Leading in an Online Environment
Online communities have become increasingly common in this day and age, flourishing on numerous social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Discord, dedicated forums and message boards, and so on. I have always enjoyed participating in various online communities related to my interests (particularly music) and I had always been fascinated by online platforms that enable people from all over the world to unite and make music together over the internet. In late 2019, I found such a group via Reddit that sounded really interesting to me. The group plays orchestral and band music by having individuals record their parts while listening to a reference track in headphones, and then all the recordings are mixed together to make a final performance. I thought this was a really cool idea, even though it is very different from playing in a real life orchestra or band.
At first, I only lurked on their Reddit page and submitted recordings when I felt like it. After a few months of watching the subreddit, I decided to join their Discord server after they announced their first after online recital, which would take place in a Discord voice channel. Just in case you don't know what Discord is, Discord is a social media-type platform where people can hang out in groups called servers, and each server will have a bunch of text channels where people can talk about different topics, and there are also voice channels where people can connect and chat with each other.
Once I joined the Discord server, I started to bond more closely with the community. There were a lot of interesting chats happening in the text channels and people would practice and chat in the voice channels and I would pop in to listen. Then one day, someone asked me if I'd be interested in doing an experiment where I would record while following a conductor video. I had to say no, and this is where things got a little interesting. In online communities I almost never disclose my visual impairment (unless it's a community for the visually impaired) because I don't need to. In most communities people aren't super close knit, so I don't have any need to share a lot of personal details about myself. However, Discord is particularly conducive to building close knit relationships online, so sharing personal details like your personal happenings in life, which country you live in, or if you're in college or high school becomes more common. I was really afraid of disclosing my visual impairment to a bunch of strangers online because I worried it would cause a lot of backlash, but when the situation with the conductor video came up, I told the person about my visual impairment via private message and they were incredibly nice to me about it. They said they were already impressed with my contributions to the community and admired the way I was overcoming those challenges. By now, I had recorded at least 10 parts for projects and had even directed one of my own. I was surprised.
As time went on, I had to start disclosing my visual impairment more and more to members of the community for several reasons:
I needed to get sheet music for project pieces in alternate format. Although I can find sheet music in the format I need on the internet for a small number of the pieces, many of the pieces are either original compositions / arrangements or more obscure pieces of classical music. As a result, I would private message the project directors asking them for sheet music in the alternate format I need. I then convert the music into braille using an online service and use my braille display to read it.
People would sometimes post images in chat and I wouldn't know what they are, so sometimes people will describe the images to me.
As I became more serious about directing my own projects, I would need help with two major areas due to being blind: sheet music transcription (because parts aren't available freely on the internet but a full score can be found for people to transcribe to make parts), and making the final release video. I can handle the audio editing and mixing, reference track making, and other miscellaneous tasks on my own though. Luckily, my friends have been super supportive, and I have always had success getting assistance when I need it.
As I told more and more people about my visual impairment, the vast majority of them did not take issue with it. In fact, they treated me like anyone else and thought of me as a valued contributor to the community. I even met one other person who is partially sighted, but she has enough vision to read print unlike me. As time went on, most of the active members of the community were well aware of my visual impairment. I was still afraid of mentioning my visual impairment publicly in chat and only felt comfortable mentioning it in private messages, but joining yet another online orchestra community changed that. In the other community, one person mentioned his visual impairment publicly and didn't get any backlash from it. I also talked to him about my visual impairment via private message. This made me far more confident talking about my visual impairment in group chat, and I started making references to my visual impairment publicly as a result. I began talking about how I need to memorize my music before recording, and how I need to use audio editing software differently from most people.
As I got more serious about making higher quality mixes with proper use of effects and reverb, the basic audio editor I was so used to was no longer sufficient, so I had to spend hours learning a new program which is better suited for advanced mixing projects. I had to draw on the limited resources available for screen reader users, as well as advice from the online orchestra community, to figure out how to use the software to mix audio. Screen reader accessibility was always a major concern, but I got really lucky and have found accessible solutions for everything I need to do in online orchestra.
Eventually, it was very clear that everyone valued me just like anyone else, and that my blindness is not at all a barrier to full participation in online orchestras. Also, directing projects is an entirely voluntary duty, and it's not something everyone takes on. In addition, some directors get others to mix the audio for them because they don't know how. Being a blind project director and audio editor certainly has its own challenges, but I really enjoy taking on those responsibilities as it gives me a sense of confidence. I even went as far as hosting a piece by a visually impaired composer and mentioning my visual impairment and referencing the idea of the 'no limits' philosophy as a part of the project.I am incredibly grateful for my friends in online orchestra. They have provided me with tons of support, they are available whenever I need help with something, and most importantly, they are some of the most caring, supportive and understanding people I have ever met in my life.
by Ella