Bespoke design for inclusive music: the challenges of evaluation

Over recent years there has been an increase in the de- sign and fabrication of bespoke assistive music technologies (AMTs), designed as a means for overcoming access barriers to music performance and composition and, in part, facili- tating inclusion in music. Access barriers can remain hidden to those who do not directly experience them, which makes the validation of AMT designs through a robust evaluation process particularly important. In this paper, the author describes the evaluation of a ”seemingly” simple solution to an access barrier faced by an individual with cerebral palsy when operating rotary controls on commercially available digital musical instruments (DMIs). The authors discuss the ethical, social and practical considerations which arose while working with the participant and conclude by reflect- ing on how this study will inform their future practice.