(updated: 4/24/09)
All who court the Muses
can hardly hope to produce
an unbroken string of masterpieces.
— Francis O'Neill, Irish Folk Music, p. 120
This is a revised and expanded (and I hope improved) version of the old Tunes Online page. The upgrades include direct access to the PDF and ABC files for the tunes, as well as links to my new Mostly Gems tune sets page.
Improved though it may be, it probably isn't perfect, so I'd appreciate your comments and suggestions. (The idea of sorting the tunes by type has been raised, but presents logistic problems that I'd rather not deal with for the time being. But it's a good idea!)
Column 1
-------------
Click on the tune name to load the MP3 file for that tune. Depending on how your computer is configured, the tune will (1) open and play in your browser, or (2) be downloaded to your hard drive for later handling by your audio program of choice.
Column 2
-------------
Clicking the tune's file number will open the PDF notation file for that tune. (The file number exists to help me keep track of what's where on the server - you don't have to worry about it.)
Column 3
-------------
Self-explanatory; no links here.
Column 4
-------------
"MG#" refers to the track number as it appears on my Mostly Gems tune set page. Clicking on a number in this column takes you to the Mostly Gems page, where the tune sets are broken down into their component tunes. You would use this column if you wanted to know what other tunes were included in the same set as the tune listed in Column 1. (Of course you can also play the set on the Mostly Gems page).
Column 5
-------------
Clicking on a number in this column will start the tune set playback directly from this page. The ID numbers are again primarily to help me keep all the files straight and won't concern you (except as noted in "NOTE" below).
Note however that the number after the dot tells you what position in the particular set the tune in Column 1 occupies, e.g. "After the Blizzard" is the first tune in Tune Set ("MG") #1, "Alice by the Window" is the second tune in Tune Set #30, and so on.
Since the browser shows only the set ID number and not the names of the individual tunes in the set, I would recommend the following: if you're interested only in what one particular tune on the Tunes Online page sounds like in a set context, and you really don't care what the other tunes are, load the set from this column on this page.
For example, if you want to hear the set containing "Andy Brooks' Reel", click in Column 5 in the "Andy Brooks" row of the table. The entry tells you that "AB" is the first tune (.1) in reel set 019, but it doesn't tell you what other tunes are in reel set 019. If you're want that information, move back to Column 4 and click the Mostly Gems track number, whereupon you'll jump to the appropriate entry on the Mostly Gems page.
NOTE: since there may be times when you have a set ID number but aren't sure what tunes it refers to, I created a page to assist - you can get there by clicking here. (You're welcome.)
Column 6
-------------
Clicking on "abc" opens the ABC file for that tune. If you aren't familiar with ABC, you should be - it's a great tool for traditional musicians, very simple to use; most ABC reading programs generate both notation and sound files and - maybe the best feature - you can change the file's playback speed with one or two keystrokes! For more about ABC, click here.
| A |
B |
C |
D |
| E |
F |
G |
H |
| I |
J |
K |
L |
| M |
N |
O |
PQ |
| R | S |
T |
UV |
| W |
XYZ |
All material © 2005-2009 Bill Black
Page created: 11/11/05
Updated: 4/6/09