Fat Music Books...

[Dave The Rave]

Something that's always bugged me is how to put up a fat music book on a stand and have it stay on the right page without bending and breaking the spine of the book. I have photocopied pages and used the copies before, but that option isn't always available. I hate to break the spine on any book, reading or music, but I have yet to come across a stand with page hold-downs that work with most of the music books I have. All of the fake books I have use plastic ring binder thingies, these work okay, but I've got lots of other books that are properly bound and are a pain to use. Anyone have any sensible ideas to solve this one?

 

:DTR

[jazzyprof]

Try a pair of heavy duty rubber bands that slip over the pages and the music stand.

[MikeT156]

Large plastic clothes pins can be purchased at Walmart and bargain stores. Cheap and expendable.

 

Mike T.

[resigned]

First - I only buy spiral-bound music books - my favs are the Warner Brother variety ""Just Jazz", "Just Standards", "Just Classic Rock). I copy the music and put the sheets into non-reflective page protectors, then put them in alphabetical order in a 3-ring binder.

 

Carrying music books around is nuts - you really only play a few songs from each book anyway so why not create your own book with just the songs you actually play?

[moj]

A piano teacher I know uses a piece of hefty clear plexiglas over bounded books. It works well, but it's kind of cumbersome when you need to take it off the book to turn a page. I use large plastic/wooden "clothes" type holders that Orchestra conductors use to hold scores; I bought them at a music book/band store.

[gangsu]

I don't fight with music books that won't stay open. I take them to a printer and have the spine cut right off. A flexible spiral binding costs about $3.50. You could have a plastic protective cover added at the same time.

[Bartolomeo]

Some good advice already.

 

When I have a choice, I try to chose editions that will lay flat. Sometimes this is not possible. Then, I use clothespins. If the book is too thick to clothespin the whole thing together, then I just put the clothespin around 50 pages or so and that is enough.

 

Sometimes I use cloth hinge tape from Gamble music, either to hold sheets together that aren't stapled or bound, or to attach a photocopied page to a book that I am using to avoid a page turn. Unlike regular Scotch tape, the cloth won't break after being folded a dozen times.

 

In a few cases I photocopy everything and attach it to a big piece of posterboard, so I can see four or five sheets at once, to avoid problematic page turns.

 

I have considered rebinding some books with comb binders, but haven't actually done so yet.

 

The clear plastic sheet is reserved for outdoor gigs where wind is a problem.

 

In one particularly bad case, I redid the music in Lilypond to unfold some confusing repeats and DS al codas, and bad page turns.

 

Bartolomeo

[gangsu]

In a few cases I photocopy everything and attach it to a big piece of posterboard, so I can see four or five sheets at once, to avoid problematic page turns.

You gotta stop doing that, it looks really dorky. (nothing personal, I'd say the same thing to my best friend). I know a woman, she's kind of big and mouthy, she does that all the time and has her head so focused on those notes stretching from far left to right that she misses the music entirely (which we all know happens between the notes, right?). And one time I saw that piece of posterboard come flying down and wonk the keyboard, adding a very dissonant note and leaving her of course unable to carry on.

 

I have considered rebinding some books with comb binders, but haven't actually done so yet.

COMB BINDERS, that's what those cheap things are called. Don't use them, they're no good if you have to flip in a hurry. Use the coil type, just like your phone cord (only smaller). Very smooth, and a precise fit no matter what size your book.

 

In one particularly bad case, I redid the music in Lilypond to unfold some confusing repeats and DS al codas, and bad page turns.

I've had to cut and paste some impossible page turns as well. Usually a few photocopied measures tacked onto the bottom or top of a page will suffice. Anything's better than an actual page turner. They usually have an aura of nervousness that I find distracting.

 

I didn't realize there was such a thing as cloth hinge tape. Sounds like a good idea.

[resigned]

http://www.freehandsystems.com/images/pro_front_view.jpg

 

I have to admit that I've been considering one of thes Music Pad Pro's from Freehand Systems for quite some time now. Basically this device is a Linux-based tablet-display laptop with the sole function of displaying music that has been scanned and converted into a an Adobe PDF file. My music book, as effective as it is, is getting heavy and cumbersome to use, and playing outdoors with it can really suck. Plus I need some sort of light on it most evenings. The Music Pad Pro seems to solve those problems albeit at a mere $1000. But I have as yet to see a better electronic alternative.

 

Website: http://www.freehandsystems.com/products.html

[Bartolomeo]

Originally posted by gangsu:

In a few cases I photocopy everything and attach it to a big piece of posterboard, so I can see four or five sheets at once, to avoid problematic page turns.

You gotta stop doing that, it looks really dorky.

I mostly do it for these piano/organ duets I sometimes play. The scores come Hal-Leonardized to begin with, by which I mean that there is all this unnecessary white space between the notes. And there is only a score, no parts, so three staves for the organ and two for the piano, and they can fit two lines of music per page. Due to the "Hal-Leonardization" this means, oh, about ten measures.

 

And yes, it does look dorky.

 

Bartolomeo

[marino]

Originally posted by gangsu:

In a few cases I photocopy everything and attach it to a big piece of posterboard, so I can see four or five sheets at once, to avoid problematic page turns.

You gotta stop doing that, it looks really dorky.

I did that once, when touring as pianist for a ballet company. In that situation, a single missed page turn could screw the coreography, and since the piano was onstage, no page turner was allowed (they said he would 'distract' the audience...).

Anyway, I decided in that case that looking a bit strange was acceptable against taking some risks with the page turning. Of course, one night one of the dancers threw me and the piano bench offstage as I was about to start Hindemith Sonata n.2...

 

Another time, I did a tour with a big-name actress doing a poetry recital. My duty was to play classical music plus a few pieces of my own - some solo, some with a cellist.

Since I had to learn the music in a very short time, I had not memorized it. For a Mozart sonata, I had brought a German Urtext edition... If you know those books, they're very well made: They stay open at the page you want, no matter what. Well, we had a outdoor show in a wonderful medioeval castle, and since it was windy, I also used big, strong clamps.

OK, so I am playing the Mozart, when a burst of wind comes, so strong that it takes away the Mozart book, the clamps, and all the other music I had on the piano! I couldn't stop, so I just improvised a transition and played the next section by heart. It was just one of those moments of terror.

[Bartolomeo]

Originally posted by The Pro:

 

I have to admit that I've been considering one of thes Music Pad Pro's from Freehand Systems for quite some time now.

One more piece of gear that, if it breaks, leaves you high and dry. You still have to bring paper, just in case, unless you can afford two of these things. Except for practicing, what's the point?

 

Bartolomeo