Videos, videos and more videos!!!

Did you know that we have nearly two thousand music videos in the the Music & Media Center? That's 2,000! In other words, thousands and thousands of hours worth of viewing and certainly nothing to sneeze at. I can hear a few folks saying, so what? A lot what, I'd say. Here's a list of just a few things you can do with all these films at your fingertips:

• Compare different performances of the same opera. No two performers will sing a part the same way. What makes one better than the other? Or what effects from the two can you combine to make an even better performance?
• Attend master classes from the exceptional! Including (but not limited to!) Lotte Lehman, Leonard Bernstein, Glenn Gould, the Borodin Quartet, and the Canadian Brass.
• Learn killer technique with the likes of William Pleeth (cello), Dr. John (New Orleans jazz), Wynton Marsalis (jazz trumpet), or Hadley Castille (Cajun swamp fiddling).
• Study costume stage, and lighting design.
• Learn about your favorite musicians and bands, such as The Beatles, Buena Vista Social Club, Quincy Jones, Elvis, Django Reinhardt, Karajan, etc.

This are just a few things you can do. You'll probably think of a lot more!

Ravel & Beethoven Facsimile Scores!

This month gets two Resources of the Month: facsimile scores of Ravel's Fugue in F minor and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, op. 125. These aren't just any old score though. Take a look...



Ravel's Fugue in F minor was a student piece and until now it had remained safely stored away in the archives at Northwestern University Music Library. Through a fantastic combination of scholarship, musicianship, and ingenuity this piece was brought out of the archive, transcribed, performed, and published in a limited 500 edition run. In other words, even though this is published it's still not a piece that everyone can see - count yourself lucky!


So what is it, exactly, that we're so excited to make available to you? As i said already, this was a student piece written early in Ravel's career, before he lost the Prix de Rome and was, as a result, kicked out of the Paris Conservatory. This is such a student piece that the corrections and notes of Ravel's composition teacher stand out in colored pencil against Ravel's led pencil annotations. This publication includes a color facsimile (fancy speak for color photocopy) of the original score, a transcription of the work for four voices, the first and, to date, only recording of the work, and, last but not least, critical commentary and discussion of Ravel, the work, and the transcription process.

Needless to say, since this is a limited edition of a score published no where else, we want to be sure to keep it safe and accessible. The publication is located the rare score & book collection at the Music & Media Center. Bring the call number ML96.5 .R29 F8 2011 to a staff member in the Music & Media Center so we can pull it for you. Once you have it you can view the score at our long study table and listen to the recording on our top of the line listening equipment.

The second resource of the month is a facsimile score of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, op. 125. Just like the Ravel, this isn't just any score. Color images from Beethoven's original autograph score means you don't have to travel all the way to Berlin to study this amazing primary resource but can stay right here in good ol' New Orleans! Not only that, but you can see these high quality facsimile images, as if you're looking right at the real thing, and read critical commentary from three leading Beethoven scholars: Lewis Lockwood, Jonathan Del Mar, and Martina Rebmann. 40 pages worth of scholarly writing about the work translated into English, German, and Japanese! Just this writing alone is an excellent research paper resource. 

This one wasn't cheap though, and we want to keep it safe and available to research for a long time. To accomplish both of these goals this score, just like the Ravel, is housed in the rare books collection in the Music & Media Center. Give the call number ML96.5 .b44 op. 125 2010 to one of the folks working up there and we'll pull it out for you. We have a lovely study table, with electrical outlets, right next to the windows where you can settle in to take a look at the score. You can also use our listening station to listen to all 50 of our different recordings of Beethoven's Ninth while you peruse this amazing resource.

Play List!

Did you know you can create and save play lists in any streaming audio or video databases owned by Alexander Street Press (ASP)? This means you can create playlists of the music you want to hear be it classical, jazz, fado, gagaku, gospel or folk and listen to it whenever, where ever you want. Play lists are great for inspirational background music while you study and long waits in airports. If you're taking a music class you can create a playlist, share it with your friends, and quiz each other to help you prepare for exams. The possibilities are endless.

Here's how you do it....

Step 1: Access any one of our ASP databases by visiting the Music Research Guide and clicking on any of the databases under the Databases - Sound and Video Tab, or by searching for database names using the database search option on the library's homepage.

 Step 2: Once you're in the database of choice, sign in.

Step 3: Search for the music you want to listen to.When you hover the mouse of the piece you want to listen to, a blue circle with a plus appears on the right. Click the circle-plus to add it to a play list.You'll be asked whether you want to add it to an existing play list or a new one.

Step 4: Once you've named your play list and clicked save, you'll be redirected to a page displaying your new play list. From here it's just a matter of repeating steps 2 & 3 until you've completed your list!

Step 5: After you've completed your play list you have options to create a group so your friends can access the list, send the list to you mobile, or share a direct link.

Not only are these streaming audio/video databases a great resource, but they're great fun, too. Here's a complete list of Alexander Street Press databases that you can access via the library:

• American History in Video
• American Song
• Classical Music Library
• Contemporary World Music
• Dance in Video
• Ethnographic Video Online
• Jazz Music Library
• Opera in Video
• Smithsonian Global Sound
• Theatre in Video

Music Article Databases!

The field of musicology has formally existed for nearly 100 years, the practice of research and writing about music has existed for centuries! What does this mean for you? There's no such thing as "there's nothing written about my topic." Rather than being a matter of whether something has or hasn't been written, finding appropriate research material is really about knowing where to look for it.

Everything you need to find your research material is available to you through the library, where we provide access to nearly 700 databases. Of those 700, 24 databases are dedicated to musical subjects and provide access to online encyclopedias, scores, sound and video recordings, and scholarly articles and reviews. Since the research season is upon us, this month's resource of the month are the Music Article Databases.

The International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP) is a terrific resource for a wide variety of information needs. It indexes scholarly and popular music journals from 1874 to the present. Whether you need scholarly articles discussing the idea of gesture in Bach's cello suites or an interview with jazz educator David Baker, IIMP has it.

Music Index provides bibliographic citations of articles in 840 internationally published scholarly music journals. While the long-standing emphasis on European art music within the musicological field is mirrored in the content of the Music Index, the trend towards inclusivity and the recognition of popular music as a legitimate research area is also mapped by the content of citations in the Music Index.

The Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals (RIPM) indexes the articles published in roughly 120 journals published between 1800 and 1950. While the historical content of RIPM clearly means this is not a good source for articles about hip-hop, it does mean you have tremendous access to articles written by 19th century composers as well as the articles they were likely to have read and been influenced by.

Repertoire International de Litterature Musical (RILM) is my personal favorite and the most comprehensive database for musical materials available at any library. Don't be alarmed by it's French title, RILM has content in all languages and certainly enough content written in English to provide you with ample resources. RILM indexes not only articles, but books and dissertations as well.

Find these databases and 20 other music databases online on your Music Research Guide! For more help finding research materials and suggestions for advanced searching in the databases, schedule an appointment with your music library, Lisa, by sending her an email at lhooper1@tulane.edu.

Score Browsing Guide to the Rescue!

While the Music & Media Center can offer you more than 33,ooo CDs to listen to (along with over 13,000 DVDs to watch!), just a floor below are hundreds of music scores (a.k.a. sheet music) that you can check out of the library. If you know what piece you're looking for to read along with as you listen to a CD you just checked out of the Music & Media Center, then you can look up the call number by searching for the composer and title in the Catalog (don't forget to limit your search to music scores!).

Sometimes though you just need a score but you're not quite sure which piece you want to work on. Whether you're looking for an audition piece to get ready in 24 hours, orchestral excerpts to practice, or a piece to study and maybe prepare for your junior or senior recital, we have it! Finding it, however, can seem challenging. Not to worry though, your Music & Media Resource of the week, the Score Browsing Guide, will come to the rescue!

Each instrument has its own tab in the Score Browsing Guide where you'll find call number ranges specific to your instrument for different musical genres. For example, the guide for violinists will tell you that you can find solo pieces in the call number ranges M40-M44, concerti in the call number range M1013, and etudes at MT265. Pretty handy.

You can link to it via the Music Research Guide or access the Score Browsing Guide directly at http://libguides.tulane.edu/scorebrowsing.

New Orleans Independent Music CDs!

The Music & Media Center is home to thousands of CDs (34,205 as of June 22, to be exact!). New Orleans being the nexus of jazz, zydeco, and blues that it is, it goes without saying that our CD collection includes hundreds of recordings by local jazz musicians. You'll find Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Professor Longhair, Jacques Delany, Ellis Marsalis, Kermit Ruffins, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band... the list goes on.

New Orleans, though, is more than just jazz. It's punk, it's rock, it's classical, it's so wholly independent it's unclassifiable. The city is home to a wide variety of artists and even wider forms of musical expression, all created from the cultural, social, and political faces of the city and all contributing back to these faces. Recognizing the importance of these voices and musics to represent the New Orleans way, the Music & Media Center has been actively collecting the CDs of these behind the scenes groups.

Conduct a search for sound recordings on the phrase "New Orleans Independent Music" to find the 300+ CDs by indy New Orleans musicians waiting for you in the collection. My favorites of the moment include the Morning 40 Federation, The New Orleans Oneironauts, Silent Cinema, and Jim O. - what are your favorites?

Welcome!

Welcome to the Music & Media Resource of the Month blog! Each month your music & media librarian will review a music & media resource that you can learn from, have fun with, and use in your research. This blog isn't just yours truly posting; your comments, thoughts, ideas, stories, anecdotes, and experiences are bound to be far more interesting than just my reviews. Please share with us by posting a comment!

That's all for now but stayed tuned! There's more to come soon!