Classic Banjo Database

[Adam]

Hello All:

I've started work on a personal project to create a database of classic banjo songs. As others in this group might find such a thing useful, I thought I'd post a link to it:

http://tsomov.com/classicbanjo/

The database is in early stages at the moment (roughly 20 songs) so now is also the time for me to request suggestions / feedback from the community:

Is there a songbook/tutorial folks would most like to see in the database?

What other information would people like to see on the songs? Year written/published? Key or tuning?

Feel free to submit ideas and I'll try to work on the most popular first.

The source material for this database will, of course, rely heavily on material available at other sites (Banjo Clubhouse, Classic Banjo, and this site). I'd like first to say thanks to them (thanks!) and also make sure I haven't stepped on any toes by doing this ... If I've offended anyone associated with the banjo sites mentioned by undertaking this project, my sincere apologies ...

Finally, if any of the banjo sites mentioned would eventually like to host this database, I'd be happy to make a copy available ... I don't know if it will ever by "complete" but hopefully it can become a useful resource for people. Feel free to contact me via my profile.

I'm open to questions and suggestions, so please feel free to ask.
All the best,
Adam

[Jody Stecher]

A good resource is "The Banjo On Record/ A Bio-Discography " by Uli Heier and Rainer E. Lotz. Now it seems to be out of print and goes for dozens or hundreds of dollars depending on the whim of the seller. It has a wider scope than classic banjo but a lot of early recordings are listed there and although it is not complete or entirely without error it's still very good. Unlike a web-based data base which can be updated to accord with changing conditions the book only says what was recorded, not where the discs and cylinders or re-issues of them can be now found.

[Trapdoor2]

I don't see why we couldn't migrate the Yahoo file here. Joan posted it there...and is a member here also. It is just a listing of tunes/writer/arranger and parts available. Basically, it is what you can order from the ABF. I'll upload it here.

No, Ian, I don't think I'll ever get thru them all. ;-) But, both Hal and I have worked with some music recognition softwares that 'read' sheet music and out put MIDI files. It works pretty good...sometimes. So far, you need a very clean copy/scan of the music. Once it is in MIDI format, the TAB program imports pretty cleanly and outputs TAB. A bit of cleanup and voila! I suspect in a few years it will do a much better job.

===Marc

[marc dalmasso]

thereallyniceman said:

Trapdoor2 said:

I also think linking to available recordings, youtube, etc. would be a great thing...but another magnitude of 'ambition', I think. ;-)

And if we ask nicely I am sure Marc will enter them all into TablEdit to produce midi versions for us. It shouldn't take much time.......... and you know how much we all love them!!
:)

Ian

Yes , we all love them ..
I have the chance to have my father ; he is 78 years old but he has one particularity ; when you give him any sheet music he never saw before ,he can play it on the piano directly like he had been playing this all his life long ; and i can hear the song ; he is quite a midi_file player ; Is this allowed , Rob ?

[Jody Stecher]

Trapdoor2 said:

I don't see why we couldn't migrate the Yahoo file here. Joan posted it there...and is a member here also. It is just a listing of tunes/writer/arranger and parts available. Basically, it is what you can order from the ABF. I'll upload it here.


thanks for this, Marc. This is a more extensive listing than any printed list I've received from ABF And very useful arranged by composer. All the categories are self-evident except the last on the far right. Format? Some are 1. Others are x and some are m. I can't begin to guess what this means. Can you shine some light on this mystery? Thanks!

[Trapdoor2]

Jody,

As it is the column called "format", I assume those are not "1" (number) but "l" (letter "L" = large). So, decoded they would be l = Large format, m = medium and x = unknown or "odd"...most of the manuscript appears to be "x", but some is not. That's just my best guess!

BTW, there is something like 50 entries per page, over 66 pages. That equals 3,300 entries. Wouldn't it be nice to have all that available for simple (free...or even fee) download? I can't remember how much the ABF charges for copies, something like a couple bucks per as I recall...and the copies I've gotten are pitifully xeroxed nth gen copies, almost unreadable.

[Jody Stecher]

Ah, Large Medium and Xmall. Got it. ABF charges one dollar for five pages. That includes postage. They are not making money on the deal! I've received a few substandard copies, mostly very clear. Much of it was handwritten in the first generation and some of it whether manuscript or typeset has had layer upon layer of handwritten annotation as to fingering of both hands and some of it crossed out and replaced. It's not easy reading by I enjoy this. Living History all on one page.

All the same a digital downloadable option would be great. Especially with big dots.

Dot's all for now,
Jody

[Adam]

The Banjoist's Budget - DONE. (I know, I know, it's only one songbook ... but it's a start :)

Banjoist's Budget

Trapdoor - thanks for the pdf of the ABF spreadsheet.

Jody - Big dots. I'll do my best ... :)