 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ed Lowry
Date: 2009-11-10 19:33
I can procrastinate no more. The time has come to retrieve my music from various piles around the house, [re]organize it, and put it back into file cabinets. I am dreading this task primarily because I realize I should create an index. There are simply too many variables (collections, solos, quartets, etudes, etc.) to simply put them in a set of drawers ordered alphabetically by composer.
I'm looking for ideas, and suggestions on software. Has anyone created an Excel template, for example? Or is there an inexpensive or free-ware version that people have tried with success?
Thanks for any ideas. I await them with optimism.
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2009-11-10 20:32
How about just start typing it into a word document and edit/organise it all as you go? I do this for most lists and with the search function on computers, phones, PDAs etc, it works fine.
I've never done this for sheet music though. With the kids still in the house, instruments and paper everywhere, trying to organise it would be like a scene from the Marx brothers films!
Steve
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Author: concertmaster3
Date: 2009-11-10 20:41
If you have a lot of each genre, separating them this way would be good. Taking each genre (Collections, Etudes, Solo (no piano), Duos with piano, Duos other, Trios, Quartets, etc) and then putting pieces in alphabetical order with that in mind would work. That's how we do it at the library. It makes it easy to find music this way. If you have the composer, and what kind of piece it is (Lets say, Mozart Clarinet Quintet), you can go to quintets wind/string, and look under M.
Ron Ford
Woodwind Specialist
Performer/Teacher/Arranger
http://www.RonFordMusic.com
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Author: grifffinity
Date: 2009-11-10 20:44
Excel should work well since you can create various categories(columns) and then choose a sort option to experiment with category groupings. You can have works sorted by composer, genre, alphabetically, any number of categories you can think of, then change the layout depending on the sort option. Plus it is easy to search for something specific.
The biggest pain is just setting up the excel template and entering data.
I've worked in several non-profit performing arts organizations, and we've used Excel for music and recordings data. I have not made a template of my own music, but its a good idea.
Post Edited (2009-11-10 20:45)
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Author: Chris J
Date: 2009-11-11 00:14
An excel spread sheet would be an easy option. All you need to do is decide on your columns first of all, anything that may interest, knowing you will not make an entry for each cell necessarily
eg:
Composer
Genre
Solos
Location in collection
etc
but also the other stuff, such as:
Date bought
Source
Cost
Last date performed
Who loaned to and when
etc
Then start the spreadsheet
Once done (or while doing it, as you can do this repeatedly) highlight all the entries including the headings - then click Data, hover over filter to open its components, and click auto filter
Arrows will appear beside each heading.
Clicking that arrow gives you immediate options for filtering the whole list
For example - clcik the arrow next to composer, and you can order the list alphabetically, or just pick out one composer.
You can apply additional filters, so if you have picked out all mozart, click the arrow against another heading, and you can put in catalgue order, or just pick out the duets
The beauty of this is that you can just add new pieces at the bottom of the list, and order them a and when you want, rather than putting them in a predefined order as you create the list.
Any heading with an active filter will have a different colour arrow by the heading, probably from black to blue. To access the whole list, just click the active filter arrow and select the "all" option.
Difficult to explain, but very easy to do!
Chris
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Author: elmo lewis
Date: 2009-11-11 01:27
Etudes
Unaccompanied Cl.
Cl. and Piano
Concertos (includes concerto reductions)
Chamber Music with only clarinets
Chamber Music with only wind instruments
Chamber Music with strings (can include music with mixed winds and strings)
Chamber Music with piano (can include music with winds and strings)
Chamber Music with voice (can include music with piano,winds or strings)
Orchestral Scores
Pieces are filed alphabetically by composer within each group
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Author: chris moffatt
Date: 2009-11-11 11:26
In addition to filing your music and tracking the locations by excel, you could do what a pro guitarist friend of mine did...he scanned all his music into his laptop using the name of the piece as the filename and setup a searchable index, now he just takes his laptop on gigs and uses that. Of course this probably wouldn't work in an orchestral situation but would surely save you time and aggro at home when practising or rehearsing. he still has all the paper as backup..
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Author: Bennett ★2017
Date: 2009-11-11 15:55
Perhaps it would be helpful to separate two ideas - arranging the music in folders according to some rational scheme vs. cataloging or indexing what you own.
The former can be done by using a scheme like this Library of Catalog one:
http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/music/musicat.htm
This sort of scheme organizes the music for you into a rational, albeit somewhat arbitrary, system. If you're looking for nonets six months from now, the appropriate M number will lead you to them.
If you need a list of what you own, then add an spreadsheet, as has been suggested.
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Author: Curinfinwe
Date: 2009-11-11 17:13
To keep track of my book collection, I use this free software:
http://www.spacejock.com/BookDB.html
It's very useful- I can search for things by author, genre, publisher and any keywords I tagged the book as when I catalogued it. There's also a library function for when you lend out a book, and many other useful things, including a space for comments in each book's profile. While it is designed for books, I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to use it for pieces of music.
The software is free and, while the website may seem homemade, the software is professional and there are no viruses or any of that sort of thing attached to it. And if you ever have problems with it, the owner/creator is extremely helpful and knowledgable.
I highly recommend it and I think it would be useful to help keep things organized in your collection (On the computer at least! But the system does have a spot where you can put in the location of the book. Maybe that would be useful for different folders?)
I don't know the software owner/creator in any capacity- I'm just a happy client! (Not really sure if client is the right word there. Oh well.)
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Author: stevensfo
Date: 2009-11-11 17:14
-- "..he scanned all his music into his laptop using the name of the piece as the filename and setup a searchable index," --
Nice idea. I'd love to do something like that and I do in fact scan some pieces and save them as pdf.
But to scan and save every piece of sheet music? Not to mention problems with page sizes, formats etc?
Surely that would take years?
Steve
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Author: Bassie
Date: 2009-11-12 08:31
You could give each piece a unique identifying number starting in 'K.' ...
;-D
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Author: chris moffatt
Date: 2009-11-12 11:47
well we didn't see much of him for about 6 weeks but that was it. Of course he was only scanning his personal repertoire (about 2K pages) not every piece of guitar music. As he obtains new pieces he scans them individually, not an onerous task. The page sizes can be standardized via the scan software. I can see a potential problem with very long sheets, the scan would perhaps produce a page too small to read onscreen, but he hasn't mentioned a problem and doesn't take his paper on gigs. If he has a headcrash I guess he's in trouble.
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Author: Ed Lowry
Date: 2009-11-12 23:45
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. And great to hear from you, Bennett. See you again at CalCap next summer.
I downloaded the book collection software, which is very nice, but would require some adjustments for what I'm hoping to do with my music. So I have started on an Excel file. I was worried about multiple sorts, how to add items, and how that would affect numbering. Chris J's explanation is far clearer than any manual I have ever seen!
It will be awhile -- if ever -- before I scan everything in my library, although we may all be heading in that direction. For someone who still uses fountain pens, I will be reluctant to give up paper music.
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2009-11-13 01:58
I've set up a simple database using Microsoft Access.
Each piece is indexed by "accession number." That is a sequential number that Access assigns to the record of each entry in the database.
I've got the following entries in each record:
Title
Composer names (first, middle, last)
Opus number
Arranger
Difficulty
Publisher
Collection (for when the piece is part of a bound book with many pieces in it)
Yes/No for an accompanying CD.
Instrumentation.
The database is set up to search by composer, title, arranger
So far, it is working pretty well. I've been using this method of indexing for about 3-years now. The music is filed by accession number (I'm up to 1386 so far). When I want to find a piece, I open the database and search for it. The database gives me the accession number. Then I go to the file drawers and pull out the music.
I regret not paying more attention to the instrumentation, as frequently it would be handy to pull up something that would fit the players at hand, say, "find something for piano, flute, clarinet and horn!" I may add more fields to the record.
It took a few weeks to get all my music entered and filed, but it takes just a minute to enter each new piece.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2009-11-13 02:11
If you look at the composition database here, it's indexed by:
Composer
Title
Instrumentation
Number of Performers
I keep multiple variations of both names & title since they're often in multiple languages and various transations - and nothing is more irritating than searching for a composer and coming back with nothing when you know you have the piece! There's more data internally that I don't currently index, but I could (sex, publisher, duration, etc.). Duration would be a popular one ...
Grade is in there, but other than standardized grade books is very subjective. Comments are included for the composer (maybe address & email or other info), the titles (often comments by the composer or special instructions), and each edition (arranger, editor, etc.)
Instrumentation & number of performers often doesn't correspond 1-1 since a number of pieces involve doubling.
http://test.woodwind.org/Databases/Composers/index.html
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Author: Gandalfe
Date: 2009-11-14 19:16
By cabinet drawer/s:
Big Band
Quartet
Combo
Solo
Instructional
In the drawers alpha by title. It's a long tedious job best done in bite-sized chunks of time. Oh, and apparently it never ends.
Jim and Suzy
Pacifica Big Band
Seattle, Washington
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Author: swkeess
Date: 2009-11-15 01:22
I also set up an Excel worksheet to catalogue my trio's music. Each piece has a number assigned to it under three broad catagories: C (Classical), P (Popular), and F (Festive). They are the numbered C001, C002, P001, P002, F001, F002, etc. The original collection of music that we had was arranged alphabetically and then numbered accordingly. Pieces that we acquired afterwards were assigned either a sequential number or a missing number of a piece that we had discarded as unsuitable. This way, when we choose music for rehearsal or concerts we just need to indicate the number of the piece for easy selection. So for our Excel database, our columns' headings are by number, composer, arranger, title, instrumentation (3 Bb clarinets, or 2 Bb clarinets & bass clarinet), and comments (for example, a listing of all the songs in a medley selection). It takes a little bit of time to set up, but is easy to maintain and the sort function makes it easy to find the type of music you are looking for.
Susan Keess
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The Clarinet Pages
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