BS: Book question

Subject: BS: Book question
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 09:48 AM

I know I asked something similar sometime back but I'll be gobsmacked if I remember when.
   I am compiling a songbook of Civil War music and I might have an interested publisher if I can incorporate the music of the songs or at least openeing stanzas in the same. Is there a program to insert music into text?
   Also, I have sent some of you the prototype. Any suggestions for songs to be included? I am striving for authentic songs as you might imagine. Thanks Neil PS- Sorry I've not been in touch,. It has been a hectic season.

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 06:59 PM

The only way we know of to insert music into a text file is to print out the music and then scan it into the text document as an image. If you have a decent printer and scanner, this will produce excellent results but it's kind of slow.

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: Mark Clark
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 07:48 PM

Perhaps the best way to combine text and music for serious publishing is to use GNU LilyPond. There is a lot of music on the Web in LilyPond format already and LilyPond will handle anything from the simplest whistle or fiddle melody to large orchestral scores. It includes a book capability that lets you typeset a complete book if you wish and include lines or pages of engraved music as you choose.

GNU LilyPond makes use of TeX and MusixTeX for typesetting so the output will be in standard formats such as device independent (DVI) files, PostScript or even PDF. All of the TeX stuff is included with a full installation of Cygwin, a UNIX compatibility layer for Windows. This is a handy way to get it all installed since the Cygwin installation procedure takes care of most of the configuration details.

Naturally all of the software I’ve referenced is free but don’t let that scare you. These tools are some of best and most professional publishing tools available anywhere. There is a strong TeX Users Group (TUG) to help answer questions and the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) when you need to find tools or special drivers. All in all, GNU LilyPond and TeX enjoy worldwide support that exceeds most commercial publishing systems.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: Mark Clark
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 08:05 PM

If all that LilyPond and TeX stuff above seems a little arcane, you could use ABC software (recommend abcm2ps from the ABC Plus project) to create encapsulated PostScript (EPS) files of your music bits and embed them as graphics into a Microsoft Word document. Word doesn't make a very good typesetting system for large manuscripts but if that's what you're comfortable with, people do use it that way.

You may want a graphics utility capable of converting the EPS files to Windows Metafile (WFM) format so you can actually see them in your Word document as you're working. If you prefer the Microsoft Office route, Microsoft Publisher is also an option.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: Mark Clark
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 08:09 PM

Well, clearly the acronym WFM above should have been typed as WMF. Sorry.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 08:15 PM

Mark Clark -

Recheck the CTAN link? There's no URL in the <a> field.
Good stuff though.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: Mark Clark
Date: 26 Oct 03 - 01:04 AM

John, Thanks for catching that. Here is a completed link.

Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN)

There are other TeX distributions besides the Thomas Esser's teTeX distribution linked above but teTeX is the most standard and active of the free distributions and Esser continually answers questions through the teTeX listserv. teTeX may be installed a number of ways on a number of different systems but for Windows users, the Cygwin route is probably the easiest to maintain and to add related tools to without having to delve too deeply into the internals of the system. NB: don't try to install Cygwin over the Net unless you have a high-speed connection.

A membership in the TeX Users Group (TUG) will also get you the complete CTAN archive on CDs, the complete TeX Live distribution (easy install for Windows users) and a year's subscription to TUGboat, the journal of the TUG including the proceedings of the TUG Annual Meeting.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 26 Oct 03 - 09:47 PM

BEFORE committing - give the publisher the first chapters and an outline.

DEMAND a substantial cash advance if they are interested....only then invest your time.

Formatting is a publisher's problem - NOT YOURS.

Sincerely,

Gargoyle

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 27 Oct 03 - 03:30 PM

Thanks all. The book will serve dual purpose as a song book for my re-enacting unit adn hopefully make me some money. Again Thanks, Irish Sergeant

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: Jennyldb
Date: 28 Oct 03 - 11:10 AM

which civil war are u collecting songs about?

If you mean the english one then strawhead do a lot of civil war songs and would be worth talking to or looking at their music. Their website doesn't appear to be working at the moment.

jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Book question
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 29 Oct 03 - 03:03 PM

Jenny:
The American Civil War. Sorry. I should have clarified that. (In my defense, as I type this i have a cold working toward pneumonia and a cat having a conversation in braille with my leg.) Neil