Naming suggestion — Instead of naming files ssn where n is the number assigned by Allen, why don't you agree to use ssnnn where nnn is Allen's assigned number filled to the left with zeros so every file name will be exactly the same length. This will be a big help when people want to sort the songs in sequence. If you don't use the zero fill to a standard length, songs 1, 10, and 100 will come out next to each other as will 11, 110, and so on.

Susan, the idea that these songs were somehow especially designed to be learned aurally is probably not correct. The people who made and learned these songs were legally prohibited from gaining literacy. Had they been educated in the use of western notation, I'm guessing they'd have written them down. Not only would they have written them down but I doubt they'd have used the awkard dialect language that Allen employed. Just because they used informal pronunciation in speech and song doesn't necessarily mean they didn't know the proper English word. It's easy for us, white middle class Americans, to forget that depriving people of education doesn't, by itself, make them stupid.

And you're quite right about the project being “SO COOL.” I'll play around with some of the tunes and decide whether I think I can offer any useful assistance.

      - Mark