Margaret's site is a cornucopia of information on all things musical - especially classical. There's an extensive and well researched composer page. To give you an example: If you go to Samuel Barber, you're greeted with a bio, then a list of his orchestral, vocal, choral and piano music. There's even the added value of a CD recommendation. Margaret's gone on to compile an impressive list of Canadian musical links. With the simple click of a mouse one moment you're at MP3.com grooving to Alanis Morissette or Sarah McLachlan, and the next you're visiting the McGill University Faculty of Music.

Personally, I enjoyed listening Margaret's own compositions. And I've just touched the surface of this highly informative and entertaining site. Let's see what Margaret's got to say:

CB: Hi Marg. Could you give our members an idea of who you are, where you live and where your fascination with classical music comes from?

ML: I'm a unique combination of wife, mom, piano teacher, net addict and site builder, music lover and promoter, and amateur composer. I have my Mom to thank for starting me in piano lessons at age five. Right from the beginning I had dreams of playing pieces like "the big kids" did. I loved learning (discovering) every new piece I was given, and still do! Then, my idols gradually changed from the older kids to famous performers like Oscar Peterson, and Glenn Gould. I actually performed in the Ottawa Music Festival the same year Angela Hewitt stole the show (when she was about 12). I must confess to being more than a little jealous! I learned to play flute in junior high and high school, which not only expanded my repertoire, but gave me some experience in being part of a group of musicians, a decidedly comfortable place for me. A high school romance with a drummer, gave me the opportunity to try the drums, bass guitar, piano and flute, in a "rock band" kind of way. I never did tell my piano teacher I played "Switched On Bach". But my interest in all types of music continues, be it classical or pop, jazz, big band, or rock...and lets not forget the blues! I live in Calgary, in GeoCities Vienna, in my children, and in my music.

CB:The first thing that comes to mind is, how on earth did you create this? Could you give our visitors an idea of what came first. Were you a computer geek or musician?

ML: Musician first and always. I was a late starter with the computer, venturing into Windows 95, in February of '97, and finding my way to the Internet a few months later. My first addiction was with chats and ICQ. What a great way to find people with common interests. I was offered a free homepage by WBS chat (now Go.Network), and decided to give it a try. They had a page-builder tool that made it really easy. But soon that wasn't enough for me. I wanted to create a page about music, and I wanted to do it in a more individualized, creative way. I found a place called "Geocities" which offered free sites, and was organized into a number of neighborhoods, based on the interests of the "homesteaders." I choose Vienna, for classical music, opera and dance, and moved in during August of '97. Then I did a lot of research to learn html, collect material for my site, and learn how to make midi's. I'm still adding to my site regularly, and learning new things all along the way. I started with 1 mg and now have almost 15. I also have the WBS site, which is now for jazz, and a Vienna/Waltz site, which is about … you guessed it ... the waltz, but it's just in the beginning stages.

CB: You've won a number of awards for your site. Could you outline them a bit, and tell us, what do you think goes into a truly successful site?

ML: Most award-givers expect the following: reasonable loading time, easy navigation, viewable in the major browsers(Netscape and IE work differently, so you have to take this into account when writing your code), all links and images working properly (no broken or dead links), attractive and readable appearance (graphics have a purpose, text stands out clearly on background), original and interesting content, some form of interactivity (games, forms, surveys,email, etc).

Each award usually has its own specifications in addition to the above. For example, my first was "the Vienna Award" which had to be a site in Vienna, and follow the GeoCities Guidelines, as well as have content pertinent to Vienna interests ... With The "Canuck" Award, I was hoping to be seen by more Canadian people, as I do have some RCM information and Canadian links on my site, and I would like to see some Canadians in my showcase! "The Stringstuff Award": One of my previously featured Music Education Links, who I helped with creating some graphics, saw fit to give me her first award-what an honour. Some other awards and listings are based strictly votes by visitor's to the site: these are the "Homesteaders Choice Award", Geocities Top 100, Canada's Top 100, and Vienna Virtuoso's.

Lest you think I do it just for the awards, it's very hard for anyone to visit your site, if they don't know about it. It is quite difficult to get listed on some search engines, so I have found that joining a few webrings, adding myself to a few lists, and receiving a few awards (who all have winner's lists) all dramatically increase site traffic. And, if they ask, and have qualifying sites, I'll add their link, maybe even give them my award, and that's the way the (web) world goes round. And in my opinion, the more music in the www the better! But I do like the awards, too.

CB:How many hours a day does it take to maintain your creation?

ML: Depends. I check it everyday, to see that everything's working, and see if anyone signed the guestbook (which no one ever does, BTW). Probably about an hour a day. That would include adding new showcases, newly found graphics and/or links. New pages, several hours;new graphic creations, several hours; major revisions (requiring index changes), 8-12 hours at a stretch for days....

CB: Are you continually recreating it?

ML: Yes. One of my fellow CL's says "A good page is never finished." However I only have a little over 1 mg left, so there won't be many more additions, probably just revisions. I am trying to apply some Javascript, as I learn a little more about it. Almost lost my index (not backed up) one day. Now it is!

CB: Did you record all the music on your site using MIDI technology? If so why MIDI, and while we're at it, could you explain to me exactly how you digitize music for your own site?

ML: Yes, I recorded my own compositions with MIDI. I have some embedded files in right now (for the Vienna Hunt the Hearts Contest) which are borrowed from MIDI sites of others (because they are not the original recording by the artist, copyright doesn't apply, but it is a good idea to give credit to the sequencer, if that information is available).

MIDI is digital sound, as opposed to analogue (wave) sound and so takes much less space on one's hard drive or website. It also gives you access to a whole range of instruments, so if you'd like to write a symphony, and don't happen to have the philharmonic at your beck and call, you can still hear it. (Too bad Schubert didn't have that luxury, he never got to hear his). With a sound card and a music software program you can also read and/or print out the score. This is nice if you want someone else to be able to play (live) your music. You can also edit out mistakes, add in things, etc ... oh, I know you can do all this at a recording studio, but not many of us have one of those, and probably wouldn't know what to do with it if we did. I've also edited midis to make a simplified version of a piece a student particularly liked, but couldn't find sheet music for. Exactly how I do it , by hook or by crook. I have a MIDI keyboard plugged into the tower, a sound card, and a music software program. If I have everything in the right order I play a note on the keyboard and it pops up on the score on my screen. If I stopped right there, and saved, I'd have a midi file one note long. You can edit from there. Play in the whole song, key it in one step at a time, transpose it, change the instrument thats playing, faster, slower, louder, softer, I think you get my drift.

There are professional programs that allow you to mix wave and MIDI sounds, but I'm not that sophisticated. The common complaint is that MIDI just doesn't sound as good as other formats, but there is equipment available to improve that, and in the hands of the right sequencer, some really good music can be created.

CB: What do you think is going to be the future of music, thanks to evolving technology?

ML: The MP3 technology is great for new performing artists trying to get their stuff out there. It's also great for amateur composers to be able to experiment with and produce midi's, or CDs if they have the equipment. Real Audio is another great way to get your music out there, and apparently all you need is a microphone.(This is something else on my list of "to learn abouts," it's a very long list). It makes music more accessible to everyone, the music teacher, student, performer,composer and most importantly, the music listeners and lovers everywhere. Does cause some problems with copyright, though.

CB: I notice that you encourage interactivity what with several links to musical games. Plus there are some tips for piano teachers. Do you think we'll live to see the day when people are learning to play piano from a simulated cyber-teacher?

ML: I hope not, unless the cyber-teacher can hear and evaluate tone quality. There are lots of kinds of musical knowledge that can be obtained, or reinforced by games and educational resources on the net. Theory, history, and listening to audio files to name a few. But to play an acoustic (non-electronic) instrument you need to know how to use your fingers, lips, whatever tool makes the instrument produce a sound, in a way that makes the instrument produce its most beautiful sound: not harsh, not wimpy, not flat, not sharp, not dull ... Pardon the technical terms ;) You need your ear, and the teacher's ear to determine if you are achieving that sound, and, if not, immediate practical feedback on how to change your movement to create that sound. If you're talking about playing a few popular songs on keyboard, you can already do that online, or from a software program and why not, if that's what you're looking for? Have fun!

CB: Thanks for the time Marg. Hope to see you in the forum.

Visit:

www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/2943/