Excited but confused

[James Burnon Ross]

Hello everyone,

I just joined the forum.  I didn't see an "Introduce Yourself" forum so I thought I'd post some comments in this uncatagorized forum just to see if there's anyone around.   First off, it doesn't look like there's a lot of activity on these forums.  That's a shame, I was hoping to get lots of feedback on things I'm working on.   I write songs and compose small instrumental ensembles.  I'm working on a couple right now.  I do this totally as a hobby.

This is a nice looking forum, but it's not going to be real useful if there isn't a lot of activity on it.

Another problem for me is that I'm on dial-up.  So this limits to what I can easily access.  For example, I can't listen to music that is "Streamed".  It just comes in all broken up at my end.  The only way I can listen to things is if they are in an mp3 file that I can actually download.  Even then it takes time to download them to listen to them.  Youtube and videos are pretty much out too because of the long download times.  Although, I do have access to high-speed internet at the local library in town which I can visit on occasion to download things.

I would like to get some feedback on some things I'm working on, so if there's anyone around who might be interested in offering feedback that would give me more incentive to go to the work of actually posting the music.

So this thread is sort of just "testing the waters" to see if there's anyone "out there".

Hello?

[Steve Campagnoli]

***RE: upload sites

If you were using Sibelius, there is a good site called ScoreExchange. But it recognizes only Sibelius files. Finale has an upload site called Finale Showcase, but only for Finale family files. I do not know of a high-traffic upload site for music uploaded as pdf/mp3’s.

Campy

James Burnon Ross said:

Hello Quinn, Leon, and Steve. It's great to see activity here. That's encouraging.

I'm totally frustrated with dial-up.  It's disgusting!  And I have no idea how I live with it.  I just have no choice.  I can't get high-speed at my home.  Every option is out.  No cable, no satellite access due to the dense forest I live in.  No cell phone service here either!  I've looked into every option.  None of them will work here.

Like I say, I do have access to Wi-fi at the local library in town.  That's a 20 mile drive, but I have a notebook computer so I just take the computer over there on occasion to download things.

I'm using Melody Assistant by Myriad.   It works for me as a hobbyist and the price is right at about $25.  So I'm happy with it for now.   I'm also pleased with the sound I get from the mp3 files it generates.

I have quite a few instruments.  So I'm often composing with an instrument in hand.  I have some knowledge of music theory, but mostly I like to just pick up an instrument and try different things on it.  So a lot of my "compositions" really amount to writing down my improvisations.  One nice thing about that is that I can indeed be guaranteed that it will be playable on the instrument.  Not only will it be playable, but if I can play it then surely a professional musician who plays the instrument for a living should have no problems at all.

Campy, you said, "There are some great software-specific sites to upload your music to."

What exactly are you talking about there?  Uploading sheet music?  Or mp3 sound files?

I already have a personal web site where I can upload my mp3 files.   And for the sheet music I usually just save it as a PDF and post it that way.   But I guess it would be cool to be able to swap actual sheet music files with other people.  Melody Assistant saves the sheet music in a "*.myr" file.   I'm not sure if that's compatible with anything other than another Melody Assistant sheet music program.   I don't think Melody Assistant itself is compatible with other sheet music programs.   But it will save things in "*.mid" files which can be opened in other sheet music programs.   I'm not sure how well the original score would be preserved in that case though.

[James Burnon Ross]

Ok, I'm aware of those sites.  I used to post to the Finale Showcase myself when I was using Finale Notepad.   I suppose that is one nice feature of those more popular software programs.

Steve Campagnoli said:

***RE: upload sites

If you were using Sibelius, there is a good site called ScoreExchange. But it recognizes only Sibelius files. Finale has an upload site called Finale Showcase, but only for Finale family files. I do not know of a high-traffic upload site for music uploaded as pdf/mp3’s.

Campy

James Burnon Ross said:

Hello Quinn, Leon, and Steve. It's great to see activity here. That's encouraging.

I'm totally frustrated with dial-up.  It's disgusting!  And I have no idea how I live with it.  I just have no choice.  I can't get high-speed at my home.  Every option is out.  No cable, no satellite access due to the dense forest I live in.  No cell phone service here either!  I've looked into every option.  None of them will work here.

Like I say, I do have access to Wi-fi at the local library in town.  That's a 20 mile drive, but I have a notebook computer so I just take the computer over there on occasion to download things.

I'm using Melody Assistant by Myriad.   It works for me as a hobbyist and the price is right at about $25.  So I'm happy with it for now.   I'm also pleased with the sound I get from the mp3 files it generates.

I have quite a few instruments.  So I'm often composing with an instrument in hand.  I have some knowledge of music theory, but mostly I like to just pick up an instrument and try different things on it.  So a lot of my "compositions" really amount to writing down my improvisations.  One nice thing about that is that I can indeed be guaranteed that it will be playable on the instrument.  Not only will it be playable, but if I can play it then surely a professional musician who plays the instrument for a living should have no problems at all.

Campy, you said, "There are some great software-specific sites to upload your music to."

What exactly are you talking about there?  Uploading sheet music?  Or mp3 sound files?

I already have a personal web site where I can upload my mp3 files.   And for the sheet music I usually just save it as a PDF and post it that way.   But I guess it would be cool to be able to swap actual sheet music files with other people.  Melody Assistant saves the sheet music in a "*.myr" file.   I'm not sure if that's compatible with anything other than another Melody Assistant sheet music program.   I don't think Melody Assistant itself is compatible with other sheet music programs.   But it will save things in "*.mid" files which can be opened in other sheet music programs.   I'm not sure how well the original score would be preserved in that case though.