Dancing Dots
Where Music Meets Technology for the blind
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Dancing Dots serves blind musicians and their educators through technology and training

The Lime Lighter
Low Vision Music-Reading Device
Special offer: Lime Lighter Dealer Demo in excellent condition $2,395.
Call Dancing Dots at 610-783-6692 for more information.



Image of girl holding clarinet standing in front of The Lime Lighter displaying
         magnified music notation.  Device is mounted on a special Manhasset music stand The Lime Lighter lets people with low vision read print music with ease, clarity and comfort. If any of the following applies to you, take a look at The Lime Lighter:

  • I used to love to play the piano but I can't any more since I cannot comfortably see the music on the music rack.
  • I want to play in our school band, but I have to enlarge the sheet music so much that it falls off the music stand.
  • I enjoy singing in our church choir and community chorus, but I struggle to see the music.

Relax with the Lime Lighter. Read music with ease and clarity so that you can focus on the joy of music-making.

View and listen to a brief presentation of The Lime Lighter.


"Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia integrates The Lime Lighter into its music curriculum."

How does it Work?

Each time you press the control on the right side of the pedal included, the music on the screen advances to the next measure. In effect, the page of music slides from right to left so that the start of each measure appears roughly at the same position on the screen vastly reducing the need to shift your gaze to find your place. A focus rectangle highlights the start of each measure as well. To move back one measure, you press the left side of the pedal. To move to the top of the piece or to the beginning of the currently repeated section, you press on the center of the pedal. Features
  • Displays magnified print music notation.
  • Magnify music from 1.25 up to 10 times.
  • Markup your music on the screen with special stylus and save for later.
  • Listen to music play back at your desired tempo.
  • Optionally use third-party magnification software to read text in The Lime Lighter's program menus and dialogs.
  • Optionally use third-party magnification software to modify the foreground and background colors of the music.
  • Composers and arrangers can use The Lime Lighter to enter, revise and print out their musical ideas.
Call Dancing Dots at 610-783-6692 (option 1) to discuss your requirements for magnifying print music. If you are ready to order now, you may order online below.

Simulations

View one of the videos below to simulate the experience reading music with The Lime Lighter. These simulations are intended solely to help you to decide whether The Lime Lighter's magnification level would help you to see music notation more easily. The Lime Lighter's maximum zoom level is 10 times original size. You can even change some other program settings to increase the actual size even more than that. Be aware of the actual size and zoom level that is described in the simulations and match the staff size indicated as closely as you can with what you see in the simulations.

Because these simulation videos were made on an actual Lime Lighter, it would be best to view these simulations on a monitor with a wide aspect ratio. Again, use this video to decide if you should make arrangements to use an actual Lime Lighter. Keep in mind that when using a Lime Lighter yourself, you control the rate of scrolling via the pedal. The musical playback feature is optional for practice sessions. That is, you will not have to hear the music playback when you want to perform it yourself on your own instrument or voice.

More Information on The Lime Lighter

The Lime Lighter displays printed music notation using the traditional five-line staff. New low vision features allow you to magnify the music up to 10 times the original size. You can even edit the music and print it out. But, for most low vision people, this technology will be of interest as a way of reading music comfortably. Our new low vision features provide the special magnification functions needed to display enlarged music in the proper proportions from 1.25 times standard size all the way up to 10 times. For more easily reading text in program menus and dialogs, you have the option to use the built-in features of Windows or third-party magnification programs such as ZoomText and MAGic. You may also want to use those programs to invert the screen image or to change background and foreground colors.  

Marking the Music

  Using a special stylus which looks and feels like a standard pen, or even your finger, you can draw directly on the Lime Lighter's screen. You can also use the wireless mouse to mark up your score. The software displays your markings and saves them for display each time you open that file. For example, if your teacher or the conductor tells you to circle a certain note or cross-out a particular measure, you can draw on the screen just as 20-20 musicians would take a pencil and mark their paper score. If you should need to change your magnification (Zoom) level, the system scales the size of your marking to the new magnification level.

Preparing Music to be Displayed

  The Lime Lighter comes equipped with the SharpEye Music Reader music OCR software. SharpEye scans print music using any standard scanner. The Lime software imports the results of the scan and displays the music according to your preferences for magnification.  It is even possible to listen to your PC perform the music as an aid to learning your part.   A second way to get music into Lime is to import MusicXML files created by other programs. More and more MusicXML scores are becoming available for download from the internet for little or no cost.   Lastly, you have the option to enter music directly into Lime by typing on the PC keyboard or by playing on an electronic musical keyboard attached to your PC.

Included with The Lime Lighter

  • Touch screen Windows7 computer with wide aspect viewing ratio
    • Form Factor: All-in-One, Multi-Touch screen, flat-panel PC
    • Video: 20-inch diagonal (1920 x 1080)
    • Wireless keyboard and mouse
  • Manhasset music stand to support Lime Lighter screen (similar to their large, double-shafted conductor's model)
    • Base Dimensions: 507mm / 20.25" x 432mm / 17"
    • Weight: 4.5 kg / 10 lbs
    • Height (top of computer on stand): Min: 44.5", Max: 65.0"
    • Tilt: Ranging from 5 degrees up (almost perpendicular to floor) to facing up (parallel to floor)
  • Stylus attached to music stand for marking screen
  • USB foot pedal
  • Lime software with custom music magnification and mark up features
  • SharpEye Music Reader: music OCR software for scanning scores to be read with The Lime Lighter
  • Dancing Dots will install and configure all software, including any screen reader or third-party magnification programs, before shipping the unit to you.
  • Option to have Dancing Dots prepare up to 10 pages of your print music collection to be ready to read with your Lime Lighter on delivery.
  • Two-hour remote training and orientation consultation with Dancing Dots after you take delivery. We connect by phone and, with your permission, to your Lime Lighter via internet connection.
  Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price: $3,995 plus Shipping $95 (within Continental U.S.)

For more information or to order your Lime Lighter, please call Dancing Dots at +1 610 783 6692 and press Option 1 for Sales or order online below.

Regional Dealers

If you reside in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois or Wisconsin, contact E.M. Vitu and Co., our exclusive dealer for The Lime Lighter in those states.

Demonstration Sites for The Lime Lighter

Call to make an appointment to visit the sites below. You may also ask about the possibility of someone visiting your home or work place to give a presentation on The Lime Lighter.

Dancing Dots, Valley Forge, PA (By appointment only. Call 610-783-6692 Option 1 for sales
E.M. Vitu, Inc.
Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind, retail store
Dan Shephard Oklahoma Assistive Technology Center
Sterling Adaptives, San Francisco, CA
A.T. Kratter and Co., Los Angeles, CA
Accessibility.net, Omaha, Nebraska

Online Purchasing

The Lime Lighter

Order Online $3,995 (+ Shipping $95 - Use Lime Lighter U.S. shipping method)



MAGic 12.0 Speech

MAGic can be used with all 32-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later and all 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 $595
Add SMA ($95.00)

MAGic 12.0, no Speech

MAGic 64-bit can be used with 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows Vista Home Premium, and Windows Vista Home Basic MAGic Standard 32-bit can be used with 32-bit versions of Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Home Basic, and Windows XP Home $395
Add SMA ($95.00)

ZoomText Magnifier

Magnification software for the vision impaired for Windows 7, Vista, XP and 2000. Our Online CD version price $395
Add ESP ($150.00)

ZoomText USB (Flash Drive) Magnifier

Magnification software for the vision impaired for Windows 7, Vista, XP and 2000. Our Online USB Flash Drive version price $495
Add ESP ($250.00)

Zoom Text Magnifier/Reader

Magnification and screen reading software for the vision impaired for Windows 7, Vista, XP and 2000. Our Online CD version price $595
Add ESP ($200.00)

Zoom Text USB (Flash Drive) Magnifier/Reader

Magnification software for the vision impaired for Windows 7, Vista, XP and 2000. Our Online USB Flash Drive version price $695
Add ESP ($300.00)

Canon LIDE series Scanner

Our on-line price $99


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