The Encyclopedia Voice and Style

[MaestroX]

Who should we aim the encyclopedia at? What kind of voice and style do you think the encyclopedia sound be written in?

[Sheba Queen]

Since the Encyclopaedia project is still at its beginnings, I'd suggest for us to consider a very broad audience, and then select the one which is more relevant. We can't predict now which one will be, so I think we should write the information articles professionally, and the free topic ones with a younger voice. In a wikipedia project everyone writes with its own style. I just suggest to keep it grammatically correct and somehow professional.

Sheba Queen

[MaestroX]

I agree, we keep it professional, maybe in the future we could make articles both for the expert researching further and for the beginner just learning. This is obviously just a thought for when we've got alot of articles and a well layed out encyclopedia

[Sheba Queen]

Yes, absolutely. However school courses have recommenced :eek:, and most probably I won't be able to be online as much (There are so many difficult exams to get ready for...). I won't forget about the Music Encyclopaedia, nor of Music-Web in general, although I won't dedicate as much time. (Plus I'm always supposed to write for other websites, and I work in the evenings and on weekends)
We should get an article management team as soon as possible.
I'll contribute myself whenever it's possible (I even have to get ready for some concerts).
Thank you for your support.

Regards,
Sheba Queen

[MaestroX]

No worries, I understand. Has anyone else got any ideas of how we can quickly put together an article management team?

[Student]

Well the style doesn't matter much to me, but one thing that would be nice would be a list of scholarly resources for all the information. For example under instrumentation Hector Berlioz's Instrumentation should be listed. Similarly under orchestration Rimsky-Korsakov's Orchestration. Each composer should also have well-written scholarly biographies and perhaps even a works list. These resources would be beneficial to real musicians who need information. Let's be honest, no encyclopedia (digital or not) can hold enough information on individual topics, so a combination encyclopedia and bibliography would be most beneficial to serious researchers.


Note: All books should have enough information to be found easily. Ideally, title, author and publisher.

[MaestroX]

If you look at this topic, it discussed the possibility of having sections for Life, Style, Works. So intrumentation would come under style?

I think the idea is great. Maybe we need to start some community collaborations for a composer or two so we can write the articles collaboratively. It would make the articles much better and a higher input of knowledge will be present. What you think?

[Student]

I apologize if I was a little unclear, I was talking about listing Instrumentation and Orchestration in the Instrumentation and Orchestration parts of the encyclopedia. However, insofar as they are important to the composer they should be mentioned on their pages as well. Probably in the "Life" section, although Hindemith's Craft of Composition is about the best summary of his style that you can find... It should probably be left up to the writer.

Actually, a general bibliography and writings section could be added to each page, composer or not. That way the irritating lists wouldn't get in the way of casual readers.

[MaestroX]

Ohh no problem. I just got the wrong end of the stick. Yeah great idea. It would be good to explain this really thoroughly as its a subject that isn't properly covered in many encyclopedias. I supose this ties in with the instrumentation thoughout different eras? Such as the baroque orchestra and classical orchesta?

I often find long lists on wikipedia irritating too, and many of the articles too long and not to the point. Check out the clarinet page i've been working on. It splits up all the main areas such as playing and orchestration and gives good knowledge that a musician/composer needs.