Etude Compilation

[mark38655]

I have been thinking of a project that would require more than one person to complete:

1) Transpose all the etudes from our favorite method books, (Bordogni, Kopprash, Tyrrell, Blazevich, Vasiliev, etc.) to the same key, using Finale notation software, and compile them in a progressive order then print and bind them in one book.
2) Then make a separate book for each of the 12 (or 15) different key signatures. Each book would have over a hundred etudes all in the same key, and you would have 12 to 15 separate books.
3) Make the compilation available to the people who helped create it.

One advantage to printing all the etudes available in easier keys is that it makes a good number of them more accessible to mid-level players. Another is, that if you want to focus your practice on a particular key, then you have a very large set of etudes to choose from. Another is that if you want to develop your B Major skills, but are pretty weak at sharp key study, you can start with G and progress through all your sharp keys by gradually adding one sharp at a time until you are playing and reading etudes in C# Major.

I already have all of the Tyrrell book in Finale, plus a good bit of the Bordogni. If anyone else is interested in helping with this project, then we can share our work in order to build a pretty comprehensive library of etudes. Please pm me if you are interested.

What are the copyright implications to a project like this if it is only shared between the people who do the actual work of compiling it?

[hup_d_dup]

Transposing the etudes is likely a fair use of the copyrighted material, as long as the original and the copies remain in your possession. Since you are not the copyright holder you may not distribute (or "share" to use your term) the transposed copies. The fact that someone else may have done the transposition has no bearing on the issue.

Also keep in mind that your privilege to use a transposed copy is conferred by ownership of the original. If you sell or give away the original you no longer have the right to use the transposed copies; they should be transferred with the original or destroyed.

I believe that you MAY be able to solve this problem by having each person with whom you want to share the transposed copies first buy their own copies of each original.

To address the issue of the project itself; I am a trumpet player currently making the switch to tuba because of some dental issues. I figured the quickest way to learn the fingerings was to play the Getchell studies in all keys and I already have about 7 or 8 of them in Finale. I would be happy to add them to your project if you can find a way to reliably insure that they would be made available only to people who have purchased the original book.

Hup.

[Tubainsauga]

Bordogni and Kopprasch would represent a great start to your project and would be free of copyright issues as they're both in the public domain. If the original material was published before 1923 you're fine in terms of copyright.

[Michael Bush]

Mistakes, however, are always vigorously sought out and squashed when possible.

If publishing music is anything like publishing words, there will be mistakes you don't see until it's too late. Then, they will be the first thing you see.

[mark38655]

I have already done this, to a certain extent. It is amazing. I love it.

Wade, I'm glad to hear that great minds think alike! I don't know how much overlapping there would be between the two projects, and I don't want to get in your way with my idea. My project would not be for-profit as it would involve the use of copyrighted material, (with permission of course). I think the only way it could happen legally (as someone mentioned) is for the three or four persons doing the compilation to actually own legal hard copies of all of the books used in the project.

My project looks to be a private deal between a couple of, or three or four guys with enough extra time on hand to pull it off. I am coming back from Houston, TX tomorrow and will try to open up some of the etude files and then privately contact a few people who are interested.

[ShoelessWes]

I've done sort of the opposite. Since tons of books have slurs and lip flexibilities written out for each valve combination... I've just taken the first open series, turned them all into unmetered 8th notes, and compiled them all together.

All 327 of these lip flexibilities filled at least 10 books on my shelf and a good foot of space, now they are encapsulated in 5 pages (front and back).

The entire Bai Lin can fit on a page, and the Colin (all of it) can fit on 3 pages(front and back).

[Steve Marcus]

in easier keys

Perhaps this could be transcribed for tuba(s):

PDQ Bach's The Short-Tempered Clavier Preludes and Fugues in all the Major and Minor Keys Except for the Really Hard Ones, S. easy as 3.14159265 ...

This is NOT to discredit your project. Your proposal is interesting. Please don't take offense at a bit of humor, Mark.

[mark38655]

Perhaps this could be transcribed for tuba(s):

PDQ Bach's The Short-Tempered Clavier Preludes and Fugues in all the Major and Minor Keys Except for the Really Hard Ones, S. easy as 3.14159265 ...

This is NOT to discredit your project. Your proposal is interesting. Please don't take offense at a bit of humor, Mark.

That was too funny. I had to read it twice before I recognized Pi(e).

[Brian C]

The copyrighted title of this book is "The Dozens"... and the copyright is quite legal, so no one try to go off and use that name, please. That would be an unfortunate thing...

Don't you mean trademarked?

[hup_d_dup]

No. The book is not trademarked. It has been copyright protected. The title is "The Dozens"... ¿Esta claro?

I think the point that Brian C is trying to make is that copyright protection of the book does not extend to the title. To protect a title, or name, or slogan, it must be trademarked.

Hup