Looking for music? Then look no further than nkoda

nkoda, the new sheet music app has 30 million pages already and waiting for you, and now they want to help the brass band world too...

nkoda, a new sheet music app, now available for Android, Mac OS, Windows 10 and iPhone, is set to make a huge impact on the brass band world according to its CEO and Co-Founder, Lorenzo Brewer.

Following its launch for iPad in June this year, nkoda has quickly become the world's largest digital library of sheet music available on subscription. And with over 30 million pages of music ready to view, annotate and share, nkoda is now seeking to revolutionise access to brass band music and change its landscape forever.

Remove barriers

Speaking exclusively to 4BR, Lorenzo Brewer said: "I have a deep belief in the potential of people. However, hindered by the economic, social and geographic barriers to sheet music, too many musicians are unable to fulfil their potential.

We have already made a huge impact on the classical music world and now we want to remove those same barriers, ensuring anyone, anywhere in the brass banding world can access all the music they require to thrive.

Brass bands represent such an exciting musical genre and we are delighted to explore the possibilities — starting with a visit to the National Finals with 4BR this weekend."

National Final test-piece

nkoda has already got 144 titles for brass band, including the test-piece for the 2018 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain — 'Handel in the Band'.

Go to: https://www.nkoda.com/work?ref=c6fa67d5-4379-43f5-be27-b701c98facfa

Created by musicians for musicians

Its strength according to Lorenzo Brewer is that nkoda has been created by musicians, for musicians — an ethos that has already seen it create partnerships with over 50 music publishers across the world.

The complete catalogues of Universal, Barenreiter, Boosey & Hawkes, Breitkopf & Hartel, Chester, Durand, Salabert, Eschig, Gehrmans, Novello, PWM, Ricordi and many others have been checked and formatted by a team of 20 expert musicologists in nkoda's London offices.

Such have been the endorsement that Sir Simon Rattle, Music Director, London Symphony Orchestra stated: "nkoda is really clever; it's like a view into the future of making music.

Its technology gives me the ability to access scores and parts wherever I go, and to be able to share my markings with other musicians. It could change our life immeasurably for the better!"

And now nkoda has told 4BR that they want to work with the leading brass band music publishers, both large and small, as well as bands themselves who wish to embrace an exciting future.

Wealth of features

"nkoda comes with a wealth of features and so far 30 million pages of scores, parts and educational material have been ingested, with more added every day", Lorenzo Brewer added.

"The whole of the brass banding world will benefit as each score is available in full, including conductor's version, instrumental parts, scholarly materials and libretti. The scores themselves can be annotated using nkoda's inbuilt smart tools, which recognise over 200 annotated shapes to convert markings into musical print.

Annotations can then be saved as layers and shared across the platform. Users can choose to view scores offline, meaning musicians need no longer battle their practice room's Wi-Fi.

These features, together with nkoda's inbuilt security, represent the meeting of tradition and innovation."

Subscriptions for institutions are also available, with more than 25 orchestras, conservatoires and universities already signed up to the service.

nkoda is really clever; it's like a view into the future of making musicSir Simon Rattle

Search, discover and share

With co-founder and CTO Sundar Venkitachalam, the pair designed and built nkoda's platform, with Sundar applying a decade industry experience to drive nkoda's search, discovery and sharing tools.

He added: "Users can create and share playlists with a global network of musicians, discover rare or new music, and find collaborators. In the near future, nkoda subscribers will be able to follow the artists they most admire to find out what they're practising, playing and performing.

I am delighted that technology is leading this revolution, breaking down the barriers inherent to physical scores and bringing music to those previously unable to access it."