Tonara – for modern times’ musicians

Sheet Music Publishing was once the largest player in the music industry.

With the invention of the phonograph and advances in recording and distribution technologies, Recording companies became the largest force in this industry since the 20th century.

But the sheet music market isn’t dead and annual sales’ estimates are over USD$2 bi.

Those who had studied music knows that you’ll acquire a considerable number of scores, that will only increase if you pursue a professional career.

The first attempt at ‘modernizing’ this industry presented desktop software solutions for editing and digitally distributing sheet music. But it hasn’t been that easy to take a computer – or even just a screen – to public performances such as those made by an orchestra.

In 2010, the iPad launch brought new life to this attempt with various apps being developed to display scores on the iPad – many using plain PDFs as a way to make it easy to distribute digitized sheet music.

Even so, a centenary problem would still be an inconvenience: turning the page. Be it paper, or a digital one.

Tonara is trying to solve this problem with an app for the iPad released in September, hoping to be a strong ally to musicians during a performance. And sell scores.

The technology implemented in this app follows the music being played and turn the page at the right moment. It doesn’t matter if the player increases or decreases the tempo. As long as – most of – the right notes are hit.

With an initial investment of USD $750k, Tonara has been able to develop a technology that follows a specific instrument even when others are being played simultaneously at the same place. Each iPad could be able then to follow a specific score, based on the instrument they are following. The app (available on the App Store) have a few free scores and access to an online store to increase your collection.

Considering that the Book Publishing market has been changing based on an increasing number of self-publishing authors and On-demand Publishing, Tonara’s store could be an opportunity to expand into a self-publishing platform for independent composers. Given that composers earn today in royalties around 10% of the printed list price, having the right platform and a powerful viewer tool (app) could be a good positioning for this company.

I’ve performed a quick test of the app using one of the available scores and the results were quite good, following me play through various changes of tempo and full stops. At times though the app would seem to be carried away for a few seconds until finding its place again. A few tweaks for what is already a great technology.

Marching Bells

After a short glimpse of the possibilities of composing triggered by Park Sonata I realized that in order to get new ideas, I’d need to pay more attention to sources around me. What could inspire me to write a next line, or a next song?

I guess this is very similar to the process of writing. In creating a writing habit, more than discipline, you need different topics to write about – so everything around you is a potential topic.

The date now is July 4th, 2009.

Invited by a friend to watch the fireworks in NYC, it was were the first idea for Marching Bells came to me.

I know that music, as other forms of art, is interpreted differently by every one who experience it. So I’d suggest you to listen to it and get your first impression before I write the details, or what I should call: the “Composer’s Cut”

The main line (melody) was what I had that day. The full arrangement was put together 2 days later, on July 6th.

Now if you focus only on the main melody, those are the fireworks I saw – and heard – that day. In slow motion. And expressed in music notation.

Inspiration can come from different places, people, situation or words. We just need to listen more.

Feel free to download and distribute!

Marching Bells by Lucas Persona is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Park Sonata

What does it take to compose a new song?
I’m still not sure if there is a right answer after composing a few.

Each one seems to have followed a different path. Some were created over a long period of time. Others came to me at once.

Park Sonata is my first attempt at composing – partially because I didn’t want to follow something that was ready, as well as I was intrigued to explore this possibility of creating.

A sleepless night in May-2009 was what triggered the first few notes of it. And I’ve kept playing the first part of it as in a continuous cycle that night to relax.
The rest of the song came a few days later.

This song is literally, a walk in the park.
Unpretentious at first but increasingly involved in that atmosphere. Until it fades. And peacefully ends – just like another day in the park.

Feel free to download and distribute!

Park Sonata by Lucas Persona is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

A hobby. A discovery.

I’ve been involved with music from an early age. Starting with keyboard lessons many years ago and having some piano classes as well, I’ve kept music as a hobby without thinking on further improvements.

In the beginning of 2009 after years without a constant piano practice, the frustration of not having the same agility in reading music as before led me to a key question: how to play without having to reproduce/follow a music?

The best way is to create. A new music has the liberty of not following an original score. Interpretation is also free at this moment. You just need an inspiration.

The main objective of this area in the site is to publish my experiences in this fascinating process of composing. To me, a discovery.