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For the most current info on what's happening (or not happening!) on this site, try this blog: Musings @ DeFord Music If you have questions, I'd like to help. However, the amount of e-mail I receive is staggering, so for the sake of this poor overworked composer, please check the following links before you write to see if your question is answered here: This e-mail link will first give you a pop-up window with a code to enter. That's to certify that you're human and not a spam machine. Sorry for the inconvenience... you just wouldn't believe the spam I get. If you'd rather just type the address into an e-mail, here's my address in a rather cryptic format: (myfirstname)@(mylastname)music.com If you just want to say hello, drop me a line. I'm always glad to hear from you, and the kind encouragement and inspirational experiences you share are invaluable. In the past I've tried to answer every e-mail, but it has become an overwhelming task that takes up so many hours I have no time left to write music--which is, presumably, what you're here for. So as much as I'd like to answer everyone personally, I will only respond to your message if you indicate that a response is requested. Thanks for your understanding!
My CDs are (currently!) manufactured and shipped by Kunaki.com, and yes, they occasionally goof. So far, I'm pleased with their over-all service... knock on wood! If there is any problem with your order, contact them directly at CustomerService@kunaki.com. (If you contact me about it, I'll forward your message on to them, but it will add an extra step... which means extra delay.) Be sure to include your order number. The only way I can know how they perform is from your feedback, so I'd certainly appreciate hearing your comments on them. Return to top of page Problems Downloading MP3 Files Some computers will try to stream all MP3 links instead of downloading them, which can cause problems when you try to save a file. If your computer streams the file when you click the "download" links provided, click the link using your RIGHT mouse button and choose "Save target as..." from the popup menu that appears. Return to top of page Can I sing demos for your site? Most of the demos I use are done by local talent (Colorado Springs area), and are recorded in my home studio. Singers outside my local area will need to have free access to studio facilities or high-quality home recording facilities. A couple of things you should know: --I can't possibly use every singer who sends me a demo--that doesn't mean you're not talented! --There is no money involved in this. Singers on this site do it for the love of the Lord, and a little exposure along the way. If you're not deterred by any of the above, drop me a note. :) Return to top of page Can I copy and share your recordings? This question has a two-part answer. The first part: If you would like to copy and share these recordings with family and friends, feel free. Most of the recordings are downloadable. The ones that have no "download" link are either recordings done by others that appear on commercial CDs, or older recordings of dubious quality that I would prefer not to have distributed. The second part: If you would like to copy and distribute these things on a larger scale than just family and friends... for example, classes, groups, Christmas cards... let's see, what else have I heard of? Youth Conference attendees, Relief Society birthday gifts, Mother's Day ward gifts... I have made available a CD of MP3 files that can be used for this purpose. The CD includes a license for unlimited copying and distribution for non-commercial purposes. It will cost you $16.99+S&H. This does a couple of things for me: it helps to pay for the production and maintenance of this site, and it offers high enough quality MP3s to produce good audio copies. Return to top of page If I send you my lyrics will you write the music? No, sorry. I just don't have the time to do it. You only get so many hours in so many days and years, and you have to pick the things on which you spend them. I currently can't work in anything but trying to keep up with my own compositions. Occasionally people ask if I can arrange their melodies (no, sorry) or produce a written score for them from an audio (a chore rather akin to cultivating your garden with a teaspoon), or write words for their melodies. I just don't have enough hours to add those things to my list at this point. Perhaps if I were the kind of genius who could write The Messiah in 7 days (or 14 or 33 or whatever the currently accepted number is) I'd be able to work it in, but... no. Return to top of page Transpositions I am no longer able to provide transpositions of individual songs on demand as PDF documents. (I have to sleep sometime... ;) However, if you would like a particular song in a key not available on this site, you can go to the Personal Composer website download area, and download and install the demo version of Personal Composer. This demo will allow you to transpose Personal Composer files into any key you like. Send me an e-mail requesting the score you want to transpose, and I'll be glad to send it to you in Personal Composer format. Notes:
--Your transposition will have a "Personal Composer Demo" watermark printed across the page. It's distracting, but that's what we get for using a demo! --Any fonts used in the score that aren't installed on your computer will revert back to your system default. You may want to change them, or download the missing font and install it on your computer. --Please do not distribute transpositions beyond your performers. Refer interested parties to www.defordmusic.com --Unedited transpositions don't always work well. You may end up with imaginary notes... or an accompaniment that "growls..." the transposition may sound heavy (in the case of lowered keys) or tinkly (in the case of raised keys)... transposing choral selections can cause parts to be too low or too high for their assigned voices... there are all kinds of pitfalls. (The whole idea makes me a bit nervous... use good judgment!) Return to top of page Helpful tips and tricks for navigating on the web Your internet navigation will be determined in a great degree by your own browser settings, but here are a few handy hints that make web surfing easier: --The right (as in, "not left") mouse button is your friend. The popup menu that appears changes depending on the context, allowing you all sorts of choices: you can save linked files to your drive; you can copy a link to paste into an e-mail; you can add a link to your bookmarks... you can do many clever things, all with the right mouse button. Try it. You'll like it! --Ctrl+f is a great little combination. Translated, it means "find on this page the text I am about to type." For instance, if you were looking for the word "hippopotamus" on this page, you could hold down the Ctrl button (bottom left of your keyboard) and press "f" at the same time, and a little box would pop up, allowing you to type the word "hippopotamus," for which it would then search, finding it exactly twice. --Use Firefox. And after you're hooked on Firefox, install some cool little functions called extensions. Never see ads. Never put up with pop ups. Do even more clever things. Return to top of page Software Questions Music Notation: The notation program I use is Personal Composer. Visit them on the web at www.pcomposer.com. Their site contains a downloadable demo version that is fully functional with only one exception--you can't save your work. PDF Creation: PDF files are created using Adobe Acrobat. It's pricey. There are some cheaper PDF creators out there, such as eDocPrinter PDF Pro and PDF-XChange, but I have found that the files they produce cause problems for some users, so I stay with Acrobat. Audio Playback: For MP3 playback and encoding, and for ripping CDs, try the QCD Player. A most excellent player/encoder--the best I've found. HTML Editors: I tend to do mine in WordPad, because I use fairly simple HTML. If you want to build your own website, but haven't a clue about HTML, try Netscape Composer. It works like a word processor and is very easy to use. (Yes, it has some drawbacks that you'll discover as you get the hang of things, but it's a good place to start.) Browsers: I'm hooked on Firefox--absolutely the best. Sequencing: I'm using Steinberg's Cubase SX. It's pricey, it's not too user-friendly, but it does exactly what I want so I'm happy. Return to top of page How do I start a similar site of my own? Short question... long answer. Grab a soda. First, you'll need to get your music into a format that is accessible by the majority of web users. I use PDF because almost everyone has the Adobe PDF Reader already (unless they're still running a Compy 386). The drawback here is that you need Adobe's full-blown Acrobat program to produce the PDF files (unless you can get one of the free or cheaper imitations to work well for you), and Acrobat is fairly expensive. Other formats can work as well--people have used .jpg files, Finale files (which have to be read with the proprietary Finale Viewer freebie), Personal Composer files (for which you need the Personal Composer reader freebie), and various and sundry other formats. I'm really not familiar with using any but .pdf because that's what I've always used. After you have your music in a share-able (another made up word I think) format, you'll need to concoct a web site to make it accessible to others. HTML isn't really too difficult if you want a simple site. More complicated features on a site will require more knowledge and work. I keep mine very simple because I don't have the time or inclination to add all the gadgets, and I don't think that's what my average site visitor is after anyway. If basic HTML scares you, download the old 4.x Netscape Navigator (another freebie) with the Composer option. Use the composer just like a word processor to concoct your site. It has some limitations and drawbacks that you'll discover as you become more adept, but it's a good place to start because it's free and easy. There are many other html editors available--a Google search for "html editor" should give you some options. Next, you'll need a place on the web to store your pages. This is called a "host." There are many hosting companies out there, some good, some bad, some cheap, some pricey. If you're just starting out, you might want to look for one with a web-based uploader (the tool you use to get those pages you created from your computer to the host's computer). If you're familiar with FTP, you won't need to worry about that. Once again, just Google "web hosts" or something similar, and you'll get plenty of options. That's really all there is to the basic site. If you add audio, you'll also need to think about how to host those. If you use your web site host, audio files will chew up a lot of data transfer (the bytes your host sends to the users that click your links) and you could end up paying quite a bit for it. I use SoundClick to host mine, because they charge a flat fee, and allow me to link to the tracks directly from my site instead of sending users through a SoundClick page. There are many other fun things that can be added to your site if you're interested. (I'm not, but you may be!) By the way, if you want to see the Cadillac of sheet music download methods, check out the Interactive Music Player (hymn playback/transpose/print functions) at lds.org. Nice! Return to top of page Download/printing problems All scores are PDF files. You'll need the free PDF Reader from Adobe to view or print them. If you need help with the Reader download, click here. You'll need to both download the Reader, and then install it. (If you've downloaded it and the music still isn't showing up, make sure you've actually installed the program.) If your computer tries to open the PDF scores with something other than the Adobe PDF Reader, it is because the file associations on your computer are incorrect. The simplest way to correct this is to just re-install the Reader. It is also possible to manually re-associate .pdf files with the Reader, but it's a pain in the neck. :) Many problems are caused by using very old versions of the Reader. (As of October 2007, they're on version 8.1.1.) If you're having trouble, make sure your Reader is up to date. If you click a score download link and find that the words are gibberish, or the staff lines are missing, or the notes are little boxes, or the screen stays blank... or... or.... any number of other graphic glitches, try this: Click the download link using your RIGHT mouse button, and choose "Save target as..." or "Save link as..." (the exact wording depends on your browser) to save the file to your drive. Remember where you put it! Open the PDF Reader manually (either from the icon on your desktop, or from your Start/Programs menu at the lower left of your screen). Choose File/Open from the Reader menu to open the saved file. This removes the browser from the loop and solves almost every graphic problem I've encountered. If the downloads still won't work for you, write to me at the help address above. Pleeeeease include as much detail as possible, including your operating system (Win98, 2000, XP, Mac, etc.), the version of the PDF Reader you are using, the name and version (solo, satb, saa, etc.) of the score that's giving you trouble, and exactly what is happening. (I'm not as omniscient as I'd like my kids to believe I am... it's really hard to give you good advice unless I have some detail to go on!) Return to top of page Copyright & Permission Questions Some things you may do with this music: --You may make as many copies of the scores as you need provided you are not reselling them. --You may store the downloadable MP3 files, and copy and share them with family and friends. --You may download the MP3s and burn CDs for personal use if you have that capability. --You may include the lyrics on printed programs. --You may reprint the music on printed programs for congregational singing. --You may use the accompaniment tracks to produce your own recordings for personal use. Please see the recordings section for further information. --You may copy the Site CD to share with family and friends. --You may perform this music royalty-free for church, school, or community events. Some things you may not do with this music: --You may not print copies for commercial sale. --You may not burn or copy CDs for commercial sale or for mass distribution. --You may not alter or arrange lyrics or music. See the arranging section for more details. --You may not produce commercial recordings of this music without permission. See the recordings section for further information. For general information on U.S. copyright law, see the U.S. Copyright Office Website. Return to top of page Audio Questions The MP3 files on this site are hosted at soundclick.com. They charge me a flat fee for hosting, no matter how many times the files are played, so play away. However, I do have a bandwidth limit, so if you intend to play the same song several times, you would do me a huge favor if you'd download it first and play it from your local disk. Songs may be played directly from the MP3 links, or from my pages at http://www.soundclick.com/sallydefordmusic. Choose the connection speed that's appropriate for you--"dialup" for modems, "hi-speed" for cable, DSL, etc. MP3 files may also be downloaded. Download links are on the "recordings" page, and on individual song pages. Audio CDs contain higher-quality versions of the same recordings used for the MP3s. I am no longer using RealAudio files because they account for huge amounts of data transfer from my web host. Most web hosts, including mine, allow a limited amount of data transfer before they start charging you extra for their services. Hosting RealAudio files is just too expensive. Return to top of page Requests If there's something you would like to request, I'll be happy to hear about it. The bad news is... this is my hobby, not my paid profession. I'll add requests to my "good ideas" list, and hope to get to them at some point during this millenium, or possibly the next. Please bear in mind that I rarely do arrangements of music that is still under copyright, for which I have to obtain permission and pay royalties. (Many of the hymns in the LDS hymnbook are still under copyright.) Return to top of page What's your recording studio like? Heh heh. This is a question that always brings a smile (more of a smirk, really) to my face. My recording studio is an empty bedroom in my home. I'd post a picture, but it's really very ugly. The walls, of course, needed insulation to absorb unwanted reflected sound, so I bought some fancy sound insulation in the form of $19.95 quilts from WalMart and hung them from hooks screwed into the ceiling. We call it our "padded cell." When it's time to record, I take the phone off the hook, turn off the house fan, tell the kids to keep it down, and we're rolling. I record directly to computer, using Cubase SX. I have a couple of different mics that I use--none of them cost me nearly as much as the $18,000 model I saw listed on some recording artist's preference list. If you're setting up your own digital home studio, do some reasearch on mics--they're going to be a potentially weak link in your setup. Any time you have to convert analog to digital (which is where you're at with a mic) it can be problematic. I won't recommend a "good mic" because different voices will do better with different models. However, for around $300 you can get a serviceable, workhorse mic. And make sure you use good cables. They can end up costing you a small fortune, but they're worth it. You'll get a lot of extra noise if you use cheap cables. My sound card is currently the EMU 1820m (the one with the breakout box that holds the A/D converter and puts all the connnections within easy reach). It has a bunch of features I like and a bunch that I don't use, but the most important thing about it is a low signal to noise ratio. My curent "piano" is (are?) a virtual instrument called "Ivory" made by Synthogy. Most of the instruments I use are also virtual instruments (such as Garritan's Personal Orchestra, which I really like), except where a live musician's name is noted. I also use disks full of fun and interesting samples from Bolder sounds in Kurzweil format. Return to top of page How many people are on your staff? Yes, people seriously want to know this. For your edification, I am including here a picture of my staff. In it you will see my manager, my sound technician, my scheduler, my data entry clerk, my HR chief, and my janitorial crew:  Her name is Tokio, and she belongs to my daughter. Anything involved in this composing/publishing/recording operation that she can't do, I do myself. Return to top of page Firesides Due to family demands, I am currently unavailable for speaking engagements. One of these days this will change... I'll keep this spot updated. Return to top of page Where can I find...?? As much as I wish I were as smart as the local library information desk... I'm not. If you're looking for sheet music by a particular composer, or a song sung by a particular singer, or a published song arranged for a particular voicing, try www.daymurraymusic.com--they seem to have just about everything, and a searchable database as well. Return to top of page Changing/Unsubscribing your update list address For privacy reasons, Yahoo!Groups won't let me modify your membership information or your e-mail address. Here's an easy way to change your address with them: Subscribe your new address here... ...and remove your old one by sending an e-mail from the address you wish to unsubscribe to DeFord_Music_Update-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. If the address you wish to unsubscribe is no longer a valid e-mail address, don't worry--it will be deleted automatically. Return to top of page Biographical Information There's not a whole lot to tell, but here goes... I was born June 10, 1959 in Eugene, Oregon, USA. I have lived in Colorado Springs, CO, since 1988 with my husband, Dennis, our four kids--Jennifer, Holly, Amy, and Danny--two smart dogs and one very dumb cat. (Update: This past year the very dumb cat became, for the first time in her 9 lives, an angelic cat, at the ripe old age of 19. Another Update: In September (07), one of our dogs left us to join the cat--presuming the cat went to heaven. Hmmm.) In my spare (ha!) time I like to grow perennial flowers and read. My favorite authors (in no particular order) are Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Anthony Trollope, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Elizabeth Peters, Anne Bronte, O. Henry... (this list may have an end--I haven't found it yet). I am currently serving as Relief Society President in my ward. Return to top of page Recordings If you would like to make recordings of these songs for your own personal use, and for limited distribution to family and friends, feel free. (Send me a copy! I'd love to hear you.) You're welcome to use the accompaniment tracks provided if you wish. If you would like to make recordings of these songs for wider distribution or for commercial purposes, contact me by e-mail. Return to top of page Arranging or altering the music or lyrics Unless specifically noted on the download page for a particular song or program, I do not permit arranging of the music, or altering or modification of the lyrics, with one exception: If you would like to modify voice parts to fit your particular group of singers or instrumentalists (e.g., change SSA to SATB, etc., or score the music for instruments), you may do so provided you do not distribute the modified copies beyond your performers. When it comes to changing my lyrics, just don't ask. My lyrics are sometimes less-than-masterful poetry, but they are... mine. My children... my babies... hmmm... if they were real babies I might let you change them. ;) Return to top of page Will you ever record any choral demos? Eventually. Maybe. Choral demos are harder to produce in a home studio than solo or duet renditions. There's the problem of where to put the singers, how to mic them, how to come up with enough headsets... Choral recordings done in the typical chapel aren't "present" enough to make good MP3s. Eventually I'll figure out this pretty little problem, but it would be easier if I could just win a million dollars in the McDonald's Monopoly game and build my own studio. (Anybody got a "Boardwalk" ?? :) Return to top of page User Submissions If you would like to translate any of the songs on this site into a non-English language, feel free. If you e-mail me your translation I can make it available to others on my Translations page. I'm not a publisher in general, and I just don't have the hours in a day to offer feedback on original music. Please do not send me scores or recordings for publishing consideration, for arranging, voicing or notation, or for critique or feedback. I do, however, accept and post user-submitted programs in text format as a resource for other site users. If you have programs you have put together for Christmas, Easter, Relief Society, or other holidays or functions, I'd love to post them to my user submission pages. Please be sure your submission does not violate copyrights, and include as much information on the music as possible (composers and publishers are especially helpful) so others can find it. If the music is your own original material, please indicate how the scores may be obtained. I prefer MSWord documents, but plain text in the body of an e-mail works too. Return to top of page Do you have... ...other songs that aren't available here? ...instrumental scores that aren't listed here? ...scores for the accompaniments used in the recordings? ...guitar chords for your music? ...recordings that aren't listed on your recordings page? ...MIDI files? ...etc. :) No. Everything I have ready for public consumption is available here on the website. I always have a few things in the works, and they'll be posted when they've been subjected to sufficient worry, husbandly critique, editing and proofreading. I tend to be a perfectionist (though I never hit perfection) and I fuss over things for quite awhile before they're ready to post. Who was it that said, "Do your best... that's bad enough..." ??? ;) Special note about MIDI files: I realize that many of you would like MIDI files for the sheet music. However, as I compose the music, I set the files up for optimum graphics, not MIDI playback. It would take quite a bit of time (and effort... hey, I'm lazy!) to produce good MIDI files in addition to everything else. So I don't do MIDI files. However, if you'd like to convert sheet music to MIDI, try this nice little program called Sharpeye. You can try it free for 30 days, after which you need to register it. Return to top of page How is this site funded? Well, mostly out of my pocket, but I use the few dollars I make on audio CDs and the Site CD to subsidize my habit. You can also order stuff you're going to buy anyway from Amazon.com using this link, and they'll give me a minor share of the spoils. I do not solicit or accept donations, and except for a few Amazon.com links I don't post advertising on this site (slows the loading time down too much). Running a site like this does cost a bit, but if you're thinking of creating your own, don't be discouraged! Some of the free web hosts will work just fine until your site gets too big for its britches. Return to top of page BUGS If you find an error in the PDF scores, or on any of these web pages, I would be very grateful if you'd let me know by e-mail. As hard as I try, mistakes often slip by me. I appreciate your help! Return to top of page Is this music available other than by download? The simple answer is... not really. The longer answer is... you can order the Site CD and print the music directly from your computer. A few songs have been published in the LDS Church magazines, and are available at www.lds.org--just go to the "Gospel Library" section and do a search for "Sally DeFord." An SA version of "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" (different from the ones offered on this site) arranged by Jerry Jackman is available here. Because it's so time-consuming, I can no longer provide paper copies via snail-mail. Return to top of page What exactly is "spam?" Well, it's a tinned meat you'll find on your grocery store shelves. I personally think it's nasty, but I knew one girl in grade school who actually liked it. In internet terms, however, it's the cyber-equivalent of "junk mail." Spam often includes (but certainly isn't limited to) virus warnings, pleas for help for non-existent sick kids, e-petitions (which are basically ineffective), jokes and lists of funny stuff or trivia, and yes, even very nice, sweet stories and poems--the problem with the latter being... how many copies does one person need? In my book if you don't type it with your own ten (or two, as the case may be) fingers, it's spam. Spam happens when you hit the button marked "Forward" on your e-mail program, and ship things on to everyone in your address book. Sometimes you're actually sending things on to more people than you think. In some e-mail programs, the default setting is to put everyone to whom you ever reply into your address book. When you hit that innocent-looking little forward button, the latest bit of internet lore may well be sent on to people you didn't know were even on the list. Check your e-mail settings, and use the "Forward" button with discretion! Return to top of page Why do you give music away instead of selling it? a. I'm insane b. I'm already filthy rich c. To spite my hard-working husband d. I'm doing penance for the jawbreaker I shoplifted* when I was five Okay, okay, it's none of the above, although a. might well be true. I guess it's just because I can. The Lord has placed me in circumstances that currently don't demand extra income, he has inspired the creators of technology to produce programs that I can use to publish the music without the assistance of typesetters, and he has given me a gift that I did nothing to earn. Sharing seems logical. *Yes, I really did shoplift a jawbreaker when I was five. I took it from its place among its fellows, and held it clutched tightly in my hot little fist, intending to beg my grandmother for a nickel with which to buy it. But it fit so comfortably and felt so nice that I soon forgot it was there. By the time we left the shop it was also comfortably sticky and mutilated, and I ate it with enthusiasm, only remembering afterward that I had not paid for it. I cried for hours, but was too afraid to tell anyone and atone for my terrible misdeed. Ah, the trials of childhood. Return to top of page What's a good book for learning theory (or notation, or...)? There are millions of good books out there. Here are a few reference books that work. I'm also listing some miscellaneous, well-loved items (you'll see that my tastes are a bit eclectic) that I thought I might as well throw in just for fun. If you order these using the Amazon links provided, they will send me a few cents, but note that you may be able to find them cheaper at Half.com or some similar site.
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