What we are learning

Saturday, 20 December 2009

Our annual sale just completed. The valuable part about having sale like this is that we get to see the realities. We can observe in a concentrated time which of our publications are useful and which are vain expressions of fitful fantasy.

We are facing a new year now. We still need easy pieces which are beautiful. By easy, I mean, start with unison. Add a harmony line as a change of pace, and divide to four voices, possibly, just at cadences. Texts must be expressed in the first person, i.e. like "I Need Thee Every Hour", "Abide with Me", "Because I Have Been Given Much". These hymn texts are not classic by accident.

4 June 2009

Carole and I were in Nassau, Bahamas on vacation last week, and happened to meet the Nassau branch choir director, Luicito Bazard while we were there. It interesting to compare his experience building a choir with ours. Most of the choir members have not been trained to read music. He spends time teaching parts by rote. Members often move away to school, get married, and never return. It's a constant process. He needs worthy music which can be performed by untrained voices.

Carole and I came home more dedicated to publishing accessible music constructed to the highest quality standards of art and music. We believe it will happen as we educate and become more attuned spiritually. We must take caution not to be influenced by pride and tradition.

Submission

Monday, 29 July 2015

Submitting work to Jackman Music Corporation

Manuscripts may be submitted any of in three ways:

1. email  your work formatted: Sibelius 6 or earlier, Finale 2010 or earlier, or .pdf to jackmanmc@aol.com. (Sibelius is our preference.)

2. Fax your manuscript to (801) 225-0851
3. Send a recording—mp3, or CD

4. Mail a paper copy of your work (with an SASE for return) to:

Editorial Board

JACKMAN MUSIC CORPORATION

P.O. Box 1900

Orem UT 84059-1900  USA

Points to remember

1. You are responsible to have cleared rights for any outside copyright use.

2. Contact us before arranging any hymn. More arrangements of "Come Come Ye Saints", "Oh How Lovely Was the Morning", and many others are no longer needed.

3. Check the posting "Current Needs" for specifics.

Seasons

When to Submit:

DEADLINES

Christmas music (the Baby's birth) - April 21

Piano solo books and sheet music - February 1
Easter (Resurrection) - October 1

Instrumental solos and ensembles - all year

Hints

1.  Lyric written in the first person is far more powerful than in sermon style. For example, rather than “Go ye forth...”, use “I will go forth...”.  Rather than “Harken and obey...” use “I will obey...”; etc.

2.  An hymn arrangement whose distinction lies only in its voicing, key changes, accompaniment texture, etc., is not perceived by the public as being original. It must contain at least 50% ORIGINAL MELODY. Consider J. S. Bach's hymn arrangement Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring as an example. No one remembers the hymn tune. It is Bach's flowing melodic setting which instills life in this arrangement—still recorded over and over after 286 years.

Jackman Music Corporation's mission is to the Ward Choir and families. Choral works should be SAB, SATB, SSA, or TTBB, with warm and rich rather than austere harmony. Ward Choir budgets are woefully small. They must consider carefully how they spend their funds. Consider what your ward choir is actually singing. A Psalm setting for example, though worthy, is not usually practical. 

Have your choir rehearse and perform each work you write. You will soon see the realities of choir music in the Church. Write for the simplest of Saints using your most worthy art. Please refrain from writing commandments and sermons. Instead, give us music that quiets the heart, that comforts, that inspires us to repent and change our lives. Write about the Savior and his teachings. Tell us how you feel about Him in your music.