A digital anthology for contemporary music composers

Instrumental techniques, sounds, and scores for composers interested in contemporary music

“See Your Shadow”

Music by Nick DiBerardino, Chair of Composition at Curtis Institute of Music

Video by Matthew Levy, Tenor Saxophonist of Prism Quartet

Expanding instrumental knowledge

Sound Index offers information, scores, and performer-composer networks to show the true contemporary classical music scene. Our database comes from leading professionals including Pulitzer Prize winners, instrumental professors, and young up-and-coming influencers.

Erin Rogers - Saxophonist, Composer. Faculty at Manhattan School of Music

The service includes a digital anthology of instruments that grows each month. New scores are also added regularly to our members page. To view all instruments currently indexed, click here. This database is ever-evolving as sounds are discovered on instruments new and old. Instrument pages will be updated frequently so users know about the latest in sound production.

Our Artists

  • Lei Liang

    Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Music, UC San Diego

  • Nick DiBerardino

    Chair of Composition, Curtis Institute of Music

  • Mark Applebaum

    Professor of Composition, Stanford

  • Marti Epstein

    Head of Composition, Berklee College of Music

  • Erin Rogers

    Professor, Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Classical Program

  • Timo Andres

    Professor, Mannes School of Music

View All

On the topic of diversity and inclusion of other cultures and their instruments

As the database begins to expand outside of the western classical music tradition, we are constantly trying to navigate the cultural and social aesthetics with the utmost sensitivity and respect. All instruments coming from cultures outside of the western classical art genre will be presented by cultural bearers and experts of the instruments and practices pertaining to that page.

Additionally, all instruments will be represented equitably. Instruments on the Instrument Catalogue page and in the subscriber pages will be presented alphabetically as opposed to being separated into categories such as “Strings”, “Woodwinds", “Brass” etc. This promotes equal exposure of the instruments to pull musicians towards exploring new sounds and information of something that otherwise would have been looked over due to the inherent nature of the western classical music genre and the education it gives.

As noted in the above section and in the members page, this database is ever-evolving. Instruments both new and old will consistently be revisited as new sounds are discovered and more research is done.

Services

We demonstrate all the extended techniques on all the acoustic instruments as well as general instrumental knowledge of instruments from other cultures. Case studies of scores and recordings are provided to demonstrate notation as well as context for each sound.

Linked below is the Tenor Saxophone page complete by Erin Rogers, professor at Manhattan School of Music. Each instruments comes with its own page of information, sounds, scores, and recordings.

Subscriptions help add more instruments :)

“Light-On-Light”

Music By Erin Rogers

Video by Popebama