Looking to turn over a new leaf in 2021? We’ve got a boatload of new releases to help fuel those musical resolutions! Solos, duets, and ensembles for every ability level are on display in these latest releases – preview three months of new percussion music in just under 4 minutes!

The COVID pandemic is prompting solo & ensemble festivals to go virtual. We aim to help make this as simple as possible for students and teachers. Rest assured, you may continue using music from the Tapspace catalog, both quickly and legally.

As always, we offer extra scores for adjudication at reduced prices. We offer these as physical scores, or (in most cases) as watermarked downloads. Both formats assure adjudicators that you have legally purchased the required number of copies for your event.

Typically, sharing video performances of our music would require a synchronization license. We are waiving these license fees in cases where the event has been forced to go virtual for pandemic-related reasons.

Also, we have joined a collective of publishers organized by the National Federation of State High School Associations. NFHS has established helpful guidelines for assessment recordings and legal usage of sheet music.

Read the Tapspace guidelines on virtual assessment materials. These policies are specific to events occurring during the COVID pandemic in 2020-21.

As always, please be safe. We wish you a successful and inspired Winter/Spring season of music making!

By Matt Ridge
mattridgemusic.com

One of the most popular uses of Tapspace’s flagship software instrument, Virtual Drumline (VDL), is integration with notation software. This produces lifelike, real-time percussion playback for composers/arrangers directly within the compositional workflow. Setup has been made easy in Finale and Sibelius for years thanks to third party plug-and-play mapping templates, such as those produced by The Write Score.

The nerds among us have recently been excited by a newcomer in the music notation market: Dorico. This program, built from the ground up by former Sibelius employees, brings a host of revolutionary features to the table, including: automatic condensing of conductor scores, incredible flexibility in note/dynamic input, cues updated to the source material in real time, handsome engraving defaults, and much more. As a constantly-maturing program, it’s sure to attract percussion composers and marching arrangers in greater numbers over the coming years.

In this email: COVID-19 resources for teaching, Five/Nine Minute Drill online versions, Books available digitally, Tap-Off in the classroom, VDL/Sibelius tip, Videos and latest releases.

Read more…

Greetings from our little corner of the world! 

As cliché as it is to say, “We hope you’re doing well in these unprecedented/uncertain/crazy times in which we live,” we really honestly do. We here at Tapspace HQ have fared well, all things considered, and are grateful for the opportunity to continue working and doing what we do best – releasing great music for all of you in percussion education.

We are thinking of all of you in the teaching community, about your concerns and struggles amidst the pandemic. You are to be applauded for the myriad ways in which you continue to rise to the challenge of keeping students engaged in music and percussion.

Likewise, for students. Has it ever been harder to be a student than it is right now? Your dedication to continue to strive for yourselves and become better players and future teachers is to be commended.  

In that spirit, we wanted to inform you that we have created a special COVID-19 filter on our website that we hope will serve you as you think about your upcoming challenges in the fall.

We have combed through our entire catalog and highlighted the pieces that satisfy the following COVID-era requirements:

While the world shelters in place during the COVID-19 crisis, we are making the popular daily drill methods Five Minute Drill and Nine Minute Drill available online to users who already own the book(s). One of the main benefits from these methods is that students hit them a little bit EVERY DAY. So during these uncertain times of sheltering in place, we want students to continue benefiting from them.

If you are a current user of one of these methods and your students aren’t able to access their physical copy of the book at school, please contact us with your proof of purchase (a receipt, or casual photo of your book(s) will suffice) and request access. We’ll then provide you with information on how you can access these online versions. Online access includes both the book material as well as audio.

New purchases of either of these methods from tapspace.com will automatically include online access instructions. (Note: please purchase the number of copies that corresponds to the number of students who will be using the method.)

Stay safe, and keep practicing!

During these uncertain times, we are taking measures to scale back our operation and take precautions toward the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Following state-mandated social distance guidelines, we are still fulfilling shipments from our office in Portland, Oregon. We will continue to operate in this manner as long as the US Postal Service and UPS remain functional and so long as it is safe for our staff to continue to do so.

Contacting Us:
We will continue to provide the service you’ve come to expect from us, albeit more remotely. Please contact us online rather than via our office phone. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

International Shipments:
For the time-being, we will not be making international, non-US shipments from Tapspace.com. The majority of our catalog is available in downloadable PDF format, so we recommend purchasing your music that way if possible. We also encourage you to check with one of our dealers who may be able to more quickly provide your shipment.