Towards a taxonomy of accessible instruments

Dr Matthew Wright, University of Southampton, UK and Prof Andrew McPherson, Imperial College London, UK

​The idea of an accessible musical instrument conveys a wide diversity of realisations, encompassing modified conventional orchestral instruments, bespoke digital instruments, playable via novel interfaces, and more. This talk aims to explore how a taxonomy of accessible instruments might assist players to navigate the space of possibilities and instrument developers to identify under-explored possibilities. We will discuss limitations of existing taxonomies in related areas, such as the Hornbostel-Sachs classification of musical instruments and the WHO International Classification  of Functioning, Disability and Health. We will discuss recent directions in more open-ended, non-hierarchical taxonomies and discuss how a player-centred approach could be developed.