Creighton University

Flautist Alex Smith at Good Friday liturgy, 2006.

The following are helpful websites, organizations, and companies which can be real assets in ministry and musical development. I'm always keeping an eye out for beneficial resources; if you know of a resource that might be useful to the rest of us, please let me know!

 

National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM): An organization of liturgical and musical ministers, offering many opportunities for support, education, and development. Annual memberships available. NPM offers annual regional and/or national conventions, as well as clinics, retreats, certifications, and publications.

Choral Public Domain Library: This is an absolutely fantastic resource! Thousands of "public-domain" (copyright-free) choral scores are available for download. Everything from Gregorian chant to avant-garde contemporary works.

The Center for Liturgy at St. Louis University: Reflections, guidance, and suggested music for each Sunday of the liturgical year.

GIA Publications: Chicago-based publisher of sacred music and educational resources. Publishers of our Gather and Gather Comprehensive hymnals. If you're looking for scores or recordings of most of the material we use at St. John's, you'll probably find it here.

Oregon Catholic Press (OCP): Non-profit publisher of sacred music. Publishers of our Breaking Bread annual music issue, as well as the repertoire of our own Fr. Roc O'Connor and the rest of the St. Louis Jesuits . If you're looking for scores or recordings of most of the material we use at St. John's, you'll probably find it here.

tonywardmusic.com: Tony's personal site, featuring demos and sample scores of his original liturgical compositions.

World Library Publications (WLP): Publisher of a wide variety of liturgical music.

Midwest Sound and Lighting: An Omaha-based sound system and equipment dealer with some very impressive credentials. Midwest is our service provider at St. John's.

Hargiss Stringed Instruments: Located at 6061 Maple, John Hargiss is a "legend" among Omaha-area musicians for his repairs, service, and sales. Email: hargissstrings@cox.net. Phone: 558-9551.

Musician's Friend: A catalog and internet superstore for gear, accessories, and learning materials. Whether you need new guitar picks or a full recording studio, they have it for you.

JB Sound: An online and eBay music merchant specializing in recording, live sound, microphones, and accessories. Their website also includes several reviews, articles and resources for musicians of every skill level.

MakeMusic!, Inc.: MakeMusic! is an industry-leading publisher of award-winning software for music composition and skills training, including Finale, Finale Guitar, Finale Notepad, SmartMusic, and PrintMusic.

Apple, Inc: The makers of the iPod and the Mac, two revolutionary products which can be terrific tools for music makers and music lovers. Every Mac comes standard with iLife, including the terrific audio program GarageBand. For the pro, Apple also publishes several industry-standard media applications, such as Logic Express and Logic Studio. And yes, Macs can run Windows, too.

Garritan: Gary Garritan produces wonderful and realistic software instruments for Mac or PC. I use the Garritan Personal Orchestra extensively in my composition and recording; he also offers a Jazz & Big Band collection as well as collections of individual instruments.

Felt Tip Software: This company publishes a low-cost recording app called Sound Studio, which has a remarkable set of record and edit capabilities, along with the ability to save to a variety of sound file formats. Worth far more than it costs!