Listening to Music with Switches
Listening to and Controlling Pre-recorded Music
The list below is a small sample of the ways that people can use accessibility switches to control the music that they listen to. Some include visualisers, such as iTunes, which can make for a stunning cause and effect activity.
A fairly new development on the web are sites such as Spotify which enable you to listen to music for free. You can find more of these at the OneSwitch Blog music search post.
For those interested in more portable solutions to switch accessible music play back, take a look at the Portable Switch Accessible Music Players post too.
Music Player/Shortcutter (PC)
Music Player/Shortcutter (PC - Free)
A great way to teach switch skills with short bursts of audio/video, to control a game of musical bumps, or to drop beats in and out of additional music. Mirror download of Music Player here and a blog post here.
Joy Music
Joy Music (PC - Free 30 day trial)
Programme up to 12 sound tracks (MP3, WAV, WMA files) then select and play them using one switch, two switches or any key on the keyboard.
Inclusive CD Player
Inclusive CD Player (PC - Free)
A very basic one or two switch CD Player. Use the RETURN key to select and TAB key to move the selector in two switch mode.
Suitable for users with good scan and select skills.
iTunes
iTunes (PC and Macintosh - Free)
A superb media player with a stunning music visualiser. Takes a little getting used to but worth the effort.
SPACE = Play/Pause.
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW = Skip a track forward.
CTRL+LEFT ARROW = Skip back a track.
CTRL+T = Switch Visualiser On/Off.
Spotify
Spotify (PC and Mac Online - Free)
SPACE = Play/Pause.
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW = Skip a track forward.
CTRL+LEFT ARROW = Skip back a track.
Switch Mixer Lite
Switch Mixer Lite (PC - Free)
Music tracks can be played from an ordered or randomised list (WAV format only) using one switch.
Starting Tip: Be sure to press "0" to limit the sounds being played to one at a time.
Switch Music
Switch Music (on-line - Free)
Simple fixed video juke-box.
LEFT-CLICK for single switch access or can be used as a touch screen device.
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player (PC - Free)
This can be a bit fiddly to set up but can play most sound files including music CDs. It features a pretty basic "Visualiser" that converts sound waves into moving images.
CTRL+P = Play/Pause.
CTRL+F = Skip a track forward.
CTRL+B = Skip back a track.
CTRL+H = Randomise track order.
CTRL+T = Repeat
Switch Music: The music above was created by groups of one and two-switch musicians between 1999 and 2001. They used standard accessibility switches on a Sony Playstation running "Fluid" alongside a dice music system.