Do you buy sheet scores?

[nikolasideris]

Hi all,

Completely new here, I'm trying to spot your habbits about music scores. I'm a composer (www.nikolas-sideris.com) and I  once used to be a pianist. Suffice to say piano is my favorite instrument and I love composing for that.

(For the record I did another thread like this in PW forums...)

I grew up as a piano student and I would buy as many scores as possible. Then, while working on my PhD in composition, I stopped buying scores, since I had access in the universities library. And now there are public domain sites with PDF scores, which suite me fine, along with my rather big library of printed books.

But I have to admit that I have a soft spot for fine printed scores! And I was wondering if other people have the same love for printed material as I do. Sure it might be a bit more expensive, more inconvinient to get than a simple e-mail, but it still is worth the trouble for me.

Up to now I never considered approaching the public in a straight forward way. I found commissions, clients from other industries and worked as a composer. But I recently have gotten a great passion for piano music again and I'd like to research on my options for the scores.

So questions (apart from the poll).

1. Do you buy scores? Or get them for free from somewhere. Considering that the great composers of the past are now accessible for free.
2. If you do buy scores, do you go only for the composers you know and trust, or you would buy works of an unknown composer, assuming you knew something about him, or his works?
3. You would like to get printed scores in a music store, or a personal website with payment via amazon/paypal/something secure would be enough and you would wait for the score to arrive.

You see, having a PhD in composition and a piano diploma means that I can handle a 95% of the score preparation. I do need proof reading and further preparing, but I don't exactly think I need a publishing company to do it for me. I have access to pro printers and binders (not comb binding, Normal book binding as you would buy) as well as graphic designers who are all willing to help in this.

What I doubt I can do in a global scale is get my scores on music stores. I could reach London and Athens, since I've lived in these towns and I could just approach the major music stores, finding a deal, but other than that I wouldn't know what to do.

So, if we assume that my scores are printer friendly and professionally notated (which could be under discussion, but not right now), I would have a major trouble getting these scores to music stores and to have distribution network! I could however distribute to the buyers straight away myself.

And to complete this post, here's some mp3 files of my piano (mainly) music to give you an idea and make this thread a little more... enjoyful:
www.nikolas-sideris.com/stuff/CUDE.mp3
www.nikolas-sideris.com/stuff/unique.mp3
www.nikolas-sideris.com/stuff/seawatching.mp3
www.nikolas-sideris.com/AGS/Chocolate.mp3
www.nikolas-sideris.com/AGS/perniciosus.mp3 (piano by Krystian Benetzanou, a great pianist!)
(some are not solo piano, but they feature piano extensively).

Thanks for reading.

[thalbergmad]

I tend to trawl through bookshops to find old and unusual scores, but most of my expenditure is on getting copies from libraries.

I never use internet sites like sheetmusic plus anymore, as i have found that they are not always able to actually get what they advertise and it takes them up to 3 months to tell you. I have used Di-Arezzo on a few occasions.

Originals are preferable to me. Downloads seem to be impersonal.

Thal

[gyzzzmo]

Most books in my library are second-hand, bought from bookshops or sometimes the internet. I only buy new music from a store if its rare and i'm gonna use it alot. Other sheets i just copy from the library.

[pies]

Normally I print out sheet music, but if it's something modern and so obscure that I can't even get it through an inter-library loan, I'll try to get a physical copy if I'm really interested.  Usually I get stuff directly from the composer; often they'll send you what you want for very cheap or even free.

[communist]

I think you should buy sheet music whenever possible to help the publishing company. I only use printed copies when I can't find a publisher or I am waiting for it to arrive (I buy it via internet)

[nikolasideris]

Sorry for asking but isn't it illegal to photocopy scores from a library? Unless we are talking about old scores, in which case the copyrights and publishing rights have expired?

[pianowolfi]

Sorry for asking but isn't it illegal to photocopy scores from a library? Unless we are talking about old scores, in which case the copyrights and publishing rights have expired?

Nowadays many things are done "illegally". Everything is changing. I prefer to have hard copies, legally purchased. I use the Internet to get an overview or first impression. But there's nothing like a carefully and scientifically edited Urtext.

But what do you expect from a generation with an attention span of 2 bars....

[weissenberg2]

I wonder what it was like being a pianist before you could go on the internet and download whatever you wanted 

[gyzzzmo]

I wonder what it was like being a pianist before you could go on the internet and download whatever you wanted 

Not THAT easy to get proper sheetmusic by downloading. Also for piano its relativly easy,  but for other instruments the library is your best bet (as it is for piano too really)

[thalbergmad]

I wonder what it was like being a pianist before you could go on the internet and download whatever you wanted 

Well, in the good old days we used to visit a place called a shop. For those that had one, we even used something called a telephone to ring ahead and see if something was available.

All of this downloading is not half as much fun as searching through piles of old books.

Thal

[nikolasideris]

In the old days there always was someone who had the score I wanted. *ahem* (just because the discussion seems to be going that way).

But I still love going to the music shop. Went there on Friday to pick up the two voice inventio(n) of Bach and found an urtext edition which was fabulous, since it gave me the opportunity to explain things to my students, analyse things, etc, etc... (plus music history about bach, baroque, the instruments back then, etc).

[thalbergmad]

But I still love going to the music shop.

So do I, but i became too heavy for the wooden steps at Foyles.

Thal

[Bob]

Print.  I haven't purchased much music in a long time though. 

Although I kind of hate it when I buy music and it makes me think I could have printed it out and put that together.

Pre-internet, I just called a decent music business and they mailed stuff out.

[ramseytheii]

So questions (apart from the poll).

1. Do you buy scores? Or get them for free from somewhere. Considering that the great composers of the past are now accessible for free.
2. If you do buy scores, do you go only for the composers you know and trust, or you would buy works of an unknown composer, assuming you knew something about him, or his works?
3. You would like to get printed scores in a music store, or a personal website with payment via amazon/paypal/something secure would be enough and you would wait for the score to arrive.

Thanks for the informative and interesting post.

I personally would rather have a published version of something, than a flimsy download that I printed out and bound in spiral.  I think publishers though have to face the fact, that for a lot of people, they don't care if something they printed out themselves is ugly looking - it's more practical for people.  Why should they, after all, buy a Beethoven sonata edition, when they can print them all out for free?  

Of course, I love published versions of pieces which can have informative information in a Forward, or markings of another artist.  I personally love different Editions of Chopin, Beethoven, Bach, etc., just to see what other musicians were thinking.

Urtext is supposed to be error free, and as close to the "ur" as possible, and though we know that everything Henle puts out cannot possibly be urtext, we must admit that they do put out clean editions that repair damage done by over-edited versions.  I am not a Henle partisan but we must give credit where credit is due.  For every pianist that published their own version of someone else's music, the need increases for a version which is as unadulterated as possible.  (Let's not turn this into a bash-Henle thread, I know all the issues already).

1.  Typically with scores I like to see them first before I buy.  I freely admit that I downloaded Book I of Ligeti etudes, something which is illegal, because I wanted to see the score, and no store where I lived stocked them.  After I saw it, I decided it would be worth my while to have it, so I bought it, and paid the full price ($30 US).  I might not have had to do that, if there was an adequate music store nearby.  But I would still rather have the actual book.

2. I have bought scores of unknown composers, but only after I have opened them and read through them a bit.  The downside to buying sheet music online is they just don't let you see anything, which is ridiculous, because in a real store you can look at whatever page you want.  I might buy novels just for the cover, but I would never do that for music.

3. If I want the music, I don't care what source I have to buy it from.

Another point: public domain scores can be edited by a third party.  This is particularly true for the website CPDL.org (Choral Public Domain Library).  People get their grubby hands on public domain music, and edit it viciously, and don't always indicate that it has been changed.  This is a site very widely used by churches, and it could potentially bastardize people's familiarity with lots of classic scores.

You should definitely make recordings of your music available, and let people peruse the pages of your scores before they purchase.  Or give away smaller pieces for free, to let them know about who you are before they buy something larger.  Or write something larger, than write "Etudes on....." or "Suite from..." if you have some interesting conceit, or interesting theme.

Walter Ramsey

[kay3087]

1. Do you buy scores? Or get them for free from somewhere. Considering that the great composers of the past are now accessible for free.

Shorter pieces I download, print out, memorize, and throw away (or store away for later). Longer works, such as a Brahms sonata, I prefer to have in a nice book.

2. If you do buy scores, do you go only for the composers you know and trust, or you would buy works of an unknown composer, assuming you knew something about him, or his works?

I've bought scores before from composers that I wasn't familiar with.

3. You would like to get printed scores in a music store, or a personal website with payment via amazon/paypal/something secure would be enough and you would wait for the score to arrive.

I've purchased all of the scores I have online.

[hannanos]

I only print free sheet music because we don't have a credit card. Anyway, who needs to buy them when you can print them for free???

[nikolasideris]

I only print free sheet music because we don't have a credit card. Anyway, who needs to buy them when you can print them for free???

Well... it really depends on what you can find for free. I would be rather upset that you would be able to find free sheet music from scores that I'd like to sell. :-/ I do realise you don't really mean that, but free stuff (legally) are part of Public Domain, which means that anything after the 30s or so is not available, not to mention something composed in 2009-2010 period!

Even without a credit card, wouldn't you be able to have a paypal acount? (just wondering here... hope you don't mind the more 'personal' question).

[gyzzzmo]

I only print free sheet music because we don't have a credit card. Anyway, who needs to buy them when you can print them for free???

Good sheetmusic is hard to find for free on the internet, and good sheetsmusic saves you alot of time.

[lostinidlewonder]

I will ALWAYS buy scores of pieces that I study. Having offical books looks nice on my shelf

I will ALWAYS print part of the score of music that I need to test out to see if I want to learn. I will often print off obscure composers so I can experience their what they are about instead of paying big fees for a book only to realize that I will never learn it. More often than not the printed sheets are simply filed away never to be looked at again, I burn a lot to start the fire in my fireplace in winters

I have to admit printing sheet music of single pieces from a larger volume of works. Sometimes I just don't see the point of spending some $100 with 50 pieces, only to need 1 out of the 50 (something I did a lot of before the internet and which always made me !$#*@#).

[thalbergmad]

Looking at the prices of ink cartridges, it is probably cheaper to buy.

Thal

[lostinidlewonder]

Yeah, thats why I use a lot of refils First few attempts where so messy.

[gyzzzmo]

Looking at the prices of ink cartridges, it is probably cheaper to buy.

Thal

Looking at the prices of ink cartridges, its probably not smart buying cartridges but filling them instead

[thalbergmad]

I am not very good at doing that.

Thal

[invictious]

I am not very good at doing that.

Thal

Just buy manuscript paper and copy it by hand.

[gyzzzmo]

I am not very good at doing that.

Thal

Me neither, thats why i bring them to a refilling shop