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Page 1: THE SCOTTISH MUSIC INFORMATION CENTRE

THE SCOTTISH MUSIC INFORMATION CENTREAuthor(s): Morag BrooksbankSource: Fontes Artis Musicae, Vol. 47, No. 1 (January-March 2000), pp. 10-13Published by: International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres(IAML)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23509033 .

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THE SCOTTISH MUSIC INFORMATION CENTRE

Morag Brooksbank1*

The Scottish Music Information Centre, located in Glasgow, comprises about 17,000 items including all types of Scottish music. Some 8,000 largely unpublished scores by 300 composers make up the heart of the Reference Library. These are generally avail

able for purchase (or hire if parts for more than four players are required) at the cost

of photocopying and binding. The Centre also maintains files of information on Scottish music and composers and an extensive sound archive.

The Scottish Music Information Centre (SMIC) documents and promotes Scottish music. The common conception of what makes up Scottish music—

jigs, reels or bagpipe tunes—is indeed a large and vitally important area of na tional music but there is so much more which the Centre, a growing national

resource, is able to inform people about. The Centre originated as the Scottish Music Archive which was founded in

1968 by Professor Fred Rimmer and was initially housed at the University of

Glasgow. It opened in 1969, representing some 60 composers, and contained

approximately 1,000 items of music written since 1950. Over the years the

scope of the Archive extended to cover music from other periods. The collec tion of recordings has recently expanded with the acquisition of original reel

tapes of BBC Radio Scotland programmes from the 1980s and 1990s. Thus in

many instances the Centre now houses the only copies of recordings of many important performances.

The Archive became the Scottish Music Information Centre in 1985, achiev

ing charitable status and moving to its present location in the heart of

Glasgow's West End. The collection has grown steadily and now comprises around 17,000 sepa

rate items including contemporary classical music as well as early, traditional, jazz, and popular music. The facilities include a reference library; sound

archive; information database; a quarterly newsletter (Music Current); and a

photocopying and binding service.

The Reference library

The Centre's Reference Library currently holds an extensive collection of scores by over 300 composers, spanning four centuries of Scottish musical life.

*Morag Brooksbank is the Director of the Scottish Music Information Centre at 1 Bowmont

Gardens, Glasgow G12 9LR

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THE SCOTTISH MUSIC INFORMATIN CENTRE 11

It is growing constantly and now holds about 8,000 works of largely unpub lished material. The Centre also holds ephemera including biographies, pro gramme notes and reviews where possible for every composer whose work is

represented. The Library has an open accessions policy, and the Centre welcomes new

material whether scores, recordings, or any other formats. The Centre relies

heavily on donations of recordings and publications. Composers born or based in Scotland are eligible for representation. The Centre requests that initial sub missions are accompanied by some biographical information (including a pho tograph if possible) and as much written information about each individual work as possible: such information is included in the new library catalogue and information databases as well as in promotional materials.

Copies can be purchased of most of the unpublished scores held in the Reference Library. These copies are made up in response to an order at com

petitive photocopying and binding rates. In some cases the Centre also holds a master set of parts for performers: if a work is scored for up to four per formers a set can generally be purchased; works for five performers or more are usually only available for hire. Unpublished works are made available

through special written agreements with the vast majority of composers. These agreements do not assign copyright, but rather allow the Centre to sell

copies of the scores—or hire out sets of parts of their work—on request. A small number of composers prefer to deal directly with customers themselves: their music is therefore available for reference purposes only.

The Centre did, at one time, have its own publishing outlet, Scottish Music

Publishing, however, this ceased to operate some years ago. It was an expen sive venture which contained only two items that sold well, the Six Violin

Sonatas by the eighteenth-century composer David Foulis, and the Glasgow Collection of Bagpipe Tunes. The current "on demand" arrangement works much better, as nothing is published in advance but produced on request. Composers do not receive royalties from the sales and the Centre does not re ceive royalties on the performance of the works. Unlike mainstream publish ers, SMIC has thousands of pieces of music, most of which are sold only once;

many never sell and only a small proportion are in demand on a regular basis.

Together with the standard and invaluable reference works including The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the Reference Library also

holds works on Scottish history and culture as well as dissertations and arti

cles by and about Scottish composers and many other varied aspects of

Scottish music. In addition, the Reference Library has an attractive collection

of songbooks, the earliest dating from the mid-eighteenth century. All this makes the Reference Library an unique resource for musicologists,

performers, and programmers. And, as much of this material can be freely

copied, it is an invaluable and practical facility for encouraging performances.

Further Collections

SMIC also has an extensive Manuscript Collection with substantial holdings of the music and other writings of Francis George Scott (1880-1958), Ian Whyte

(1901-60) and William Wordsworth (1908-88). In due course we aim to make

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12 FONTES ARTIS MUSICAE 47/1

a copy of each item for the open shelves of the reference library but in the

meantime, access under supervision is welcomed and the Centre encourages research using this collection.

The Recording Collection comprises materials in several formats, including vinyl, cassette, CD, and open reel. It also includes commercial, off-air and pri vately recorded material some of which can be copied. As well as recent

recordings of Scottish contemporary music and many traditional and jazz artists, the collection contains broadcasts of interviews with composers and a number of documentary programmes. Much of the collection needs to be transferred to a more durable medium: the current material is perishing. A

project incorporating this process may form the basis of a major bid for fund

ing in the future. The Centre also has a large Hire Library of performance materials (or

chestral parts etc.). It operates a scale of hire charges, and income is shared with individual composers.

Other Services

In addition, the Scottish Music Information Centre offers many other services Alasdair Pettinger, the Centre's Information Officer, edits Music Current, a

quarterly guide to the contemporary music scene in Scotland. The photocopy ing and binding service caters for the specialist needs of the musician. Staff are able to make high quality photocopies of non-standard sizes of manuscripts and transparencies and produce performing materials for orchestras, choirs, and ensembles to an excellent standard. This takes up an enormous amount of staff time, and therefore generous discounts are available for self-service.

As the music information centre for Scotland, enquiries are welcome on all

aspects of music. A large information database is updated regularly and used to answer many enquiries. Enquiries tend to cover all areas of Scottish music life and vary widely from requests for a performer's contact details to a list of choirs in Aberdeenshire, bagpipe makers in the Borders, or folk festivals in August! By far the largest percentage of enquiries concern the music of Scottish composers past and present. The Centre will provide a small number of contact names and addresses free of charge, but for more extensive lists there is a charge. Requests for specific repertoire detailing a range of instru ments and voices, duration, date of composition and so on are dealt with on the same basis.

The Centre works especially hard for those composers who are not covered

by main music publishers and holds work by about 350 composers, most of them living. Only twelve are with mainstream music publishers while some are

self-published. In June and July 1999, there were eleven major premieres and

approximately seventy concerts featuring the work of Scottish contemporary classical composers alone. Combine this with the vast amount of music

making in all the other genres and it is clear that Scottish music is alive and

thriving. There have always been close links with education. In particular with the

University of Glasgow, due mainly to the Centre's history, its proximity to the

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THE SCOTTISH MUSIC INFORMATIN CENTRE 13

University and the active interest from staff at both institutions. Two members of SMIC staff are Glasgow University music graduates. The Centre also inter acts with other higher education bodies in the country, indeed these links are

becoming stronger: students from the Masters Course in Librarianship at

Jordanhill College (part of the University of Strathclyde) have regular place ments with the Centre, and there is a strong volunteer base from students in

Glasgow and Edinburgh. Many of these students have gone on to work with

major music ensembles, the BBC, and organisations such as the Scottish Film Archive.

Further education work includes developing aural perception material for both teachers and students for the new Higher Still development initiative (ad vanced level examinations taken by 17-18 year-olds) and encouraging instru mental teachers to utilise the repertoire of the Centre in their individual and

group tuition. The Centre is a member of the International Association of Music

Information Centres and as such receives enquiries from across the world for advice and information. The annual conference of this network took place last

year for the first time in the southern hemisphere in the Sydney Opera House. Two members of staff from the Centre attended this conference, and SMIC looks forward to strengthening links with colleagues world-wide.

About 75% of the Centre's income comes from revenue funding from the

Scottish Arts Council; the remainder of its funding comes from grants from trusts and foundations and from earned income. With increasingly rising production costs, SMIC needs to secure a greater proportion of funding from external sources.

Future projects include the expansion of the support in the rock/pop/dance music genres and the production of a CD sampling the best of all Scottish mu sic. SMIC is also hoping to collaborate closely with a major organisation in the traditional music field regarding the provision of information on this vast area of music making in Scotland. The archive side of the Centre's operations is in dire need of new shelving and acid-free boxes in which to store the collection;

many of the tapes need to be re-mastered onto a digital format. This is long term work which will require a major lottery bid and specialist expertise.

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