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Donald Jaeger had a lifelong passion. He just wanted to play the drums. After growing up in a family of eight children and living on a tight budget, he set out on his own at 21, then bought his first set of drums. In 1981, his life changed. He was working as a deck hand on a tug boat when he fell from one deck to another. The fall caused a severe spinal cord injury, leaving his wife to go back to work while he took care of the couple's two children.

During the next two years, Jaeger endured physical limitations that kept him in bed several hours each day. Drums weren't in the picture. When he took them up again in 1986, he found his disability prevented him from keeping up the pace of other musicians with whom he played. The drummer decided to look for other musicians who understood his endurance problem. In the process, he formed the Coalition for Disabled Musicians, Inc. (CDM). The self-help organization was formed on February 22, 1986 and is located in Bay Shore, N.Y..

According to its Website, it was designed to meet several goals:
1. Introduce musicians with a disability to individuals who understand problems related to disabilities.
2. Provide an accessible rehearsal and recording studio.
3. Design "tag team" systems and additional adaptive techniques for pain, endurance and other physical limitations.
4. Set up studio and stage bands for both amateur and professional musicians.
5. Conduct live performances, produce recordings and hold music seminars and workshops.
6. Make the public aware of the community for people with a disability as a great source of talent.

CDM has provided excellent therapy for Jaeger and other musicians with a disability. The organization has also formed three bands. The first was a rock group known as Range of Motion. The second was the CDM Orchestra. It consisted primarily of older musicians performing standards, jazz and swing. Rockin' Chair, the third group, was a rock and hard rock band. Some CDM musicians are in their teens, while others are still playing in their seventies. Their disabilities include cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, visual and hearing impairments, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, strokes, spinal cord injuries and other conditions.

Due to their respective disabilities, some musicians require adaptive equipment. The Website includes links to information and photos regarding adaptive instruments. Over the years, Jaeger had to find creative solutions for his percussion students who were missing limbs or experienced spastic conditions that made it hard for them to hold drum sticks. He found ways of rigging straps and other devices to allow them to perform. Among the other pieces of adaptive equipment the CDM site highlights are various stands to support guitars and a special drum practice pad that can also be used for reading, writing or eating. Musicians with a disability will also find links to various products and techniques that, while not endorsed by the Coalition, could help them make music more effortlessly.

A voice-to-midi converter connects to a midi-capable keyboard to produce real-time instrument sounds from the human voice. This allows someone who cannot use his arms or hands to play a keyboard by singing. The site also mentions a book that shows how musicians can play the violin left-handed and describes a single-stringed capo for guitars. A contributor from California suggests that keyboard players might want to purchase a bite switch to wire to a sustain pedal port from a skydiving supply store.

Other individuals have written about their use of tilt switches and a foot switch for depressing keys. A Range of Motion member says that musicians who no longer have sufficient dexterity to play the piano or similar instruments have a couple of options. They can use a keyboard synthesizer to mimic instrumental sounds as well as experiment with "open tunings" on the guitar. He adds that one-armed guitar players can be effective by tuning the instrument in open G, placing it face up on the lap, then putting a steel or glass slide on the left pinky finger to bar frets. The remaining fingers can strum.

Other suggested adaptive techniques include buying a keyboard without weighted keys, using a vocorder to compose and taking advantage of several software packages such as Band in a Box 2007. CDM musicians are available to perform at special events, disability awareness events and PTA and other school programs.

See Vonda Sines' Profile on Disaboom 

See Vonda Sines' Profile on Associated Content