places. That’s an opportunity I want to create not only for myself, but other people as well,” says Atterson. “It’s the bigger picture: developing this conducting method is another way of allowing people to live life to the fullest.”