[linda7paul]

Ah! The joys of trying to find one’s music in the filing system of one’s mind, which doesn’t always match the actual location in the studio! <grin> Like so many others I discovered the Magazine boxes at resale shops, office supply stores, and even Tuesday Morning, and began putting all my music into categories. Using label makers I put succinct titles on each magazine box. They even hold French music! Yippee! As a teacher I needed to have my books and music sorted by playing ability. When I pulled something I showed it to the student and told them to buy their own, giving them a Post-it note to write on with the salient info. I quit giving “auditions” to my music a long time ago as it rarely returned in decent condition.

I kept all my originals in pristine condition and keep the “legal” three pencil copies I need in various 3 ring binders for weddings, casuals and ensemble/orchestra. When one pencil copy wears out, I would print a fresh one from my pristine copy and destroy the old one after transferring markings. It worked for 20 years!!!!

Fast forward to 2 years ago when I realized my granddaughter, who plays harp, has no interest in PAPER MUSIC!!!! I have signed copies and “antique” copies that she wants, but my library? Ix-Nay! I began looking at computers. David Ice and I began looking together. David bought the iPad Pro, and I watched him post whenever he had a problem. Most of the time it worked, BUT I live in a state where I do weddings in cow pastures with no bars on my phone! I needed something with more than 16-32-64 GB storage that didn’t require the cloud to download. After several months of watching the struggles with cloud downloads and yet another pedal, I purchased the Windows Surface Pro 4, Wi-Fi only, with 256GB storage and a USB port. I can never run out of room, with this setup, AND I can carry my whole library under my arm. That’s helped me lighten the load of carrying my well-organized 2″ three-ring binders!

And the best plug is the software called Song Repertoire! It has a playlist feature so I organize by names of events. Otherwise it is all in alpha order in the master list. I can build an entire playlist of 30+ songs in less than 5 minutes. I can also make notes on playing level, lever or pedal, etc., on the description page, for my educational music. I’ve learned to add arranger names to composer names as I have three different Clair de lune arrangements and the title now reflects which is which.

The best part is: Song Repertoire has a scrolling feature so no foot pedal is required. David says he’s gotten past the learning curve, but honestly, I didn’t want to try. Playing Jazz Harp a great deal I already have 7 pedals I constantly use and adding the 8th had me pulling my hair out. I have several two-page charts, so the scroll feature helped me a great deal. Add my regular repertoire of solos (8-10 pages) or orchestra (4+ pages) and ensemble works (3+ pages) and I’m ready. The scroll feature lets you slow down or speed up for each song!

Anyone want to buy a brand new Air Turn foot pedal? <grin>

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