Tunes Index

[Mike Dixon]

I have a copy of the NPS Tunes Index - has anyone got an index, perhaps in a spreadsheet that is more up to date, perhaps with the Folios in it? Noting of course it will be out of date in a couple of days time when the 2011 folio arrives!

Thanks

Mike

[Julia Say]

I know that several folk have contacted me over the years to say they have compiled one of these - often on computing courses, as an exercise.

Perhaps this thread should be the start of a project to collate them, and find a volunteer to keep the result up to date?

It cold then could be mounted on the website for download. I'll offer the index pages of all the books I have on disk as a starter, if that helps, but I can't help further - too many other things to do.

There is also a rudimentary tunes database somewhere, which I could chase up if someone would like to take it on. With abc and so forth.

Julia

[Barry Say]

In the books section of the former website, each publication had its own page which included a list of its contents. These were in a single text string separated by '/'. They can still be accessed through http://www.northumbrianpipers.org.uk/books.html and they could easily be ripped off from there. It would not be difficult for someone to use this as the basis for a spreadsheet. It hasn't got the page numbers but it would save a lot of typing.

Another alternative:

When I wrote those pages, getting all the pages consistent by hand was nearly impossible so I worked out a couple of ways of building that part of the site automatically. This involved an Access database which I believe included a file with the tunes laid out in that string. I would be quite happy to provide copies of the materials if anyone wished to make use of them.

Barry

[OldTomsRant]

I'm assuming this is a list of tunes available in NPS publications. Might be worth seeking advice from the guys who paint the Forth Railway Bridge otherwise. Do we need more tunes?

[Julia Say]

Haven't the bridge painters just finished?
Something about a better quality paint......I rest my case!!

Julia

[Mike Dixon]

I think if we limit it to the publications in the tune book format - as per the folio I just got today, which looks really good, I shall be busy tonight, an index is do-able and probably has been, as Julia says.

The links to .abc are an interesting idea - as one who likes to know where a tune is going before I set off trying to read the dots, I would welcome that. I am not after more tunes as such - the ones in the current NPS publications will more see me out!

I will PM a couple of people that may not have seen this on the forum, to see if we can get a head start

Mike

[Francis Wood]

Since this forum is described as "This is the area where Northumbrian Pipers can air their views" it would also seem very sensible for pipers have a facility so they can also view their airs.

Francis

[Julia Say]

All the books which are currently in print - with the exception of the duet book - already exist as abc files (that is, the individual tunes do).
The dialect I use is not a common one and can bamboozle some converters. Likewise I cannot use without editing most of the abc files I come across on the web.

However one of the things I want to see on our website in due course is a converter. That and an index project would seem to be linked.

There is an NPS comm. meeting in about 10 days - I can recommend this idea and I'm sure colleagues will help, but this one should be quite do-able by a team from anywhere, and we are in any case quite busy. Tell us what is needed and we'll provide backup.

Julia

[Francis Wood]

An immediate alternative to an 'in-house' facility, might be to link to the already existing facilities at http://abcnotation.com/

Francis

[GrahamRB]

Another possible link:
http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html

and another useful link:
http://www.8ung.at/abctransposer/