I have been messing around with making MP3s from notation files of my compositions.
I have added 3 midi files today:
Hymnody
Oboe
Oboe Sonatina (1976)
Piano score pdf
Oboe Part pdf
Midi file MP3Organ
“Little Recessional Dance” pdf
Midi MP3[Link] to my Free Original Sheet Music Page which is where I keep this stuff.
Yesterday I decided to look more thoroughly at Finale’s capability to make mp3 files from its notation files.
Lo and behold there was a way. Of course I had to goof around with configuring it, but I did manage to do it.
I end up making a special copy of the file and altering it so that the playback is more acceptable.
I basically hate midi files,
but they can make a nice reference listen. And also most people interested in my music don’t read music, so it’s nice if they can get an idea of what I’m writing sounds like.
For example, This is the first page of the piece I have been working on.
“Small Rain” is just a phrase I like. I have even called some of my bands by this name. I am thinking of titling this piece: “Dead Man’s Pants” and dedicating it to my deceased dad, Paul Jenkins,
![17 Paul Jenkins (1926-2009)](http://jupiterjenkins.com/blog2/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/17-199x300.jpg)
& Alec Wyton.
![](http://www.selahpub.com/SelahImages/Wyton.gif)
The second guy is obviously also dead. He was a sweetheart of a guy who was a pretty well known Episcopalian musician. I had a conversation with him way back in the 80s in which I bragged that I could write a “clever little trio,” but found composing simple hymn tunes and service music challenging. He told me that the church needed people who could write “clever little trios.”
I think this composition might be shaping up to be one of those.
Anyway.
Now I can not only share my rough draft in a PDF form [link to pdf of the entire rough draft of this piece], I can even share an MP3 of this working draft [link to mp3 of Small Rain/Dead Man’s Pants rough draft] so then if anyone reading this is interested they can get an idea of what I’m working on.
One of my passions is that the internet can be a way of having conversations with interesting people and learning from them and also sharing stuff like music, both in notation and recordings.
I know that many people reduce the web to its ability to make money. I find that pretty boring. I’m more interested in music, ideas, poetry, stories, and art of all kinds. What better way to connect than right through the people involved?
I hope that my dream of distribution falling into the hands of the people who create stuff comes to fruition.
One of the reasons I am using this particular template f9r jupiterjenkins.com is because back when I built my web site from scratch I had difficulty providing for comments. Conversation!
I know not a ton of people connect with me this way, but that doesn’t bother me. Never have been that interested in connecting with huge numbers of people. Quality, not quantity.
So if a few people connect with me, my ideas and my music, I am a happy camper.
And today I’m especially tickled that now I am able to put up midi files of whatever I have composed.