Please note that everything written here is my opinion. In April, 2024 Hal Leonard/MuseGroup (HL/MG) expanded their “ArrangeMe” (AM) self-publishing platform with a paid subscription “Pro” feature. For those that don’t know, AM allows composers and arrangers to upload their own music as well as arrangements from a large list of copyrighted titles. The music […]
Category: General
a Introduction In the mid-1990’s I started using Finale (version 3.7) as my music notation software of choice. (Prior to that I used MusicPrinterPlus). When version six of Sibelius came out I tried it out and switched to it because it was far more intuitive than Finale. When Dorico 4 was released in early 2022 […]
I thought I’d give you an update as to what I’ve been up to lately. Links to all places mentioned below can be found in the menu above. Piano lessons. I am still teaching piano lessons via video conferencing software on the internet. I am also available to teach in person lessons in Micanopy. Computer […]
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Year in Review – 2021
A look at what happened with JamesGilbertMusic.com this past year. The ongoing worldwide pandemic has dramatically affected musicians throughout the world including me. The number of piano students I have declined dramatically in 2020. I have been unable to gain any new students in 2021. You can be anywhere in the world to take piano […]
My story of ordering it and installing it (and a few comments about the software). I routinely update, or is it upgrade (?) Komplete from Native Instruments. I almost immediately went to the website to pre-order it as soon as it was announced. The product page said nothing about the possibility that some libraries/programs would […]
Update: Be very careful where you put your metering plugins when mixing. It turns out I had Insight one step before the final mix. As a result, my mono mixes are now about -2 to -2.5db softer than the stereo sounds, not the same as the article below says. This is acceptable, though not ideal. […]
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Musicians and the Pandemic
Musicians Need Help too Our hearts go out to anyone suffering from the current virus worldwide. Virus or not, there are always people worse off than any group of people I might mention. Right now musicians are already suffering. You can help out by listening to their music via streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music […]
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Slurs, ties and phrases
Let’s talk about slurs, phrases and ties. As a long time piano teacher, I find many students, even advanced players get confused. Slurs – curved line over/under two or more *different* notes. Tie – curved line connecting the *same* note(s) immediately next to one another. Phrase – a musical idea, often indicated with a slur […]
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Kontakt Player Intro
In my latest YouTube video I am taking a quick look at Native Instrument’s Kontakt Player. This is a free product that comes with a respectable amount of instruments. It is ideal for anyone getting started with sampling or interested in getting into music technology. I made the video for some of my piano students […]
New Album It’s been nearly 3 years since I released an album so I thought it was about time to release a new one. This one is a sampler of various styles of music I compose, arrange or record. Some of it is available in sheet music from my website. Look for it June 1, […]
Current news I’m always looking for subjects to write about here or tutorial to do on YouTube. Please use the comments section to give me some ideas. I’ve not shown a map of where people are buying and performing my sheet music for some time, so here’s the latest (as of Mar 31, 2018) I’m […]
Sibelius Sound Set Editor I put together a brief video showing an introduction to the Sound Set Editor and how you can use it to support virtual instruments
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Results of my contest entry
Did they even listen to my entry? So, a few posts ago I mentioned that Spitfire Audio was having a contest that I had entered. The one and half minute video was provided by them. Contestants had to write music to fit the video. It didn’t matter what sound libraries we used, it was “the […]
Sorry it’s been since March (nearly 6 months) since I’ve last posted. As mentioned in the last post, I’ve been doing custom arrangements for a client that’s reached about 10 titles. Plus I’ve been working on series called “Any Size Church Orchestra series” of arrangements for church groups that never know from week to week […]
News I know I’ve been a bit behind in regular posts here and on my YouTube channel. I probably use Twitter more than anything so if you want to know the latest, follow me there. (@JGSheetMusic). Arrangements As mentioned in my last post, I’ve been arranging some copyrighted material for distribution via SheetMusicPlus. I have […]
New Music As most readers of my blog know, I am distributing my compositions and arrangements via SheetMusicPlus Digital. It’s kind of like an Amazon Kindle author self-publishing service for composers & arrangers. They recently made arrangements with the rights holders of nearly 1,000 copyrighted songs to allow someone like me to make arrangements of […]
Map of my music usage Updated Dec 2015. The point in the northeast of Greenland represents all the sales where people did not give their location. Here’s a map showing where in the world my sheet music has been purchased via my distributor SheetMusicPlus.com. It only covers from March 2014 – October 2015. I plan […]
Thanks for those that attended the movie & TV themed concert I did on Oct 25, 2015. The audience request section was more popular than I thought it would be. I got stumped on a couple of requests I didn’t know.This might become a regular/annual part of our concert series. I was able to “stump […]
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Storm aftermath
A little diversion from the usual. We had a little storm go through the area Aug 3, 2015. It resulted in the flooding of the building shown at the end of the video. The video is at half-speed from its filming. The music is an original composition & recording of mine.
Does anyone use the iPad or other computer software to help them learn to play the piano? I asked this question at my tumblr blog – which I have just to have a presence on tumblr. (Usually I post blog content here and link to it on tumblr, but this time its the opposite). Read […]
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New Album available
So I have nothing better to do than teach piano, compose music & record albums. Oh, and perform from time to time. And of course, I have no idea how to publicize it (and all my efforts at learning how haven’t worked). Here’s my my 10th album. Variegated Plate.
Wonder what this might be? var·i·e·gat·ed ˈver(ē)əˌɡādəd/ adjective 1) exhibiting different colors, especially as irregular patches or streaks. Botany: (of a plant or foliage) having or consisting of leaves that are edged or patterned in a second color, especially white as well as green. 2) marked by variety. Think definition number 2. Coming soon…….
On May 3rd, 2015 I was one of two performers at a 2-organ concert. It is unusual these days to have a single organ concert, let alone one that features 2 organs. The location of the concert was a small church in the small town of Micanopy, FL (population 600). The building can hold a […]
It is always good advice not to switch to a different DAW if you are comfortable and familiar with another one. And, if you aren’t getting the sound you want from the DAW, spend the time learning that DAW before considering switching. Even so, sometimes it’s worth looking at other DAWs if they have a […]
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The piano is dead?
Just an article to get the mind thinking. I’d love to hear some insightful comments on this subject. Are people learning to play the piano enough to keep the piano going as a popular instrument? Is it becoming like the pipe organ or electronic keyboards/synthesizers, all instruments played by a small percentage of musicians? Is […]