Why do people download our scores/music?
This might sound like a foolish question. But is it really?
Just the other day I received my first feedback comment from someone. That's one comment in more than two thousand views/plays/downloads.
I am really curious about the people who download my stuff. Not one has ever left me any feedback about what they downloaded. Are these people simply 'serial downloaders', the kind of people whose screen desktop is a mass of icons, simple souls who really can't help themselves? Or, are they perhaps looking for something they might consider performing, or students who want to study how something has been put together?
I really, really want to know other users experiences and opinions on this.
Thanks. Philip McHugh
Comments
My thoughts:
Until now I didn't download any music scores of yours. But maybe sometime ;-).
But I already downloaded pieces from others.
My personal purpose is thereby, that I collect ideas from others for arrangements for a little special band of adolescents in my private connections. Because I didn't study popular music, I'm looking when I arrange a music piece for lead sheets, for harmonies, voicings, for licks, patterns and so on - what others people had ideas for a song I want to arrange and how I can use it for this special orchestration. Musescore is one source beside others. But because I'm aware, that a part of these ideas are not mine (besides the parts in the arrangement, which grew up of my own creativity and of my own thoughts), I don't upload these files.
I hope, this isn't a fatal theft ;-).
And thanks for all who share their music !!!
In reply to My thoughts: Until now I by kuwitt
First, thanks for your input. In all likelihood other people think like you and maybe some of those have used my stuff in a similar way.
What was bugging me about downloads of my stuff was that I was getting no feedback (and I'm still not getting it). It would be nice if, when people download stuff, they would drop the composer a line to say what they are doing with it/think of it. Would this be an unreasonable thing to hope for? I think not.
In reply to First, thanks for your input. by philip_mchugh
I'm sure you're right. Because I know, to compose or arrange a music sheet means besides passion also investing a lot of time and work.
So be aware, when I one day will download a piece of yours, I will leave you a comment ;-).
In reply to I'm sure you're right. by kuwitt
Yes, it takes time and plenty of it to do what I do. Fortunately I have time and the desire to try and create something which each time is better than the previous attempt. Each time I learn something new and sometimes the learning is quite startling almost like a revelation.
I will look forward to your comment with great curiosity.
While I do not comment nearly as much as I know that I should, I very-avidly download and study other people’s scores. Why? Because “you learn a lot by watching.”
My ears are not yet trained to pick-out the individual instruments from a well-mixed orchestration. But, by reading along as I listen, I’m trying to train my ears to do so. This combines our visual ability with our auditory senses. We see the patterns and structure. As we read, we see them coming.
Likewise, how exactly to organize a piece of music that is several minutes long so that it remains interesting throughout. Look at what other people did. Disassemble the thing and spread the parts out all over the shop floor ...
In reply to While I do not comment nearly by mrobinson
Thanks Mr Robinson. This thread is showing me that some people are downloading for what I consider good reasons. My plea to downloaders is, please consider the person who has spent hours and possibly days putting something together that you are getting useful value from. Just a little thank you note would work wonders.
Philip McHugh
In reply to Thanks Mr Robinson. This by philip_mchugh
Ciao a tutti.
Perhaps you could suggest something like here
For example: Have you liked/downloaded the score? Write your comment!
Just an idea
In reply to Ciao a tutti. Perhaps you by Shoichi
I think that this is an excellent suggestion! If you particularly want to receive feedback, by all means ask for it! (And, if you want particular kinds of feedback, be specific.) If you prefer for the feedback to be anonymous (not-posted ...), so indicate, and provide an e-mail.
After all, someone who downloads your score and enjoys it (or not ...) might well not presume that you actually desire to hear what they think of it ... let alone that you wish to receive any sort of “public(!) critique.” (Even if you posted it on this web site.) Neither assume, nor make them assume. Tell them. Invite them.
Here are a few of the reasons I download scores:
1) When I'm learning a new piece I need a score, of course. I find a good one from this website, download it, edit it to my preferences, print it then proceed to learn the piece in question with a score appealing to me.
2) To see how some stuff is done (like you've mentioned)
3) To modify tempo and to listen clearly at difficult parts (for example the 3 against 4 with a rest on Chopin's op. 10 no. 12)
That's pretty much it!
In reply to Here are a few of the… by Alex Man.
While modifying tempo or changing the score is a good reason to download, I would not use this site to find scores of classical pieces to play. Scores posted here are not reliable (and I speak as one who tries to post reliable scores here). Except for a relatively small number of people with enough knowledge and experience to do this well, and spend the requisite effort (and, again, I speak as one who has made errors), scores posted here are not checked or edited by anyone, and depending upon the experience of the person posting, can be very inaccurate or even deliberately corrupted by self-styled rewriters. For classical music not in copyright, IMSLP, which posts facsimiles of respected editions, is far to be preferred. This is a venue for posting, not a library or a music store. As far as hearing peformances, YouTube is now the last word.
In reply to While modifying tempo or… by [DELETED] 1831606
From the moment I learnt about this site, I immediately noticed the problem about the scores you're talking about. That's why I either download a score as sort of a "template"and then heavily edit it to be correct or use reliable sources like Piano Man whom I find to be 100% reliable. So far his scores have been perfect.
However, when downloading from other users I'm always looking through the whole piece note by note to spot any mistake because as you said no one is monitoring them.
In reply to From the moment I learnt… by Alex Man.
This is a soapbox in a park, an open-mike night at a community center where anyone can perform, not a theatre where professional actors, directors and stage hands are paid money to work and provide professional performances,, money you must pay to see the same. This is a street bazaar, not a store. This is not "a problem with bad scores", this is what we do here. If you have to find and eliminate errors in pieces you don't know, it's not a good way to "get scores", is it? No one checks "Piano Man"'s work, either. Either pay money to a real music store (e.g. SheetMusicPlus.com) if you want professional quality, or as I said, go to IMSLP if you want a library. This open posting venue is neither, and that' s why I'm here, and most everyone else who posts. There is no "quality control" because there is no merchandise, no product, no store, not because of laziness or parsimony.
In reply to This is a soapbox in a park,… by [DELETED] 1831606
I don't by any means demand good quality for free. That's why I'm completely fine with correcting scores myself. And this is a good way of getting scores because I can edit them to my liking in the Musescore software
In reply to I don't by any means demand… by Alex Man.
Agreed; I do this often, too.
In reply to Agreed; I do this often, too. by [DELETED] 1831606
@BSG
There is no "quality control" because there is no merchandise, no product, no store, not because of laziness or parsimony
Please don't use a broad brush to paint all the scores on musescore.com as entirely worthless...
For example, all the Public Domain scores in the OpenScore Lieder Corpus have been reviewed by someone other than the original transcriber/uploader. Agreed, these scores are not yet 100% perfect, but they have undergone some serious quality control. And we do try to respond to suggestions for any corrections.
Have a look at the content so far (about 18 months since the project started):
https://musescore.com/openscore-lieder-corpus/sets
And to answer why this is worthwhile (in addition to the PDF scores on IMSLP)...
From a research point of view, where else can you listen on demand to all the published songs by Louise Reichardt (1779-1826)? [Thanks to transcriber @ashmoggs]
In reply to @BSG There is no "quality… by DanielR
Oh, absolutely not, there are many scores of fine quality (I post many myself!), but how would anyone know how to find them or which ones they are, other than the people who have posted them? Are these quality-checked corpora listed somewhere? The OP made a totally valid point that PianoMan posts accurate scores.
And they are not product or merchandise of musescore.com, but the work of private individuals and groups of individuals, and it is you, not musescore.com, who attests to its quality, and no score was ever rejected from musescore.com because of its quality. You might find treasures of great value at a bazaar. Or you might not.
In reply to Oh, absolutely not, there… by [DELETED] 1831606
It's not right to say "MuseScore has an excellent and accurate collection of the lieder of Louise Reichhardt". It's right to say, "Someone has posted an excellent ..... to MuseScore." And that's important. MuseScore takes neither responsibility nor credit for the accuracy of the scores you or I post, and that's important.
In reply to It's not right to say … by [DELETED] 1831606
"MuseScore takes neither responsibility nor credit for the accuracy of the scores you or I post"
Point accepted...
But the point I was trying to make is that some of the scores on MuseScore.com are subjected to quality control: I used the OpenScore Lieder Corpus as an example, because I understand its workflow. Such scores do not rely solely on the skill or attention to detail of the original transcriber: there is a review and correction process too.
And we haven't really touched on the extra opportunity for corrections by crowd-sourcing: anyone can leave a Comment on a score, to point out an error!
In reply to "MuseScore takes neither… by DanielR
No newcomer to MuseScore would know that these carefully-curated groups exist, nor are they or their scores marked in any special way, e.g., a "seal" (or other pinniped:), nor are there such scores for anything except the handful of composers and works for whom such groups exist. Someone coming here for "I wonder if they have a score if xxxx's yyyy" (they, i.e., the site, not "anyone there") is still at sea.