Indian Territory Dulcimer Celebration E-Newsletter
"Tableture, getting the tunes down..."
August 2004 Volume 24, Number 8Sections:
| This Month | From the Prez | Tab writing software |
| Last Month | FunFest |
Question: How many country & western singers does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: Two. One to change the bulb and one to write a song about the old one!
This Month
Meeting: Saturday August 21, 2004 5:30 PM.
With this indian winter going in full force.. anybody brushed up on their winter set? If it keeps up like this we will be sitting around practicing our dulcimers during a long winters hibernation!
From the Prez....
Golly gee whiz, it seems like Dana and I get to have all the fun! He went to Michigan and I went to Ohio since we've seen each other last. I know darn good and well he had fun at Evart – our family had been to that huge festival several times back in the 80s, and it was an awesome experience. As for my trip, I was up in Ohio for the first ever Cincinnati Dulcimer Celebration. We had a really fine group of instructors and performers on hand, and they put on some excellent new ?technique? workshops. Not quite a financial success yet, and we didn't expect it to be one this first year, but it was definitely successful by any other definition. All our evaluation/critique sheets came back in a very positive tone, and we didn't have one negative comment. It was fun, for sure, and we got to meet lots of new dulci-folks as well!
Our August meeting (coming up on the 21st) will be the last one we'll have before Winfield. You might want to check out the Winfield Warmup Picnic and Festival on September 11th. It's always a fun place to be, and is put on by the Wichita dulcimer group, Great Plains Dulcimer Alliance. Then, the following week is the big show at the fairgrounds in Winfield, on the 16th through the 19th. After that, don't forget to run down to Bennington OK on the first weekend in October for the wonderful event called Sawdust Festival, put on by Russell Cook and a cast of famous dulcimer people from all over the country.
Let's see, later in October is a festival in Hillsboro MO (southwest of St. Louis), and they will have some biggie dulcimer stars up there also. In November, there will be the second edition of the Deep Fork Festival down in Chandler. Ill look up the dates on these two and try to have more info for you at the meeting on the 21st. Hey, going to different festivals and gatherings is lots of fun. Try to attend as many as you can, okay?
This may be a news flash, and a wee bit premature, but rumor has it that the Summerfest MO festival will be back next year in Carthage. Let's all hope it works out!
Dennis.
FunFest
As Dennis said, FunFest was just that. It is a long drive to Michigan though and I had to miss the club meeting. In spite of the downside, I did enjoy the trip. The event is a hammered dulcimer players heaven. Also this festival is big on folk harps. This festival has several distinguishing characteristics:
Nobody gets paid to perform!
Nobody gets paid to give workshops!
The admission is truly minimal, to cover real overhead expenses.
There is no division between the campgrounds and the festival area itself. It is just blended, more the way I think a festival outta be, but this is the first time I have seen it so well done. Even the Woodyfest is not this blended, it even costs more to attend than FunFest, even though it bills itself as "free".
Tons of jamming everywhere. It reminds me of Winfield back 20 years ago, that is another story though... FunFest was a hoot. A friend of mine Paul Goelz took a lot of FunFest pictures and posted them to his website, so I have included a link so you can go look for yourself.
Dulcimer Tab writing software
This is a marvelous age to live in, most things that in my childhood were complex and difficult are now handled by computers. Writing out music as tableture, or as sheet music is clearly one of these.
The general group of computer programs to write out music is called formally "notation software". Like a word processor, just for music. Most of them have no facility to handle tableture, much less the special needs of dulcimer tunes.
Getting a tab player from the web allows you to learn tunes much easier than learning them from written tab. This happens because you can slow down the tune while you are learning it, and have the computer play it for you. Play along with it, and follow the tab. Picking up tunes has never been this easy.
But that is just using tab software to play existing tunes. Now comes going the other way, writing your own tabs.
Why write tab?
Tab is easier to use for any given instrument, because it is a direct notation of the techniques used to reproduce the tune. Standard music notation is more portable, but much more difficult to interpret on any given instrument.
Writing it down can help jog your memory... spare yourself one of those "how does that go?" moments! Just a simple melody line on paper is usually enough to trigger my memory of an entire tune. For some reason, if I can get the first two or three notes of a tune out, the rest of it pretty much follows by itself. Yet I cannot remember the first few notes of anything, especially when I am on the spot to play something. Tab to the rescue!
How is it done?
Each program is different, but all of them share some method of placing notes on a staff with a mouse. Dragging and dropping the notes and rests where they belong.
There is also some method of entering notes from the typing keyboard, as well as from a MIDI keyboard. Either using the keyboard or mouse it goes quickly after a few minutes. Initially it seems a steep learning curve, but that really does go away. To the best of my knowledge
Personally I use a fairly sophisticated system (and expensive) that allows me to play a tune at full speed and the computer captures the notes while I play. Then I can edit the tune to put in the notes I missed, or remove ones I shouldn't have played. This method could be used with a dulcimer I have not tried that option myself. If you want to know more, ask me at the meeting.
Contribute your dulcimer tunes to the dulcimer world.
Every once in a while a catchy tune comes along, seemingly out of the air. Tab it ouf! Save it. As the months go by, if it is really good other people will want to try it. But first you have to "develop the tune".
I develop quite a few tunes, and find writing tunes on paper has helped me convert a good melody into a good tune. The way it helps is by giving me a different view of the tune. I can see its structure, then look for subtle themes in the rythem or melody pattern that can be developed to make the tune more catchy.
Copyrights?
Nobody wants people to steal their personal property, so we should be mindful of who owns a tune before we tab it out. Even if it is comming from memory, it can still be someone elses property. A little forethought can save some real pain. Also be aware that just because the source you got a tune from says "public domain", or some such disclaimer, that doesnt mean it really is.
Im sure you wouldn't even dream of stealing the software needed to write music, as stealing software directly or indirectly is stealing from me personally. Nothing more to say, beyond that I have a well earned hot button here.
Likewise, if the tune is original, you may well wish to protect your rights. Tab writing programs can produce sheet music which can be submitted for copyright. This is the method I use personally.
To research the copyright, you can first find out the date it was written. A direct quote from pdinfo.com, "Music and lyrics written by an American author and published in 1922 or earlier are in the Public Domain in the United States.".
Also check with:
Sources
Music notation programs that specifically handle tableture:
Table Edit, the most popular tab program.
Music Edit, the next most popular tab program. With special mountain dulcimer features.
Music notation programs that may handle tableture, and definitely handle sheet music notation:
Finale, the most common (but expensive) program for writing sheet music.
Mozart, a less well known but interesting option.
Digital Performer, the one I use personally. Mac only though, it is one of the reasons I still keep an old mac around.
Freestyle, the cross platform upgrade from Digital Performer.
Hope that helps! If you write some tab, just be sure to send it off to your friendly local dulcimer club newsletter editor! I guarantee you will be appreciated and published!
Dana
Last Month
I wasn't there, so I have no photos to post, so I borrowed some from Paul Goelz website of FunFest. Maybe Next month I will have pictures from our meeting.
till next month-
Dana