The Black Folder - www.musicfolder.com - manufacture & sales of the world's best choral folder

Our forte is performance music folders for choir, band & orchestra. The Black Folder, the Choralex Compact, and the RingBinder are our choral folders, and we offer one premium Band & Orchestra folder.

Each has different design goals, so you have choice in selecting the lightweight, ergonomic and durable folder which best fits your needs.

We also offer a range of music-organizing options and accessories for the folders; fast logo and name imprinting services; other useful accessories such as lights, stands & easels, pitch pipes, and singer gig bags - for performance tours, or just to stay organized, week after week.

Below is a quick overview of our folders. To add folders and other items to the shopping cart, see the links with complete details for each item, organized in the index at left.

The Black Folder
The Black Folder is our best-known folder, with many options available and lots of room for music storage. It's like the Swiss Army Knife of folders, and the version with all options ("loaded") is a popular gift when people aren't exactly sure what their singer / conductor friends will like.

There are two versions: the The Black Folder (deluxe) which can open flat, and the The Black Folder (standard). There are three options you can add to either folder:

the removable ring adaptor (A)
double cords (C) and
transparent leaflet pocket (P).

Choralex Compact
In 2004 we designed a smaller folder (which still holds US Letter and A4 paper) called the Choralex Compact. It's very light. "Oh, wow!" is a common response when we pass over samples for people to inspect at trade fairs. It's uniquely a singer's performance folder designed for comfort and light weight, with essential features. It already includes a clear pocket through which to read your concert program; a smaller side-expanding pocket at right; and can be further upgraded with two options if needed:

the removable ring adaptor (A)
double cords (C)

The MUSICFOLDER.com RingBinder
In 2008 we launched the MUSICFOLDER.com RingBinder folder with permanently installed rings, and the best features of our other performance folders. The North American 3-ring version featues a 1" (25mm) snag-free ring design that opens with a push on a single tab. Other world-wide 2- and 4-ring versions (19mm diameter) are also available. One can use magazine holders or the side pocket for any scores which you don't want to hole-punch. With the trend toward common paper sizes, in-store and direct printing of downloaded scores, this folder sets the standard in a performance RingBinder.

Furthermore, custom gold foil imprinting is available for your folders. It may be text, a logo, or numbering. See Foil-stamp services in the index at left.

The following details describe the Adaptor, Cord, and Pocket options:

A removable 3/4-inch (19 mm) ring adaptor can be easily attached to The Black Folder when you need it, using the small holes at top and bottom of the adaptor, and the two cords in the middle of the hinge.
Note: our new Choralex Compact folder is designed to take a 1" (25mm) ring adaptor.

2, 3 or 4-Ring Adaptors

Q: Why 2 & 4?
A: Countries around the world have different standards for hole-punched paper. We send 3-ring adaptors unless otherwise requested, but have 2, 3, and 4-ring adaptors ready in various formats for countries everywhere.

If you are moving up to The Black Folder from years of making do with the heavy, unstable and unsatisfactory solution of common ring binders, you may have an existing investment in published music that has been previously mutilated by a hole punch. You may also do your own arranging or have downloaded arrangements and be using standard size paper formats.

Don't staple your music and crinkle through concerts, hole-punch it and use these ring adaptors.

Also, to quickly swap sets of music, get two adaptors (ie. for first and second sections of a concert program). The adaptor doesn't even have to be affixed to the folder - just pre-load the adaptor with the appropriate set of music and place it in the folder. The weight of the pages is supported by the folder and the bottom cross strap limits it from sliding downward if you hold your folder at a higher angle when not attached by the centre loop of cord.

Why carry a whole concert's music for hours when you could swap in the second half at intermission?

Taking out and re-installing the adaptor is quite easy with a few instructions:

To take out the adaptor:

First, find the elastic cord that loops over centre post of the hinge at the top and remove it.
Slide the adaptor off of the cord
Replace the loop of cord over the centre post of the hinge again.

To install the adaptor
(note that if you have purchased the ring adaptor option, we'll ship it already installed)

First, find the elastic cord that loops over centre post of the hinge at the top and remove it.
Pass this loop of cord through the back of the small hole in the bottom of the adaptor.
Then, pass the cord up along the adaptor, through the middle of each of the rings, and then back down through the small hole at the top.
Now re-attach the loop over the centre post again and position the adapter to rest in the middle of the folder.

People sometimes use other methods. However, we find that the installation above allows the adaptor to rotate somewhat to the left and right, which permits maximum access to the remaining cords, for music that is not hole-punched.

Some key benefits are the following:

These are not just ordinary 3-ring adaptors, they are minimum-weight 'Hi-Tech' design. We know how crucial every ounce can be by the end of a long concert.
If you are giving a concert involving a great deal of music, you can put each half of your concert programme in an adaptor and just drop the collected music into the folder for that portion of the concert.
Individuals can do the same thing, to use one folder for several choirs.

This may be a good option for university choirs too, for professors to make sure that all serious choral scholars have easy access to a Black Folder that can be used for several choirs, throughout the student academic choral experience and beyond. As a "required text" item, it is a fraction of the cost of other texts, and it will probably get a lot more use!
It may also be a good option if your music is photocopied or self-arranged. I am assuming that no one is undercutting our colleagues and profession with illegal photocopies. Please clean up your music library before investing in our folders.

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More cords

double the standard number of elasticised cords

The standard number of cords is 10. You can purchase a cord upgrade to 20, if you think that your usual number of scores in a concert will be more than 10.

This does not increase the size of the folder; the extra cords are simply affixed along the existing notches in the hinge so that each of the original strands becomes a double strand. The cords are like tiny Bungee® cords, with many rubber lengths encased in a woven synthetic sheath. They're strong and durable.

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Clear Leaflet Pocket

Large clear plastic pocket affixed right on the front of the left inside expandable pocket.
Information is visible through the transparent pocket... you no longer need to pull your concert programme out of a pocket to find (and show the audience that you don't know) what you're singing next...it's easily accessible to read through the plastic with this handy option.

This is for

directors to hold rehearsal planning notes
Church choirs - for singers to hold service leaflets
For any singers, to hold programme containing concert order and/or special directions for changes in choir standing position, etc.
storing name tags

This pocket keeps the information secure, visible through the plastic, and right at the front to be discreetly accessible...

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