Seeking Ideas to Improve your Workflow and/or Writing?

Motivational writer James Clear offers some suggestions for improving your writing and how you go about it.  These are so sensible, we thought we'd share them as we prepare for a new academic session here in the Whittaker Library:-

7 Improvements I Have Made to My Writing and Work

• JamesClear.com homepage

We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, here to support the teaching and learning of our performing artists.

Guardian Culture Professionals Network Highlights Crisis for Composers

We noted this posting on the Guardian Culture Professionals Network earlier this week:-

The future of new music is at risk if we continue to undervalue composers

Posted by Susanna Eastburn on Guardian Culture Professionals Network, Monday 18 August 2014

The One Perfect Book

Lydia the Librarian seeks the One Perfect Book

The other day, we had a query asking if there was one book that all undergraduates have to read.  Gently, we explained that most undergraduates read rather more than just one ...!

New students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will nonetheless get reading-lists with required and suggested reading material. Some of it is hard-copy, "real books".  Other reading is online, and the Whittaker Library has e-books and e-journals aplenty.

You'll find links to your reading-lists on the RCS library Mahara pages.  These live links mean you can click on a book title and find out whether it's actually available in the Library right now.  (If not, do pop into the library to reserve it at the issue desk.)

As for the One Perfect Book, that holy grail of all students - well, we're still working on it!

We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, here to support the teaching and learning of our performing arts community.  

• Our Library Catalogue        http://capitadiscovery.co.uk/rcs/
• Our Library Website            http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/ 
• Our Electronic Resources http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/databases/
• Our E-Journals                   http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/e-journals/ 

Do You Know the Score? We do, when it comes to Free Sheetmusic!

Free scores online

• You may already know about the Petrucci Music Library, otherwise known as IMSLP.  Watch out for copyright issues (different countries have different laws) but apart from that, it's a brilliant resource. http://imslp.org/wiki/Main_Page 
• The Internet Archive is another useful place.  Not very visually attractive, but it's the content that counts.  Very handy for historic material.   https://archive.org/

And now, free to our registered staff and students ...

What we really want our performers to know about, are the new offerings from Alexander Street Press:- 

We subscribe to Alexander Street Press Classical Scores Library Collections 1 and 2.  That means our staff and students can download anything they find there.  There's classical music for everyone, whatever they sing or play.  Do take a look.  (If you're off-campus, you'll need to login.)

• Classical Scores Library Advanced Search (one search searches all)
• Classical Scores Library Homepage
•  Classical Scores Library 2 Homepage

.Last but not least, we also subscribe to LibraryMusicSource.com - not an Alexandra Street Press resource - which you can access on Conservatoire premises. Like the Petrucci Music Library, it's better for older music, but it's still a useful place to look for core repertoire.

We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - here to help our performing arts community with their information needs! 

Networking Librarian: Connecting Performers with Reviews!

Edinburgh Festival and More  

Networking Librarian

Rob Adams Journalist

We thought our trad and jazz performers might be interested to visit this website by music journalist Rob Adams.  He has attended a lot of events in Edinburgh recently, so you will spot names that you know.

New Opera Titles Added to Digital Theatre Plus

Three more titles have been added to the Royal Opera House Collection:
Hansel and Gretel
Eugene Onegin
Dido and Aeneas

Staff and students of the RCS should ask at the library for username and password to log into Digital Theatre Plus

It Means "The Worlds" To Us (The World Pipe Band Championships)

The Worlds homepage 

Just now, if someone mentions "The Worlds", they aren't talking about the universe, the cosmic galaxy or anything of that nature.  "The Worlds" are a pipe band championship that takes place in Glasgow.  So this is why there was a pipe and drum band in the Thistle Hotel Car-Park late yesterday afternoon ...

The Whittaker Library does have a more than a few CDs of pipe bands, for our staff and students to enjoy when the championships are over ... CLICK HERE.

We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, here to assist with the information requirements of our performing arts community. 

The Orchestral or Choral Librarian's Best Friend

 ENCORE

 

Screenshot of Encore homepage. See link below.

http://www.iaml.info/iaml-uk-irl/projects/encore.html

If we need to borrow a set of orchestral or choral music, or if societies ask us to recommend a cheaper way than a commercial hire, then a good place to look is Encore.  

Encore is a union catalogue of choral and orchestral sets in libraries.  The precise loan arrangements can vary - some libraries will lend directly to choirs and orchestras for a fee, generally much less than a commercial hire.  Others require the arrangements to be made between libraries, on behalf of their patrons.

Not all libraries do lend to one another, but if you find a piece of music on Encore, then it is generally available to be borrowed so long as it's not already in use at the time you want it.

It's good for standard repertoire.  Obviously if something is only available through the publisher's hire library, then you won't find it cheap on Encore!

Sometimes You Need Information Immediately

... And our new Whittaker Library website helps you do just that.  There are various pages depending on what you're looking for - our opening hours, our electronic databases, electronic journals, and more.

Of course, our contact details are also there, so don't hesitate to get in touch if you need more info about anything.

http://www.rcs.ac.uk/about_us/libraryandit/

Information Knows No Boundaries
 
Besides all the digital, online media, we have still got tons of sheet music, recorded music and DVDs, books and plays, and the staff here will always help you find your way around the catalogue.

We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, here to help our performing arts community access the info they need for their teaching and learning.  

How to Get Free Sheet Music

We subscribe to Alexander Street Press Classical Scores Library Collections 1 and 2.  That means our staff and students can download anything they find there.  There's classical music for everyone, whatever they sing or play.  Do take a look.  (If you're accessing these links from off-campus, you'll need to login.)

• Classical Scores Library Advanced Search (one search searches all)

• Classical Scores Library Homepage
•  Classical Scores Library 2 Homepage

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We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - here to help our performing arts community with their information needs! 

Singers! Instantly track down that Aria - The Aria Database

The Aria Database

Singers will feel right at home here!  Who wrote that aria? What opera is it in? Who wrote the libretto?  Are there recordings?  The Aria Database is a free resource to help you.

Staff and students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will probably be very familiar with IPA Source, which gives you transliterations, phonetic pronunciations and so on.  It's fabulous, but our subscription is only available on campus.  Therefore, The Aria Database might be a useful fallback for those away-days when you need aria information in a hurry.

Save IPA Source (International Phonetic Alphabet) and The Aria Database to your favourites, and you've got arias just about covered!

 

Composer Peter Sculthorpe - Obituary on IAML website

Jennifer Ward, of the International Association of Music Libraries Web Team, has posted a modest tribute to Peter Sculthorpe on the IAML website right now.  

 Jennifer linked to Michael's reference to the newsletter as well as a radio interview, an online exhibit from the National Library of Australia, and his composer page at the Australian Music Centre.

 --------

Whittaker Library patrons wishing to peruse some of Sculthorpe's compositions will find a listing in our catalogue, HERE.

Because You Love Piano Music ...

We subscribe to Alexander Street Press Classical Scores Library Collections 1 and 2.  That means our staff and students can download anything they find there.

We did an Advanced Search for Piano Sonatas - and look what we found! (If you're accessing these links from off-campus, you'll need to login.)

But it's not just piano music - there's classical music for everyone, whatever they sing or play.  Do take a look. 

• Classical Scores Library Advanced Search (one search searches all)

• Classical Scores Library Homepage
•  Classical Scores Library 2 Homepage

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We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland - here to help our performing arts community with their information needs! 

Awesome! Free Lieder Scores for RCS Staff and Students!

We subscribe to Alexander Street Press Classical Scores Library Collections 1 and 2.  That means you can download anything you find there.

We did an Advanced Search for Lieder.  Just that one word - and look what we found!

But it's not just vocal music - there's classical music for everyone, whatever they sing or play.  Do take a look.  (If you're accessing these links from off-campus, you'll need to login.)

• Classical Scores Library Advanced Search (one search searches all)

• Classical Scores Library Homepage
•  Classical Scores Library 2 Homepage

Let Glasgow Flourish - Composer John Maxwell Geddes

Let Glasgow Flourish 

(by the Preaching of His Word and the Praising of His Name)*

Considering we've just hosted the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, it's nice to catalogue a brass ensemble piece entitled, "Let Glasgow Flourish" - the opening words of the city motto.

John Maxwell Geddes is a local composer, and a former lecturer of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly RSAMD)

Coming up soon - John Maxwell Geddes, 'Let Glasgow Flourish' for brass and percussion.

* Glasgow City website - our mottos

Are you a Fan of the Pipes? Piping Live is on this week

Piping Live Festival this Week

Since our nearest neighbours are currently in the throes of Piping Live, we offer you an insight into the bagpipe music that we have in the Whittaker Library.

Search for Bagpipe or Bagpipes and you find THESE ...

Caution: don't play them too loud - you might annoy the neighbours!

Awesome! How Teens Learned to Dance

Times Digital Archive Available to Scottish Performing Arts Students

 We've just subscribed to a great new e-resource - the whole Times newspaper archive from 1785-2008.  What's it useful for?  It's only limited by your imagination!

For example, you could read a book review to see if a book's worth reading!  We don't have "Renaissance Theatre Costume" in stock, but we could always try to obtain it ...
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You could find historical info, like the story of the Scottish National Theatre.  Or read concert reviews - maybe trace the first performance of a piece. Or find out how your ancestors learned social dancing.  In 1801, your mum might've contacted these guys via the small ads!

 .

We are the Whittaker Library at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  Here to help our performing artists source information for their teaching and learning needs.

Can't Get Enough Music? Alexander Street Press Uploads Even More!

We subscribe to Alexander Street Press's Premium streaming service, so our staff and students can stream a wide range of music, videos, and download classical scores too.  Today we got news that loads more recordings have just been uploaded - fantastic!

"We have released 252 titles (3,843 tracks) in Classical Music Library from a wide variety of labels including Nimbus, Haenssler Classic, Telarc, and Chandos. This content is available worldwide! New titles include:

• Piano Music of John Adams and Terry Riley

• The Ruffatti Organ in Davies Symphony Hall

•  La Marseillaise and Other Berlioz Favorites

•  Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben - Four Last Songs

•  Ilya Murometz: Gliere - Symphony No. 3, Op. 42

• The Ill-Conceived P.D.Q. Bach Anthology"

Some more figures to astonish and amaze you:- Music Online (Rest Of World minus Japan) now has ... 6,900,000 tracks (AVERAGE); 1,964 hours of video; 45,632 scores (1,014,480 pages); and 124,091 pages of text reference. And that's quite a lot!

Cool Capers for Clarinetists (and Clarinettists)

We encountered Heather Roche on Twitter today.  Her blog offers a whole wealth of tricky clarinet techniques - awesome.  Take a look for yourself:-

• HeatherRoche.net

Musical Limericks for One and All

Do you remember the series of musical limericks we posted here a couple of years ago?  Blogging about clarinet techniques suddenly reminded us that there are loads of them - woodwind, brass, strings, singers - no-one escaped.

CLICK HERE - just as a diversion!  

New Limerick - The Music Librarian

(IAML made us do it! )

There once was a music librarian

Whose image was never a scary 'un. 

But on a bad day, if the weather was gray, 

She was frizzy and stare-ey and glare-y then.