Moving with the Times: from Magic Lanterns to Silent Movies

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

My new schedule entails thinking about an Edinburgh publisher whilst I’m in Edinburgh, and writing about various other aspects of my research on my Glasgow days.

I have an article I’m actively gearing up to write; another requiring tweaking; a couple more requested; and lastly, a new avenue for which I’ve identified a journal, but not yet completed the research. Quite a bit of writing!

But first, in the first article, we have the soprano and her repertoire.  And her ‘go-to’ encore.  And if you thought I got excited about magic lanterns – new technology for late Victorians – well, you can imagine my excitement at the thought that I may need to watch a silent film soon.

Why? A musicologist watching something in silence?  What does silence have to do with music (apart from John Cage’s 4’33”, of  course)?

You see, I think this film may have influenced her choice of encore. So, firstly, I’m awaiting an eBay copy of the novel on which the movie was based.  And then, I’m waiting to find out if I can watch the movie without leaving Scotland.

She wasn’t a film actress herself, so my whole quest is a bit tangential – I’m not thinking about nipping down to London unless it’s absolutely unavoidable. But I could  …

Meanwhile, I reflect that watching silent moving pictures must have been enormously exciting if you had grown up with the occasional magic lantern show.  And when, in due course, talkies came in … it’s hard to imagine how amazing that must have been.  Small wonder that printed music took a bit of a nosedive in the late 1920s – the options for entertainment outside the house were expanding all the time.

I’m eagerly awaiting news of my chances to watch this intriguing spectacle!

Season’s Greetings! Even Research Fellows Take a Break …

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

So, the book was published. What next, you ask? Well, I’ve recently submitted a couple of articles, one about some women related to Scottish music publishers, and one about an 18th-19th century supporter of Highland culture. I’m patiently waiting to hear if either article finds a home – and impatiently waiting to see if the book gets decent reviews! I see a couple of libraries have already got it in stock, which is comforting.

Now, I have an article to write (about two famous Scottish singers) and then in January I’m off on a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Edinburgh. These are exciting times!

Twirling like a Top?

However, first it’s time for the crescendo of Christmas to reach its peak, and then a few days of diminuendo and rallentando to a graceful pause. I generally find that after I’ve recovered from organising the family festivities, I’m raring to get going on some writing, so hopefully I’ll get that article at least drafted before I embark on the Edinburgh adventure.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone gets just the right balance of rest, relaxation and fun. If it’s a quiet or subdued time for you, then I hope that you’ll find solace in the small things, and the comfort and companionship of friends.

Back soon!

Mangled! (Phew, that was a Major Undertaking)

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

I’ve been working on a very long article, for quite a few weeks. Finally, today, I reached the point where I’d compared my manuscript with the style guide, and worked out how to actually submit the piece. What with Web of Science and ORCID numbers, before I could even start completing the submission form, it was quite an undertaking. But – it’s done! Hooray!

And what popped into my mind, but the most unusual gift anyone has ever given me. When I was about eight years old, my paternal grandmother proudly presented me with …

… a mangle! (Was I meant to mangle my smalls, or my dolls’ clothes? Who knows.)

Anyway, I feel somewhat mangled after the effort of getting that manuscript ‘into the system’, so now I shall go and put the kettle on for yet more tea, before I tidy my desk and start thinking about the next idea for an article! The peer review process still fills me with apprehension – no-one likes the thought that someone else might demolish your efforts with a few well-chosen epithets – but I’ve done my best, so now I just have to wait and see!

Scheduling!

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

This morning, I was talking to students about devising a structure for a research project – and scheduling the writing of it. Oh, I waxed lyrical. I explained how I scheduled my PhD chapters, and more recently, I scheduled my second book chapters, editing, indexing and so on. All perfectly true. It’s how I meet deadlines, ensuring I don’t overlook anything crucial. For me, this works; I do accept that not everyone likes to organise themselves this way, though.

But things have been a bit disarranged this autumn – I’ve actually been robbing myself of free time in my enthusiasm to do the scholarly things that I never felt I had enough time for before! This autumn, I had the book launch to look forward to, as well as some teaching (an unexpected bonus), and the writing of a substantial article. I had a couple of other writing ideas lined up for after I’d finished the aforementioned article, and I have been eagerly looking forward to my fellowship in Edinburgh next year – I don’t want to get started on that particular project until I have a desk in Edinburgh.

However, I’m just at the end of the substantial article, and now I need to check it meets the house style of the journal I’m hoping to submit it to. The other writing ideas? I think they’re likely to spill over into my RCS research existence in the days when I’m not in Edinburgh next year!  (For a start, I haven’t delved quite deep enough to have a clear grasp of certain nuances.)

How did December creep up on me so sneakily?! Suddenly, semi-retired or not, I find I have the usual scramble to plan Christmas music, Christmas presents and all the usual seasonal silliness. If anyone sees a little semi-retirement just roaming around looking displaced, please turn it round gently and send it back to me. I’ll have to continue working on my time management skills – I think I’m guilty of allowing part-time commitments to overflow into time that isn’t actually meant to be work!

My new year’s resolution? Still to achieve work-life balance!

Positivity and Gratitude

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

They do say that a good way of nurturing a positive attitude is to focus on the good things that happen each day, whether small or large. In that respect, today has been a very good day.

Garden border with white stone rope edging
  • A surprise gift received.
  • Positive feedback on a choral composition that I finally dared to share.
  • Organ practice – done √
  • A couple more pages of my ongoing article written. Not yet finished, but progress, anyway √
  • A modern hymn harmonised for the choir √
  • Don’t laugh! I’ve sourced, locally, precisely ten feet of white Victorian stone rope edging for a garden border, which has lacked precisely ten feet of white stone rope edging for a considerable number of years. I can’t describe the satisfaction and sense of completion which this will bring once I’ve collected and embedded it!

Knowing Where to Draw the Line

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

I am capable of searching obsessively for the most minute detail. On and on I go. Former librarians do not like giving up, and I’m afraid to say that by the time I’ve finished, I’m pretty certain that I’ve either found all that’s online to find, or it isn’t there.

So, I started writing an article last week.  I have plenty of data.  Why, I even have a scanned document from the National Library of Australia, and I have a photo of one individual that I never expected to find at all.

Nonetheless, on Saturday night, I thought of another search that I hadn’t tried.  Oh, my!  Immediately,  I found one of my musical Scotswomen exactly where I had wanted to find her. Very satisfying.

I went to bed thinking about my search strategy. I had breakfast and did a bit more before going out. This afternoon? Yup, back at it again.

South of the Border …

I think I persevered a tad too long. I found more adverts for her works.  I explored the names of professionals who performed them.  I even searched for pictures of the now-demolished theatre where one piece was performed.  (Oh yes, I found it.)  She may not even have seen that herself!

Finally, I found her advertising the services of two particular performers for whom she had written music.  Not Scots, either.  But that’s enough.  I suspect she didn’t do a lot more after that, or I’d surely have found it.

Am I drawing the line here, then?  Well, I have a couple of archival queries that I simply must see through to the bitter end, but then?  I’m still a part-time researcher.

Better get on with the writing in the time allocated to research! 

Weird! Discussing an Article Title with Chat GPT

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

Did I imagine, even 15 years ago, that I’d be discussing a potential article title with an AI function? Sure, I benefited hugely from online resources during the writing of my PhD in 2004-9. However, even social media was only just getting off the ground – I don’t remember engaging with it until after the PhD was completed. Even then, if you asked a question, it was answered by another human being.

Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay

However, I came up with the ‘perfect’ article title before I fell asleep last night. So perfect that I could remember it in the morning, when I checked to see if anyone else had already used the opening killer three words before. And, unfortunately, they had. Spelled the American way, the phrase had been used for an American actress’s book that was a combination of ‘lifestyle’ and autobiography. It appears that my beautiful three words described a particular kind of Southern Belle. This was absolutely not what I expected to find. Even with the British spelling, I couldn’t begin my journal article with a recent book title! Particularly when it was on such a very different topic.

I played around with a new title. Should I run it past someone else to see if it sounded appropriate? That felt a bit extreme. It’s just a title, that’s all. I know what I’m going to write about.

And then I remembered Chat GPT. I’ve experimented with it on a microscopically small scale, as you’ll recall. Really, just enough to find out for myself where its strengths and weaknesses might lie, in case anyone asked me what I thought. And then I had stepped back, wary of committing my own words to the big robot in the sky.

Today, I typed tentatively,

‘How about this for an article title:- […] ?’

Chat GPT was impressed!

Your proposed title, ” … ” is compelling and effectively captures the essence of your article. It suggests that the research will challenge preconceived notions or stereotypes […] , making it intriguing for readers.

Well, this was encouraging. But Chat GPT wasn’t done yet!

The phrase “…” is a strong, attention-grabbing lead that sets the tone for a discussion of unexpected findings or reinterpretations of historical narratives. The rest of the title clearly indicates the specific focus of the study, which is both informative and precise.

Overall, it’s a well-crafted title that should resonate with your audience.

Image by Elisa from Pixabay

Am I gullible, and maybe too easily flattered? But it does make me feel that perhaps I’ve got a good enough working title to be going on with. From here on in, though, Chat GPT won’t get a look-in. I never want to end up with something that wasn’t actually written by me. I’ll check how a title sounds. I might even check out a synonym, or ask if I’m using a phrase in the expected way. But basically, I’ve done the research – now I’ll write it up.

Postscript. I also ran the title past a real, respected human being. The title stands!

Main Image by Alana Jordan from Pixabay

Keeping it in the Family: our Routledge Year

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

The book I’m getting published later this year is not my first.

But our son Scott McAulay has beaten me to it, in being the first to see a Routledge publication this year – two chapters in this essay collection.  And I understand he’s in another collection, too.  Scott has an architectural background – we have very different specialisms! I’m a proud mum.

The Pedagogies of Re-Use

One of Scott’s illustrations is by his older brother, by the way!

I’ve received the first Proofs! A Social History of Amateur Music-Making and Scottish National Identity …

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

Forthcoming! A Social History of Amateur Music-Making and Scottish National Identity: Scotland’s Printed Music, 1880-1951

It’s going to be a busy week – I have a lot to get done! So, to answer those questions about enjoying semi-retirement, or going away on holiday  …

Yes, this book work is exactly what I want to be doing, and no, I won’t be contemplating any trips quite yet!!

The Glasgow Ladies Publishing Sheet Music

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

Yesterday, I set out to track down some music.  It’s light music, not great music  – almost ephemeral, you could say – but together,  it tells a story.

I also wanted to find out more about the life of one of these fin-de-siecle Glasgow woman music publishers.

It’s not that easy. The music is scattered round our legal deposit libraries; the cataloguing isn’t completely consistent; and fin-de-siecle ladies, whether single,  married, childless or proud mothers, didn’t  leave much record of their daily lives.  They’re hidden in the shadows of family members, and, whilst I imagine they knew one another, let me stress that this is NOT a tale of a female publishing cooperative!

I had a nice chat with a local history librarian, making an acquaintance who is now equally keen to find out more; then I headed home – as yet, none the wiser – to devise a complex spreadsheet of music titles.  I’m visualising a pinboard with strings criss-crossing between ladies, libraries and  work-lists.

So complex, indeed, that I still haven’t planned how best to get to SEE the music.

A weekend task?

Sadly, a Pixabay find, not one of ‘my’ ladies!