Vox Celeste
Here is my 2014 instrument album Vox Celeste, Gregorian chant on harp:
Here is a link to my YouTube Music page:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kNF1XVxYhmlcwmEf_hYMc8FqExWPGF968&feature=share
Here's the play list of everything there:
Vox Celeste (2014)
Ave Maris Stella
The Holy Well (features my Irish wire-strung harp!)
The Lord's Prayer
Ave Maria (Hail Mary) (more wire harp)
Salve Regina
Ave Maria (Arcadelt) (more wire harp)
Veni Creator Spiritus
Creator of the Stars of Night (lots of wire harp!)
Vox Celeste was recorded from 2012 to 2014. It was released on 3/25/2014 and is currently being reissued on most major streaming platforms (with the exception of Spotify.)
Here is a photo of the harp that was used on these recordings:
Unlike historical harps or those built to be replicas of historical instruments (c. 1200 - 1650's), this is a modern instrument with a full set of sharping blades, which enables it to play chromatics:
The blades are the ornamented paddles. You pivot them a little to touch the wires and raise the pitch on contact. The pins with the wire wrappings on them are the harp's tuning pins. They're color-coded as you can see. Likewise the strings. Red C's and blue F's.
There are some limitations here: the pitch can only be raised up, so any given string can play either a natural or a sharp. Or a flat and a natural. But not all three. It is not like a concert pedal grand harp, which can play the full range of classical concert literature. My harp is tuned to the key (or mode?) of F, which I've found gives me a lot of flexibility. It's very good, for example, for playing chants and hymns.
If I need to play something that has E flats and A flats in it, I've got a cross-strung wire harp for that...
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Garden Luna Harp.jpg | 1.15 MB |
| Luna Harp Sharping Blades.jpeg | 92.65 KB |
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iframe code for YouTube Music embed
Sherri: Copy and paste this code into the Source tab of your post (upper left button in formatting toolbar). If you like, I can do this for you.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=OLAK5uy_kNF1XVxYhmlcwmEf_hYMc8FqExWPGF968" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
iFrames
Thanks for doing this for me. I tried doing just that, like a million times. All I got was the code when I previewed it. It wouldn't show me the actual player. Also it gave me a square box that said IFRAME in red. Also I experimented with the Source tab and Rich text and Plain text, as well as the link button. Also switched browsers and it still happened in FireFox. Didn't try it in Chrome.
I'm using Safari 14.0.1 on Mac OS Catalina 10.15.7.
I don't have any browser extensions running, ad blockers and the like.
But thanks for getting that in for me!
www.SherriMatthew.com
www.SherriMatthew.com/wordpress
Code solution
"It gave me a square box that said IFRAME in red".
Yes, that is what you should see until you actually Preview or Save the post. Then it will show up. I suggest you use the Preview option to check your post when in doubt.
The lack of an embed preview while in edit mode is an unfortunate limitation in this old version of Drupal CMS (v6.x) that I have not been able to solve. This website with its dated technology is somewhat analogous to your analog recording studio. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I have been unable to migrate to Drupal 7, 8 or 9 due to programmers who abandoned support for the Audio modules used in this website (which was spun up in 2007).
This is where I found the code solution: https://www.codegrepper.com/code-examples/html/how+to+embed+from+youtube+music
I was unable to find "Share embed code" when I went to your YouTube playlist. Maybe only the channel owner sees the Embed option?
FYI, I use Firefox with Mojave 10.14.6. Embed codes also work fine with Chrome.
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Re: Code Solution
It didn't want to show in Preview either. I knew if I clicked Save that was the same as hitting Publish in WordPress. (Is this a varient of WordPress btw?) I have a very old version of WordPress for my domain site. I had my site admin let me try out the updated version of it and I hated it. It had a very strange interface. Not intuitive like the old one. So I thanked him and kept the old version. It still gives me dire warnings about needing to upgrade but he sees no security threats lurking there and it's comfortable to use, so I continue to use it. One of these days JetPack will break due to obsolence and then I won't have stats any more but oh well...
www.SherriMatthew.com
www.SherriMatthew.com/wordpress
Drupal and WordPress
Drupal is a CMS (content management system) that is totally different than WordPress.org CMS. But both technologies use PHP and a MySQL database. See https://www.drupal.org/
After updating you to WordPress 6.x, your site admin should install these two WordPress plugins to maintain your "Classic" interface experience:
Classic Editor – https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-editor/
Classic Widgets – https://wordpress.org/plugins/classic-widgets/
Half of WordPress users worldwide are not happy at all with the Gutenberg Block Editor. I personally dislike it and have all the websites I maintain using the Classic interface. It's been quite a tug-o-war the past couple years between members of the WordPress development team (who think they are building a better mousetrap) and real-world users who like the relative simplicity of the Classic WordPress.org interface.
I'd be happy to help you get updated to reduce vulnerabilities to your website. I also recommend installing the free version of WordFence Security: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/
I am very experienced with WordPress. See websites I have developed here: https://schlettydesign.com/web/
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Can't embed iframe code
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Can't embed iframe code
I was just now able to replicate with Safari 14.1.2 the blank iframe preview that you encountered. I was logged in as a regular user. Despite there being a white window where the iframe should be, when one hits Preview or Save the YouTube Music playlist does appear.
I next tried the same thing when logged in as admin. The same blank preview appears. I didn't realize that this occurs in Mac Safari.
Next, I tested the same iframe preview in Mac Google Chrome (Mojave 10.14.6). The YouTube playlist appears with both Preview and Save.
Conclusion: the issue is browser-specific, not role-specific.
I doubt that I can do anything to make Safari behave like Firefox and Chrome. Rest assured, you can insert iframe code into future posts (into the Source code editor).
Also try an Apple Music iframe. I used one in this post: https://www.topcatholicsongs.com/hilaire-nakigane-god-is-great
SoundCloud iframes also work well – both single tracks and playlists.
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Can't embed iframe code
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Beautiful soundscapes
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Thanks so much for fixing up the iFrames issue!!
Thanks much for digging into this and finding out what was going on. I was inclined to think it was my machine, as it's actually an iMac early 2009 and it has a version of Catalina on it that's a bit non-standard - Catalina Patcher http://dosdude1.com/catalina/ which is designed for machines that can't really support that OS. So I always figure if something weird happens, well it must be a Catalina thing!
I didn't install this, the machine came with it when I bought it. It's pretty good really, except that you have to be very careful about not accepting every update that Apple pushes out or it will break your software. FCPX comes to mind. That would not run initially until I installed an older version. MS Windows for Mac was also prone to crashing for quite a while but that seems to have settled down.
Btw, thank you very much for your compliments! You've done some awesome stuff yourself, got a lot going on there with your website! You have your own recording studio, I take it? One thing I liked seeing in your photos was the older computers.... I've hung on to all of mine because they are reliable and still work well for graphics production, even if they're no longer Internet secure due to obsolesence. (They work offline now).
www.SherriMatthew.com
www.SherriMatthew.com/wordpress
Old but good technology
My workhorse is of the same vintage as yours. I have an early 2009 Mac Pro (1 TB SSD boot drive, 48 GB of RAM, 2 x 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon). A few months ago I finally did the dosdude1 upgrade hack to Mojave. I had been camped out at High Sierra for quite a while (also thanks to dosdude1).
I also do a lot of work on my 2016 MacBook Pro (internal 500 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM, 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7). As far as perfromance, both machines are about equal!
One thing I encountered with my upgrades to Mojave (on both machines) is occasional random hiccups when recording and playing back audio in Logic Pro X 10.5.1, iTunes and other audio apps. It is a known problem with certain Mac Intel processors when connecting USB-C/Thunderbolt to older USB 2.0 devices. This is vexing many Mac users across many Macs, MacBooks and iMacs and across macOS versions above High Sierra.
I did eliminate audio hiccups on my 2016 MacBook Pro by using a Cable Matters USB-C to 3-Port USB-A 3.0 Hub to connect to my very old M-Audio Duo USB 2.0 Preamp. Now audio works just as well in Logic, Cubase, Final Cut Pro, iTunes and Adobe Audition as it did with High Sierra.
So why am I now camping out at Mojave? I still want to be able to run Adobe Creative Suite 6 (perpetual license) which has 32-bit code in it. I do have a subscription to Creative Cloud (or "Creative Clout" as I like to call it) but do not want to keep paying Adobe monthly forever.
I also booted up my Mac PowerPC G4 yesterday. "Just for old time's sake." Mac OS 10.4.11, 1 GB RAM, 500 MHz PowerPC G4 processor. The browser TenFourFox displays web pages without security blocks or wonky rendering (as Safari 4.1.3 does). I have some old QuarkXPress and PageMaker docs on that G4.
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Re: Old but good technology
This was a useful reference page from Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201736
As you can see, it doesn't do HDMI. Mini DisplayPort appears to be one-way: sends video out, doesn't bring video in. :-(
I looked at Adobe's pricing plan. I do wish they hadn't gotten into that Creative Cloud stuff. I did a nice pdf set of Christmas carols and hymns for my harp and had them printed at my local UPS store, spiral bound and all, but I used MS Word and a program called PDF Professional Suite (one time buy) so I could get my work done and not have to keep paying the monthly fee, considering my typesetting and binding of music books is sporadic. If I did that on a regular basis I would consider it but CC is I think designed for frequent usage.
Quark XPress is (was) a great program. I still have that on my really old Windows machine and I think that is just the best.
www.SherriMatthew.com
www.SherriMatthew.com/wordpress
The Ins and Outs of a 2009 iMac
Have you looked at a FireWire solution for ingesting video into your 2009 iMac?
https://www.synchrotech.com/product-1394/analog-dv-converter_01-dac-200-firewire.html
This DAC 200 model currently not available as new but you may be able to get one used on Ebay.
I recommend you look at the very affordable trio of apps from Serif.com – Affinity Photo, Affinity Design and Affinity Publish. Pay once! The three apps are gaining in popularity as suitable replacements for Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. Only $54.99 each. But watch for a half-price sale as we approach Black Friday.
https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/
A top seller in the Mac App Store – or purchase direct from Serif.
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Mac software
I miss my old Photoshop. I have a sort of Photoshop substitute but the interface is awkward and the layers feature just doesn't cut it. I've developed some work arounds of sorts, but they're time consuming. Thanks for the suggestions! Will definitely wait for a Black Friday sale. At the moment I use two programs together to have some decent typesetting in a final PDF.
Music typesetting is a whole 'nother ballgame. I've gone through a slew of software packages trying to typeset Gregorian chant on one line and modern notation just below it. (This was for my WordPress page). I've decided it's easier just to write it out by hand on blank staff paper and take a picture of it. (I did get blank staff paper that has four lines and then five).
The DAC looks good. Never even thought about the FireWire... I was focused on that mini port and USB and what I could get working there.
www.SherriMatthew.com
www.SherriMatthew.com/wordpress
Music engraving programs
OK. Let's talk about music engraving programs.
I started out with Finale but never did get the hang of note entry and note repositioning. Simply not intuitive.
I then moved over to Avid Sibelius where I gained just enough ability to score simple arrangements: one staff with melody and guitar chords.
Then along came Steinberg Dorico. This has proven to be the best music notation program for my simple needs. I collaborate with André van Haren, an orchestral composer and arranger in Sweden. He absolutely loves Dorico. You should check out Dorico. https://www.steinberg.net/dorico/
All sheet music for my Salmos Responsorales has been engraved using Dorico. For example:
As far as notating Gregorian chant, see the discussion here:
Gregorian chant in Dorico 4?
https://forums.steinberg.net/t/gregorian-chant-in-dorico-4/806905/5
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
Ave Maris Stella
Re: Ave Maris Stella & notation
Hi Richard and Andrzej,
Here's a photo of my handwritten arrangement when I recorded Ave Maris Stella:
Some years ago there was a nice website that allowed you to design your own pdf staff paper and you could add a Gregorian chant staff above a modern notation system. I made a couple of pdfs, one with three modern staves below and another with two. Now I can't find that site anymore, but I still have the blank pdfs I made and print them out from time to time as I need them.
I used to have Gregorio/LaTeX on my machine and it ran well for a while and then it starting misbehaving for some reason. Probably an update that it didn't really need. Maybe I should re-install it and see if it works again. MuseScore is my current typesetter, but just for quickly transposing hymns in modern notation to something my harp can handle. Not sure if it could import something generated by another program. So I've been content with my blank staff pdfs.
Andrzej, here is the album artwork I did for the original CD in 2014:
It is a pencil drawing that went with the liner notes in the CD jewel case.
Everything seems to be easier with pencils! LOL!
www.SherriMatthew.com
www.SherriMatthew.com/wordpress
Gregorian chant notation
As far as export/import, MusicXML format makes it possible to move scores between most music notation programs, including MuseScore. https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/file-formats
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com
NYT article on English composer
Vaughan Williams: Complicated, but Not Quite Conservative
(along with a Spotify playlist)
Hope they do one on Fauré sometime...
www.SherriMatthew.com
www.SherriMatthew.com/wordpress
Vaughan Williams
Richard Schletty | Schletty Design and Music | www.schletty.com