nkoda – (TRIAL)
Access via Library Catalogue.
Trial ends: 18th April 2024.
To access nkoda, it is necessary to download their APP. Links to instructions to do this are available via the Library Catalogue link above.
nkoda is a digital, interactive, sheet music application, which provides access to scores, performance & education resources.
Video tutorials on making the best use of nkoda are available here!
You can find out more about nkoda here!
Like this database? Please leave a comment.
Categories
I was able to run Nkoda on my Mac laptop (sys 12.5.1) but it would not load on my mac desktop running an earlier system (10.13.6).
Once running, the functionality and searching is fine. It’s screenshot protected. Designed to run online (not a download tool). That makes it potentially powerful for private research and score-reading. But less secure for live teaching or performance as it is internet-connection dependent. So I wouldn’t use it in a teaching context unless in an individual lesson (maybe).
It accesses many well-known composers with major publishing deals. But does not include the vast majority of Australian composers represented at the Australian Music Centre.
It’s a good tool. I’m not sure how much or how often I would personally use it.
I think this is a great tool for individuals. They have built significant technical barriers into it to prevent unauthorised use, which is a little frustrating. For instance, scores do not appear when you are using multiple screens. I think it’s functionality is useful and reasonably intuitive, and makes it a good tool for personal research and study, but relying on it for rehearsal or performance feels risky to me, particularly if the internet connection is not reliable. Personally, i’m not sure if we would get much use out of it for the price.
The NKODA app on tablets seems to work very well – very useful as a performer. Most exciting is the content – there are a lot of ensemble parts that would need to be hired at an extraordinary price or purchased as a complete set. For example: we’ve staged performances of pieces like Elliott Carter’s Luimen and Double Trio that needed to be hired. With an NKODA subscription, these costs are no longer an issue, making works like this more accessible for teaching and both staff/student performances. Additionally, it has a lot of orchestral parts. While it is unlikely the orchestra itself would supply every student with a tablet in order to use NKODA parts in performance, access to the parts is invaluable for teaching and practice. For example, in making my most recent audition list for students, I wanted to include works by composers of marginalised demographics. NKODA has works by William Grant Still, Joan Tower, and other living composers that we would never reasonably be able to acquire or rent at the cost of thousands of dollars per piece “merely” for teaching.
Hi Joel, thank you for this feedback. As the trial ended a month ago, we reviewed what feedback we had received along with the poor usage reported post trial. The Library has concluded not to proceed with a subscription at this time.
This seems to be a good app with fairly interesting materials. If we have an ongoing subscription I would probably use it a bit for performing and a bit more for teaching. The search function isn’t very helpful for finding specific things, for example I searched for “Trombone Octet” “Trombone Choir” “Trombone Ensemble” and it didn’t come up with a useful list. The list it came up with included an “instrumentation” column. But I couldn’t use the instrumentation column as a search function – fairly useless. This I found some standard solo repertoire, but the NKODA library doesn’t seem to have much beyond that for my instrument. Orchestral parts were better. For example, Ravel’s Bolero is still a rental, so getting access to a clean trombone part (on every audition) is difficult. NKODA has a good edition available.
Nkoda is an amazing resource. I use it all the time particularly to find new music. The app has some user interface issues still, but I trust that will be fixed in time. The University investing in this recourse is a fabulous idea.
Please continue the Nkoda subscription!
As a global music theorist/musicologist, Nkoda is a very useful resource to me. It has a lot of music theory books from all different parts of the world. Without Nkoda, many of these books are either not available for me at all or I need to go through the tedious and very time-consuming process of interlibrary loan to get these books from the other side of the world. I have noticed this for a few years, and it has really slowed my research down. With the Nkoda subscription, I can now read these books on my computer, which is of tremendous help to my research.
If our library can proceed with a long-term Nkoda subscription, I would be really grateful!
Many thanks!
I think Nkoda is a great resource and worthy of an ongoing subscription.
A quick search of Nkoda allowed me to find dozens of scores that aren’t available in the Uni Melb Library. As a composer, having access to scores by modern and living composers is invaluable. Nkoda offers me, and the broader composition faculty, a great resource that I think will be well utilised in both teaching and private contexts.
As a composer, Nkoda is an absolute gem for score study. When conducting research prior to writing I’ve been able to access scores that aren’t available at Uni Melb, and second Lewis’s comment concerning contemporary, modern and living composers. Although some composers are generous with their time and happy to share perusal scores, many can’t be accessed without considerable fee. I think it’s a brilliant resource.
This is a brilliant resource that I have been using as a teaching resource for years and would strongly support an ongoing subscription at Unimelb.
Brent Miller
Head of Percussion