Books and Scores
We have been preparing books and score publications for eventual release. The first score publications that Don created were hand drawn and date from about 1972. At the bottom of the page, we list our own Musical Kaleidoscope World One through World Four publications and our catalogue. We have not yet provided a list of the many book reprints and other publications that are in the queue to be republished.
Don and Mary Ellen
Music Scores
“I have been preparing music scores for publication since 1972, when I stood over copy machines in major university libraries copying from rare editions of music that I later transcribed by hand from the original no-longer-used music notation. I made a big leap forward during the period of 2009-2016, as digitized scores became available online. Mary Ellen and I maintained book cases filled with binders that contained the scores for the volumes that are listed in the iUniversity Harmony Division.
“Our goal is to publish score editions in four formats: digital, spiral bound (for study), perfect bound (for libraries) and some in video ‘follow-along’ versions.”
Don Robertson
Our Binder Room in Nashville (2018)
Books
In 2017, we began preparation on a set of five books about our Musical Kaleidoscope project. We printed copies of the first two books. We did not complete books 3 and 4 due to the necessity of beginning work on our show, class, score, and documentary videos. However, book 3 is complete except for final edits, and we hope to include it here soon.
Musical Kaleidoscope Books
The Musical Kaleidoscope World One Book (2017)
World One features an exploration of the great popular and folk-music genres of American music that have influenced music around the world. These traditions are reviewed in our publication The Musical Kaleidoscope Project: World One.
The Musical Kaleidoscope World Two Book (2017)
World Two takes us beyond the borders of the USA in directions both east and south, where we explore the popular and folk-music traditions of Europe, and south of the border to Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador and Bolivia.
The Musical Kaleidoscope World Three Book (2017)
World Three takes the music explorer into the exotic realms of music belonging to Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East. We discover the ancient music of China, investigating its many traditions, the music of Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, the popular traditions of India, the music of Africa, and ancient music traditions from the Muslim world.
The Musical Kaleidoscope World Four Book (in progress)
It has been said that popular music is for the many, classical music for the few. We hope that is not true, and wish everyone would enjoy the rich rewards of the truly great classical music traditions of India and Europe, the latter minus the discordant musical experiments of the 20th Century.
The Musical Kaleidoscope Catalogue
An important aspect of Musical Kaleidoscope, which we first developed in the 1980s, is the interplay between music cultures, and the exploration of instruments and styles that span cultures. Our publication for multiple worlds will be a complete catalogue and description of the videos that we have been preparing for eventual use in the Musical Kaleidoscope project.