Snagging a new piece. How

Subject: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Apr 03 - 10:11 AM

I just posted a thread asking for a translation from the modern Greek. It occurred to me that some people may not be familiar with what I was doing, so I've decided to explain a few things in the hope that others will enjoy doing it and playing more music.

I went to a search engine and entered "Praetorius MIDI" to see who might have a nice piece by this Renaissance musician. (He is a favorite of ours.) the engine directed me to a page by the Phonolites, a chorus of Greek geologists. The Phonolites had kindly posted MIDIs, and I liked the one by Othmayr.

I right clicked on the link on their page and saved it to my documents. I noted the name they had given it as it was downloaded.

Then I minimized (or closed) the Net and opened Noteworthy. I opened my documents, made sure MIDI files were among the types being opened, and downloaded the MIDI. It takes about five steps to open a MIDI, none of which I understand. I just click away until the piece appears. I like to make a note in the Information where the song came from.

Once I got the MIDI, I removed the empty staff which always appears at the bottom of a piece. I raised the second line an octave so a recorder can play it. I added a text note that the second line is played down 8, so that the second line does not come out higher than the melody. I removed repeats and added repeat signs to save ink, paper and transparency stock. I will probably add chords symbols. If I had wanted to, I could have changed the key, staff by staff. Finally, I tinkered with the format, trying to get the largest notes I can onto one sheet of paper. (It didn't work this time.)

These old pieces often have a very simple and repetitive line which I call the brother-in-law's line. (Renaissance composers had relatives too, so why not fool the aristocrats into supporting them? They had more money than they could ever use.) I often delete the brother-in-law's line. When all the musical editing is done, I save it as an NWC file. Usually I give it a new, more meaningful name. If it fits on one sheet, I make a transparency, throw it on the wall of the living room, and away we go. See how simple?

For an event such as St Patricks' Day, I simply download the melody,add the chords and print it big. The rest is history.

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 16 Apr 03 - 01:31 PM

leeneia - quite informative. I don't read music, or play MIDI's, so the computer stuff is over my head, but the "brother in law's line" was an eye opener. It got me to thinking about the relationship between music and commerce/wealth over the centuries.

Were there ever any rich fat-cats who learned to play music on their own, rather than hiring "living music boxes"? (Henry the Eighth?) And at what point does it stop being demeaning and become meaningful to compose/perform for money?   Sort of like the question about high-priced baseball, basketball and football players being entertainers or athletes?

I imagine, however, that when Catspaw spies this subject line he'll have a completly different interpretation of what this is all about :)!

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Apr 03 - 10:36 PM

Q. "Were there ever any rich fat-cats who learned to play music on their own, rather than hiring "living music boxes"?"

A. Yes.

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: mack/misophist
Date: 16 Apr 03 - 10:56 PM

Frederick the Great of Prussia played flute at the professional level.

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: Hollowfox
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 10:10 AM

I can't verify it, but I heard years ago that Henry Ford played the hammer dulcimer. Can anybody back this up with fact?

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 11:05 AM

Well that might explain some of Henry Ford's interest in old-time fiddlers - if he was a picker himself.

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 01:54 PM

Never mind Henry Ford. Never mind fat cats. How about finding and playing some music yourselves?

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: Hollowfox
Date: 17 Apr 03 - 02:21 PM

When I get home, dear. I'm popping in at work right now. *g*

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,Les B.
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 02:09 PM

After a long time of not learning any songs, and I know quite a few, I've gotten back into learning about song a week. Trouble is, the ones I learned five to six weeks ago are starting to fade! And I find I'm losing parts of fiddle tunes at the most awkward times. Gotta get that mental hard drive re-formatted.

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: vindelis
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 02:26 PM

And I thought that 'snagging' was a task carried out by building surveyors, (to ensure that the workers had done the job correctly)! Well you learn something new every day. Or is this another case of American English V British English? Thanks for the info though, I shall try it out for my self.

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,celtaddict
Date: 18 Apr 03 - 03:44 PM

The thread title at first made me think this was another of the funloving 'Cat double-entendre sites.
Leeneia: Great information. Just printed it up.
Les B.: I gather you know that Henry VIII was in fact lauded as a musician in his own right. Critics (then and now) of course have said that his standing as a musician might not have been so high if he were not king. There seems little doubt though that he was at the very least technically competent. James of Scotland (sorry about the numbers; I am at the office) supposedly wrote some of the classic old ballads, including "Willie of Winesberry," but everyone who writes this seems to stress the "supposedly" motif.

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Apr 03 - 10:27 AM

Celtaddict: Thanks. If you find any particularly great tunes, let us know what they are and where you got them.

Vindelis: In the U.S., to snag something is to catch it, as if with a hook. For example, "He seized a grappling hook and snagged the trunk just before it sank into the sea." or "I snagged my sweater on the corner of my desk." The little device which repairs snagged knits is called a Snag-nab-it.

(Next, somebody will want to know about "nab.")

I used "snag" because I wanted to call people's attention to the vast number of MIDI files there are on the Internet. I want more people to visualize themselves reaching into that stream and hooking some good tunes for themselves. It seems to be working, at least to a certain extent.

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: pattyClink
Date: 19 Apr 03 - 06:16 PM

leeneia, thanks for the post. I honestly thought it was all a put on, particularly the part about the Phonolites cause I knew that was a volcanic rock. But they are REAL! What a trip.   

So then I re-read the post and it was enlightening. I have avoided the mysterious MIDIs but I will pull some into NWC and see what happens. THX!

Subject: RE: Origins: Snagging a new piece. How
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Apr 03 - 08:06 PM

You're very welcome, patty. Yes, the Phonolites are indeed real. I would like to go to Greece someday and take in one of their concerts.

BTW, have you ever seen phonolite from the Devil's Tower? It has lovely, huge, white plagioclase crystals in a glassy matrix which is either dark green or a purplish-red. And of course, when you tap it with your Estwing, it chimes.

Oh, the nostalgia of a hard-rocker cast adrift in a Pennsylvanian realm!

Do try the mysterious MIDI's, and if they don't work, post a post.