Got my Proofs!

Alfred is really running ahead of schedule!  I got my proofs for Sneaking Suspicion about two weeks ago and Storm Trail and Star of Valor yesterday.  Usually, they don't arrive until mid-October.

Bob Phillips, my String Editor did a really great job with them.  He made excellent suggestions about articulation, bowings, and caught a few note errors on the scores I had submitted.  Other things arose that I think were good suggestions.  For example, I tend to favor tied notation and Bob recommended using dotted notes instead.  He also found places for courtesy accidentals, bow lifts, and reminders in the violin and viola parts to use 4th fingers.  All good suggestions which should make the music more playable.

My corrections to the proofs were minimal and I can't wait to see the finished product!

Got My Contracts

We've reached the next step in the publication process - after writing the music, sending it in, getting it accepted for publication, Alfred sends me a contract addendum.  The original contract (which I got over 10 years ago) outlines my rights as composer and details how I will be compensated for my work.  Each year I receive an addendum to that contract, which adds the new selections to the list, thus allowing me to receive compensation. 

Up next in the process: proofs!

Agincourt Video

After updating my website recently, I came across a YouTube video that I didn't get to include. It's a really good performance of Agincourt. Check it out:


They do a nice job! Good work!

In other news, I got my upgrade of Finale in the mail yesterday! I've been using Finale 2007b and upgraded to Finale 2010 (I've mentioned it before, but Finale is the computer program I use to write music). The improvements over three years are negligible and mostly cosmetic, but the longer I wait, the more expensive the upgrade gets. Now I just have to find a way to get it on my computer. Hopefully, I'll have it installed this weekend.

Bollywood

I've been continuing my ongoing effort to write unique music for students and expose them to styles and forms that that have been unexplored in the string orchestra canon. So I got out my atlas and looked around. There are plenty of arrangements of North American folk tunes out there as well as Latin dances. The musical styles of every European nation have been represented and Chinese and Japanese tunes have been done. There are still lots of options, but the one major culture that hasn't been represented is India.

This is probably due to the fact that Indian raga music doesn't translate easily to a Western format. It's percussive, improvisational, through-composed, and the sounds are distinctive and hard to approximate with Western instruments. India doesn't have "folk songs" in quite the same way that we do. It's a challenge, but I've found that the way around it is to meet Indian music half way - not to imitate traditional Indian music, but to write a Bollywood-style piece.

Bollywood (the Indian film industry, which puts out mostly musicals) has a style all its own, using distinctly Indian elements in a Western format. The melodies usually use the "asian" scale and are highly melismatic, but stay in strict rhythm and take the verse-chorus-verse-chorus forms of Western pop songs. They tend to use tabla drums and sitars, but often incorporate keyboard, guitars, and techno beats. They are a form of popular music, after all.

So, after a lot of research on YouTube and several weeks of false starts and experimentation, I've come up with an Indian-sounding piece that's approachable for advanced orchestras. I should be able to finish it early next week.

Royalty Statement 2009 (Part 2)

The listings for foreign sales are shrouded in mystery. Though I've heard of a few performances in Austrailia, have found an online German sheet music vendor that sells my music, and got word of a performance in Canada, I'm not exactly sure who it is outside the U.S. that's buying my music. I would hope that it would sell in Japan, home of the Suzuki Method, and in Europe. From what I understand, other countries don't have school music programs analagous to ours and wouldn't need school-level string orchestra music. Here are my top-selling sets of scores and parts in foreign markets:

1. Agincourt & Mambo Incognito (tie)
3. Hot Potato
4. Gargoyles
5. Violet's Tango

As you can see, there's a marked difference from the top five sellers in the U.S. I should note, though, that foreign sales make up a tiny fraction of a percentage of my total sales. Also, the printout that I received shows that several of these pieces sold at different rates - probably in euros, Canadian and Austrialian dollars, and yen.

Last year I got a sheet showing sales of digital downloads from alfred-music.com. This year, there's no record of sales of MP3 files - maybe bacuase they're so few that it will be rolled into next year's statement.

Finally, I did get a notice about liscensing. When orchestras record their concerts, they're supposed to get permission from the publisher and pay a small licensing fee. A few honest souls actually did that this year and I thank them. Liscensing also includes a few listings from "Make Music," a program where directors can access notes from the composer with tips on how to rehearse and perform their music more effectively. I wrote a few of these two years ago and think that I might want to do some more in the future.