• Registered: 2016-01-17
  • Posts: 7

Topic: Compiling a Song Book

As a new 'member' I'm on this page because it lists Personal Projects in the 'MENU'. Apologies if I'm in the wrong place.. Anyway, my Project is to Compile a 'Song Book' of Sing-a-long songs which I can hand out to the 'audience' of the residents of Nursing Homes when I lead the Sing-a-long sessions. I'm looking at 50s/60s Pop/Country & Western/Music Hall Scottish,Irish,English & Welsh favourites.  I've built up this 'repertoire'-largely in pre internet days. I am told that "you can download all that" on the internet.
Yeah. But how? Any help or ideas, Please?

Yours

Jim Johnston
Ayrshire

  • dino48
  • Honoured Member
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  • From: los banos,california
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 6,801

Re: Compiling a Song Book

jimjohnston wrote:

As a new 'member' I'm on this page because it lists Personal Projects in the 'MENU'. Apologies if I'm in the wrong place.. Anyway, my Project is to Compile a 'Song Book' of Sing-a-long songs which I can hand out to the 'audience' of the residents of Nursing Homes when I lead the Sing-a-long sessions. I'm looking at 50s/60s Pop/Country & Western/Music Hall Scottish,Irish,English & Welsh favourites.  I've built up this 'repertoire'-largely in pre internet days. I am told that "you can download all that" on the internet.
Yeah. But how? Any help or ideas, Please?

Yours

Jim Johnston
Ayrshire

Welcome too the forum jimi,if you look you will find at the very bottom of your song book an area that lets you mail songs,so you can do that and let them print out copies.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman
  • Registered: 2016-01-17
  • Posts: 7

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Hi dino4. Thanks for your response. Let me expand on my thoughts on what I'm looking for. I have seen others handout X numbers of pages with, say, 8 songs per page. How can I collate the songs (in genre) to pass out to the 20/30 folk present. Perhaps, when I let you know that I'm a 75 year old two things will fall into place 1) I'm maybe in a 50s, 60s Time Warp so will be playing to my peer group and 2) I would welcome instructions, for this exercise, to recognise my lack of techy stuff.

Cheers

JimJ

  • dino48
  • Honoured Member
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  • From: los banos,california
  • Registered: 2007-04-06
  • Posts: 6,801

Re: Compiling a Song Book

jimjohnston wrote:

Hi dino4. Thanks for your response. Let me expand on my thoughts on what I'm looking for. I have seen others handout X numbers of pages with, say, 8 songs per page. How can I collate the songs (in genre) to pass out to the 20/30 folk present. Perhaps, when I let you know that I'm a 75 year old two things will fall into place 1) I'm maybe in a 50s, 60s Time Warp so will be playing to my peer group and 2) I would welcome instructions, for this exercise, to recognise my lack of techy stuff.

Cheers

JimJ

Hi jj I do not know how too do all that. You might try simply printing each song then have your printer make copies. That is what I do.

my papy said son your going too drive me too drinking if you dont stop driving that   Hot  Rod  Lincoln!! Cmdr cody and his lost planet airman
  • From: Western Oregon,US
  • Registered: 2008-07-22
  • Posts: 2,498

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Hi Jim and Welcome to Chordie!!

A couple of things to consider, first do you need the chords/music? or would just the lyrics serve your needs?  The reason for that is I'm thinking about the age group (knowing how difficult it is getting for me to see small print anymore)..... 8 tunes per page seems ambitious, even using both sides of a standard letter page.

The other thing is determining what software and assets you have for gathering and printing/formatting your "booklet" for printing. I usually just print to file on my PC and assemble content from there into a folder containing my playlist. Drop me an e-mail if you need specific information and I will try to assist.

Again welcome aboard!

"what is this quintessence of dust?"  - Shakespeare
  • Registered: 2016-01-17
  • Posts: 7

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Hi Doug. Thanks for your response.

In reply to your questions: I do NOT need chords/music, lyrics only.(Painfully, 80% of my existing Song-book was compiled PRE Chordie or other sites. You know, wrote then typed the lyrics , using song books or stop start cassettes then writing the chords----real pre war/electric days. Yup, the Good Old Days)

I have used Microsoft Word on a one song per page. Sadly I cannot retrieve past work. I suppose I'm looking for the internet equivalent of "make me a list of songs by 50s/60s pop stars"

In the past, I've had secretaries who could rustle that up, somehow. Those days have gone.

I visit several Retirement Homes for a 2 hour 'Gig'. I just feel that the residents will get more out of the session with the lyrics.

Thanks for your support.

Jim J
Scotland

  • From: Western Oregon,US
  • Registered: 2008-07-22
  • Posts: 2,498

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Good Morning Jim, (at least it is still morning on my side of the planet)

You are Welcome.  Lyrics it is then.... makes the text tighter on the page.  First thing I would do is to compile a list of tunes from the time frame you like (I would also consider the 30s and 40s for some "old standards"):  a good starting place would be
http://davesmusicdatabase.blogspot.com

You should be able to find a good index (by decade) of the top 100 songs of each era from which to choose your list.  Once you have that you would need to find lyrics which you can copy/paste into your word processor to be either printed or manipulated into your publisher-like software for layout and printing.  A pretty good lyric database is available here:
www.letssingit.com

Some bit of searching around that site for artist and title should let you gather and print (to file) most of the tunes you are looking for.  I prefer .PDF format as my version of office will convert it into most easily edited document types, and the files are fairly small.
Cute PDF writer is a free lightweight PDF editor available for download with a google search.   

Sounds like a project that could keep yu busy for a few hours.... have fun!!  Like starting a trip down Memory Lane, so many songs I forgot were out there.....

"what is this quintessence of dust?"  - Shakespeare
  • Registered: 2016-01-17
  • Posts: 7

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Hi Doug. Again, thanks for your response. I'm sure I understood your guidance notes! I will now make a start on what seems like a good idea, at the time. I really will update you on my progress.

You're a star.

Cheers
JimJ

  • From: NY
  • Registered: 2009-08-26
  • Posts: 4,320

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Hey Jim J - sounds like Doug's got you covered here, but I did want to just pop in and holler out a big ole: WELCOME TO CHORDIE!

I was watching this thread yesterday.  I tend to get too technical so I didn't pop in with suggestions.  I'll keep my eye on how you're doing with this though, and be happy to help out if you come across any issues I can help with.  Doug is great - he knows the technical stuff and how to say it like a human though.  You're in good hands!  smile 

Mekidsmom

Art and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder.
What constitutes excellent music is in the ears of the listener.

mekidsmom's Website

  • From: Almancil, Algarve, Portugal
  • Registered: 2006-09-02
  • Posts: 6,205

Re: Compiling a Song Book

mekidsmom wrote:

Doug is great - he knows the technical stuff and how to say it like a human though.

This should be Doug's new signature. big_smile

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"

Roger Guppy's Website

  • Registered: 2016-01-17
  • Posts: 7

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Hi. Thanks to mekidsmom and Doug Smith for your support in my project.

Cheers

Jim Johnston

  • Registered: 2016-01-17
  • Posts: 7

Re: Compiling a Song Book

F.A.O. dino48, Doug Smith, mekidsmom and Roger Guppy. An update on my project re compiling a 'songbook'. In about 3 days, working off and on, I have amassed approx 70 songs of various genres. And all without a secretary!  A big thanks to all of you for your assistance and support.
I'm sure my 'audiences' will wish to thank you too.

Cheers and Happy (Robert) Burns Day.

Jim Johnston X

  • From: Western Oregon,US
  • Registered: 2008-07-22
  • Posts: 2,498

Re: Compiling a Song Book

OUTSTANDING !!!
70 tunes is a really good number for  a two-three hour gig.  Usually figuring about 3 minutes per, and with a little chat time between I had guessed you would need 40 max.  You will I'm sure with time, pare that down to the ones most well known among your group(s) but the effort will be much appreciated and praise well deserved.

Pleased to be of some small assist.

"what is this quintessence of dust?"  - Shakespeare
  • Registered: 2016-01-17
  • Posts: 7

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Thanks for your response, Doug. The number reference  was really only acknowledging the quantity of songs built up in the time frame. You young guys don't know how lucky you are. With your  "where to" and my son's "how to" I reckon I saved weeks of effort , especially in editing the lyrics around size on the page. It means one song per page. (It's the eyes, you see). By the time we hand out the song sheets, 'explain', sing & then collect same, I think 15/20 songs might be maximum, keeping in mind the ages of the Group. I expect to witness "What was that he said?" more than once. Thanks again. JimJ

  • From: Lake Martin, Alabama
  • Registered: 2016-01-27
  • Posts: 2

Re: Compiling a Song Book

just joined today..a few friends of mine have gotten together and we've started to have little jam sessions on weekends...we've been trying to look on, all together, one songbook...as you can imagine, this is almost impossible... I'm somewhat computer savvy and have started compiling the music in the form of a video, that is played on a laptop and viewed on a large monitor that we can all see at the same time... this has made it a great deal easier...a couple of us are passed our prime and our vision isn't that great...this is going to make my job a whole lot easier... my question is, I've been toying with the idea that we could add the beats from a drum machine that one of the guys have..do you know of any software available somewhere that could combine the lyrics, chords and beats, in one package.. that way it would be almost like karaoke, only we would play the music...thank you in advance for the help

any day above ground is a good day!!
  • From: Western Oregon,US
  • Registered: 2008-07-22
  • Posts: 2,498

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Welcome to Chordie Dennis!
That sounds like another fun project, similar to Jim's (hinting to Jim who might remember that old TV show Sing Along With Mitch Miller?).

Anyway, back to yours..... it's been awhile since I played with video production, but it seems to me that whatever video editing software you are currently using to make the video content should have the ability for you to insert an audio track and be golden.
The basic Windows Movie Maker will let you insert slides/pages and transition from one to another and add sound by just aligning the timeline indexes. If I remember right, it was packaged with Windows and you could add it from the setup menu as an accessory.

let us know what OS you are using and the version, and perhaps we can advise you better.  Our own "Alien Moderator" Russell Harding does a bit of video production and will likely chime in along the way.....

"what is this quintessence of dust?"  - Shakespeare
  • From: Lake Martin, Alabama
  • Registered: 2016-01-27
  • Posts: 2

Re: Compiling a Song Book

thank you so much, Doug...I must say, I wish I'd found this site earlier, I could have saved myself a lot of time and effort...most of the time the guys would bring a song or give me a name then I would download and try to figure out chords and leads... but it also has been a joy as I no longer work and music is food for the soul...you are correct about movie maker it's an outstanding software for creating videos and that's what I've been using..sometimes it's difficult for me to time each slide to stay in sync with the song...just thought there might be a better way.. I don't know how to scroll the music in that software so you can see what's coming a short time away rather than having the slide abruptly change..I will figure something out ...thanks again for your time and help
I really like this site

any day above ground is a good day!!
  • From: Western Oregon,US
  • Registered: 2008-07-22
  • Posts: 2,498

Re: Compiling a Song Book

Dennis, look at your transition options within the Movie Maker App..... it seems to me that there used to be one that would drag the next scene over the current one while "pushing" the other off the screen.  If you could do that fairly slowly over a few seconds bottom to top (of the screen) then the previous one would still be there for reference and the new coming in as a preview.  I could be wrong but my memory isn't as good as it used to be, which is why we need that music in front of us in the first place.?.  I am of course visualizing it in terms of a slide-show with music "pages"..... kind of a Power-point presentation thing.

"what is this quintessence of dust?"  - Shakespeare