Try to Remember....

[Tom]

Very cool, Tony, sounds like you've got it going on. Yes, I use "abc notation" to make the sheet music on the computer, and save them in pdf files for printing. It's a little quirky, but over time I've gotten used to it, and have templates for the typesetting. It handles transposing, multiple staves, lyrics and chord symbols, everything I need, and I find I can use it faster and easier than working wysiwyg on a staff.

 

[StargazerTony]

Yes Tom, one of the nice things about the accordion, and really music in general, is that there many paths to the same place. None of them more valid than the other. I play mostly for my own enjoyment, however, it some unfortunate soul comes within earshot of my playing, well the phrase "strangling the cat" comes to mind. At my stage of life, I've caught that dreaded CRS disease, so I must rely upon sheet music. Try to remember is an apt title for this thread.

 

[Tom]

Ahhh, "can't remember sh*t disease"? But you still remember how to play, that's good. What I like about the accordion is that it is a "one man band" that you can play and entertain with without singing. I am an "improving singer" so it's good to play the accordion. Although I am by no means an expert, I have a core of songs I can play well enough to please the audience, and I try to add to it. I've played in a couple bands and enjoyed it, and would like to find one or two people to play accordion with as a unit. I (finally) took some singing lessons this year, and intend to re-start them when I retire. I have a wonderful teacher but my time is so limited.

 

[Keymn]

Good idea! Most of my songs are already in pdf because I make (sheet music) arrangements of just about everything I play. Because I generally dont find a single version I like, I combine elements of several that I find in books or online. The arranger you use seems very cool, and sounds good.

I do much the same thing, however I amalgamate them onto Musescore. That way when I find a segment that I like better, its easy to change. I then print them out and after practicing them until they become performance worthy, I encase them in plastic pages and store them alphabetically in a binder. The front of the binder contains an index with many sections to it. For example, I have The Second Waltz indexed in the Waltz, Russian, and Light Classical sections. Ive also made sections for medley arrangements. For example, Ive taken 4 or 5 of my favorite (or at least well received) French, Italian or 1940s tunes, and arranged them into one piece. If then, someone asks me to play a medley of French or whatever tunes, I have them already sorted.

Nothing wrong with storing them in a binder. If my iPad fails, I am screwed. I do have a binder backup in my van but needs to be updated. I also have the music stored on my laptop as backup.

 

[JerryPH]

Being in computers a good while now has taught me to try to never put all your eggs in one basket, especially when it concerns data or something important like sheet music or pictures. I have music that is from the 1920's in my collection and the yellowed and brittle pages are still useable, but scanning and placing the data in at least 2 locations that have a system with redundancy and regular backups is the way to go today. Nothing lasts forever, but all we can do is try to use protective measures.

 

[Tom]

Yeah, good advice guys. My friend has a lot of "old" sheet music books from the 50s era, give or take. These old accordion books probably never were super widely distributed and I can't even find them on amazon anymore. I've made lots of copies, which is a good thing, because last week he drove off to a gig with his music book on the top of his car. Speaking of crs. So yeah, multiple backups are the way to go.

 

[StargazerTony]

Much good advice here. I can, however, foresee a time where my music collection is going to get unwieldy. A 20 pound accordion, plus 20 pounds of binder(s) plus a music stand, water, and umbrella. This all adds up to a rather strange looking, heavy affair. I have been looking into some last generation 10/12 inch Android tablets. A 10 inch tablet is almost the size of sheet music and there are apps available to store, sort and display PDF files in any imaginable way. They even have Bluetooth foot switches so that one can change pages.

Backups are a must. I have all of my Musescore music backed up on a flash drive kept separately as well as PDF copies of most of my purchased scores.