Finding Recordings in Online Databases
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All of the resources shown in this video are available to Western students, staff and faculty and can be accessed through the Western Libraries website or library catalogue. Licensed, online resources can be accessed from off-campus. You will need to log in with your Western ID and password.
Western Libraries has a very rich collection of musical recordings. Some of these are available online, and include live or archived performances from around the world; symphonies, concerts and ballets; documentaries about composers and musicians; and much more. Some of these online recordings databases are library-licensed, meaning we have a subscription to them. Examples include Naxos Music Library, Naxos Jazz, Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall, DRAM, Medici.tv and the Metropolitan Opera.
To find these, go to the music libraries home page www.lib.uwo.ca/music, scroll down and look for the section called "Watch and Listen Online."
Let's take a look in the Naxos Music Library. If you're off-campus, you'll need to login to our proxy server with your Western ID and password. Here we are in the Naxos Music Library. Let's take a look at the Advanced Search. Suppose we're after a guitar piece called "Koyunbaba" by "Carlo Domeniconi." We can put the composer's name in here. Let's click on this; it seems to have identified him with someone in its database. The name of the piece goes under "Work title," and here we have it identified by its opus number 19... and we can type "guitar" under "Featured instrument." Let's see what we find. Okay, 18 different recordings containing opus 19 Koyunbaba. If we were after a recording by a particular performer, we could have added that to our search as well. Let's select one at random here. Here's the piece we're after. We'll need to select it and click on "Play." For more advice on searching for recordings or other music sources, see our "Search Terms for Finding Music" video. https://youtu.be/6TNbXpRo56Y
Some online recordings databases are free. Some online recordings are only available for a fee. Before paying for a recording, check with the Music Library. We may be able to get it for you.
Most citation styles aren't very clear on how to cite music sources. See Indiana University Bloomington's "A Guide for Music Citation - Chicago/Turabian Style" for advice. https://guides.libraries.indiana.edu/c.php?g=516265&p=3529690
These tips can help you, but finding music can be extremely tricky. If you've spent 10 minutes searching and still haven't found what you're after, ask us for help! We can be reached by email musref at uwo.ca, by phone 519-661-3913 or in person in the Music Library. You can contact me, Dan Sich, the Teaching and Learning Librarian covering Music, at dsich2 at uwo.ca or Brian McMillan, Head of the Music Library, at bmcmill2 at uwo.ca.
Western Libraries Music Library: https://www.lib.uwo.ca/music
