Publishing survey

[Neil Gladd]

I recently sold a bowlback of note (1920s Vinaccia), and even though the money hasn't even arrived yet, I'm already making plans for it. Part of it will fund, at last, the beginnings of my own publishing company. Some pieces will be printed the old fashioned way, and others I will have printed to order through my cafepress store. They do a great job on posters, and I hope they do as well on books. I'm looking for a test case to find out.

Because of the flat cost for the binding, it only pays to use them for larger collections. I have a few planned and will do them all eventually, the question is: Which would you most like to see first?

Solo Mandolin - this would be a revision of my collection that was formerly published by Plucked String. I'm taking some pieces out, and putting at least 10 new ones in. Additional pieces by Bertucci, Calace, Abt, Siegel, Pettine, and a few small pieces of my own, that are too short to be printed separately.

Mandolin Duets - I have a duet by Alessandro Rolla (1757-1840) that has never been published, then some 18th century duets (Barbella, etc.), maybe a Calace duet, and some by Samuel Siegel and Aubrey Stauffer (MUCH more reasonable than his solos).

Mandolin and Piano - These are all original works, and are my favorites that I found after sorting through tons of such stuff. (I will do another collection of mandolin and piano arrangements later, for those of you that want to play Wagner.) The pieces I have selected so far:

Abt, Valentine (1873-1942) - Annie Laurie, Variations (1900) / Valse Brillante (1896)
Mascheroni, Angelo (1856-1905) - Tarantella (1894)
Mezzacapo, Eduoardo (18__-1942) - Andante and Polonaise (1900)
Monti, Vittorio - Something other than Czardas, for a change!
Siegel, Samuel (1875-1948) - Witches Dance
Weeks, Seth S. (ca.1866-after 1924) - Polka de Concert (1900)
More to be added!

All of the collections will be partly reprints, but certain pieces I am having to noteset in Sibelius. Some needed editing, and some because they were only published in parts with no score.

Cast your votes!

[Linda Binder]

This is great news Neil! It's hard to pick from so many tasty choices. Personally, I'd be interested in the mandolin duets immediately, especially Calace, but eventually all of it! I didn't know the cafepress store printed music...interesting.

[Alex Timmerman]

Linda, I'll second that!

Neil, all sounds great. Mandolin and piano is most needed, I would say. Especially when one thinks of getting the mandolin out of only the mandolin (and guitar) scene.
But mandolin solo pieces are great to study (and perform!) We can't have enough of them and duets are simply always good to have around. For whatever purpose; teaching, studying and or performing.


A very good initiative.

Alex.

[Neil Gladd]

I didn't know the cafepress store printed music...interesting.
I haven't seen any there, but you can use them to publish books, so why not music? There would be no way to have them print a score and insert parts, so I'm looking for things that can adapted to the way that they are set up. The bigger the book is, the more cost effective it is, so collections are the way to go. The solo mandolin book would be easy. For the mandolin and piano collection, you would have to buy the piano score and the mandolin part book separately, but that's the only way to do it.

[Plamen Ivanov]

Yes, great! Good luck with the publishing company, Neil! I would be interested in the mandolin and piano book.

[Eugene]

I can't pick...so feel free to do both sooner than later.

[Neil Gladd]

Mandolin and piano is most needed, I would say. Especially when one thinks of getting the mandolin out of only the mandolin (and guitar) scene.
I was already leaning more towards mandolin and piano, for that reason, so I started over the long weekend and already have 25 pages ready. I'm scanning each page into PhotoShop and then touching them up my hand, so they will look as good or better than new. Here are three sample pages (http://www.neilgladd.com/MandPianoSample.pdf).

It will be roughly half Italian music and half American music, and I am also trying to strike a balance between the easier and more difficult pieces, so there will be something for everyone. I have two pieces by Vittorio Monti, which are on the easier side, and I decided to include the piece by Nicola Calace, just because most mandolinists have never seen any of his music. That is the piece that is requiring the most PhotoShop work, as my score is falling apart and turning brown.

When I did my facsimile of the Barbella Duettos before the days of home computers, I spent 3 months on graphic touch-ups to make them look that nice. I was working from photocopies of the 18th century printing, and I started by darkening EVERY note-head with a felt-tipped pen. Then I took a calligraphy pen and a straightedge to darken all of the bars on all the sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes. etc. Then I took a brush and white paint to cover all of the miscellaneous specks on the page. It's SO much easier with a computer!

[Jim Garber]

That is great news, Neil! I will check back to see when these are for sale.

I do have your solo PS book on my stand practically permanently for La Fustemberg Variations but I always play (or try to) another piece from day to day. I look fwd to the new edition as well.

Jim

[Jonathan]

Neil - if you are interested in carrying new pieces, I would like offer my own "Waltz for Diane", which was part of the repertoire for Carlo Aonzo's workshop in Manhattan last June. It's originally for quartet, but I have a mandolin/guitar transcription nearly finished, and could easily do mandolin/piano. (For those of you who expressed interest in the mandolin/guitar arrangement way back when, I apologize for my slowness!) http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

Jonathan Jensen

[RSW]

Neil,

Well, that startup money should be arriving very soon if Wolfgang was timely getting to the western union office. I would vote for mandolin/piano collection with a close second choice for the duets. It is only because I have a wealth of solo material and mandolin playing already tends to be a lonely activity so go for it! If you do start with mandolin/piano... please consider a seperate simple (paid, of course) download for the Rolla duo... as a violinist, I've enjoyed my encounters with Rolla and am very curious to see this piece.

[Acquavella]

Hi Neil,

This is great news! I would most prefer the mandolin and piano pieces in the near future. Of course all of the options are most welcome. I look forward to your first release. Cheers.

Chris.......

[margora]

Neil, this is excellent news. Two questions. (1) Is the proposed mandolin-piano book essentially what would have been the Plucked String edition? (2) would it be possible for you to publish any of the other PSEs that never appeared, such as the Goichberg suite ("From the Forest"?).

[Neil Gladd]

Two questions. (1) Is the proposed mandolin-piano book essentially what would have been the Plucked String edition? (2) would it be possible for you to publish any of the other PSEs that never appeared, such as the Goichberg suite ("From the Forest"?).
Two answers. (1) Yes.
(2)I can only print the pieces that I own, so I will be doing more of my "former future editions," but only the ones that were my compositions, arrangements, or editions of PD music. I will be reprinting the Goichberg 35 Progresive Studies, as the only copyright is in my editing. The studies themselves are in the public domain, but the rest of Goichberg's music is under copyright.

I have a ridiculous amount of music lying around that is ALMOST ready to publish, so I'm just going to work on those before I look into getting new works from other composers.

[Got8Strings]

This is wonderful news - I'll definitely be a shopper! I also vote for duets and Calace pieces.

One suggestion regarding binding - to be honest I would prefer loose sheets that I can put into sleeves in a 3-ring binder. It lays open better than a bound book, and I can move pieces around and add others in the middle so I can organize my repertoire the way I want.

[RSW]

How about loose sheets (pieces) sold on an individual basis and collections sold bound?

[trebleclef528]

Hi Neil,

Great! I join the club of favouring mandolin and piano although I think all your (and others) suggestions are are equally appealing.

One thing that I hear from a lot of players (of all levels) is that they wish that mandolin sheet music would be "graded" to give them some idea as whether it suits their level of ability (I think Alison Stephens has started doing that with some of her peices and certainly she and my wife Barbara have "graded" the music for mandolin exams at Victoria College London.

I don't know how difficult this would be to do... but I do think that it would help people (and no doubt boost sales).. this is something that Barbara and I have been trying to encourage Trekel (Germany) to do for years... they have thousands of peices of mandolin music...and could be selling ten times the amount that they do. problem is their web site is terrible so no one sees the music and when they do they don't know what level it's at.I've often thought that even a samle "snapshot picture" of the music would be great on a web page.

Any way a know all these things are great in theory.. but a lot of work in practise.

Whatever you do I wish you good luck all the best from a now wet and cold Scotland.
Ian

[margora]

"this is something that Barbara and I have been trying to encourage Trekel (Germany) to do for years... they have thousands of peices of mandolin music...and could be selling ten times the amount that they do. problem is their web site is terrible so no one sees the music and when they do they don't know what level it's at.I've often thought that even a samle "snapshot picture" of the music would be great on a web page."

This is a fine suggestion, although I hasten to add (a) if Trekel is the publisher, they do grade on the back cover (1=easy, 5=advanced) of the actual publication (b) they are one of the world's best music stores and very responsive to questions, in my experience. Grading is not the only issue -- a sample page would give one a sense whether one will like the piece. I am often surfing through the websites of the (very many) German orchestras, listening to mp3's, then going back to Trekel to see if the piece is available. Not so efficient.

[Neil Gladd]

Based on early returns and exit polls, I have already started the mandolin and piano book and have 40 pages prepared, so far. I am used to preparing scores for a printer, but preparing them for cafepress is very different. After cleaning them up, each page is saved as a pdf. Once they are all finished and I decide on the order of the pieces, I have to add the page numbers, make the whole book into one big pdf, and upload it. Cafepress does all the printing and shipping as people order it.

I will put up sample pages of each piece, but I can tell you that these pieces range from easy/medium to difficult, but mainly in the medium range. Siegel's Witches Dance is one of the more difficult, but it's probably also the worst piece of music in the book, due to the static harmonies and the clunky piano writing. It was very famous in it's time, though, so it ought to be available. One of my favorite pieces is the Mascheroni Tarantella. It has really good piano writing and treats the two instruments as equals, so it sounds more like chamber music than a solo with accompaniment.

I have considered making things available in more than one format (hard copy or download), but haven't decided yet. Only if it can all be automated online.

As for the binding, I am going with the Wire-O which lies flat better than the conventional saddle stitch.
http://www.cafepress.com/content/services/sell/img/wireo.gif

[glauber]

My votes (late, better than never)

(1) Solo mandolin
(2) Mandolin + piano
(3) Mandolin duets

[trebleclef528]

Hi Neil,

Keith Harris is with us in Scotland at the moment for the final weekend of our UK mandolin teachers training course.
Keith tells me you are "old" buddies and ask me to say
"hi and best wishes from Keith"
Keith is a remarkable man who, despite his terrible illness, keeps smiling and is just an outstanding teacher
Regards,
Ian

[Neil Gladd]

Keith Harris is with us in Scotland at the moment for the final weekend of our UK mandolin teachers training course.
Keith tells me you are "old" buddies and ask me to say
"hi and best wishes from Keith"
It's true, I first met Keith about 25 years ago, when I was a mere youth. I heard him play many times, and we even performed together at a few concerts. I think that he was the first to play my Sonata for Solo Mandolin (other than me), and conducted my Three Rags After Bach with many different groups. (We also made a road trip that involved visiting Pedro at South of the Border (http://www.pedroland.com/), but that's another story...) Please return my best wishes, as well, and tell him about the imminent launching of Neil Gladd Publications.

Actually, I was going to check in today with a progress report. I was going to quickly drop by the Library of Congress Music Division today to get better copies of a few pieces, but 7 hours and $30 worth of photocopies later, the book just became bigger. The piano score will be over 100 pages. I am adding more pieces by Abt, Mascheroni, Mezzacapo and Monti, and found a new composer that I had never heard of before: Hubert G. Oke. Apparently he was English, wrote mainly songs and piano music, and I found the only two mandoin pieces he ever wrote, Valse Caprice and Romanza, both for mandolin and piano, and pubished in 1897. They're really not bad, so I'm going to include them both. I hope to have a final title list, soon, but it looks like the Italian composers are crowding out the Americans.

65 pages prepared so far...

[Neil Gladd]

I now have more music than I need, and will have it narrowed down in a few days. Here (http://www.neilgladd.com/MarchisioPlay.pdf) is a piece I found today that will not be in the book, as it is just an arrangement of a popular song, but I thought the title was a riot. Maybe Linda or Alison can play it. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif I will have one of Marchisio's original works, though. Note to Alison and Chris: Marchisio taught mandolin at Trinity College.

Does anyone out there have the piano part for Samuel Siegel's Boston Ideal March? I have the mandolin part and USED to have it, but I can't seem to locate mine or find another copy. It only needs to be readable and I'm going to noteset it, anyway. If so, please send me an email.

I'll have the final list of contents soon!

[a12]

Neil,
Are those 1/4 note rests in for ex. bar 2 and 4( last notes of right hand) of the piano part? They look like C notes but appear smaller or "doctored" throughout the piece in mandolin and piano parts.
thanks

[Neil Gladd]

Are those 1/4 note rests in for ex. bar 2 and 4( last notes of right hand) of the piano part?
Yes. Rests can vary a bit depending on the era and the publisher.

[a12]

Is it possible to post Midi files here?

I put "She wanted something to play with"
in Noteworthy and perhaps someone might
want to hear it.

[Linda Binder]

<<Maybe Linda or Alison can play it.>>

Well, it does have a great title. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif #One of the best I've ever heard. #I may have to play through that tonight...

I'm a few days behind in my cafe reading ...Did you find a piano part to Siegel's Boston Ideal March yet Neil? #If not I'll check with the mandolin orchestra here to see if it's in their collection.

[Neil Gladd]

Did you find a piano part to Siegel's Boston Ideal March yet Neil? If not I'll check with the mandolin orchestra here to see if it's in their collection.
No, but Eugene came through with a couple of other Siegel pieces. I wanted to include it because it was one of his big hits, and a piece that he recorded himself. (He played it like a bat outa hell, I might add.) I know a few people that probably have it, but I thought I would put out a general call here, first.

Right now I'm busy practicing, but will get back to the book after this weekend.

[Neil Gladd]

This is rapidly becoming "The collection that ate New York City," it just keeps getting bigger! Here are the contents as they now stand. I might add a couple more American pieces to balance out all the Italians, but this is close to final. I hope to have it out next month. (As for all the missing dates, I have misplaced my copy of the Sparks book...)

The Romantic Mandolin - Music for Mandolin and Piano

Abt, Valentine (1873-1942)
Annie Laurie, Variations (1900)
The Brooklet
Valse Brillante (1896)

Calace, Nicola Maria (18??-1914)
Le Reviendrai

Curatoli, Alfredo
Serenata

Marchisio, G. B. (1865-19??)
A La Conquete (1896)

Mezzacapo, Eduoardo (18__-1942)
Abandon (1901)
L'Adieu (1901)
Andante and Polonaise (1900)
Reverie
Serment D'Amour (1900)

Monti, Vittorio (1868-1925)
Aubade a Colombine (1899)
Petite Marquise!
Serenade Barcarolle
Vision Champetre

Oke, Hubert G.
Romanza (1897)
Valse Caprice (1897)

Siegel, Samuel (1875-1948)
An Autumn Evening (http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/search.php?queryType=@attr%201=21&query=Mandolin&num=1&start=4&sortBy=cnum&sortOrder=id). Serenade (1901) (The link is to a shortened version of a mandolin and guitar arrangement.)
The Boston Ideal
Witches Dance (1900)

Weeks, Seth S. (ca.1866-after 1924)
Grand Concert Polka (1900)
Laburnum Gavotte
Polka Caprice