Dave Metzger is one of Hollywood and Broadway’s most accomplished orchestrators and arrangers. On this first of a two-part interview, we discuss his career philosophy and approach to orchestration, and its fundamental relationship to music notation.
Podcast
A regular discussion with the interesting individuals who create music with notation software, as well as the talented people who create the tools themselves.
Documenting the documenter: Lillie Harris
Whether you give it a fleeting glance or you’ve eagerly read every last word, documentation is a vital component of music notation software. Lillie Harris, Dorico’s documentation writer, discusses its significance and her personal approach to the task.
The Well-Tempered Consort
Justin Tokke introduces the Well-Tempered Consort from Carl Fischer Music, a fully flexible and customizable way of configuring Bach’s masterpiece, so that anyone can configure and download the music to suit a wide variety of instrumental combinations.
Plugged in with Bob Zawalich
You might know Bob Zawalich’s work from using any of his hundreds of Sibelius plug-ins, or from his Scoring Notes blog posts, or even from hearing about him on this podcast. But do you know the man behind the code?
Where in the world is…?
When you work with music notation software, sometimes the greatest challenge is knowing what a task is actually called and where to find it. We uncover those hidden and not-so-hidden treasures.
Michael Good, the inventor of MusicXML
If you’ve ever needed to open a music notation file in a different program, you’ve relied on MusicXML to do it. Michael Good invented this now-ubiquitous established format two decades ago, and we find out how it happened.
Dan Kreider on hymnal engraving
Millions of people sing from church hymnals each week — and that means they’re reading music notation. Dan Kreider is an expert in achieving harmony by marrying sacred music with sublime technology.
Getting down and nerdy with Dorico and Sibelius updates
We nerd out about the latest updates to Dorico and Sibelius and have some fun along the way, with Dorico’s support for M1 Apple Silicon Macs, and Sibelius’s refreshed Command Search bar and new scripting features.
How to charge for music preparation
When preparing music, you always make sure what goes on the page is pitch-perfect. How about what goes on the bill?
Nicole Jordan, Philadelphia Orchestra librarian
Nicole Jordan, the principal librarian of the Philadelphia Orchestra, makes sure that the right piece of music is with the right person at the right time — and music notation software was crucial in helping her nail the biggest audition of her career.