Samples of Music Engraving
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On June 1, 2015, I will be limiting my engraving services for most score work. I will continue to take a small number of scores, preferably unusual notation and without hard deadlines. I am now accepting a limited number of additional students for mentoring/challenging in composition. |
Click the images for larger views. PDFs available on request, along with a list of clients.
Since 1993, all music has been completed in Finale engraving software running under Windows. Scores are accepted in pencil, pen, PDF, Finale or XML (all scores, however, will be re-set from scratch). Standard sizes are produced as well as my preferred size of 9.25 x 12.7 inches. No work is too complex. Please contact me for rates and schedules.
I have a score. How does it work?
It depends on the condition of the original (pencil or pen? rough digital entry? midi or xml? graphical? proofread already?) as well as your expectations about visual appearance. I will work to any final size, portrait or landscape. The largest scores I have produced are 28x28 inches, but there is no practical limit for the digital versions.
The fonts I use are custom or modified from fonts in my library. The music font is my edited version of three fonts that I own with custom symbols and adjusted shapes. The text that I prefer is Palatino Linotype. Fonts are to your taste, of course, and if you have custom fonts that function under Windows and are licensed for embedding, I am happy to use them. The spacing metrics are my own (and usually are tight rather than moderate or loose), but I will adjust those to your sense of how you want them.
I will design graphical elements as needed from your hand drawings, and can take resulting PostScript or PDF into Illustrator or Inkscape for special graphics.
You may send me a sample page and I can provide a rough idea of how much time it would take. Since I do almost all new music and its associated notational struggles, I work by the hour and not by the page. The most time is taken in preparing the first page to your needs, and then it usually goes quickly. If the score is heavy with graphics and new notational elements, or has a large number of ambiguities to clarify with you, it will take a while.
Please note: Like photographic negatives or master recordings, Finale files contain the customized metrics, fonts, and years of experience of the engraver. You will receive PDFs of your work (and a Midi demo if you wish), but the Finale files remain in my library.
Samples
Most of the samples below are finished work. A few are drafts, but most are completed work where permission has been given by the composer to reproduce them here.
| One page of a solo clarinet piece. It respects the composer's original intent as to shape (Beyer) and the publisher's need for white space, airiness, and exactly matching the pencil manuscript staff length and positioning of slurs and hairpins. This score is published on 11 x 14-inch paper. |  |
| First page of a voice, flute and guitar piece with contemporary indications (Bathory-Kitsz). This is an example of relaxed horizontal scoring. This score is published on 17 x 11-inch paper. |  |
| Several from a series of tenor guitar performance pieces with images and advanced symbols & notation (Bathory-Kitsz). These seven examples include difficult notation as well as unusual use of graphics. These scores are published both in an 8.5x11-inch perfect-bound book and on 9.25 x 12.7-inch photo paper. Note: scores with graphics do not create handsome-looking video display PDFs, but the printed results are clear and even. | 
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| Two pages from the draft of an opera piano reduction (Mayer). This example is included to highlight block placements of score and text, and also for the libretto font (Opera Lyrics Smooth) which is my own design fashioned after 19th century sources (free font that has been used by designers from scores to book covers). The score had to match a published version that had been done in pen and ink. This score is done on 9 x 12-inch paper. | 
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| Two pages from an extended voice piece with effects (Bathory-Kitsz). Contemporary notation and control/effects are used together in this score. It is published on 9.25 x 12.7-inch paper. | 
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| Four pages from a voice and guitar arrangement with performance detail (Polansky). This example includes guitar effects and highly detailed guitar performance instructions. This score is published on 11 x 17-inch paper. | 
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| Four pages from a long series of piano pieces with floating lines and mode/scale examples (Polansky) and the composition was still in progress at the time. This score is to be published on 11 x 8.5-inch paper. | 
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| A page from a choral collection (Bathory-Kitsz) showing an elegant text font and embedded illustrations for the final book publication. This score is published on 7 x 10-inch paper. | 
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| Two pages of fairly standard piano notation (Mayer) designed to match a set of existing engravings in the series of compositions. This score is published on 8.5 x 11-inch paper. | 
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| Three pages from a graphical composition for solo percussion (Bathory-Kitsz). It is done entirely graphically, and presented as an example of score engraving done outside Finale. The part is published on 28 x 28-inch paper. | 
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| A page from a client's cello study, requiring standard 'kit' fonts so he could revise it later. This score is published on 8.5 x 11-inch paper. | 
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| Canon with interleaved tuplets (Polansky). This unpublished example was made for the composer's private collection. It is printed on 8.5 x 11-inch paper. |  |
| Two pages from a chamber ensemble work with with detailed articulations (Polansky). This example has great detail in markings & performance instructions as well as non-standard notation of standard effects (such as harmonics). It is an example of work done under pressure of performance (ten days for score and parts). Note: The footnotes are clear in the PDF versions of this score. This score is published on 11 x 17-inch paper. | 
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| Page from a solo horn work with image and floating lines (Bathory-Kitsz). This is provided as an example of graphics, contemporary notation and special fonts. Note: This example also derives from a PDF with poor screen display; the printed results are clear and sharp. The score is published on 9.25 x 12.7-inch photo paper. |  |
| Three pages from the piano part to a chamber work (Toscano). This score arrived as a Finale full score on 11 x 17 paper, requiring part extraction, re-layout and re-countouring in 36 hours. The part is published on 8.5 x 11-inch paper. | 
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| Six pages from a chamber orchestra score with detailed articulations, bent staves, and floating lines (Wolff). This score includes contemporary notation unique to the composer, elements that float away, and graphical approaches that notation software accommodates poorly. It is also included as an example of work done under pressure of performance (three weeks for score and parts). It is published on 11 x 14-inch paper. | 
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| A page from a different chamber orchestra score with custom symbols, barlines and articulations (Wolff). It is published on 11 x 17-inch paper, with the final page (a single wide measure) on 17 x 17-inch paper. |  |
| Six pages of fairly standard piano notation with varying complexity (Bathory-Kitsz). This score is included as an example of different densities, and is a draft printed on 9.25 x 12.7-inch paper. | 
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| Eight pages from a fairly standard full orchestral score, just for comparison (Bathory-Kitsz). There are no notational nuances in this score; it is printed on 11 x 14-inch paper. | 
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