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Music Library Association
Report to ALA Subject Analysis Committee
ALA Midwinter 2014, Philadelphia
Submitted by Hermine Vermeij
LCMPT
Earlier this month LC released a tentative list of the initial 802 terms in the Library of
Congress Medium of Performance Thesaurus for Music (LCMPT), a vocabulary developed
jointly with MLA and approximately four years in the making. Information and the list are
available here: http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/medprf-list.html, and comments may be
sent to Janis Young (jayo@loc.gov) by February 5, 2014.
Some examples of what the new authority records will look like (full records are available
through the Subject Heading Proposal system):
010 $a pp2013015268
040 $a DLC $b eng $c DLC $e lcmpt
162 $a flute
462 $a Boehm flute
462 $a concert flute
462 $a transverse flute
562 $w g $a ductless flute
670 $a Web. 3.
670 $a New Grove Online May 13, 2013: $b flute (Term used to refer to a vast
number of wind instruments, from the modern orchestral woodwind to folk and
art instruments of many different cultures. Generically...any instrument having an
air column confined in a hollow body – whether tubular or vessel – and activated
by a stream of air striking against the edge of an opening, producing what
acousticians call an ‘edge tone’)
680 $i The flute of European art music. For the generic uses of flute see $a
ductless flute $i or $a duct flute.
681 $i Note under $a duct flute; duct flute
010 $a pp2013015282
040 $a DLC $b eng $c DLC $e lcmpt
162 $a gamelan gong gede
462 $a gong gede
562 $w g $a gamelan
670 $a Garland encyc. world music. Southeast Asia, 1998: $b p. 744 (Gamelan
gong gede; largest of Bali's gamelans; only a few sets remain today. Court
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gamelans before colonization, most were reforged as gong kebyar to meet the
change of Balinese aesthetics during and following colonialism)
670 $a New Grove online, May 13, 2010 $b (Indonesia. II: Bali, Lombok and
Sumbawa. 1. Bali. (iii) Gamelan ensembles. (c) Middle ensembles. Gamelan gong
gede ("great gong"). This rare, stately ensemble is closely connected with the
temples and old court ceremonies; instruments are enormous, with thick, bronzekeyed metallophones, gong-chimes, ceng-ceng kopyak and huge drums played
with mallets; the number of musicians required can reach 50)
680 $i A large gamelan ensemble associated with the Balinese temples and old
court ceremonies.
958 $a Origin: Bali Island, Indonesia
010 $a pp2013015099
040 $a DLC $b eng $c DLC $e lcmpt
162 $a boy soprano voice
462 $a boy soprano (singer)
462 $a soprano, boy
462 $a treble voice
562 $w g $a child soprano voice
562 $w g $a male voice
670 $a New Grove Online March 20, 2013: $b Under Soprano (also used for a
boy's treble voice (‘boy soprano’))
Records were often adapted from LCSH records, but many are new or significantly
altered, and each term was examined closely. We added hundreds of scope notes and
changed the scope of many terms (for example, terms for ensembles made up of one
type of instrument such as flute choir and trumpet ensemble are now defined as two or
more of the instrument, as opposed to the complicated definitions of ensembles in LCSH).
The syndetic structure is significantly different from LCSH. Below are the first three levels
of hierarchy:
ensemble
audience
instrumental ensemble
accordion band
balalaika orchestra
band
bowed string ensemble
concertina ensemble
continuo
dulcimer ensemble
electronics
gamelan
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gonrang
keyboard ensemble
harmonica ensemble
jug band
khrū̜ ang sāi
mahōrī
orchestra
percussion ensemble
pipe band
pīphāt
plucked instrument ensemble
plung orchestra
string band
toy orchestra
washboard band
wind ensemble
zither ensemble
mixed media
vocal ensemble
chorus
solo vocal ensemble
performer
actor
audience
celebrant
conductor
dancer
tap dancer
instrument
aerophone
electronic instrument
friction instrument
idiophone
keyboard instrument
mechanical instrument
membranophone
percussion instrument
plucked instrument
string instrument
toy instrument
mixed media
mime
signer
voice
3
singer
speaker
visuals
Best practices for using the medium of performance terms in 382 fields will be our next
project to tackle.
LCGFT
Work on music terms in LCGFT is intensifying now that the initial LCMPT push is over. The
Genre/Form Task Force is drafting scope notes and working on firming up syndentic
structure.
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