Manuscripts of fiddler James Morrison

lesl · Post by **lesl** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:22 am

Hi folks. Please excuse any cross posting of this query - we are trying to get an idea about interest in the manuscripts of James Morrison for possible publishing.

Here's the situation - as mentioned before, fiddler Veronica McNamara is a former pupil of the acclaimed Sligo fiddler James Morrison. She has come into a collection of his written manuscripts and we are trying to get a feel for whether there would be any interest in purchasing a booklet of this.

Could we have a show of hands as to who might be interested in buying something like this? On or off list is fine. No obligation of course, we're only trying to get an approximate head count.

I don't have a lot of details as its only in the thinking stages. These are manuscript booklets where he wrote out the tunes for his pupils, some but not all including bowing directions. Booklet printing is expensive to say the least, and I don't even know how many pages, which determines price. So if purchase-price is a factor, just add what would be too much to pay for something like this.

If anyone wants to pass this on to one of the fiddle lists, please do, they can reply to me at leslharker at hotmail dot com.

Thanks! -Lesl

djm · Post by **djm** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:28 am

If the tunes include playing instructions per tune from Morrison the value jumps quite a bit. If Ms. McNamara includes notes of what she remembers of his instruction that would also be quite valuable. If its just another tune collection, I'm not sure the value would be as great (though still worthwhile).

djm

Roger O'Keeffe · Post by **Roger O'Keeffe** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:46 am

I don't really do the black dots, so it would be hypocritical of me to vote even "Maybe", but this sounds like an excellent initiative. If you could get a secret agent to smuggle copies of it to some of the summer schools in Ireland that cater for the fiddle, this should surely increase the viability of the project.

Or - subject to intellectual property considerations - would posting the manuscripts on the web not be a solution? I only recently found some of the classic piping tutors on the web through recent C&F threads, and have found them quite interesting, though I probably wouldn't have bothered to buy printed copies because of my limited sight-reading skills.

In any event, I imagine that the Irish Traditional Music Archive would love to get a set of photocopies, and might be able to give some advice about the likely demand and other relevant issues.

flutey1 · Post by **flutey1** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:05 am

djm wrote:If the tunes include playing instructions per tune from Morrison the value jumps quite a bit. If Ms. McNamara includes notes of what she remembers of his instruction that would also be quite valuable. If its just another tune collection, I'm not sure the value would be as great (though still worthwhile).

djm

agreed. I think notes on the tunes and playing instructions (including bowings, etc) would add the most value to this sort of collection. if it's just another book of tunes, I probably wouldn't buy it. I have several tune books, but the only ones I use are the ones that have additional notes. if I'm just looking for the dots, I'd use the internet, so the books that only have those tend to sit on the shelf.

Sara

colomon · Post by **colomon** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:58 am

I voted yes, and I absolutely would buy it, notes or no notes. (I would be even more interested in a complete reissue of his recordings on CD.)

kenr · Post by **kenr** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:41 am

I have seen some of these from others who have photocopies. They would be a wonderful addition to the published resource, especially if they're reprinted in Morrison's own hand. They are generally very easy to read.

For a sneak preview, check out the liner of the Oldtime Records Vol 1 CD published last year. They used an section of Morrison's version of Foxy Mary.

Ken

s1m0n · Post by **s1m0n** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:50 am

If printing is an issue, consider selling it as an ebook or .pdf. Yes, some will copy it, but some won't, and that's money you wouldn't have captured.

How many pages/tunes are you talking about?

dyersituations · Post by **dyersituations** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 10:11 am

Sounds good to me... I love tunes!

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:52 pm

(Blame it on Denny.)

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:09 pm

Cathy Wilde · Post by **Cathy Wilde** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 7:50 am

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:35 am

lesl · Post by **lesl** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:07 am

Thanks so far for everyone's help on this! (and Tigger Too..

For a sneak preview, check out the liner of the Oldtime Records Vol 1 CD published last year. They used an section of Morrison's version of Foxy Mary.

Would like to see this but didn't find a picture of it online.

I'm going to pass on all the feedback at Sunday's meeting about this. I'm not the decision point, and won't be making the book myself, but will relay everything. It does seem there's enough interest to publish. So far only Veronica herself has had a chance to study over what's in the manuscripts, how many, number of tunes, etc. so I don't yet have any more info than what I already posted.

I'm not sure I remembered to add that proceeds from this would go to Veronica's children who are 2 very sweet Downs Syndrome kids, both of them Irish dancers.

Will let everyone know when there are details, we'll make sure to put out announcements. thanks again!!

KevinCorkery · Post by **KevinCorkery** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:23 pm

Here are a few pages of a tune book I bought in Ireland. It contains 14 of Morrisons transcriptions with bowings. I never saw a Vol. 2.

KevinCorkery · Post by **KevinCorkery** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:25 pm

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Manuscripts of fiddler James Morrison

interested in a booklet of James Morrison manuscripts?

Manuscripts of fiddler James Morrison