Site's "virtual keyboard" helps in searching for Easter hymns

Summary: The Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) at Calvin College has launched a comprehensive online hymn database, which allows site visitors to track down a tune by playing a "virtual keyboard."

See full story: http://www.calvin.edu/news/2009-10/hymnary

With Easter right around the corner, more and more people are getting hymn tunes stuck in their heads. Humming a tune is one thing, but remembering the words that go along with that melody seems more difficult. This Lenten season a new Web site, Hymnary.org, is making it much easier for hymn enthusiasts to pin down a tune.

CCEL has introduced the most complete database of hymns in the world. Hymnary.org currently houses approximately 5,000 hymnals, one million hymn instances and 28,000 hymn tunes. It also has thousands of media files, including MIDIs, mp3s, notation files and sheet music.

One of the site's unique features is its virtual keyboard. This new tool, believed to be a one-of-a-kind search engine, allows visitors to identify a hymn by playing a few notes of it. The system then searches nearly 3,000 indexed hymn tunes, using a sophisticated linear-programming algorithm, to find approximate matches for the tune.

Harry Plantinga, a computer science professor at Calvin College and director of CCEL, conceived and helped develop Hymnary.org. He says that this new site advances the CCEL mission of offering world-wide access to classic Christian literature.

"Hymns enlighten and move us in ways the written word cannot," said Plantinga. "It is important for worship leaders, scholars, researchers and others to be able to access and use them."

Hymnary.org also recently incorporated the entire Dictionary of North American Hymnology, a project that was launched 50 years ago and provides information on 5,000 hymnals and over one million hymn instances. Hymnary.org now provides access to and search capability of this dictionary to users around the world.

Other features of the site include the ability to search for and print lyrics; view, play, transpose and print scores; listen to audio files; read hymn stories and author biographies; download and upload arrangements; discuss and ask questions and search by many criteria.

Hymnary.org is jointly sponsored by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library and Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

For more information on Hymnary.org, contact Nyna Sykes at 616-526-8845.

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Received on Fri Mar 12 13:33:41 2010