text: Where's the score? Why is this part here? - BASIS Independent McLean
  Where's the score? Why is this part here?
  Hello! I hope everyone is safe. These past weeks have been a bit hectic because of COVID-19. Colleges and workplaces are closing to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Because of this, my senior project site mentor and I agreed to work off site temporarily. Once a week I will meet with my onsite mentor to drop off and pick up a crate of music to bring back to my home.
  I have organized a lot of wind ensemble parts into their correct piece from my first week, but now my job is to reorganize parts and mark down if any parts are missing. It's Dr. Lapple's priority to have me organize these large pieces because she wants to use them in the future for a summer camp, so I get a sneak peek at what I could be playing in the future. As I am working through each piece, I'm also marking down the title, composer, grade level, and duration. I'm also recording if the pieces have been transcribed, edited, or arranged by other people for the specific version I have.
  Like I have mentioned before in one of my previous posts, this is tedious, mind-numbing, wearisome, long-winded, unexciting, and nearly banal work to do. Did I mention this is repetitive? For some pieces, I have to count the amount of parts there are for each instrument, and the music starts to blend together in my eyes. Sometimes I get a surprise piece in the middle of the parts, or I find a whole stack of music that doesn't belong to the piece. Once, I had a feeling of déjà vu seeing a piece I organized from the week before, turns out it is an extra copy and I may come across multiples of some pieces. Lovely. Still, I enjoy the feeling of completing a task with my own hands. I feel assured that every time I work, this stack of music is more accessible and organized.
  How does R work with all of this music? R needs data and the music is my data. But how do I translate this paper into numeric data? In R, I can assign names to numbers, and then turn these numbers to come out as true or false if compared to another number with "<" or ">" signs. I can use this feature to help filter a search for pieces. The learning process is still slow because I have never ventured into the world of computer programming at all, and I'm learning all of this myself from online sources. Still, there's progress that's being made and I hope to update you all with more on my next post! Until then, wash your hands and stay inside everyone. Be safe!
  3 Replies to "Where's the score? Why is this part here?"
  Sounds like you're really helping Dr. Lapple out. She'll really appreciate having all the music sorted when it comes time to use it!
  I'm so glad you have figured out a system to work from home, and it's amazing that you exposing yourself to the comp sci world! I can't wait to hear how R will begin to help filter the music pieces.
  Audrey, I'm so happy you have figured out a system to telework, you are very lucky. I'm glad you are staying safe and still able to work and get the experience. I think learning that work can sometimes feel tedious and mind-numbing is valuable. However, I'm glad you realized the next step, which is that even tedious work can have a lot of value and be very important. I'm glad you have seen and appreciated the value you are adding to society.
  In terms of R, don't worry about the speed at which you are learning. You are doing this all yourself and trying to learn a new language without in person or even digital one-on-one instruction is very difficult. I'm happy with how you are progressing and you should keep up the good work!