Music Paper Madness
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    very funny, adam, and very forward thinking! i am sure the protestants will jump on that idea once they get tired of the projector. needs to be bigger... don't you think? older people will have problems reading it.
  • janetgorbitzjanetgorbitz
    Posts: 964
    Oh, no, you can adjust font sizes to suit yourself! I suppose there is a limit... if you enlarge the type to the point that you can only get 3 notes to a page or something, it wouldn't be practical...
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    I personally have great affinity for the tactile nature of ink and paper.
  • miacoyne
    Posts: 1,805
    I think the book should be a bit bigger size for singing, a good size for two hands to hold, like regular size of the hymn, people would be more comfortable to the size they are used to. And I think its should mostly for choir use, (who uses more loose music than the congregation), not the congregation, (Even if the cost goes down, it would be still too expensive and cannot be taken care of very well in the pews.)

    This is not for me. I really don't trust electric gadgets, (don't even own IPod). But some might find it useful
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    My MD is going to be getting a Kindle 2 shortly, and I'm planning to run an experiment to see what chant music looks like on it. Should be relatively easy to test, as it has the ability to display PDFs.

    I'll try to take a photo and post it here. My personal preference would be a device that's a little larger, but who knows - a lot of the chant books we use are smaller size.

    For those who are wondering: The e-ink technology used in the Kindle looks MUCH more like paper than what you're reading on a computer screen. It can be quite striking, actually. If you want to get a feel for what it looks like, go check out the Sony Reader in the electronics section of Target.

    The Kindle DOESN'T have the ability to scribble annotations on the screen, so that makes it a bit impractical for our music - but then again, so does the price. But the technology is changing rapidly!
  • miacoyne
    Posts: 1,805
    Amazing. I found this old thread.
    The new KINDLE is coming out this week. It's bigger size. It's getting closer to what we need. Does anyone know whether we can download chants, like from Graduale Romanum, Gregorian Missal, Communio etc. It's expensive, and not real paper. But I seriously consider purchasing it as a gift for my birthday and Christmas all together (for a couple of years probably.), and imagine carrying this instead of many chant books. Maybe I can even read Church documents, chant blogs right there?

    http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Amazons-Wireless-Generation/dp/B0015TCML0?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1245075097&sr=1-2
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    if someone wants to prepare a Kindle edition, great. but so far, from the production point of view, I've found them not to be economically viable. the market is too tiny and mostly dominated by people who want pop fiction etc. I also don't like the way amazon doesn't its Kindle business, preventing any open sourcing. It is a better use of time to create .epub editions, if this is really where things are headed, which I doubt. Might be best to wait for a really good 6x9 PDF reader.
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Mia: Many e-readers will display PDFs, so you can just download them right from the CMAA to your reader. I used to have the complete Gradual and Antiphonal on my Sony device. I don't find it very useful, as I like to mark up music a lot, but I can certainly see the appeal.
  • Pes
    Posts: 623
    What to use depends on who is using it.

    I think congregations should have books in the pews. This conveys stability and sets appropriate boundaries for what is permitted. The challenge is to make the pew book a really good one.

    For choirs, all bets are off. Going completely electronic seems like the best way to go. Instant access, bookmarking, no fumbling, clean presentation, mark-uppable with a stylus, infinite memory, *audio attachments,* no shelf space, etc. The advantages are just too numerous.

    The point is that congregations need one thing, and choirs another. Choirs need to be able to do more *with* the music, to manipulate it more, and to have access to it in different forms, than do congregations.

    .02
  • miacoyne
    Posts: 1,805
    No, definitely not for the congregation. (I don't see it at least in my life time.) Just for choir practice. I guess I'll save money and wait. Maybe somebody else will come up with something similar and better. Thanks.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    If you decide to use a three ring binder for your choir:

    1. Number every page
    2. Add an alphabetical character when pages are revised: 1b
    3. Do not "save" paper by copying on the back of pages left blank, unless is it a one page piece.
    4. Maintain a master list of pages currently in use in the Choir Book the choir can see.
    5. File pages pulled from their books for future use.

    It also helps to have one responsible member with a wipe board that they can write down page numbers on and hold up during rehearsal AND during Mass if you are not in view of the congregation. You say, "Page 40.", they write it down, hold it up and you do not have to repeat yourself, ad nauseum.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    Francis, and all...

    My current project underway is to take the list of hymns you want and create an individual hymn book with just what want you want in it. My partner printing company is already doing this for a major music publisher, so the infrastructure is already in place. There is no reason to be stuck with 700 melodies in a heavy book that you do not need, when instead you may have exactly and only what you want.
  • Carl DCarl D
    Posts: 992
    Just so you know, I did produce a PDF of various chant songs and gave them to my friend who has a Kindle 2 - but so far, she hasn't taken the trouble to download them to her machine. A little frustrating, but I don't want to push her too hard.

    But if anyone has a Kindle, or even a Sony or other device, I would love if you could put in a few pages and snap a photo so we can see how it looks. Can start with any of the PDFs on the musicasacra site, it's not like we have any shortage.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    I have a Sony and I fiddled with it about an hour before being tempted to use it as a frisbee. I don't really understand the point. I have a beloved laptop. it works. I also have my physical books, which I love. they work too. This in between thing seems like a grainy and cumbersome nothing. To heck with it. Call me a trog.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    Okay, you are a Trog >•<
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    that hurts more than I expected!
  • JDE
    Posts: 588
    No, not a Trog -- merely a musical-electronic Luddite.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Long Live Paper and Ink. When the lights go out you still have your music in hand.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    iMissal

    http://www.catholic.org/prwire/headline.php?ID=6271
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