RCI's(Riden Consulting, Inc.) Music Library is an extremely effective way to organize vast amounts of information that you need to save for your band or choir. The program's six screens are designed to store details about pieces of music, composers, instrumental arrangements, performers, performance dates, programs notes, loaned materials, and more. The specialized software logs information on your activities which can be retrieved and printed in a variety of report formats. The program is available in 9 libraries:Band,Choral,Orchestra,Performer'sChurch,
Singer's ,Organist's,Recording, and Recording Library for the Organist.

I tried out the band music library. This program allows you to get very detailed! You can include performance dates, ISBN numbers, number of movements, difficulty, genre, whether or not you have a recording of the selection, plus 6 renamable fields for your own specific purposes. In the menu bar at the top, you can select which window you want visible. The main window details and lets you enter the basic information. The performance entry includes places for dates, the name of the group, and even who conducted it. This would come in very handy at music festival time! The publisher's window allows for more detailed publishing information, and includes a small scroll menu to the side to view the most popular music publishers. Click on the name, and it's entered! This publisher's section also allows for inventory information. The ordering window allows you to enter specific ordering information, including vendor and P.O. information. You can select List View to have at-a-glance information of your works, composers, and length of work, perfect for planning your programs! Another button includes loan details when you let students or another school borrow music. There's even a composer detail window, with a scroll down menu of the most common composers/arrangers. You can even paste a midi file of the work in this section! The event scheduler page needs no explaining, but is great to have. Do you have a listening library? There's a recording window to categorize all the recordings you have of your band arrangements. You can keep several different windows open at once, which seems like quite a bit at first, but does have its benefits. Each window can be minimized or maximized. The bottom task bars allow for zoom in/zoom out. You can search, click through records, go forward or backwards with the task buttons near the bottom of the main window. Another nice feature: in the main window is a place where you can enter detailed information about selections in movements, including length, tempo, and key signature.

Integrated with the software is a member's database, in which you can keep track of your ensemble members' mailing addresses, phone numbers, and other contact information, as well as uniform check-out info, fund-raiser status, and other pertinent information. A grades and attendance module is also included, which allows the user to keep track of 6, 9, and 13 week attendance. If you opt to not use the password feature for Band Library, this information is installed separately to allow you to use students for cataloging music, but still keeping member information private.

All in all, I was very impressed with what I saw. The set-up is extremely organized and easily cross-referenced. The multiple windows can get a little overwhelming at first, but once you get the "pattern" down, they are actually very beneficial. No more searching through the file cabinet! Of course, it will take some time to sit down and start cataloging and inventorying all this on computer, but when the job is done, it will be worth it. I have also found out that the folks at Riden are very easy to work with, too:-) Good tech support for your software is always important!

In a future review: MusicView Plus for elementary teachers, also from Riden!