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Thread: Add spiral binding to music books

  1. #1
    Mandolindian rgray's Avatar
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    Default Add spiral binding to music books

    Sharing this info for anyone as ignorant as me about this option.

    Just had 2 medium size music books spiral bound for less than $7. A local Office Depot shaved the paperback binding and installed spiral binding. No more hassle keeping books open.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I do this all the time, works great.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    Yep, all my sheet music goes in those plastic sheeted spiral bound folders - just makes page turning and keeping pages open in the right place so much better. My wife fbuys and uses these folders for her recipes - so as my music collection builds up i remove the recipes that aren't much good to be able to steal a folder and she replaces the folder and fills it with recipes again - it is a system that works well.
    Cheers

    Chris

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    Barn Cat Mandolins Bob Clark's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I have not had any music spiral bound, but I often take music books apart, punch holes in the pages and put them in three-ring binders. That has worked well for me with piano music as well as mandolin music. It also gives me the option to move the music around in the binder. I can put the music I am working on up front, yet move it back where it belongs later on when I go on to other pieces. If I am taking music somewhere with me, I can put just the pieces I want to take in a small three-ring binder for easy travel, yet put them back in their usual binder when I return home. Works for me anyway.
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    Still Picking and Sawing Jack Roberts's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I've got a spiral binder at work I use for this. Click image for larger version. 

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    Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,
    When time is broke and no proportion kept!
    --William Shakespeare

  6. #6
    Mandolindian rgray's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I figure this will work great when first dealing with new books. As i decide what tunes I like, I scan those, put as many on a single page as will fit, and then put in day-day working binder.

  7. #7
    mandonucs John Uhrig's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I've had a lot of my books sprial bound.
    And I know it's probably wrong, but I have bought some old mandolin books that had pretty sad spines and did it to them also.
    But hey, I bought them to use them!
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  8. #8
    This Kid Needs Practice Bill Clements's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    This is a great way to protect your music and facilitate easier reading on your music stand. I have all my method books/collections spiral bound by Kinkos. I also ask Kinkos to bind them with a black heavy stock cover and back. My Sibelius manual is spiral bound and lays open next to my computer for convenient reference.
    Using the 3 ring binder for sheet music is a great idea as well, and is common practice among singers.

    Bill

  9. #9
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I have had a few books spiral bound, esp ones that are more than 100 pages... they just don't lay flat and open so you can use them. I have a few candidates waiting for me to do that including volumes 2 and 3 of the big choro white tunes books.
    Jim

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    Registered User Randi Gormley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I've been using the clear plastic sleeves and a three-ring binder for a lot of my loose music. The only caveate is they glare something awful if your light source is behind (or at the side of) you.
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  11. #11
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    The plastic sleeves are find for the loose stuff but for actual performance music I find I need to write on the paper and the plastic is a pain in rehearsal. Also I tend to tape together three sheets wide to have less page turning. For shorted pieces, not a problem.
    Jim

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  12. #12
    Notary Sojac Paul Kotapish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    Lay-flat binding can make a huge difference is making a music book usable and stable on the music stand or on the table.

    Be aware the "SPIRAL" binding means different things in different venues. Around here, if you want the kind of continous (spiral) binding as shown on Jack's example above, you need to request "COIL" binding. At Kinko's, Copy Central, and most other bay-area copy/binding houses, requesting a "spiral" binding can result in what is also called "comb" binding--little rectangular holes with a piece of flat plastic and teeth that curl around to grip the pages. It works pretty well--and it easier to edit if you want to dump some pages--but it isn't as stable or attractive as a continuous plastic or metal coil.

    There's also wire binding and Pro-Click styles which can work well, too.
    Just one guy's opinion
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  13. #13

    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    Yes, at Kinko's I definitely ask for "coil" binding. I detest the comb stuff.
    The first man who whistled
    thought he had a wren in his mouth.
    He went around all day
    with his lips puckered,
    afraid to swallow.

    --"The First" by Wendell Berry

  14. #14
    Mandolindian rgray's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    Guess I got lucky and got the coil without even asking for it.

  15. #15
    Notary Sojac Paul Kotapish's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    That's the logical name for it, Bob, since the spine is a spiral. Not sure why some shops insist on calling the comb-style "spiral," since there's no spiral involved. If in doubt, ask them to show you the binding material and then choose.
    Just one guy's opinion
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  16. #16
    Registered User maki's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    We do our own spiral binding with this;
    http://www.binditall.com/Products.html
    Don't be put off by the pink color its made for the scrapbook crowd.

  17. #17

    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I'm in the Bob group. I use my trusty three hole puncher and put music in binders. The "Fiddler's Fake Book" has a spiral binding, but it's huge and was a total pain. It's now three holed and tunes live in various binders.
    Just visiting.

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  18. #18
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I like to keep my books intact. I have enough trouble finding things than to dissemble them and put them in separate binders. If I want to keep them thematic (solos, duets, mandolin & guitar, etc.) then I photocopy and put them in binders.
    Jim

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  19. #19
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    Default Re: Add spiral binding to music books

    I bought a gizmo from Staples that I use. It gives a spiral that can easily be taken apart (not that I can recall ever taking a book apart, but if I wanted to, I could).


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