Graphic Scores

[jujimufu]

I am about to upload quite a few of my scores on the website, and I was thinking that it would be great if we could add another option under "File/Image Type" in the file submission process.

Many contemporary composers work/have worked with open scores, graphic scores, mobile forms, all sorts of things. And the time will come when Cage's and Brown's scores (among many others') will be in the public domain, and will be uploaded on IMSLP.

Since the vast majority of compositions uploaded on IMSLP is music that was written way before music notation arose to the foreground as an important aspect of music composition, there's not going to be much to do in order to make sure that previous works need to be tagged as "graphic" or "open" or whatever, but having that option available for future uploads I think will make it easier if someone wants to share their work on IMSLP.

I was at a conference about music notation last week in Bangor, north Wales, and one of the lectures was discussing about the impact notation software has had in composers. One of the cons is that composers learn to compose thinking how to fit the music in the notation software which is not flexible enough to accommodate what they might have otherwise wanted to do. I think that similarly, it is important that IMSLP provides more flexibility so that more people can upload their scores and share them.

In a few words, I think we should start making IMSLP a bit more contemporary-music oriented, to start drawing more contemporary composers. Categories like "Electronic composition" or "Graphic score" would be great to see, as well as categories like "Augenmusik", in which we could include all the compositions by composers such as Cordie and John Bull, but also scores by George Crumb and others, when they enter public domain.

So, to sum up, would it be possible to add two categories, "Electronic scores" and "Graphic scores" (or any better/more suggestions that other people might come up with) in the "File/Image Type"? Or perhaps, another field altogether, called "Composition type" or "Notation type" or something, which wouldh have a "default" option, left untouched by uploaders unless they know what they're doing, and then options like "electronic" or "graphic" or "augenmusik" or whatever.

Sounds good?