How to Publish Folk Songs on the Internet
as High Quality Sheet Music
By Lewis Jones
Note: This is a tentative discussion paper, written by an amateur and a non-expert. It is certain to contain errors and misunderstandings. So come on, all you computer buffs. Tell it to us like it is! We electronic semi-literates badly need you advice and guidance.
Introduction.
The internet offers exciting opportunities for the promotion and dissemination of folk music. The development of the abc musical notation system by Chris Walshaw and others has been followed by the publication of thousands of tunes in abc format on the world wide web. However, abc, at its present stage of development, has its limitations. Converting tunes to abc format with any accuracy requires quite a bit of expertise. The abc notation system is also probably more suitable for dance music than for folk songs, since it is quite tricky to add lyrics, headings, etc. so that they print off in the way you want them to. As for the various types of graphics files such as .gif, jpeg, etc., at present the sheet music which they produce is often of variable quality.
My own view is that the best and most convenient way to publish folk songs on the net is in the form of .pdf (portable document format) files. These can then be opened, read, and printed off with Adobe's freely downloadable Acrobat Reader to produce high quality sheet music. For a sample of the output, go to
http://www.geocities.com/ferretpublications
and click on the "Three for Free" link.
So how do you create .pdf files, and how do you post them on the Internet? Well, here is my advice, based on the way I do it with a PC running Windows.
Stage 1: Get yourself some music processing software, learn how to use it,
and create computer files of folksongs.
One cheap computer music package for PCs and Windows is Muse. This shareware, distributed over the Internet, is available from
http://www.musements.co.uk/muse
Laurie Griffiths, the author and owner of the software, allows you a 30 day trial period before deciding whether or not to register. Laurie is actively improving the program, and it has some nice features, including tablature and the ability to interface with abc and MIDI files. On the downside, some of the clef signs, etc., look a bit amateurish.
Somewhat more expensive is the Windows package MusicEase Professional. For the web site see
This will import abc files, and files compiled with the veteran Songwright software. It will also automatically shape the notes of old folk hymns. The output has a very professional appearance.
As well as these two programs there are many others, and everyone has their favorite. It all depends on what you want, and how much you are prepared to pay. When you have acquired your software, you will need to spend some time studying the documentation, help files, etc., and learning how to use it. Then you can start to create files of folk songs, and/or of any other music that takes your fancy.
Stage 2. Convert your folk song files to .ps (postscript) format.
(For the advice in this section I am indebted to Gary Rader, the author and owner of MusicEase. See Gary's MusicEase web site for more details.)
Install a dumb printer that uses the postscript language, such as an Apple Laserwriter. Then print your folk songs to file. The files thus created will be postscript files.
Stage 3. Convert you postscript files to portable document files.
(Further acknowledgements to Gary Rader's MusicEase web site, and also to correspondents posting to the abc users' newsgroup, for this section.)
Download and install the latest version of Ghostscript and, if you are running a PC with Windows, the friendly GUI (graphical user interface) Ghostview. For Ghostscript go to
or one of its mirror sites. Note that, although Ghostscript can be freely downloaded, there are certain restrictions on its free commercial use.
For Ghostview, visit
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/
If you are a PC and Windows user you will need two files. The latest version of Ghostscript when I downloaded was 6.1 (installation file name gs601w32). The version of Ghostview that I got was 3.4 (installation file name gsv34w32). These files are self extracting. I am no computer expert, but I still managed to install them with ease.
When you have installed Ghostscript and Ghostview, load your postscript files into Ghostview and convert them to .pdf files by invoking "Print, then Print to File" in the File Menu. The option you need is "pdfwrite." There are three different resolutions to choose from. I am currently using 300 dpi (dots per inch).
Stage 4: Upload your .pdf files to your web site and publish them.
As an aid to musical sight-reading I like to publish my .pdf files of folk songs side by side with MIDI files. A Windows or other suitable media player can then be used to open the MIDI files and play audio tracks of the melody lines. Muse, MusicEase and most other software packages will convert music files to MIDI format.
Conclusion.
I fear that I have not explained all this very clearly or adequately, but never fear. You will find plenty of advice on music processing software, and on Ghostscript and Ghostview, posted on the Internet. Ghostscript and (if you have a PC with Windows) Ghostview have a wide number of uses and are well worth installing. They will convert .ps files not only to .pdf, but also to .gif, TIFF, bitmap and many other formats.
These suggestions are only one way to post .pdf files on the net. A simpler, if more expensive, solution would be to do it with Acrobat writer software purchased from Adobe.
I would welcome your advice and guidance on all of this. Please post comments to the Traditional Song Forum discussion group, and/or email me at:
ferretpublications@yahoo.co.uk