Scoring Notes

Freshly pressed

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 11:39:32 +0000

After a stretch away from the mic with NAMM coverage and a few product launches in the interim, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald return for an episode that, as David puts it, is “delightfully very nerdy.”

To kick things off, David turns the tables and puts Philip in the interview seat, asking him about two significant sets of releases from Notation Central and NYC Music Services. On the Notation Express side, the big news is two-way communication between Dorico and the Stream Deck: buttons now light up to reflect what Dorico is actually doing in real time — active note durations, engaged accidentals and articulations, current mode, playback state, and more. Philip also walks through the new Note Tools folder, which lets users chain up to four buttons together to build a complete transposition or interval command before executing it in one shot, and touches on the Notation Express Keypad and the Virtual Stream Deck.

The PDF Batch Utilities get equal time: native Apple Silicon builds that launch ten times faster, codesigning and notarization, source PDF info shown right in the file list, bookmarks in stitched output, smarter handling of one- and two-page files, and a brand-new fifth app — PDF-Counter — that drops a page-count CSV into any folder you throw at it.

For the second half, Philip asks David about the utility apps that have quietly become indispensable in his day-to-day work. David talks through Dropzone, a Mac menu-bar app that makes dragging files to frequently-needed folders — or AirDrop, or a terminal window — almost frictionless, and Alfred, the customizable launcher he’s built out with custom searches (including a dedicated IMSLP search), file navigation shortcuts, and a direct line to his task manager.

From there, the conversation turns back to the notation software itself, with a look at two features that deserve more attention than they get: Dorico’s Jump Bar and Sibelius’s Command Search, both of which let you find and fire any command just by typing for it. Where might those tools go next, and what it would mean for notation software to understand what you’re asking for, not just what you typed?

Products mentioned

Notation Central / NYC Music Services

Stream Deck

Mac utilities discussed by David

Dropzone (Aptonic Software)
Alfred
Raycast (mentioned as alternative to Alfred)
LaunchBar (mentioned as alternative to Alfred)
Hazel (mentioned in context of Dropzone)
Things (mentioned as David’s to-do app, integrated with Alfred)

Other references

IMSLP (Petrucci Music Library) (David’s custom Alfred search)

Previous Scoring Notes posts and podcast episodes

Directly mentioned or closely related:

Notation Express for Dorico 6: Your Stream Deck just got smarter
PDF Batch Utilities get a major rebuild — and a brand new app
Notation Express: Stream Deck profile for Sibelius (the original 2019 launch)
Boost your workflow: a Stream Deck review (Dan Kreider’s 2018 review of the Stream Deck, pre-Notation Express)
Quickly scale many PDFs with PDF-BatchScale (the original launch)
PDF-MusicBinder and PDF-BatchStitch utilities for music printing
Chronology of a perfect music printing job
How to tape and fold pages for parts: a video tutorial (accordion-style printing)
Calibrating printers and workflows
NAMM 2026: On the scene (and related NAMM 2026 coverage, including the happy hour)

Forthcoming (mentioned in the episode):

Virtual Stream Deck article

NAMM 2026: An interview with Sam Butler and Joe Plazak

Scoring Notes — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 11:40:13 +0000

At the 2026 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

In this interview, we talk with Sam Butler, Avid’s vice president of product management, and Joe Plazak, Sibelius product owner and senior principal software developer at Avid, to reflect on the philosophy behind Sibelius’s recent development approach, how user feedback shapes prioritization, and where they believe users should most clearly feel progress compared to a year ago. We also talk about automation and AI in notation, the realities of cross-platform and mobile workflows, and what Avid wants musicians to understand about its long-term commitment to Sibelius.

Be sure to check out our other conversations from the NAMM Show from earlier this month. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player.

More about the 2026 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

NAMM 2026: An interview with Chris Swaffer

Scoring Notes — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 11:41:32 +0000

At the 2026 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

In this interview, we talk with Chris Swaffer, senior product manager of software at Fender, about how he thinks about Notion’s current phase in its lifecycle, what the Fender name signals to users today, and how decisions around refinement, continuity, and cross-platform consistency get made in practice. We also dig into under-the-radar improvements, accessibility as a core product principle, direct transfer between Notion and Fender Studio Pro, and how intelligent assistance can support — rather than replace — human musical judgment.

Come back next week for more conversations from the NAMM Show. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player.

More about the 2026 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

NAMM 2026: An interview with Sebastian Murgul

Scoring Notes — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 12:21:50 +0000

At the 2026 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

In this conversation, we speak with Sebastian Murgul, co-founder and CEO of klang.io, to talk about a category that sits just adjacent to music notation — and yet increasingly intersects with it in practical, unavoidable ways: music transcription. Sebastian explains what klang.io’s tools are designed to do — and just as importantly, what they are not. We talk about why AI-based transcription has reached a point of practical usefulness now, where the hardest musical problems still lie, and how klang.io thinks about accuracy as something musicians can trust and build on, rather than a promise of perfection. We also discuss interoperability with notation software via formats like MIDI and MusicXML, real-world use cases that have surprised him, and the broader anxieties musicians understandably have around automation and AI.

Come back the next few weeks for more conversations from the NAMM Show. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player.

More about the 2026 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

NAMM 2026: An interview with John Barron

Scoring Notes — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 12:04:46 +0000

At the 2026 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

In this conversation with John Barron, international product specialist at Steinberg, John reflects on Dorico’s current development phase, how its underlying design principles continue to guide day-to-day decisions, and where users should most clearly feel progress compared to a year ago. We also talk about under-the-radar features, user feedback, interoperability with broader music-production workflows, playback and realism, and how automation can support — rather than supplant — notational intent.

More about the 2026 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

Perfect Pitch: Unlocking Jacob Collier’s musical brilliance

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 11:25:41 +0000

We’re very pleased to bring you this episode, and more to come in the future, thanks to our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast that tells the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.

People with perfect or “absolute” pitch hear every single sound as precise musical notes. Is this extraordinary talent a blessing or a curse? In this episode, our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz dive into the neuroscience, pluses, and pitfalls of absolute pitch. Featuring neuroscientist Daniel Levitin and Grammy-winning musician Jacob Collier.

Art by Mafalda Maia.

Music featured in this episode:

Hide and Seek by Jacob Collier Light It Up On Me by Jacob Collier Down the Line by Jacob Collier To Sleep by Jacob Collier All I Need by Jacob Collier Bakumbe by Jacob Collier Hideaway by Jacob Collier Colrain by Marble Run Sky Above by Jacob Collier Moon River by Jacob Collier A Noite by Jacob Collier Connect by Steven Gutheinz Count the People by Jacob Collier

Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the studios of Defacto Sound, and hosted by D allas Taylor.

A Scoring Notes holiday shopping trip

Scoring Notes — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 12:45:14 +0000

‘Tis the season to be thankful for all of the products and services in the world of music notation software and related technology, and for the Scoring Notes audience who tunes in to hear us opine on them! We show our appreciation by bearing good tidings and do a little shopping to find some Black Friday deals and make a few recommendations for fun and productivity.

Black Friday 2025 deals for music notation software and related tech post coming on Monday, November 24

Show notes:

Scoring Notes Product Guide, with links to posts about Dorico, Sibelius, and MuseScore updates from the past year

Black Friday products and deals:

Cleo Huggins, the designer of the first music font [encore]

Scoring Notes — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 10:41:16 +0000

We talk a lot about fonts on the Scoring Notes podcast. But there was a time when there were no music fonts. And then, there was one.

Cleo Huggins, on the staff of Adobe in 1986, designed Sonata, the very first music font. It’s hard to imagine today, but it was revolutionary at the time, and a leading industry publication called it the “Music Product of the Year”. Sonata provided the blueprint for the core music fonts later created for use in Finale and Sibelius, but it may surprise you to learn that Sonata was created without any one particular music software product in mind.

Cleo tells Philip Rothman and David MacDonald about her early studies with some of the great typographic experts of the 1970 and 1980s, and how her work in graphic design, 3-D animation, background as a violinist, and a key meeting with Steve Jobs about the launch of the first Macintosh computer all led to her taking responsibility for creating Sonata. Cleo discusses the revolution in PostScript technology and the introduction of the laser printer, and how that made it possible for her to create a high quality music font that was unconstrained by limitations of bitmapping.

She recalls the various sources of inspiration and research she did — everything from Bach’s manuscript to the Music Writer, to Notaset dry transfer sheets — and the process of regularizing beautiful calligraphy without losing the distinctive elements of music notation. She also recalls thinking about all the minute details from careful placement to the key mapping of each character, and the feedback received from early music software pioneers eager to incorporate Sonata into their programs.

Cleo’s career moved on from Sonata to a variety of endeavors, all propelled by a deep curiosity and propensity to good, and we talk about that too — and ask her if she’d ever come back to the world of music fonts, with all of the progress that has taken place in the nearly four decades since her groundbreaking work transformed the history of music notation.

More on Scoring Notes:

From the Finale Blog:

The lowdown on updates

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 11:49:51 +0000

Recent updates abound in Dorico, MuseScore Studio, Sibelius, and across the Apple operating systems. Whether you use all of these products or just one of them, we help you get current with the latest features and improvements, so that you can make the most of the notation software and the operating systems they run on.

More from Scoring Notes:

File system tools mentioned:

With freelancing comes responsibility

Scoring Notes — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 09:25:50 +0000

Freelancing is a kind of freedom. Freedom from a regular schedule, an office, or a permanent boss. But with freelance work comes responsibility.

Part of your job as a freelancer is deciding what the work should be and finding the clients who are going pay you to do it. Not only are you responsible to them, but you’re responsible for yourself, your family, the tax man, and more.

In the music notation software and related technology world of Scoring Notes, it’s possible to have freelance work in which those tools are used regularly.

Paul Beck is principal librarian of the Milwaukee Symphony, concert librarian for Renée Fleming, and formerly librarian at, among other institutions, The Metropolitan Opera, The Juilliard School, and the Aspen Music Festival & School. Paul joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to talk all about his decades of experience both as a freelance music preparer and salaried performance librarian, and to offer a wealth of insights and practical advice for anyone seeking freedom — and responsibility — as a freelancer.

This wide-ranging and detailed conversation explores the methods and manners of pursuing freelance work; the differences and similarities among being a freelancer, independent contractor, part-time employee, and full-time employee — and the benefits and drawbacks of each; managing your time and boundaries as a freelancer; the importance of mentors; essential tools; and specific advice about finances, invoices, and payment processing options.

More from Scoring Notes:

You have questions, we have answers

Scoring Notes — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 11:56:12 +0000

We open the Scoring Notes mailbag, contemplate the musings of our audience, and try to leave no question unanswered in this fun and informative podcast episode.

More from Scoring Notes, referenced in this episode:

Send us your questions! (plus a classic episode)

Scoring Notes — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 11:07:38 +0000

Have you ever listened to an episode of the Scoring Notes podcast and wished you could ask a question directly on the show?

Two years ago, we opened up the phone lines directly, so to speak, and they were jam-packed! So much so, that we ended up devoting three episodes to answering those burning queries. You can find Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 in the podcast archives.

Well, time and technology moves fast, so it’s time we do it again. Whether you’re a “long-timer” or a “first-timer”, all are welcome to ask a question about anything in the world of music notation software and related technology — or really, any one of the adjacent subjects we’ve covered on the Scoring Notes podcast or web site, and we may feature it an upcoming episode.

Just record your question as a voice memo and drop it directly here, or send it as an email attachment or as a file-sharing link to podcast@scoringnotes.com. We’d love it if you provide your name (first name only is OK), where in the world you’re calling from, and what music notation software you use — or if you don’t use it at all (yes, we have quite a few listeners in that camp).

If you’re shy, you can alternatively write your question in an email and send it to us.

Send us your question no later than Monday, July 14, 2025.

From the archive: How we don’t use music notation software (but do use related technology)

The rest of today’s episode is a classic one from March 2023, and perhaps it will spur some new questions.

Sometimes music notation software is perfect for the job, but other times, it’s the related technology that’s better suited to the task. Fortunately, we cover both sides of the equation on Scoring Notes — and it’s the latter part that Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss on this podcast episode.

When creating scores and parts, music notation software is clearly the choice. But what about front matter — the pages of text and sometimes other markings and symbols that preface the music? For that, better options may exist. We look at the pros and cons of making that material directly in music notation software, and suggest apps for when it’s helpful to split the job.

We talk about some of our favorite apps specifically for working with PDFs and the surprising number of ways that you can edit a file using those apps — and may need to do so — without actually having access to the music notation files or the software.

What about when you need to make music notation outside of notation software? For that, there is a whole suite of fonts designed to create music notation within non-music apps. They’re called MusFonts, and Dan Kreider created them to fill this niche.

For many users, creating audio is an essential component of music notation software, and we outline ways to complement the built-in process of making MIDI mockups with other software without getting too complicated.

Finally, we give a shout-out to our favorite piece of related technology.

More from Scoring Notes:

Apps and fonts we talk about:

MOLA 2025 conference and tech fair wrap-up

Scoring Notes — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 11:00:29 +0000

Hosted by The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the 43rd annual conference of MOLA: An Association of Performance Librarians ran from May 30 through June 2, 2025, and brought together music librarians, publishers, vendors, composers, performers, and technology enthusiasts.

The 2025 conference was the first one hosted by a university, reflecting the organization’s broader membership. It spotlighted the working environments of the academic performance librarian and offered opportunities to cross-pollinate ideas across ensemble tiers and types.

On the podcast, David MacDonald and Philip Rothman recap the 2025 MOLA Conference recorded in person from the University of Michigan, with a summary of the tech fair and conference sessions on broadening access, copyright, professional development, IMSLP, and much more.

And, if you like your podcasts in video format, we have a special treat for you: A video of this podcast episode, recorded live.

More from Scoring Notes: Road report: MOLA 2025 Conference

Daniel Spreadbury on Dorico 6: “Our largest release to date”

Scoring Notes — Sat, 03 May 2025 12:20:00 +0000

Steinberg’s product marketing manager Daniel Spreadbury returns to the podcast to discuss Dorico 6 and its bevy of features for music composers and preparers. Daniel talks in-depth with Philip Rothman and David MacDonald about a few of the headline items, especially those that are unique to Dorico. The new proofreading tool continuously scans a project looking for potential pitfalls, and the cutaway scores feature makes quick work of what was once a tedious effort. We explore those key elements of Dorico 6 along with cycle playback, grids, fill view, chord symbols, and more, learning more about their origins and what’s planned for the future.

We also reflect with Daniel about the software’s trajectory in the past decade. Dorico has gotten ever more capable in the audio area in recent years, more deeply integrated with Cubase, Steinberg’s digital audio workstation, and Daniel takes us behind the scenes to tell us about the decisions and development plans in those areas. Finale’s end has also brought challenges and opportunities for the Dorico team, and we discuss how Steinberg’s partnership with MakeMusic and its endorsed path to Dorico has influenced the product’s direction over the past year.

More from Scoring Notes:

Dorico 6 review: Proof positive

Tune Tech: Distortion, sequencers, Auto-Tune, and more

Scoring Notes — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 11:09:29 +0000

From electric guitars to samplers to drum machines and beyond, the music we love is only possible thanks to the technology used to create it. In many ways, the history of popular music is really a history of technological innovation. In this episode, Twenty Thousand Hertz partnered with BandLab to unpack four inventions that changed music forever. Featuring author and journalist Greg Milner.

Music featured in this episode:

Original music by Wesley Slover Prelude by Ghostnaut To Little, With Love by Elvin Vanguard And All the Rest by Dream Cave Subtractions by Epocha To Find You (with KYAND) by Modera Out Linear by Sweet Stare Grumpalo by High Horse Grand Theft by Katori Walker One Day by Ten Towers Hopscotch Bop by Stan Forebee I Feel You by Yuppycult Swing Step by iamalex Here With You by Super Duper

Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the studios of Defacto Sound, and hosted by D allas Taylor.

Holding court with Brian McBrearty, forensic musicologist

Scoring Notes — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 12:45:35 +0000

If you hear the term “forensic musicologist” and conjure up detectives with fingerprint dusters and a magnifying glass, well, metaphorically you’re not far off. The job of a forensic musicologist is to apply musical knowledge to questions around copyright, explain musical facts, and put them into context so that a court can arrive at a decision with the best information available.

Brian McBrearty is a forensic musicologist, and he joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to discuss real-world cases of music infringement and the multi-dimensional approach that he takes in his analyses. We tackle the question of music notation and how it plays a role in Brian’s process, and talk tech — including the acceleration in artificial intelligence, both as a potential means of forensic analysis, and as a creator of potentially infringing content.

More on Scoring Notes:

The rights stuff, with Jim Kendrick

NAMM 2025: An interview with John Barron

Scoring Notes — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:46:52 +0000

At the 2025 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

This podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with John Barron, the international product specialist for Dorico. NAMM offers representatives like John the opportunity to meet with customers from both the notation and audio sides of the music community. We spoke about the new Dorico-powered score editor in Cubase that appeals to a large cross-section of users, and how Dorico fits into the wider world of Steinberg and Yamaha products. We also discussed industry developments and what he’s hearing from Finale users as they explore the officially-endorsed migration path to Dorico.

More about the 2025 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

NAMM 2025: An interview with Martin Keary

Scoring Notes — Sat, 15 Feb 2025 12:37:52 +0000

At the 2025 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

This podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Martin Keary, the head of software for Muse Group. Martin spoke with me about the conversations he had at NAMM about some of the exciting possibilities for MuseScore collaborations and integrations with other app makers in the future. More practically, we also discussed recent MuseScore development efforts and some of the new features we can expect to see in upcoming releases, as well as the role that industry changes like the end of Finale played in the road map for the software.

More about the 2025 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

NAMM 2025: An interview with Oriol López Calle

Scoring Notes — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 12:36:39 +0000

At the 2025 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

This podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Oriol López Calle from My Sheet Music Transcriptions, a service that he founded in 2011 that has since grown to employ dozens of people and serve tens of thousands of customers. Oriol told us about his company’s approach to their work, which includes not only transcribing but a full range of music preparation tasks. We also discussed technological innovations that have already transformed the business and those that we expect to do so in the future.

Come back the next couple of weeks for more conversations from the NAMM Show. And as always, if you like this podcast episode, there’s plenty more for you from Scoring Notes — be sure to follow us right in your podcast player.

More about the 2025 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

NAMM 2025: An interview with Avid’s Sam Butler

Scoring Notes — Sat, 01 Feb 2025 12:54:38 +0000

At the 2025 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

This podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Sam Butler, Avid’s director of product management. Sam talked with us about the new decondensing parts feature in Sibelius that Avid previewed at NAMM, and he celebrated the award that his team received for last year’s release of the Android app. He also shared his thoughts on the industry’s developments over the past year, the direction that he anticipates for the future, and what it all means for Sibelius customers.

More about the 2025 NAMM Show from Scoring Notes:

From cylinders to streaming

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 Jan 2025 14:41:36 +0000

This episode was written by Andrew Anderson.

The history of recorded sound stretches back over a hundred and fifty years, starting with a device that could “record” a voice on a piece of paper. Today, we can enjoy lossless streaming anywhere we go… but getting here wasn’t easy. In this episode, our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz worked with Qobuz, the high quality music platform, to chart the history of audio mediums, from cylinders made of tin foil and wax, to vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CDs, and mp3s. Along the way, they explore the innovations and quirks of each format, with memories sent in from their listeners and the 20K team. Featuring Adam Tovell from the British Library Sound Archive.

Then, stay tuned afterwards as David MacDonald and Philip Rothman tie all of this “related technology” back to the “music notation” portion of the Scoring Notes mission, and explore how music notation and recorded sound are complementary sides of what makes a song a song.

Further reading:

What Is a Song?, by Ben Sisario from The New York Times, about the copyright questions raised in the lawsuit involving Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” and Ed Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud”.

Further listening:

The [COMPRESSED] history of mastering

Music featured in this episode:

Original music by Wesley Slover Steppin Intro by Sound of Picture Paraphrase on Sleeping Beauty by Paul Pabst Greylock by Skittle Lonely Summertime by The Rockin’ Berries Ding Dong by Niklas Gabrielsson Bebop Blues by Vendla Living Memories by Golden Age Radio Gin Boheme by Vermouth Forever in Love With a Ghost by PÄR You Oughta Know by Rockin’ For Decades Back in Time by They Fall Pink Gloves by J.F. Gloss Dreamweavers by Sven Lindvall & Daniel Fridell No One Knows But Me by Torii Wolf Tour 505 by Epocha Blipper by Sound of Picture October by UTAH Do You by KENA

Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the studios of Defacto Sound, and hosted by D allas Taylor.

Art by Divya Tak.

A snapshot of music scanning apps, and picturing the future

Scoring Notes — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 13:02:19 +0000

Music scanning technology, or optical music recognition (OMR) if you like, has been around for decades, and yet in many ways is still barely out of infancy. But that could soon change as classic algorithm-based desktop programs converge with newer mobile apps and web-based machine learning tools.

Steve Morell joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to discuss his review of six of those products that run the gamut of those technologies: Newzik, Soundslice, PlayScore 2, Sheet Music Scanner, SmartScore 64 Pro 64 NE, and ScanScore Professional. He takes on through his process of testing each of them from the common perspective of a user wanting to get a quick and accurate scan for exporting via MusicXML to other software such as Sibelius, Dorico, or MuseScore.

However, those applications have many other use cases. We explore those as well, and how each of the products may be suited to one particular use or another in their own way. We also envision where the industry is headed and how these technologies could potentially evolve in the future.

Read the full Scoring Notes review: Scanning the current OMR landscape

Stock ‘n shop

Scoring Notes — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 13:16:26 +0000

‘Tis the season to be thankful for all of the products and services in the world of music notation software and related technology, and for the Scoring Notes audience who tunes in to hear us opine on them! We show our appreciation by bearing good tidings in the form of a summary of all of the updates to MuseScore, Dorico, and Sibelius over the past year. Then, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald do a little shopping to find some Black Friday deals and make a few recommendations for fun and productivity.

Black Friday 2024 deals for music notation software and related tech

Show notes:

Scoring Notes Product Guide, with links to posts about MuseScore, Dorico, and Sibelius updates from the past year

Black Friday products and deals we mention:

On the record about higher education

Scoring Notes — Sat, 05 Oct 2024 11:24:36 +0000

Music education isn’t just learning how to read alto clef and knowing your intervals anymore. The evolution of music technology education, the changing attitudes of students towards music production, and the importance of teaching foundational skills alongside technology have made the collegiate experience in music more diverse than ever. In this episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald engage with guest Ben Fuhrman, a composer and music tech professor at Montana State University. They explore the preparation and skills students bring to music tech programs, focusing on music notation software, DAWs like FL Studio, Pro Tools, and Ableton Live, and the influence of high-profile artists on student choices. Skills that may seem trivial like file management are actually very important, complementing the understanding of concepts in preparing students for diverse careers in music technology.

We also touch upon the evolving nature of music careers, the necessity for students to have both technical and traditional musical knowledge, and the impact of collaborative learning environments in fostering empathy and curiosity in the rapidly changing landscape of music technology.

More from Scoring Notes:

Finale’s coda

Scoring Notes — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 13:13:36 +0000

Finale, the legendary music notation software program, has been discontinued 36 years after its groundbreaking release in 1988 from Coda Music Technologies. MakeMusic, the company that now owns Finale, has partnered with Steinberg to sell its Dorico application at a specially discounted price directly to Finale users. Jason Loffredo joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald in a comprehensive discussion about the facts, the business analysis, and the way forward for customers.

More on Scoring Notes:

Jason Loffredo’s “Conquering Finale” video tutorial series

MOLA 2024 conference and tech fair wrap-up

Scoring Notes — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 11:09:24 +0000

The 2024 conference of MOLA: An Association of Performance Librarians recently concluded in Cleveland, Ohio, and by all accounts it was a rocking success.

The conference began with the second annual Tech Fair, a gathering of librarians, product specialists, and vendors, with demonstrations and exhibits bookended by panel discussions about technology as it relates to the performance librarian. The remainder of the four-day long conference featured plenary sessions, breakout groups, and lots of excellent spontaneous sharing of knowledge and experience about a crucial role in the music-making process.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald recap the conference with a podcast episode recorded in person from Cleveland, with a summary of the tech fair and the rest of the event: from the intricacies of percussion setup to licensing, copyright, and commissioning agreements, and much more.

And, if you like your podcasts in video format, we have a special treat for you: A video of this podcast episode, recorded live.

More from Scoring Notes:

Videos from the MOLA 2024 Conference:

Print perfect (encore); MOLA 2024 preview

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 May 2024 11:35:03 +0000

Printing music is something that takes skill and attention to detail — both by the music preparer and the printer. When everything’s communicated well, it leads to print shop nirvana and the ideal result for everyone involved.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk through a specific project and illustrate the various steps along the way to set it up for success. No detail is too small, from the page size, to the number of copies, to the shipping methods desired. Philip relays his tips and best practices from the perspective of a professional music printing service.

Then, David gives advice for how to ensure good results if you need to take your project to a more general-service copy shop, or even if you are printing yourself, like some inventive ways to format the page size and convey the instructions to minimize the risk of errors that can be introduced and avoid miscommunication in what is one of the last, most critical steps in preparing a piece of music.

Also: A preview of the 2024 MOLA Conference and Tech Fair.

Video killed (it with) the notation star

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 11:09:11 +0000

With music notation work often intersecting in some capacity with music production and scoring to video, it’s important to know when your software of choice is the best option for a particular need within a project, and when it’s not.

When it comes to fine-tuned formatting and engraving decisions, we can’t move from one notation software product to another without losing that important detail work. However, with the underlying composition itself, the information can be moved quite effectively with MusicXML or MIDI to and from to other software when a particular tool is needed elsewhere.

Steve Morell joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to take a look at how video, tempo, and time are handled with the four most popular desktop music notation software options — Dorico, Finale, MuseScore, and Sibelius — and how they compare to the unique notation/DAW hybrid approach from the tablet app StaffPad, as well as other solutions available.

More from Scoring Notes:

Video, tempo, and time (oh my!)

An interview with Steinberg’s Daniel Spreadbury

Scoring Notes — Sat, 02 Mar 2024 11:43:55 +0000

We last visited with Steinberg’s product marketing manager Daniel Spreadbury on the podcast upon the release of Dorico 4 in January 2022, and more recently last summer in Berlin at the MOLA conference in a panel discussion with his colleagues and competitors in the music notation software industry.

Although Dorico didn’t have much of a presence at the 2024 NAMM Show, we welcome the opportunity to visit with Daniel here in a similar manner that we did with many of those colleagues and competitors at NAMM.

We start not by focusing on the latest Dorico features, although we do discuss those. Instead, we speak with Daniel about how the Dorico community influences product development, to what extent Steinberg prioritizes customer requests and specific features, and how they balance those with some of the more long-term vision that they may have for the product. He gives us a sense of Dorico’s role within these companies, from a strategic, philosophical, and technical perspective. We explore how much of what they’re doing is done with the other products and services in mind, how those decisions are made, and how Dorico users benefit.

We also talk about industry changes and how those philosophies end up shaping what customers see on their screens and even what kind of music they create.

If you didn’t hear our NAMM wrap-up episode, and interviews with NAMM CEO John Mlynczak, Avid’s Sam Butler, MakeMusic’s Jason Wick, and Muse Group’s Jack Sutton, check those out in the Scoring Notes podcast feed.

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NAMM 2024: An interview with Muse Group’s Jack Sutton

Scoring Notes — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 11:55:35 +0000

At the 2024 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

Today’s podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Jack Sutton, Muse Group’s head of communications. Jack’s first visit to NAMM coincided with the company’s first official presence at the show as the parent company of Hal Leonard, which they recently acquired. We spoke about some early fruits of that deal and the longer-term plans that they have for the future of their combined business, which brings together cutting-edge digital products with a vast library of published content.

We also discussed MuseScore and the latest developments with their flagship notation product, and specifically the improvements they’ve made, and plan to make, in the areas of guitar and percussion music, as well as the overall quality of output that they hope to achieve with MuseScore in the future.

If you didn’t hear our NAMM wrap-up episode, and interviews with NAMM CEO John Mlynczak, Avid’s Sam Butler, and MakeMusic’s Jason Wick, check those out in the Scoring Notes podcast feed.

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NAMM 2024: An interview with MakeMusic’s Jason Wick

Scoring Notes — Sat, 17 Feb 2024 12:16:57 +0000

At the 2024 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

Today’s podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Jason Wick, MakeMusic’s director of product development. Jason talked with me about their MakeMusic Cloud product, including their Practice tool, Sight Reading Studio, a free online composing application, and their classroom suite. We also discussed MakeMusic’s tight integration with the Alfred Publishing side of their company, the future of Finale, and more broadly considered the company’s values and strategies in today’s landscape of industry consolidation.

Come back next week for another great conversation from the NAMM Show. And if you didn’t hear our NAMM wrap-up episode, and interviews with NAMM CEO John Mlynczak and Avid’s Sam Butler, check those out in the Scoring Notes podcast feed.

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NAMM 2024: An interview with Avid’s Sam Butler

Scoring Notes — Sat, 10 Feb 2024 12:39:41 +0000

At the 2024 NAMM Show, we interviewed representatives from the businesses in our field of music notation software and related technology.

Today’s podcast episode is a conversation Philip Rothman had with Sam Butler, Avid’s director of product management. Sam talked with us about the new Sibelius features that Avid previewed at NAMM, the new Android application, and Sibelius Cloud publishing improvements.

Come back the next couple of weeks for more conversations from the NAMM Show. And if you didn’t hear our NAMM wrap-up episode, check that out in the podcast feed — David MacDonald and Philip Rothman review all the industry news and analyze what it means for you.

More from Scoring Notes:

NAMM 2024: Wrap-up and interview with CEO John Mlynczak

Scoring Notes — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 12:34:15 +0000

The 2024 NAMM Show was full of exciting news, products — and, most of all, the interesting people that create the news and products. Especially as it pertains to the Scoring Notes beat of music notation software and related technology, there was a lot to cover, and many miles were logged in service of bringing as much of the experience back to our audience.

David MacDonald and Philip Rothman review each of the major interviews that took place for Scoring Notes during the show with representatives from Avid, MakeMusic, and Muse Group. We also more generally analyze the experience, the information, and what it means for the year ahead in the field.

Concluding this episode is a special interview with John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO of NAMM in which we discuss his roots in the music notation field and its importance to the philosophy of the organization.

Stay tuned all this month to the Scoring Notes podcast feed, where each week we will bring special bonus coverage of interviews with Avid’s Sam Butler, MakeMusic’s Jason Wick, and Muse Group’s Jack Sutton, as they each talk about their respective products and companies, and discuss their strategies and approaches to their business.

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The staples of printing self-published music

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 Jan 2024 12:32:57 +0000

It’s easier than ever to publish your own music — but that doesn’t mean it’s a simple proposition. Even though a lot of music is made available digitally, there is still a significant demand for printed material. The logistics of printing physical copies and shipping them to customers can be tricky to navigate. It’s important to not be “toner-deaf” to the challenges that come along with the opportunities you “drum” up by making your music available.

In this conversation with Garrett Breeze of the Selling Sheet Music podcast, Philip Rothman and Garrett first discuss the ways in which you can work with services that will handle the printing and fulfillment for you. We also talk about what’s needed if you want to actually set up your own operation, and finally review some tools that can help you prepare your music for both specialty print services and conventional copy shops, so that you can find a smooth path towards getting the material out and avoid any paper jams along the way.

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A December to remember

Scoring Notes — Mon, 18 Dec 2023 12:43:33 +0000

With the Muse Group acquisition of Hal Leonard, and Dorico, MuseScore, Sibelius, and Finale all freshly updated, 2023 is going out with a bang. We gather round the fire and discuss all the news, as we get ready for the year ahead in music notation software and related technology.

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Black Friday deals are music to our ears

Scoring Notes — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 12:24:15 +0000

Black Friday is one of the best times of the year to get new stuff at low prices. But in the world of music notation software and related technology, it can also be a chance to reflect on the way you work and create, and to acquire the tools that will complement your skills.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald summarize the best deals we’ve found to that end, review some of the newest features that make spending holiday cash a worthwhile investment — and offer up a few of our favorite low- and hi-tech stocking stuffers.

Also: Check out Scoring Notes on Monday, November 20 for a comprehensive post with details on all the deals mentioned in this episode, and much more.

StaffPad updates go beyond just keeping the lights on

Scoring Notes — Sat, 11 Nov 2023 12:01:54 +0000

David MacDonald and Philip Rothman talk with David William Hearn, the co-founder and lead designer of StaffPad, about everything from product updates to what it was like making a live demo for Apple in 40 minutes, along with the implications of AI, industry changes, the Muse Group acquisition, and much more.

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Tricks and treats [encore]

Scoring Notes — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 10:19:39 +0000

To celebrate Halloween, we’re looking at scary things we see in the music notation software and score preparation process, and see if we can sweeten the experience with some tricks and treats. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss the spookiness of using the mouse and how you can better become a jack-o-lantern of all trades by focusing more on keyboard commands and other shortcuts in Sibelius, Finale, and Dorico. We also look at a frightening situation that happens when laying out your music and investigate how to fix it. So don’t be afraid — we won’t ghost you as we lead you unscathed out of the haunted house of software skeletons and onto the pumpkin patch to score some tricks and treats.

More on Scoring Notes:

(Re)learning how to use music notation software

Finale:

Sibelius:

Dorico:

Notation Express:

Chris Swaffer’s Notion of where music notation software is headed

Scoring Notes — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 11:30:03 +0000

Notion is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous music notation software products available today. With its roots stretching back to Musicprinter Plus, a program invented in the 1990s, to today, with native apps on virtually all major desktop and mobile operating systems, Notion has always been at the vanguard of music notation software. Notion was one of the first applications to include high-quality orchestral samples with their software, and appeared on the iPad more than a decade before we saw Dorico and Sibelius release iPad versions of their products.

Notion’s product manager Chris Swaffer has been there for most of those developments, and he joins Scoring Notes podcast co-hosts Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to tell us more about what Notion is, who it’s for, and where it’s headed — particularly in the aftermath of its acquisition by Fender, Notion’s second such move, after first being acquired by PreSonus. We first learn about Chris’s early days in the field and how he came to work on Notion, and how his experience as a composer and conductor informs his very important role. We also hear how Notion has been steadily upgrading its codebase to align with its Studio One DAW, and why its versatility is important for the product’s strategy in a very crowded marketplace.

More from Scoring Notes:

Asked and answered, part 3: Back to school

Scoring Notes — Sat, 02 Sep 2023 11:15:30 +0000

Listeners responded to our “call for calls” with some terrific questions about music notation software, related technology, the business of music preparation, and more.

On this episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald celebrate the beginning of the academic year by answering questions about the music notation software, tools, and services best suited for education. Whether you’re a student, educator, amateur, or professional musician, you’ll learn something about the wide variety of products we cover in response to the many terrific inquiries submitted by the Scoring Notes audience.

The third of a multi-part episode — because we got so many questions that we didn’t have enough time to fit them all into one sitting.

More from Scoring Notes:

Music notation platforms: an industry perspective

Scoring Notes — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 11:01:46 +0000

For the first time ever, MOLA, An Association of Performance Librarians, devoted an entire day to technology that featured vendor exhibits, presentations, discussions, and meetings. Bookending the day were two panel discussions; one moderated by David MacDonald on the subject of music reader tablet experiences, and one moderated by Philip Rothman with representatives from the music notation software platforms.

The concluding discussion, heard here, is entitled “Music Notation Platforms: An Industry Perspective”. It brought together the representatives of a cross-section of notation software solutions: Adrian Holovaty of Soundslice; Bradley Kunda of MuseScore; Daniel Spreadbury of Steinberg (Dorico); and Chris Swaffer of PreSonus (Notion).

These “ABCD”s of the music notation software field engaged in a lively back-and-forth interchange about the philosophy behind their product development, their relationships with their user bases, and how their programs co-exist in a crowded space.

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Behind “Behind Bars” with Elaine Gould

Scoring Notes — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 10:34:54 +0000

If there is one book that anyone working with music notation needs to have, either on their desk, or on their device — or at least in a library within walking distance of their home — it’s Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation. Published in 2011 by Faber Music, Elaine Gould’s 700-page volume quickly became the preeminent reference for music engravers, providing an exhaustive collection of rules, traditions, suggestions, and conventions for how to set music in the clearest way possible.

It’s those “general” conventions that take up first third of the book — starting from what Elaine calls the “ground rules” such as the appearance of the staff, clefs, noteheads, and more — and continues on for another 200 pages or so, before the book moves onto the areas of instrumentation and layout. Elaine joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to tell us about the new publication of that first section, Behind Bars: General Conventions, as a stand-alone edition suitable for slipping into your bookbag, where it won’t break the bank, or your back.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Elaine talks with us about her early background and how she came to the profession of music preparation and editing. We uncover the seeds that eventually became Behind Bars, and the decades-long journey from meticulous refinements to its eventual publication and virtually overnight success.

Elaine gives us her practical tips for working with composers, performers, and publishers, the realities of time pressures and budget restrictions, and the inevitable revisions that occur with new music, and tells us how she’s navigated the often-conflicting goals of the engraving ideal and the necessity of deadline-driven production.

She also has advice for those that are just starting out in the field, and naturally, given our focus on music notation software and technology, she opines on what the computer’s strengths and weaknesses, the crucial differences between looking at music on a screen and on a page, and the progress made since Behind Bars was first published in 2011.

Half Notes: A comparison of tablet music reader technology experiences

Scoring Notes — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 11:09:20 +0000

We’ll bring Philip’s discussion to you later this summer, but first, we hope you enjoy the discussion that David had to kick off the tech fair, about the real-world challenges and benefits of using tablet readers in orchestral performances. His co-moderator was none other than Mark Fabulich, assistant librarian of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the co-chair of MOLA’s Technology Committee.

The distinguished panelists they spoke with were three librarians, each of whom primarily use different reader apps: Julia Pestke of the West German Radio Orchestra, who uses dimusco; Luke Speedy-Hutton of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, who uses Newzik; and Signe Marie Steensland of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, who uses forScore.

More from Scoring Notes:

Asked and answered, part 2: In awe of the DAW

Scoring Notes — Sat, 03 Jun 2023 09:28:10 +0000

Listeners responded to our “call for calls” with some terrific questions about music notation software, related technology, the business of music preparation, and more.

On this episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald take a variety of questions and dispense solicited (and unsolicited) advice. The topic at hand for this part: Using music notation software with — or as — a digital audio workstation (DAW).

The second of a multi-part episode — because we got so many questions that we didn’t have enough time to fit them all into one sitting.

More from Scoring Notes:

Asked and answered, part 1

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 May 2023 11:53:47 +0000

Listeners responded to our “call for calls” with some terrific questions about music notation software, related technology, the business of music preparation, and more.

On this episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald take a variety of questions and dispense solicited (and unsolicited) advice. Among the topics: the best way to switch among different platforms, how to set up condensed scores, what makes a good portfolio, what printer to use and where to get paper, and much more.

The first of a multi-part episode — because we got so many questions that we didn’t have enough time to fit them all into one sitting.

More from Scoring Notes:

Ask your questions on the Scoring Notes podcast

Scoring Notes — Sat, 15 Apr 2023 11:30:31 +0000

Have you ever listened to an episode of the Scoring Notes podcast and wished you could ask a question directly on the show? No?! Never had that desire? But now that I’ve mentioned the possibility, it sounds like something you’d want to do, right…? Right?

Seriously, we actually do get a lot of questions and suggestions for the podcast, and many of those have made it onto the show in one way or another.

But for our next episode, we thought we’d open up the phone lines directly, so to speak.

So, now’s your chance to ask a question about anything in the world of music notation software and related technology — or really, any one of the adjacent subjects we’ve covered on the Scoring Notes podcast or web site, and we may feature it on our next episode.

If you’re shy, you can alternatively write your question in an email and send it to us, and we may read it on the show.

Send us your question no later than Wednesday, April 19, 2023, so that we have time to consider it and do the many hours of scholarly research that will no doubt be required, and to formulate a worthy reply in time for our next podcast episode.

(Re)learning how to use music notation software

Scoring Notes — Sat, 01 Apr 2023 11:00:37 +0000

It’s fair to say that the concept of music notation software is easy to understand. You write music on a computer, it shows up on your display, and you print it out. What could be so difficult about that? Well, as we all know, plenty.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald remember beginning with zero knowledge about programs like Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico, and eventually progressing to the point where we can actually teach those programs to others trying to learn them. Along the way, we’ve discovered and refined approaches to learning that we share with each other, and with you, in the course of our discussion.

We revisit our original discussion on the topic, and add a postscript — what we’ve learned about learning in the intervening years.

No, we won’t be reciting all 892 pages of the Sibelius reference or 1,605 pages of the Dorico manual, but we will relay some key philosophies so that you have more confidence when you work with the software you use to create music.

More on Scoring Notes:

How we don’t use music notation software (but do use related technology)

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 12:43:12 +0000

Finally, we give a shout-out to our favorite piece of related technology.

More from Scoring Notes:

Apps and fonts we talk about:

Justin Bianco, forScore, and more

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 Feb 2023 12:50:31 +0000

forScore, the sheet music reader, is the no. 1-ranked music app on the Apple Store with good reason. Justin Bianco, its creator and developer, relentlessly refines the vision that he had when the iPad was first introduced: to make a simple yet powerful music reader for Apple’s revolutionary platform.

Used in all music genres, in live performance, score study, and in countless other ways, forScore is one of the first apps that musicians download after getting an iPad, and is often the reason for purchasing the device in the first place. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk with Justin about the tech, his philosophy, his background — and why his mom is his target user.

We also learn what the future might hold for forScore in terms of new features, interoperability with other apps, and whether or not it will ever appear on other platforms.

More on Scoring Notes:

The best iPad score reader for most people

Behind the scenes with MuseScore 4’s design and engraving improvements

Scoring Notes — Sat, 07 Jan 2023 12:53:54 +0000

The release of MuseScore 4 is a major update and quite possibly the most significant one in the open-source application’s history since the release of MuseScore 1.0 in 2011. It includes major improvements to the user interface, layout, engraving, and playback features.

Not coincidentally, this is also the first major version of of MuseScore to be released under the product leadership of Martin Keary, Muse Group’s vice president of software. Coming nearly two years after the last MuseScore update (3.6) and nearly four years after the release of MuseScore 3, Martin said, “I’ve worked on a lot of complex creation software and this is the largest release I’ve ever put out,” including the launch of Paint 3D and a variety of PS3 games.

Martin returns to the Scoring Notes podcast along with Simon Smith, Muse Group’s head of engraving, to talk with Philip Rothman and David MacDonald for a thorough discussion about MuseScore 4’s design and engraving improvements. We go behind the scenes to hear about the decisions, roadblocks, and good fortune that happened along the road to the release of this version of the software.

They discuss their philosophies about creating tools for musicians and how they approached the challenges of modernizing an existing application, all the while keeping both existing and new users in mind. We cover the details of engraving, including ties, beams, note spacing and more. Martin and Simon tell us their favorite “under-the-radar” features in MuseScore 4 and highlight some items that users might not be aware of. Finally, we learn what’s missing in MuseScore and what to expect as they continue to develop the product for MuseScore 5 and beyond.

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Reflect and refresh

Scoring Notes — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 12:24:14 +0000

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald review significant themes and product releases, reflect on our favorite podcast episodes, recall fun times, spread holiday cheer, and refresh ourselves for the year ahead in the world of music notation software and related technology.

More from Scoring Notes:

Scoring Notes product guide

Podcast highlights from 2022:

From “zero to slice”: Soundslice takes on optical music recognition with AI

Scoring Notes — Sat, 03 Dec 2022 12:21:10 +0000

Soundslice syncs audio, video and music notation into a single web-based interface that can be used on virtually any piece of music. A favorite tool for musicians that want to learn how to play music by interacting with both the sheet music and a recording, it’s at the cutting edge of some developments in the more general field of music applications.

As it has rolled out more robust features over time, Soundslice’s goal has been to get from “zero to slice” as quickly as possible. A “slice”, in Soundslice parlance, is any piece of music notation, large or small.

One crucial way of getting to that slice is from existing music that may not exist as a recording or a music notation format that can be easily converted to MusicXML. So that’s where music scanning comes into play.

Although music scanning, or optical music recognition (OMR) technology has been around for decades, it’s now possible to marry music-notation know-how with advancements in machine learning, or “artificial intelligence”. Soundslice’s latest feature aims to harness that technology to learn as it goes, and get better at interpreting the music with every scan it processes.

Soundslice’s founder, Adrian Holovaty, returns to Scoring Notes to talk all about how Soundslice works in this regard and helps us understand its potential to revolutionize this important step in music preparation.

Back in the black with holiday deals and discounts

Scoring Notes — Sat, 19 Nov 2022 12:29:31 +0000

It’s here! Black Friday, the time when retailers and consumers meet in the happy place of sales and specials. This time can be about more just getting a few dollars off, though — it can be an opportunity to acquire new skills using products and services that will benefit you all year round.

To that end, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald run through all the deals we know about for music notation software, and recap some of the latest new features that could entice you to open your wallet. We break down the ways to save while spending, including stacking discounts and taking advantage of competitive crossgrade offers, which can yield significant reductions on the overall cost of acquiring many of the products we cover on a regular basis.

We also talk about the offers for some related technology, like web apps, sound libraries, graphic design software, and more, making this episode holiday music to anyone’s ears.

Melissa Smey’s commission mission

Scoring Notes — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 10:16:16 +0000

On the Scoring Notes podcast, we have spoken before about music preparation and the technology we all use to create musical compositions and get them in front of players and an audience.

But how do those compositions begin in the first place?

We’re not talking about the magical moment when a composer wakes up and decides that they are going to create their magnum opus. It’s when the phone rings (or maybe these days it’s a text message or an email), and when the composer picks up, on the other end of the line there is someone inviting them — commissioning them — to write a new piece of music.

Melissa Smey is the person who has been on the other end of that line many times. She tells us all about what that process is like. Melissa is the Associate Dean and Executive Director at Columbia University School of the Arts, where she leads the Arts Initiative, Miller Theatre, and oversees the Lenfest Center for the Arts.

Melissa has commissioned over 40 new works from leading international composers and is the co-creator and host of the acclaimed podcast Mission: Commission, which demystifies the process of how classical music gets made.

We talk about the particular role a university arts presenter has in campus life and the larger community, and how Miller Theatre’s Composer Portraits have been particularly successful in building an audience that will come out to hear a wide variety of music.

We also discuss the “road trip” of commissioning a new work and the nature of music preparation in bringing a piece to life, with special attention on the performers who will ultimately be tasked with interpreting the music, whether it’s notated on paper spanning three music stands or is beamed from the latest music tablet devices.

Aaron Copland, in his own words

Scoring Notes — Sat, 22 Oct 2022 12:00:32 +0000

When Aaron Copland thought of the Far West, he probably didn’t have Wisconsin in mind, but Milwaukee was the perfect location to “road test” the new edition of Rodeo.

That’s where Philip Rothman went for the first rehearsals of a new edition of Copland’s masterpiece that I prepared. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of music director Ken-David Masur, agreed to play from a brand new set of score and parts to Rodeo.

You might wonder, what was wrong with the old edition? Certainly, it’s been played from thousands and thousands of times. When the piece was first published in the 1940s, a number of errors and inconsistencies crept into the parts. Although they’ve been corrected by intrepid orchestra librarians, it was time to get them straightened out once and for all.

One reason for the inconsistencies was that the “Four Dance Episodes” from Rodeo, which is the version that most everyone is familiar with, is extracted from the full ballet. That version left a lot to be desired in the engraving department, so, with the support of The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and in coordination with Boosey & Hawkes, the team at NYC Music Services put it all into modern software and made brand new materials for both the ballet and the Four Dance Episodes, with the goal of clarifying any discrepancies and making everything nice and easy to read.

The Milwaukee players were great, and you can read more about it on the Scoring Notes web site. It must have been fate to go there, because in researching this piece, we stumbled across a fascinating interview that Copland gave in 1970 while visiting the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. It’s thanks to the library archives of that university that we’re pleased to bring you that interview here as a Scoring Notes extra.

Copland talks with professor John Downey about the iconic ballets like Rodeo, the various people and musical trends which influenced him, and the divergent aspects of his own work throughout his career. You’ll also hear him talk about what was current at the time and discuss the future of music.

This episode is co-produced with The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, with material kindly provided from the Archives Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries.

More from Scoring Notes: Road report: Copland’s Rodeo in Milwaukee

Setting a high bar (from Selling Sheet Music)

Scoring Notes — Sat, 17 Sep 2022 11:45:36 +0000

Garrett Breeze’s podcast, called Selling Sheet Music, features practical advice about the art and the business of getting scores from your head to the music stand. Garrett invited Scoring Notes co-host Philip Rothman to be a guest on his show, and it was fun having someone ask Philip the questions for a change instead of the other way around.

We discussed thoughts on preparing music and the tech that’s used in everyday work. Philip talks about his business, NYC Music Services, how he got started, and how the tasks have evolved over time in response to changing needs and technological progress. We also talk about some essential elements of preparing your music for publication and how to go about choosing software that fits your workflow.

Garrett even got into the Scoring Notes spirit and titled this episode “Setting a High Bar” — that definitely ‘measures’ up to our standard of making terrible musical puns around here.

Enjoy this episode, courtesy of Garrett Breeze and Selling Sheet Music.

What’s new?

Scoring Notes — Sat, 03 Sep 2022 11:45:23 +0000

If you’re not up to date, then you’re missing out on the latest features. That’s always been true, but perhaps never more so than now, with regular updates being the norm for music notation software.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald review the latest updates to Dorico, Sibelius, Finale, and MuseScore, and highlight the most useful new features — and what’s in those updates that may portend well for the future.

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Tim Davies takes the macro view

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 Aug 2022 11:09:05 +0000

Tim Davies calls himself “really an arranger that fell into orchestrating,” but that barely begins to describe the active and successful musical life that he leads. Born and educated in Australia, now based in Los Angeles, the Grammy-nominated and Annie-winning musician splits his time between orchestrating for features, television, and video games; composing his own scores; and conducting and arranging for orchestras all around the globe.

Tim’s film and TV credits as lead orchestrator and/or conductor include Frozen and Frozen 2, both Ant-Man movies, The Lego Movie 2, La La Land, Trolls, and The Peanuts Movie. He’s prolific in the world of video games, including God of War, Infamous, Sims, the Resistance and Batman franchises, Spider-man, and Halo: Infinite. He’s a busy conductor in concert halls and other live venues specializing in live to picture scores, and we haven’t even mentioned all the special projects he’s arranged for productions like the BBC Proms and Academy Awards. And if that wasn’t enough, that pair of Grammy nominations were for his own big band recordings, where he not only composed the music, but played the drums, as well.

Despite his busy schedule, Tim not only finds time to write extensively about his experience and approaches on his web site, timusic.net, but counts it as one of the most important things that he does. The series of articles about the craft of orchestration — complete with illustrated examples — numbers well into the dozens, and explores related subjects like conducting, jazz voicing, and — our favorite — music notation software.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald have a wide-ranging conversation with Tim in which all of those topics are explored. We start with Tim’s early days as a student, where he made his own opportunities, and how his initiative and innate musicality combined with a relentless pursuit of practicality — along with a healthy dose of keyboard macros — has served him well as he worked his way to being one of the most sought-after professionals in the business.

More on Scoring Notes:

Half Notes: Nicole Jordan confers at the conference

Scoring Notes — Sat, 30 Jul 2022 11:51:33 +0000

We continue our interviews with members of MOLA, An Association of Performance Librarians, at their annual conference in June. We’re calling these brief conversations “Scoring Half Notes”

In this segment, we revisit with our good friend Nicole Jordan, the principal librarian of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Nicole hosted the 2022 MOLA conference in her capacity in Philadelphia, and by sheer coincidence, she was the host of the last in-person MOLA conference in 2019 when she was principal librarian at the Atlanta Symphony.

We caught up with Nicole during the closing banquet and look back at both conferences. At the 2022 conference, Nicole delivered a presentation about recording Florence Price’s music. We learn what it was like making that composer’s voice come alive in the course of this very successful project, and some of the similarities and differences of working with contemporary music composers.

By the way, you’ll definitely want to listen to our full interview with Nicole from an earlier episode, if you haven’t heard it already, where Nicole quizzes us about our software recommendations and gets our advice for people who are just beginning their technological journey.

More from Scoring Notes:

Half Notes: Mark Fabulich on committing to technology

Scoring Notes — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 11:17:28 +0000

We continue to share some interviews that we did with members of MOLA, An Association of Performance Librarians, at their annual conference in June. We’re calling these brief conversations “Scoring Half Notes”.

In this segment, we talk with Mark Fabulich, an assistant librarian at the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Mark is the chair of MOLA’s Technology Committee. In that role, he guides its members as they stay on top of the latest digital developments and disseminate that information to the general MOLA membership.

At the MOLA conference, Mark co-delivered a presentation entitled “(Y)Our Future with Digital Sheet Music” with Georgina Govier, head of music library at the Welsh National Opera, as well as with none other than Scoring Notes podcast co-host David MacDonald. We talk about the content of that presentation, as well as other technologies like Photoshop, spreadsheets, and, of course, music notation software — all of which today’s performance librarian needs to have at their disposal in their modern digital toolbox.

More from Scoring Notes:

Half Notes: Jane Cross, keeping music files safe

Scoring Notes — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 12:17:51 +0000

For the next few weeks we’ll be sharing some interviews that we did with members of MOLA, An Association of Performance Librarians, at their annual conference in June. We’re calling these brief conversations “Scoring Half Notes”.

In today’s segment, we talk with Jane Cross, a music archivist at the Library of Congress. She’s been in that position nearly three years, and before that, was a librarian with the prestigious United States Marine Band for 22 years; 11 of those as chief librarian.

At the MOLA conference, Jane delivered a presentation entitled “Bits and Bytes: Managing All Those Digital Music Files”. It’s a topic we turn to from time to time here on Scoring Notes, and we loved catching up with an actual archivist to tell us how to be our best selves in this area. Even if you weren’t present for Jane’s discussion, we’ve included a link to her presentation and a very helpful risk mitigation worksheet. You’ll want to remember the acronym LOCKSS: “Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe”.

Bits and Bytes: Managing All Those Digital Music Files:

More from Scoring Notes:

MOLA 2022: Advancements in music notation software

Scoring Notes — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 11:38:35 +0000

At the 2022 MOLA conference, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald jointly presented a session called “Advancements in Music Notation Software”. It’s a summary of the developments from the past year or so in the world of music notation software and related technology, and we thought it made for a great podcast episode if you’re looking to get caught up on what’s new or just refresh your memory. We took some questions from the audience, too, and put it all together for you here on Scoring Notes.

Later this month, we’ll release some brief bonus segments featuring conversations we had with our librarian colleagues, so look for those in your Scoring Notes podcast feed.

More from Scoring Notes:

The scoring expressway

Scoring Notes — Sat, 25 Jun 2022 11:56:57 +0000

What happens when you combine custom fonts, fine-tuned engraving settings, and decades of collective music preparation expertise? The Scoring Express templates for Sibelius, Dorico, and Finale.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk with Joseph Trefler and Leo Nicholson about the creation of new template suites for Finale and Dorico, along with an update to the Sibelius version. We discuss the catalysts for creating professional, easy-to-use solutions for each application, and explore the high-level concepts of using Scoring Express along with the nerdy minutiae.

More on Scoring Notes: Scoring Express for Dorico and Finale released; Sibelius templates updated

Flutronix: Allison Loggins-Hull and Nathalie Joachim

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 Jun 2022 10:50:38 +0000

Allison Loggins-Hull and Nathalie Joachim are distinguished flutists and composers, and Flutronix, the name of their duo, says it all. Known for their unique blend of classical, hip hop, electronic programming and soulful vocals, music and technology intersect constantly in their work and music. They’re active in all of those genres and more, and yet somehow they found time to talk to Philip Rothman and David MacDonald about all of it.

We first learn about how Allison and Nathalie met and began their collaboration, and the process of creating brand new repertoire for their unique combination of two flutes and electronica. They tell us about their influences and process of composition, and how, despite various labels being applied to their music, they aim to defy genre classification and instead simply create music that they want to play and hear.

We then get into the tech, starting with, what else: music notation software. Allison and Nathalie use Sibelius and they talk about how it helps them visualize their music, both at a macro level as well as with respect to the finer details of harmony and chord structure. Their use of digital audio workstations as well as hardware and software synths play a crucial role in creating and developing their sounds, and we find our what they’re currently using and how they use it with music notation software.

Finally, we discuss the importance of music preparation and how essential well-prepared scores and parts are in rehearsal, especially when other elements like electronics are literally in the mix.

Heard on this episode:

Upgrade your desk — and what’s on (and around) it

Scoring Notes — Sat, 07 May 2022 12:01:01 +0000

When using music notation software and other technology, it can be worthwhile to have a consistent workspace for a long period of time. Sometimes, though, the opportunity presents itself to start anew. On this podcast episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk about making those upgrades — from the desk itself, to what’s on and around it.

For a the full list of everything we discussed on this episode, and more, with links to products we describe, see David MacDonald’s companion Scoring Notes post: Upgrade your desk.

What’s next for the podcast

Scoring Notes — Sat, 09 Apr 2022 11:55:54 +0000

As the Scoring Notes podcast approaches the two-year mark and our 100th episode, we announce some changes to the release schedule and preview what’s coming in future episodes.

Lyrics and vocal music, part 2

Scoring Notes — Sat, 02 Apr 2022 12:00:00 +0000

Knowing the various rules and conventions that govern the setting of lyrics in vocal music is a good start, but if you use music notation software, there’s more to learn. In this second of a two-part episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss how to actually apply those principles in the leading scoring programs: Finale, Dorico, and Sibelius.

There’s a surprising degree of overlap in the way that these programs approach lyrics, but also some crucial differences. We first start by talking about how the software conceptualizes lyrics, and where to find them in the program. We discuss the various ways that you can actually get the lyrics into the file: typing into the score, copying and pasting, and importing.

A few small but useful details don’t go overlooked: hard spaces, hyphens, elisions are important elements of lyrics but are special cases when it comes to inputting text.

Then, how do you edit the lyrics once they’re into the score? Lyric settings are found in a variety of places in the software — document options, engraving rules, text style definitions, default positions — and we help you find your away around and try to avoid some common pitfalls.

Hyphenation, or syllabification, is a hot-button topic and we offer up several tips of our own as well as those from podcast listeners. We also take a few questions and address those at the end of the episode.

More on Scoring Notes:

Elsewhere:

The Lyric Hyphenator

Lyrics and vocal music, part 1

Scoring Notes — Sat, 26 Mar 2022 11:44:22 +0000

Working with lyrics and vocal music presents a special set of challenges and opportunities to burnish your music engraving skill set. In this first of a two-part episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss many of the conventions and principles that govern lyric text.

Staff position, alignment, and spacing must all be carefully considered when setting vocal text, and we sort through the best approaches for presenting the music clearly in relation to the lyrics. Beaming is an issue that has often confounded notesetters — specifically syllabic beaming, where the beams reflect the text instead of the rhythmic groups — and we talk about the change from traditional to modern notation and how best to handle melismatic passages.

Fonts, always a favorite topic of conversation on Scoring Notes, are again worthy of exploration, and why certain fonts are better than others for lyrics. We offer our suggestions there, and also discuss the topics of hyphenation and word extensions that are necessary components of any instance where vocal text is present.

There’s much more we cover in this episode, and then in the next episode, we’ll talk about where in the music notation software you can find the settings to control these various aspects and some tips to achieve good results.

More on Scoring Notes:

Where in the world is…? [encore]

Scoring Notes — Sat, 19 Mar 2022 12:03:14 +0000

When you work with music notation software, sometimes the greatest challenge is knowing what a task is actually called and where to find it. Plus, if you use more than one program, the same item might be implemented in different ways.

In this encore presentation, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald go on a scavenger hunt to find useful features in Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico. We’ll uncover some hidden and not-so-hidden treasures on our journey, like repitching, exploding and reducing music, multi-edit workflows, and filters. We’ll also review how to reset it all when everything goes awry, so you can feel confident experimenting with new ways to make the software work for you, and not the other way around.

Be sure to stick around to the end of the episode for a little update that covers a new feature introduced in Dorico 4: Instrument Filters. We’ll talk about that and where to find the comparable feature in Finale and Sibelius.

More on Scoring Notes:

Recapping the latest Dorico and Finale updates

Scoring Notes — Sat, 12 Mar 2022 13:11:58 +0000

Software updates are often blockbuster events, but sometimes they are smaller affairs that just make working in the programs appreciably better. Such is the case with the latest updates to Finale and Dorico.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald recap the Finale v27.2 update, which featured new a jazz template and document style designed in collaboration with Darcy James Argue. We also explain why it’s important Finale is now a “universal” application for Macs, like Dorico 4 is, which means that it can run natively on Apple’s newest M1-powered machine.

We then turn our attention to the Dorico 4.0.20 update, and highlight a few of our favorite improvements in this update. We discuss why the jump bar, the seemingly low-tech text-only way of working in Dorico, might be the secret to working faster in Dorico now that it returns better search results. We also discuss improvements to Dorico’s Key Editor and look ahead to what’s already been promised to come in the next update.

More on Scoring Notes:

Darcy James Argue jazzes up Finale with “style”

Scoring Notes — Sat, 05 Mar 2022 13:11:07 +0000

Darcy James Argue returns to Scoring Notes to talk with Philip Rothman about his role in creating the fully revamped SMuFL-compliant jazz default file and document style in the Finale v27.2 update. Darcy’s a composer, bandleader, and, as pertains to today’s topic of conversation, world-renowned music preparation expert, particularly when it comes to Finale.

Darcy’s a stickler for detail, and he tells us all about the process of overhauling the Finale Jazz defaults, with more than two decades’ worth of items on his wish list. One of those items is the addition of lower case characters to the JazzText font — something that users have been asking for since it was first introduced by Rich Sigler back in the 1990s. It’s not just an aesthetic preference; when used in chord symbols, they make it much easier to read and understand.

The chord symbols in the new SMuFL Finale Jazz Font Default are all made up of individual characters (not single-character JazzChord glyphs) and can all be typed directly into the score, and Darcy discuss the process of stripping down the original font into its most basic elements and reconstituting them to be used in as many chord symbol combinations as was practical to include.

There are also many differences under the hood in Document Options, such as tie and slur appearance, tuplet bracket appearance, margins, and layer settings, and Darcy tells us about the inspiration for those — including everything from Judy Green manuscript paper to the artful copyists of the golden age like Clinton Roemer and Bert Kosow. We also talk about what this means for Finale users now and in the future.

More on Scoring Notes:

Cleo Huggins, the designer of the first music font

Scoring Notes — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 13:40:10 +0000

We talk a lot about fonts on the Scoring Notes podcast. But there was a time when there were no music fonts. And then, there was one.

More on Scoring Notes:

From the Finale Blog:

The rights stuff

Scoring Notes — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 13:00:46 +0000

You may know all about writing music. But what about your rights and music? That’s what Philip Rothman and David MacDonald unpack on this episode with Jim Kendrick, one of the industry’s foremost experts on the subject. As an attorney and music publisher representing major composers and institutions, Jim has decades of experience navigating the often-complex world of intellectual property on behalf of his clients, and he deftly steers us through the intersection of creativity, copyright, and technology.

First we learn about Jim’s journey from oboist, to music publisher, to attorney. Jim then outlines the history of copyright and tells us both when copyright takes effect and what the six exclusive rights in works that copyright owners have.

We then discuss the practical effect of those rights and how they can be protected and licensed, as well as the technological changes in the industry over time in terms of producing and distributing music.

Music notation software plays an important role in the creation of musical work and we explore what rights engravers and editors might have, or not, in the process of producing a piece of music, and the concept of work-made-for-hire.

Finally, we look at ways in which the field is adapting to the reality of licensing music in the digital era, and what is — and isn’t — fair use, and the four factors that determine when it may be legally permissible to copy music.

Disclaimer: Our hosts and guest are not speaking on behalf of any clients or organizations with which they may be affiliated, and the content of this program is not legal advice. If you have a need for legal advice, please contact a qualified practitioner.

Michael Good, the inventor of MusicXML [encore]

Scoring Notes — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 12:44:12 +0000

If you’ve ever needed to open a Finale file in Sibelius, or a scan music in SmartScore and bring it into Dorico, or write something in StaffPad and upload it to MuseScore.com, you’ve relied on MusicXML to make it happen. MusicXML is the standard interchange format for music notation applications, and it’s what makes such robust interoperability possible between hundreds of programs. We might take it for granted now, but that doesn’t mean we should.

MusicXML was invented by Michael Good, and on this episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk with Michael about how he came to create such important technology more than two decades ago. He tells us the inside story of what it took to get it off the ground, and puts us in the room at pivotal moments in its development, from its humble origins all the way through to its current incarnation as part of a thriving worldwide community. We also learn what to expect in the next version, MusicXML 4.0, and how this now-ubiquitous established format is keeping pace with the newest technological changes.

This episode is an encore of the episode that first aired on March 13, 2021, with a few updates at the beginning about the release of MusicXML 4.0 and Dolet 8 for Sibelius.

Read the transcript of this episode

More on Scoring Notes:

Pressing all the right buttons

Scoring Notes — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 13:07:43 +0000

Notation Express is a custom-designed profile for the Stream Deck console, Stream Deck XL console, and the Stream Deck Mobile app for iOS, that maps hundreds of notation features to a colorful push-button interface and makes the software fun to use in a unique way.

For Dorico 4, Notation Express was been completely rebuilt — every button has been re-programmed to take advantage of Dorico 4’s new ability to receive commands directly from Stream Deck, instead of relying upon a custom key command profile as the intermediary.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk about how they developed this new version of Notation Express and the immediate benefits of the new system. We also discuss how this new API opens up even more possibilities, not only for the future of Notation Express, but also for other tools.

More on Scoring Notes: Notation Express for Dorico 4 released

Print perfect

Scoring Notes — Sat, 29 Jan 2022 13:15:50 +0000

Back to the future of music notation on computers

Scoring Notes — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 13:12:28 +0000

Before the personal computer revolution of the late 1970s, computers were so large and so expensive that they could only be found in universities and government departments. But almost as soon as there were computers, people were figuring out how to use them for creating and printing music.

Ben Byram-Wigfield joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald on a journey back in time and again to the present day to discuss some of the key moments of encoding music notation in the form of 1s and 0s.

We start with the huge mainframe computers of the 1950s which, despite having mere kilobytes of memory and storage capacity, were capable of creating some of the first machine-aided music.

As plotter printing technology emerged, so too did computers that could produce music on thes machines. Leland Smith’s SCORE took hold at some of the major publishing companies and was groundbreaking in the way it drew music notation without using any fonts.

Eventually, music fonts were necessary, as well as a way of sharing music amongst the varying formats that were used to encode music. Ben was a classmate of Jonathan and Ben Finn, the co-founders of Sibelius, and we race toward the present-day to look at the current landscape of music notation applications, as well as those that got left in the DeLorean’s rear-view mirror.

More on Scoring Notes:

From elsewhere:

Dorico 4: Supercharged

Scoring Notes — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 13:05:04 +0000

Daniel Spreadbury returns to Scoring Notes to talk with Philip Rothman and David MacDonald about Dorico 4, the huge update to Steinberg’s scoring software.

We learn about the development team’s approach to this update, the challenges an opportunities it presented for Dorico after its release on iPad, and bringing those features and much more to the desktop version as they aim to “supercharge your workflow”.

We talk all about the new playback features that are now available directly in Write mode, like the Key Editor, and mixer. Smart MIDI input comes to Dorico 4 and we learn how that works and the benefits it brings to the music scoring process.

Engravers also see lots of benefits, too, like the new Library menu and Library Manager, which put a lot of engraving options in one place for the first time and make it easy to import house styles at a granular level, as well as creating templates for the first time.

We also each take a turn at identifying our own favorite feature in Dorico 4 and learn what’s next for the future of the software.

More on Scoring Notes:

StaffPad audio update, Graphical MIDI Tools, and software licensing

Scoring Notes — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 13:02:04 +0000

2021 finished strong. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald pick up the news you need to hit the score running in 2022.

The StaffPad “audio update” brings new features like audio staves, tempo mapping, adaptive audio to keep your audio in sync with your score tempo, royalty-free production sounds and loops, and studio-quality effects, along with more improvements.

A major upgrade is out for Graphical MIDI Tools for Sibelius, which allows the user to manipulate MIDI information in the score in a graphical manner. It has been completely overhauled as an application that runs within Sibelius to provide a piano roll window.

We then cover what’s new in the Sibelius 2021.12 update for desktop and mobile, chiefly an easier was of entering percussion music.

If your eyes glaze over when reading about the technical but important topic of software licensing, we help by explaining the new systems that Avid and Steinberg rolled out. Their intent is to make it easier for a single user to activate and use Sibelius and Dorico on multiple computers, and we’ll share our thoughts.

Finally: a couple of time-sensitive deals on software that are worth checking out before they’re gone.

More on Scoring Notes:

22 in ’22 in 22’

Scoring Notes — Sat, 18 Dec 2021 12:51:26 +0000

We wrap up 2021 with some new year’s resolutions in the form of tips and recommendations. We’re calling it 22 in ’22 in 22’: That’s 22 tips, for 2022, delivered to you in 22 minutes.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald spend a minute on each item, from our favorite apps, web sites, plug-ins, and techniques that we hope help with a “new you in ‘22” — at least when it comes to our favorite topic of music notation software and related tech. The clock’s already ticking, so let’s get the festivities started.

David’s items:

Scanner Pro from Readdle
Use metadata in projects (Backstage area/File tab in Sibelius, Project Info in Dorico) with wildcards, tokens, inserts
Change universal settings first (e.g. vertical spacing)
Text Styles
Use the “real” characters for sharps and flats (Dorico tokens, just copy/paste in other apps)
Special Unicode characters
Butterick’s Practical Typography
Better Touch Tool “Key Sequences” and trackpad gestures to avoid conflicts. (h/t Shortcut Detective from Irradiated software)
Sibelius Plugin: Delete Empty Text Strings
Filters
Organize files consistently (including file tags)

Philip’s items:

iPhone/iPad apps in general (Sibelius and Dorico)
Tokens for exploiting PDFs in score order (in Sibelius and Dorico)
Finale: Document > Page Format (Score… Parts…). Set this and then Redefine Pages in Page Layout tool. You may think that using the Page Size, System Size, and Edit Page Margins options in the Page Layout Tool is the right way… but no… Also, don’t “Scale System” or “Scale Page” to anything other than 100% in Page Format.
When to use “Absolute” or “fixed” size for anything page-related (titles, page numbers, headers)
Use the “real” dynamics (stylized bold italic mp, etc., not just regular expression text)
Make sure you use them correctly! Più mosso.
Schirmer Pronouncing Pocket Manual Of Musical Terms (Theodore Baker, ed. Nicolas Slonimsky, Laura Kuhn 5th ed 1995) $8 Kindle, paperback used
Keyboard Maestro for Mac; Similar but not the same on Windows: AutoHotKey
I have to choose just one plug-in? Run them all with Run Plugins by Name
Plugins part 2: Filter Other in Sibelius filters key signature changes, hidden objects, quartertones, and a lot more
Please always use running headers (title, page number, part name) on all parts

Partying with parts, part 2

Scoring Notes — Sat, 11 Dec 2021 12:53:03 +0000

We party on in our second installment about part preparation. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald turn again to Elaine Gould’s music notation reference book Behind Bars to help guide the discussion.

Last time we left off just when things got interesting, talking all about cues, so for today’s episode we pick up there. We review the different types of cues, what they do, when to put them in, and how to control the software to make them look just the way you want.

At the risk of repeating ourselves, we then cover that very subject — repeats — and when they can help or hinder a player reading a part. Percussion is also on our list, and you’ll want to hear the dos and don’ts of getting the music for that instrument section into the software and onto the page.

Speaking of software, this episode is full of tips on how the major notation applications differ, and how they’re alike with respect to part-making, and we close the episode with some low-tech but effective advice for the final step in the quest for parts perfection.

Partying with parts, part 1

Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation, by Elaine Gould

More from Scoring Notes:

Partying with parts, part 1

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 13:08:33 +0000

We have a party talking all about part preparation. This is one of our most requested topics from listeners, and we’re happy to oblige in this first of a two-part episode. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald use the parts preparation chapter from Elaine Gould’s music notation reference book Behind Bars as a framework for discussing this essential step in making the best performance materials possible.

We start with the staff size, and what’s too small, too big and just right, and how it relates to page size and margins. Headers, page numbers and other labels are next in our discussion, and we explore the best conventions that have developed, and why you need to always have them present. On we go to page turns, multimeasure rests, clefs, and more, and how careful consideration of all those elements contribute to making a quality part.

We span the low-tech to the high-tech in this episode — everything from the weight and thickness of paper to where to find the crucial settings in your favorite notation software. You won’t want to part ways with this episode until it’s finished, so let’s get started.

Partying with parts, part 2

Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation, by Elaine Gould

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Black Friday deals, discounts, and determination

Scoring Notes — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 13:00:55 +0000

Black Friday is upon us once again, and with it comes the annual post-Thanksgiving tradition of deals, discounts, and determination to make the most of your holiday spending budget. David MacDonald and Philip Rothman are here to help find the best offerings for the software most useful to you.

We start with music notation software and talk not only about the sales that extend through the season, but also why this is the best time of the year to pick up one of the products you might not already have. We also explore some of the sound libraries that work with notation software and other music applications and the various options available this year.

You’ll also want to hear our take on some easy-to-use and reasonably-priced audio editing apps and plug-ins that we think everyone working in music should have in their toolbox, and some special discounts on those that you might not know about. You could end up spending some money when you’re done listening today, but stay with us and you might just save a bundle, too.

More on Scoring Notes: Black Friday 2021 deals for music notation software and related tech

Nicole Jordan, Philadelphia Orchestra librarian [encore]

Scoring Notes — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 13:23:25 +0000

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, in the right place — a crucial function in the fast-paced world of concert production. Nicole tells David MacDonald and Philip Rothman about how she got started as an orchestral librarian, from her early days as an intern to her current position at one of the world’s leading orchestras. We discuss the role that music notation software has in her work, and how it was essential in helping her nail the biggest audition of her career.

Then, Nicole reverses roles on the podcast and asks us about our software recommendations and gets our advice for people who are just beginning their technological journey.

More on Scoring Notes:

Marie Chupeau and the human side of Newzik’s artificial intelligence

Scoring Notes — Sat, 13 Nov 2021 12:17:02 +0000

Marie Chupeau joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to discuss Maestria, the technology from Newzik that allows it to not just display a score, but also to understand it musically, resulting in what’s known as a LiveScore. Marie is the co-founder of Magic LEMP, the company that has worked for several years on the artificial intelligence technology that powers Maestria, and she is the head of the research and development team for the optical music recognition, or OMR project.

In our discussion, Marie tells us about how she started working on the Newzik project in the first place, and how her vast and impressive background in music and physics led her to tackle the complexities of music notation. She discusses how Maestria uses AI and aims to differentiate itself from other OMR applications by harnessing the power of AI and its algorithms to refine its results over time. We then talk about the practical use of Maestria in Newzik’s LiveScore feature, which enables a user to take an engraved score and turn it into a score that can be played on an iPad or in a web browser, or eventually exported via MusicXML to other software. Finally, we discuss the challenges the technology faces and the opportunity it provides for refinement in the future.

More from Scoring Notes:

A Notion of the future

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 11:59:04 +0000

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk about the news that Fender has made plans to acquire PreSonus, and dig up an interview with Jim Boitnott from the Scoring Notes archive. Jim gave an interview to Scoring Notes in 2019 in which he presciently described both the importance of playback to music notation software as well as the future of those applications on iPad, and how Notion was early to market in both respects.

We play that brief interview, which took place at the 2019 NAMM Show, and then put the news of the week in a bit of historical context and look at the larger picture of music notation and audio applications in light of current developments in the field.

More from Scoring Notes:

“Playing” with notation software, part 2 of 2

Scoring Notes — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 12:02:32 +0000

There are lots of ways you can manipulate a notation file for playback purposes. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald continue a two-part discussion about playback and music notation software, and share the tips and tricks we’ve learned over the years to make the most of the programs’ capabilities.

We talk about general concepts common to many applications, like score setup with separate staves for playback and notation, and how you can apply these concepts to everything from a Bach cantata to jazz rhythm charts to get music that both looks and sounds its very best. Speaking of rhythm, we drum up a discussion about percussion maps and how they roll, and we apply the concepts of expression and articulation assignments to other instruments. We look at some specific features in each of Dorico, Sibelius, and Finale, and finally wrap it up by visiting StaffPad, which might just be the best of all the options when it comes to marrying the score to the sound in a notation software app.

More from Scoring Notes:

StaffPad demo video: An evening with StaffPad

“Playing” with notation software, part 1 of 2

Scoring Notes — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 12:07:41 +0000

The applications we talk about on Scoring Notes have had playback capabilities since their earliest days. But because these programs are so attuned to the visual elements of music notation, layout, and page formatting, their audio components can often be overlooked. Philip Rothman, and David MacDonald have the first of a two-part conversation about playback and music notation software.

We first discuss why it’s important for programs like Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico to have good playback features in the first place, and how you can make use of playback when you work in the software as a composer, teacher, or music preparer. Then, we review the different types of sound options available in the software — everything from basic MIDI sounds to the most expensive studio libraries. Then, we conclude this part by talking about what you need to do when setting up your mix so that you get the best possible results, as well as how to export everything to a digital audio workstation for further fine-tuning.

More from Scoring Notes:

How to upgrade your computer and live to tell about it [encore]

Scoring Notes — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 12:04:15 +0000

Our advice extends to all our listeners — both those that have imbibed the Apple juice and those that are opening Microsoft Windows. While this episode is mostly an encore presentation from when the Big Sur macOS operating system was released, we begin the program with a few thoughts about Windows 11.

More on Scoring Notes:

Jonathan Newman, part 2 of 2

Scoring Notes — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 11:22:30 +0000

Jonathan Newman is back for the second part of his two-part conversation with Philip Rothman, discussing everything from the profession of music copying to the importance of education. If you didn’t hear the first part, have a listen as Jonathan recalls his early days coming out of school and making ends meet as a copyist, becoming an expert in music notation software.

In this part, Jonathan emerges from the copyist wilderness and gets back to composing. He tells us about his decision to self-publish his music, what it means to be self-published, and how to do it. From there, we talk about the inception of BCM International, a collective of like-minded but stylistically different composers who had a mission to write wind band music that was different than anything anyone had ever heard before. We discuss the educational importance of introducing young instrumentalists to both the repertoire and the composers that write the music, and Jonathan’s days touring the globe working with student ensembles at all levels.

Finally, he parlays that into his current role as an educator himself, bringing both his academic and practical knowledge to bear in working with the next generation of students. We bring it all home to Scoring Notes and how — and how not — to work with music notation software as young composers find their own compositional voice.

Photo: Tina Krohn

More from Scoring Notes: Jonathan Newman, part 1 of 2

Jonathan Newman, part 1 of 2

Scoring Notes — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 11:19:00 +0000

Jonathan Newman joins Philip Rothman for the first of a wide-ranging two-part conversation where we discuss everything from the profession of music copying to the importance of education. In this part, Jonathan, whose versatility and originality as a composer appeals to school wind ensembles and foremost professional ensembles alike, recalls his early days coming out of school and making ends meet as a copyist. He refined his craft for more than a decade, composing all along the way and becoming an expert in music notation software.

We talk about his use of the venerable DOS-based SCORE application and why Jonathan still has a soft spot for it, even as he’s gone on to use Finale, Sibelius, and now Dorico to create his compositions. He tells us why he eventually set aside copying professionally to focus on composing, and how those years spent on music preparation paid off in getting top quality performances of his music. Jonathan and I also talk through some watershed moments in the evolution of the software we use, like the introduction of linked parts, magnetic layout, and automatic cueing, and how to marry the best of technological progress with a fundamental understanding of how music needs to be correctly notated on the page.

Photo: Tina Krohn

Completing teaching assignments within music notation software

Scoring Notes — Sat, 18 Sep 2021 11:46:02 +0000

Creating music assignments for students to complete directly in notation software can help students both learn about theoretical concepts like suspensions and appoggiaturas as well as the practical skills of manipulating music notation on the screen.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald start this discussion by identifying the outcomes to be achieved by this method. We then talk about some approaches for organizing these assignments and where to source them from, some tips that make the files easier to work with, and, what to avoid as a technical matter when using the software as a kind of learning tool in this way.

We’ll also touch on web-based applications and the types of platforms that are common to different education levels. Finally, we’ll sum it all up, and, in the spirit of education, apply what we’ve learned to all types of collaborative situations, whether they be student-to-teacher or peer-to-peer, regardless of what software you find yourself working in.

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Creating worksheets that score top marks

Scoring Notes — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 12:00:17 +0000

We’re headed back to school. Today professor David MacDonald and Philip Rothman work on worksheets, that quintessential element of music instruction that appears in everything from homework assignments and classroom activities to quizzes and final exams. Unlike the more conventional scores and parts you might create with music notation software, worksheets often encompass a combination of short music examples, text, and graphics, all of which might need to fit on just a sheet or two of paper.

We talk about the ways you can bend music notation software to your will to help create A-plus worksheets and we’ll help you avoid failing when it comes to concepts like bar numbering, music spacing, applying text blocks, and hiding cautionary time and key signatures. These strategies aren’t just helpful for the classroom, and we explore other uses for these techniques, as well as ways to help keep everything organized when you need to rely on them in the future.

We’ll also dive into the ABC’s of graphic formats like SVG, PNG, and JPG, and how to export or import those formats between music notation programs and other software like word processors or page layout programs to create a document worthy of top marks.

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The [COMPRESSED] history of mastering

Scoring Notes — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 12:26:23 +0000

You might remember our podcast episode where David MacDonald and Philip Rothman discussed the terms “sample rate”, “bit depth”, and “bit rate”, and what to make of them when you see them appear in your favorite music notation program.

In this episode, we explore those concepts even further thanks to our friends at Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast that tells the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds.

Join us on a musical journey from the Golden Age of analog mastering to the digital methods of today. We’ll find out why the music industry became obsessed with loudness, and learn how the digital era transformed the way that music sounds. Along the way, you’ll hear from experts in the subtle but critical art of mastering, and you’ll hear examples of these technical concepts as they make their way into the music you already know, and might create yourself in the future.

Part 2 from Twenty Thousand Hertz: The Loudness Wars

More from Scoring Notes: Sample rate, bit depth, bit rate, and you(r ears)

Video: “Sample rate, bit depth, bit rate, and you(r ears)” video by David MacDonald

The Twenty Thousand Hertz portion of this episode was written and produced by Casey Emmerling.

Artwork provided by Michael Zhang.

Music featured in this episode

Isn’t it Strange by Spirit City Stand Up by Soldier Story Lonely Light Instrumental by Andrew Judah Who We Are by Chad Lawson No Limits Instrumental by Royal Deluxe Crush by Makeup and Vanity Set Rocket Instrumental by Royal Deluxe Light Blue by UTAH Love is Ours Instrumental by Dansu Shake This Feeling Instrumental by Kaptan Wrongthink by Watermark High Rocket Instrumental by Johnny Stimson Lola Instrumental by Riley and the Roxies Quail and Robot Convo by Sound of Picture

Twenty Thousand Hertz is produced out of the studios of Defacto Sound, and hosted by D allas Taylor.

Check out Ian Shepherd’s podcast The Mastering Show.

Check out Greg Milner’s book, Perfecting Sound Forever.

Darcy James Argue, part 2

Scoring Notes — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 11:46:55 +0000

We’re back with Darcy James Argue, the acclaimed jazz composer, educator, and bandleader of the 18-piece Secret Society. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald pick up with Darcy for the second part of our interview, and if you missed the first part where Darcy talked all about breaking into the jazz music scene and getting his first professional copying jobs, go back and have a listen.

In this part we speak with Darcy about his philosophy of music preparation, and we go into detail with him about his approach to creating quality scores and parts using music notation software. He lays out his Finale setup along with the plug-ins and resources he relies on to speed up his work, and he also expresses his opinions about what could be improved in all software platforms with respect to jazz music. Finally, Darcy explains the roles that developers, publishers, and music preparers must all play in order to elevate the quality of music notation that gets produced for the next generation of musicians.

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Photos: Lindsay Beyerstein, James Matthew Daniel

Darcy James Argue, part 1

Scoring Notes — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 11:29:06 +0000

Darcy James Argue joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald for the first of a two-part interview. Darcy is a critically acclaimed jazz composer, educator, and bandleader of the 18-piece Secret Society, with whom he’s recorded multiple albums and led around the world performing his original compositions. Darcy’s also a top-flight music preparation expert, and in this first part of our discussion, we talk with him about how he learned to prepare music to such a high standard and why he believes it’s so important to obtaining quality performances.

Darcy recalls his early days in school and learning Finale at a time when almost all of his colleagues were still copying by hand, and how that early adoption of technology set the course for his future in the music business. We hear about his first professional copying jobs that might surprise you, and he tells us his stories about breaking into the jazz music scene in New York City, making connections and assembling a stellar group of colleagues that eventually became the Secret Society. That group premiered Darcy’s multimedia creations Brooklyn Babylon and Real Enemies, and we talk about how music preparation and technology helped overcome the unique challenges that those works presented.

Join us on our next episode for the second part of our discussion with Darcy James Argue. Darcy gives us his expert advice on preparing music based on real-world experience, and shares his tips for prioritizing his time when working on a deadline. We’ll also talk more tech when it comes to the software and the tools Darcy uses to create his charts.

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Photo: Lindsay Beyerstein

The history and future of Sibelius for iPad

Scoring Notes — Sat, 14 Aug 2021 11:56:28 +0000

Sam Butler and Joe Plazak join Philip Rothman and David MacDonald on the podcast. Sam is Avid’s director of product management for audio software, and Joe is the product owner and principal software engineer for Sibelius. Together, they led the team that brought Sibelius to the iPad for the first time, and we hear all about their journey that began nearly a decade ago with the goal of making Sibelius available on as many platforms as possible.

We talk about the key concepts, keypads, and key signature tools in Sibelius on iPad — all of which unlocked the doors to making the software work on a tablet device. As you can tell, we have some fun, but also get serious about the technical and design challenges that arose during this project, and we learn how they found solutions that, in time, will benefit the desktop and other devices like touch-enabled Windows computers.

Sam and Joe tell us what we can expect from Sibelius in the near future as its iPad features appear in forthcoming desktop updates. They also give us a glimpse into the years ahead as they ramp up their team and look to improve the user experience across all areas of the program — from licensing and activation, to entering some notes on a staff, all the way to creating full scores that you can share with anyone.

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The history and future of Dorico for iPad

Scoring Notes — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 11:44:46 +0000

Daniel Spreadbury returns to the podcast to go behind the scenes into the making of Dorico for iPad. Daniel is the product’s marketing manager at Steinberg, and he takes Philip Rothman and David MacDonald through the process of developing this new version of Dorico. We go through everything from the technical details all the way up to the user experience, and Daniel recalls the crucial decisions and pivotal moments that culminated in Dorico’s release for iPad.

We get Daniel’s take on what’s currently available for iPad-based music apps, and explore how Dorico both compares to and works alongside those products. He shares his “a-ha” moment when he knew that Dorico for iPad would be a success, and he also explains the rationale for the subscription-based pricing that unlocks its full set of features. And speaking of features, Daniel reveals a forthcoming update to the app that will make Dorico for iPad a lot more valuable for many people.

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Dorico and Sibelius come to the iPad

Scoring Notes — Sat, 31 Jul 2021 11:54:56 +0000

We recap the wild and exciting week we’ve just had in the world of music notation software, with not one, but two major products debuting on iPad. Within the span of 24 hours, both Steinberg and Avid released versions of Dorico and Sibelius, respectively, for Apple’s tablet platform, taking many users by surprise and reimagining what it means to use these powerful music tools.

First, Dorico expert Leo Nicholson joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to discuss the how Dorico made it from the desktop to iPad, not only largely intact, but with some new features as well. The familiar and beautiful Dorico interface gets updated to make the most of the touch surface, and its tools are enhanced to optimize the tablet platform. Dorico also gains a Key Editor in Write mode along with a histogram for showing the distribution of note velocities.

Then, we explore Sibelius on iPad and the departure that app needed to make away from the Ribbon and towards a user experience that is much more in line with Apple’s iPadOS recommendations. Apple Pencil support is integrated with Sibelius on iPad, and the new ways of inputting music offer new possibilities that might eventually make their way back to the desktop. Most encouraging is that the iPad app is included for current Sibelius subscribers and license-holders with current support plans.

Finally, we compare both applications and offer our kudos for their early success as well as suggestions for what we’d like to see improved in the future.

Katie Wardrobe on music tech in education [encore]

Scoring Notes — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 11:32:33 +0000

Katie Wardrobe is the founder and director of Midnight Music, a thriving service which helps music educators integrate technology into their teaching. Katie provides workshops, presentations, online training courses and ebooks for her community, and on our show she tells us all about how she uses music notation software and many other tools to achieve results. Katie shares with us her surprisingly low-tech but effective tips for staying organized, and we learn how she got started doing this important work, and how her business has changed over the years.

The elements of (house) style [encore]

Scoring Notes — Sat, 17 Jul 2021 11:04:52 +0000

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss why these elements matter in the course of preparing a piece of music and talk about which types of text fonts pair well with music notation. We also explore the “tyranny of the default” settings in scoring software programs and get specific about how to manage house styles in Sibelius, Dorico, and Finale.

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Getting the notes in

Scoring Notes — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 11:08:49 +0000

We talk all about that fundamental task that is essential to using music notation software: getting the notes into the program in the first place! There are actually lots of ways in, and it’s worth knowing about them all so that you can use the best method depending on the situation.

If you like to point-and-click your way around a staff, try the keyboard — and we mean both the computer and musical varieties. Step-time? Flexi-time? HyperScribe? Simple? Speedy? Pitch-before-duration? Duration-before pitch? What about importing MIDI and MusicXML files into your score? Even if you think you’ve mastered this basic element of working in notation software, we’re sure you’ll learn something from what we discuss, or at least “take note” of the many ways to fill your page with music.

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How to charge for music preparation (encore)

Scoring Notes — Sat, 03 Jul 2021 11:07:09 +0000

When preparing music, you always make sure what goes on the page is pitch-perfect. How about what goes on the bill? Should you charge hourly? By the bar? Some other way? Philip Rothman and David MacDonald break down the all the elements of a successful music preparation gig, from the initial conversations with the client, how to formulate the best approach to pricing the job, and finally, making sure everybody is happy with the end result.

It’s not always easy having that money talk, but we’re here to make some sense of it all — and hopefully a few dollars, euros, and pounds, as well.

An encore presentation of one of our most popular episodes, with an update at the end.

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Learning how to use music notation software

Scoring Notes — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 11:47:04 +0000

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Finale v27 and the SMuFL shuffle

Scoring Notes — Sat, 19 Jun 2021 12:01:37 +0000

Jason Loffredo returns to Scoring Notes to talk to Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to review Finale version 27, the latest release of MakeMusic’s flagship music notation software. Headlining the new features in v27 are deep support for the two open standards championed by the W3C Music Notation Community Group: Standard Music Font Layout (SMuFL), and MusicXML. Tighter SmartMusic integration, playback improvements, and user interface enhancements round out what’s new.

We cover it all, along with our take on what these new features mean for the future of Finale. We also offer our suggestions on what could be improved as Finale enters its fourth decade, and if you listen closely, you’ll get Jason’s step-by-step instructions on the “SMuFL shuffle” you’ll need to do to make the most of the new version.

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Jason Wick on Finale development

Scoring Notes — Sat, 12 Jun 2021 12:16:37 +0000

Jason Wick joins David MacDonald and Philip Rothman to talk all about the upcoming release of Finale version 27. Jason is MakeMusic’s senior manager for Finale, and he gives us an inside look into its development, the planning process, how new features are considered, and how they’re eventually incorporated into the software that we use. We hear about the brand-new support for the Standard Music Font Layout, or SMuFL, that’s included in Finale version 27, and how that will make it easier for users to switch between music fonts in their document.

Jason also talks about some of the other new features in Finale, like project sharing and MusicXML 4.0 support, which improve how people work with other tools in conjunction with Finale, and we learn what’s in store for future updates beyond this latest release.

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On deadline

Scoring Notes — Sat, 05 Jun 2021 10:47:26 +0000

You want it when? That’s often the first question to ask when taking on a new assignment — and depending on how it’s asked and answered, it could make or break a project. Today, John Hinchey joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to help us take the stress out of working on a deadline, and make the end result better for everyone.

We discuss strategies for breaking a project into its component parts, organizing them and figuring out timelines for deliverables, all with the end goal of getting successful results. And when that deadline is looming and you think you might not make it, we’ve got some pointers for how to handle that, as well.

Sample rate, bit depth, bit rate, and you(r ears)

Scoring Notes — Sat, 29 May 2021 11:02:37 +0000

Sponsored by Newzik

Have you ever wanted to export audio from your favorite music notation software, seen the terms “sample rate”, “bit depth”, and “bit rate”, and wondered what each of them really mean? David MacDonald and Philip Rothman sort out each of those terms to help us understand why they’re important, how they came about in the first place, and, most importantly, how they affect the quality of the audio we listen to and produce.

We dive into this aspect of music production that many of us will encounter at some point while working with notation software, and we uncover where to find these options in the various programs. Whether you sample this entire discussion or prefer to go bit-by-bit, you’ll feel more confident the next time you need to create the best-sounding demo in the right format.

More: “Sample rate, bit depth, bit rate, and you(r ears)” video by David MacDonald

Comparing the major music notation software applications

Scoring Notes — Sat, 22 May 2021 10:58:25 +0000

Sponsored by Newzik

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk all about the developments in MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico that have taken place over the past year, and compare each of them in a special presentation that was recorded live at the 2021 MOLA Conference.

MOLA, formerly known as the Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association, and now known as An Association of Music Performance Librarians, kicked off their annual conference with our discussion, and we are so pleased to partner with them and to have answered questions as part of our interactive session. We take a particular angle on how orchestra librarians would best make use of the features in each of the music notation software programs, and we share our thoughts on where things are headed in the future.

Daniel Ray “muses” about Audacity and StaffPad

Scoring Notes — Sat, 15 May 2021 11:16:20 +0000

Daniel Ray returns to Scoring Notes to talk with Philip Rothman and David MacDonald about Muse Group. Daniel is the head of strategy for Muse Group, the company that originally started with Ultimate Guitar and later acquired MuseScore, the free and open source music notation software. Most recently, Muse Group acquired two more products: the widely-used audio editing software Audacity, and StaffPad, the pen-and-touch tablet-based composition app well-known to many Scoring Notes listeners already.

Daniel talks to us about these recent moves, and what they mean for his company, for users, and for the entire industry. We discuss how software can be free or open-source, and still be part of a viable business strategy for companies like Muse Group, and Daniel shares some plans they have to integrate aspects of its various products into each other in new ways. We also cover StaffPad’s recent announcement about audio staves and transcription, and what the future of that application looks like as part of the Muse Group portfolio.

Also: Last chance to register for the 2021 MOLA Conference, featuring the “Scoring Notes Live” presentation comparing the major music notation programs, on Monday, May 17, at 2:00 pm.

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Get organized with music notation files

Scoring Notes — Sat, 08 May 2021 12:31:36 +0000

You gotta get organized… with music notation files. To help, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald first cover the various types of backup options, how each method works, and why you would need more than one type of file backup system. Then, we discuss how to manage files when the music changes, how to keep consistency in the file naming process, and to indicate the presence of a new version within the score itself. This is especially important when collaborating with others. We also explore the different formats in which you can archive and share your files, to ensure they appear as you’d expect on another device, now or in the future.

You always want the right version of your music on the stands with the right players at the right time, and these are the steps to help make it happen.

The “s” word: Subscription

Scoring Notes — Sat, 01 May 2021 12:25:10 +0000

Subscriptions are a fact of life. In return for making an ongoing, regular payment, we get something of value. But that’s also true when we make a one-time payment.

Software is sold both ways. So when we pay for music notation software, which method is better for the people that use it, and which method is better for the people that make it? Can there be a way to provide software so that works for everyone?

On this podcast episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald ask that very question. We take a look back to how notation software used to be sold and trace the recent history that led up to the current situation, and then offer our suggestions on how to change the business models that might make more people like — and subscribe — to future notation software upgrades.

Also: We announce “Scoring Notes Live”, a video presentation in partnership with our good friends at MOLA, the Association of Music Performance Librarians, for their 2021 conference. Join us on Monday, May 17, and register at the MOLA Conference web site.

Dave Metzger, part 2: Workflow and tech

Scoring Notes — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 12:09:30 +0000

Dave Metzger joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald for the second part of a two-part interview. Dave is one of Hollywood and Broadway’s most accomplished orchestrators and arrangers, and if you haven’t heard the first part of our conversation, definitely check it out to learn more about his career path and approach to orchestration.

In today’s discussion, we learn more about Dave’s work on Frozen, and discover how a split second decision he made ended up setting the course for one of the show’s hit songs. Then, we cover how to get from a MIDI mockup in a sequencer like Cubase to a fully notated score in Sibelius via MusicXML, and get Dave’s thoughts on the state of the field and where the programs are headed. We also talk tech and get a tour of Dave’s setup, and explore everything from his hardware choices to software tricks he’s picked up over the years that help him work as effectively as possible.

More: Dave Metzger, part 1: Arranging and orchestrating

Dave Metzger, part 1: Arranging and orchestrating

Scoring Notes — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 12:09:35 +0000

Dave Metzger joins Scoring Notes for the first of a two-part interview. Dave is one of Hollywood and Broadway’s most accomplished orchestrators and arrangers, having worked on hundreds of top projects that anyone will instantly recognize, including smash Disney hits like Frozen and The Lion King. Fortunately for us, Dave has always had a deep interest in music technology, and his state-of-the-art studio consists of many of the notation software and products we talk about on a regular basis.

Dave was very happy to share his deep expertise with Philip Rothman and David MacDonald, and on this first part of our interview, he relays his career path, starting from an early interest in choral and big band arranging up to his work scoring big-budget movies and theatrical productions. We discuss his philosophy and approach to orchestration and its fundamental relationship to notation, and break down his process of getting the music from the MIDI mockup into a score that’s read by studio musicians.

Also: we cover Avid’s announcement that Sibelius is now officially supported on M1 Macs under Rosetta 2.

More: Dave Metzger, part 2: Workflow and tech

Documenting the documenter: Lillie Harris

Scoring Notes — Sat, 10 Apr 2021 12:17:22 +0000

If you’re a longtime user of music notation software, perhaps you’ve waxed nostalgic for the old Finale manuals, which came as a set of three bound books, or maybe you have a soft spot for the legendary Sibelius Reference, with its inimitable mix of wit and wisdom. Whether you give it a fleeting glance or you’ve eagerly read every last word, documentation is a vital component of music notation software.

On this episode, Lillie Harris joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to talk about this important topic. Lillie is the documentation writer for Dorico, and is responsible for authoring the many pages of text and images that chronicle every detail of the program. That’s a hefty enough task, but in today’s landscape, Lillie must also keep ahead of other ways to access Dorico resources, such as web-based search, official and social media forums, video tutorials, and much more. Lillie tells us all about how she manages to do it all and keep the customer in mind, besides.

That’s because she’s also a composer and music copyist, and relies on the software just like the rest of its users. To that end, she relays her advice for young composers like herself just starting out on their professional journey. Finally, no discussion of software documentation would be complete without a hunt for some Easter eggs, and Lillie serves up one that’s a lot more nourishing than you might expect.

Photo credit: Sarah Spreadbury/Steinberg

The Well-Tempered Consort

Scoring Notes — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 12:11:44 +0000

Justin Tokke joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to introduce the Well-Tempered Consort, a fully flexible and customizable way of configuring Bach’s masterpiece for any ensemble. Justin arranged the entire project, edited all of the parts, and is the Technical Lead for Carl Fischer Music, which is publishing the entire collection for anyone to configure and download to suit a wide variety of instrumental combinations.

Justin first talks to us about the developments in the music publishing industry over the past year, and then gets into the details of the multi-year process of creating the arrangements. We discuss how to organize large music preparation projects such as this one, which encompasses more than 1500 Sibelius files, and Justin shares the technical and music engraving tips he learned over the course of getting the Well-Tempered Consort ready for publication.

Well-Tempered Consort from Carl Fischer Music

More on Scoring Notes: Measure twice, cut once

Plugged in with Bob Zawalich

Scoring Notes — Sat, 27 Mar 2021 11:51:05 +0000

If you use Sibelius or Finale, you’ve likely encountered plug-ins, maybe without even realizing it. Plug-ins are small computer programs that run within the software that can look at the score and transform it nearly instantly. Plug-ins have access to a wide variety of settings, and they make it possible to automate tedious tasks correctly and consistently. Sibelius ships with dozens of plug-ins, and many more are freely available to download.

Most of those nuggets were written by Bob Zawalich, who for decades has amassed an output of 500 public plug-ins for Sibelius. You might already know Bob’s work from his helpful presence on Sibelius forums, or from his many Scoring Notes blog posts, or even from hearing about him on this podcast. But do you know the man behind the code?

On this episode, Bob Zawalich joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to talk all about his fascinating life and early career, and the key moments that led to him being one of the most important contributors to our community of music notation software users.

More from Scoring Notes and NYC Music Services:

Bob Zawalich’s posts on Scoring Notes
Sibelius Plug-ins and Feed, maintained by NYC Music Services, originally assembled by Bob Zawalich

Where in the world is…?

Scoring Notes — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 12:15:12 +0000

In this episode, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald go on a scavenger hunt to find useful features in Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico. We’ll uncover some hidden and not-so-hidden treasures on our journey, like repitching, exploding and reducing music, multi-edit workflows, and filters. We’ll also review how to reset it all when everything goes awry, so you can feel confident experimenting with new ways to make the software work for you, and not the other way around.

More on Scoring Notes:

Michael Good, the inventor of MusicXML

Scoring Notes — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 13:11:21 +0000

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Dan Kreider on hymnal engraving

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 13:06:25 +0000

Millions of people sing from church hymnals each week, and that means millions of people are looking at music notation all the time. Getting those notes onto the page in a form that is both flexible enough to suit the needs of a particular congregation, and yet have lasting permanence for generations of churchgoers is the job of our guest, Dan Kreider.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk with Dan about his role as the founder of Hymnworks, a service that has produced tens of thousands of copies of custom hymnals. Not only is Dan an expert engraver, he’s also one of the top music notation software specialists, having worked extensively in Finale and Dorico. Just like the members of a choir singing together, the particularities of font choices, page sizes, stem direction, paper weights and software settings have to all work together in harmony. Dan has thought about it all in his decades of experience.

More: Hymnworks, Dan Kreider’s custom hymnal preparation service

Getting down and nerdy with Dorico and Sibelius updates

Scoring Notes — Sat, 27 Feb 2021 13:16:27 +0000

We nerd out about the latest updates to Dorico and Sibelius. On the Dorico side, we see support for M1 Apple Silicon Macs for the first time. On the Sibelius side, we get an improved task bar called Command Search, along with new scripting and plug-in features that make it easier to automate hundreds of items with a single keystroke. These updates may be technical in nature, but never fear — that’s our sweet spot here on Scoring Notes. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald will do their best to explain what’s in it for you, and have some fun doing it, besides.

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How to charge for music preparation

Scoring Notes — Sat, 20 Feb 2021 13:14:55 +0000

It’s not always easy having that money talk, but we’re here to make some sense of it all — and hopefully a few dollars, euros, and pounds, as well.

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Nicole Jordan, Philadelphia Orchestra librarian

Scoring Notes — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 12:45:20 +0000

Then, Nicole reverses roles on the podcast and asks us about our software recommendations and gets our advice for people who are just beginning their technological journey.

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The “rite” way to copy old scores into new software

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 13:18:41 +0000

Stephen Taylor is here to talk all about his adventure entering the entire score of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring into Dorico. Steve is a professor of composition and theory at University of Illinois School of Music and co-director of its modern ensemble. He’s had a long and varied history composing music and studying scores, and an almost equally long history using music notation software — starting first with early versions of Finale and Sibelius before moving on to Dorico. Not only has he copied The Rite of Spring, but he’s done the same with other masterworks of Shostakovich, Schubert, Mahler, and other composers. He tells Philip Rothman and David MacDonald how copying scores into programs like Dorico can be an effective way of both learning the music and the notation technology. That’s what we’re all about on Scoring Notes, so the only sacrifice you’ll need to make is a little bit of your time to hear what Steve has to say.

More on Scoring Notes: Dorico and The Rite of Spring

Teaching and teaming up with tablets and tech

Scoring Notes — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 13:44:13 +0000

Teaching paperless composition lessons using the iPad, Apple Pencil, and several apps like GoodNotes and PDF Expert is here to stay. We can all wax nostalgic for the days of pencil and paper or even printing out your entire composition each week. But with today’s technology and a little bit of planning, David MacDonald shows Philip Rothman how to create a process that works seamlessly for student and teacher alike. Even if you’re not an educator, you’ll still want to take advantage of this lesson plan, as it’s easily adaptable to any collaborative environment, like a composer giving notes to an orchestrator, or a conductor sharing markings with a performer. Whether the apple in your hand is a shiny electronic device or it’s the organic kind you give to your teacher, you’ll walk away with A-plus knowledge.

More on Scoring Notes: Paperless composition lessons with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil

Guitar notation with Doug Gibson

Scoring Notes — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 13:43:43 +0000

Doug Gibson joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to discuss guitar notation. Doug is a Scoring Notes contributor who has reviewed the guitar features of Sibelius, Dorico and Guitar Pro, and he has a special perspective on this particular aspect of music notation software. As a guitarist, educator, composer, orchestrator, and music preparer, Doug has been on every side of the process of creating guitar music. He shares his process of transcribing and notating music, gives us his opinions on what the various software platforms get right, and tells us his wishes for what could be improved. If you’ve ever wondered what TAB notation really is or how to voice a 13th chord, you’ll get tuned up by hearing what Doug has to say.

More on Scoring Notes:

Dorico 3, 3.1, and 3.5: Guitar notation

Guitar Pro 7.5 review

Scanning the music scanning apps

Scoring Notes — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 13:21:11 +0000

We’re talking all about optical music recognition software, or what you might call “music scanning apps”. John Hinchey is back on the show, and he has written a review for the Scoring Notes blog that covers four of these leading apps: PlayScore 2, ScanScore, PhotoScore Ultimate, and SmartScore 64 Pro. On the podcast, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk with John about his approach to working with these apps and how he evaluated them. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each program, and how you can incorporate them into your own work. John’s also prepared a step-by-step checklist of the items to look for once you bring your music into the scanning software, and he tells us what to do to get the music in top shape, whether you’re preparing the music for playback or exporting it to MusicXML for use in your favorite music notation software.

More on Scoring Notes: A review of optical music recognition software

Conquering Finale with Jason Loffredo

Scoring Notes — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 13:40:08 +0000

Jason Loffredo is a composer, arranger, orchestrator, copyist, keyboard player, and music director. He’s an expert in all things musical theatre and has worked on some of Broadway’s top productions. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk with Jason about the ins and outs of the musical theatre world as it pertains to preparing music for those shows and the special circumstances that arise when he turns to music notation software. And speaking of software, Jason tells us all about his extensive video tutorial series called Conquering Finale, which we’ve started to cross-publish on the Scoring Notes blog. We discuss how Finale and how Jason’s video series is organized, what led to him creating it in the first place, and what you can expect to learn from it, whether you’re new to the program or you’re a long-time user.

More on Scoring Notes:

Conquering Finale tutorials:

Score preparation and production checklist (encore)

Scoring Notes — Sat, 02 Jan 2021 13:08:34 +0000

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss the essential elements of score preparation and production that make a difference in not only the perception of your music, but how it gets rehearsed and, ultimately, performed. Everything from rehearsal marks, placing cues, laying out your music, and page layout can be expertly fine-tuned by music notation software — but only if you know what results you’re looking to achieve in the first place.

Learn more on the Scoring Notes blog:

Emily Grishman (revival)

Scoring Notes — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 13:14:06 +0000

For decades, Emily Grishman has been one of Broadway’s most sought-after copyists, and her list of credits includes the most acclaimed music and theatrical productions. Philip Rothman talks with Emily about her career and how the means and manner of producing music has changed along with advancements in the music notation software she uses every day. Learn what Emily has to say about the world of music copying, the process of getting the music from the composer’s pen to the player’s stands, and the tools she uses to achieve superior results.

Plus: the secret to being an expert in your music notation software of choice, everything you ever wanted to know about bar numbering schemes… and what not to do when working on a horror film score.

Further reading: Women Who Wow Us: Emily Grishman

Emily Grishman profile on Maestra Music

On Scoring Notes: Scoring Express templates for Sibelius

Scoring Express Theatre & Studio templates at Notation Central

Photo credit: Jamie Maletz

Music fonts and open standards with Daniel Spreadbury

Scoring Notes — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 13:27:48 +0000

Daniel Spreadbury returns to Scoring Notes for the final episode of the year. As one of the co-chairs of the W3C Music Notation Community Group, Daniel is responsible for maintaining and developing the Standard Music Font Layout, or SMuFL, an open-source common set of font specifications which he created. On today’s episode, Daniel talks with David MacDonald and Philip Rothman about the forthcoming updates to that standard, which in less than a decade has been adopted by many diverse and robust music applications. Daniel takes us through a bit of music font history, from the early days of Adobe’s Sonata Font, first-generation implementations in Finale and Sibelius, and the sequence of events that ultimately led to the development of the SMuFL standard and the creation of its reference font, Bravura, for use in Steinberg’s scoring application, Dorico. We also get a look ahead to technical improvements in Dorico that will soon allow it to run on Apple’s newest M1-based computers.

More on Scoring Notes:

Music fonts on Notation Central

Importing into Sibelius 2020.12 and Scoring Express

Scoring Notes — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 13:55:14 +0000

We review the latest Sibelius update, 2020.12. This final Sibelius update of the year rounds out the importing feature with the ability to bring Sibelius files directly into a template. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk about why you would want to that, what the differences and similarities are to importing a MIDI or MusicXML file, and what it all means for scoring and arranging workflows. I also talk with David about a brand-new product we’ve launched at NYC Music Services called Scoring Express. Scoring Express is a suite of templates, manuscript papers, fonts, and house styles, all designed with an eye towards getting professional-looking music quickly on the page, and optimized to take advantage of the latest Sibelius features.

More on Scoring Notes:

From Notation Central:

Scoring Express — Chamber

Scoring Express — Jazz

John Mlynczak and Noteflight

Scoring Notes — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 13:27:50 +0000

Noteflight is the web-based music notation software that allows musicians to create, share, teach, sell, and purchase music. John Mlynczak is Noteflight’s managing director, and on today’s show, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk with John about how Noteflight is used by musicians across the professional and education spectrum. If you see interactive music online that you can click and transpose, there’s a good chance it’s using Noteflight technology, thanks to its integration with the Hal Leonard catalog and wide acceptance on practically any desktop browser or mobile device. We discuss Noteflight’s other offerings, which encompass an arranging feature, allowing anyone to legally arrange and sell music through their platform, and we’ll also learn more about their new assessment tool called SoundCheck, where students can get instant feedback by directly playing along with any Noteflight score.

More on Scoring Notes: Noteflight, education, innovation, and inspiration

How to write for percussion

Scoring Notes — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 13:29:32 +0000

Sam Solomon joins David MacDonald and Philip Rothman to talk all about how to write for percussion. It’s a good thing, too, because Sam’s got a book with that same name: How to Write for Percussion: A Comprehensive Guide to Percussion Composition, published by Oxford University Press. Sam’s got a ton of experience as an active percussionist and collaborator with some of today’s top composers, and fortunately he decided to share his incredible knowledge in the form of this 300-page book and hours of accompanying videos. Composers and music preparers alike will enjoy what Sam has to say about percussion-centric topics like multi-stave parts, improvisation, unpitched music, instrument keys, and more — and because this is Scoring Notes, we explore the role the software has in achieving the results that he recommends.

More on Scoring Notes: Sam Solomon on writing for percussion

Make the most of Black Friday

Scoring Notes — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 13:33:54 +0000

Whether you’re looking to score some notes or score some deals, we’ve got the podcast episode for you. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald kick off Black Friday, which has gone from being just one day to now encompassing Cyber Monday and many more days on either side of the calendar. We’ll share some of the items on each of our wish lists in the music notation and tech universe and which products we’ve already stocked up on. More broadly, we’ll discuss why this time of year is a good time to think about upping your game when it comes to the tools you use, and how you can get the most out of the offers that are out there without breaking your budget.

More on Scoring Notes: Black Friday 2020 deals for music notation software and related tech

How to upgrade your computer and live to tell about it

Scoring Notes — Sat, 21 Nov 2020 13:18:47 +0000

If you have trouble keeping up with all of your computer operating software updates, new hardware, and naming conventions, you’re not alone. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald will walk you through tips and best practices when it comes time to click that big button, whether it’s the one that says upgrade your operating system or the one that debits your bank account and results in a brand-new computer, and the steps you should take to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. We talk about the newest macOS Big Sur and the change to their new M1 chip machines, but our advice extends to all our listeners — both those that have imbibed the Apple juice and those that are opening Microsoft Windows.

More on Scoring Notes:

Graphical notation

Scoring Notes — Sat, 14 Nov 2020 12:27:58 +0000

Whether it’s a squiggly line, a complex curve, or something that totally defies description, sometimes your music requires notation that’s more creative than the ordinary music symbols we’re accustomed to seeing. That’s when it comes time to dive into the use of graphics in music notation, and how to work with graphical files in the software. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk about how to create those graphical symbols and bring them into your notation software without sacrificing quality, as well as how to create complex graphics by just using the notation tools. We also cover exporting graphics out of notation software and into other programs, and discuss the “slices” feature in Dorico, which allows you to retain persistent score excerpts that you can export as graphics over and over again, changing them along the way.

More from Scoring Notes:

Tricks and treats

Scoring Notes — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 12:40:23 +0000

More on Scoring Notes:

Finale:

Sibelius:

Dorico:

Notation Express:

File renaming and PDF batch utilities

Scoring Notes — Sat, 24 Oct 2020 11:12:47 +0000

Learn about several simple but incredibly useful applications that will help you be more productive with tasks related to managing music files on the computer. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss file renaming apps such as Renamer and Name Mangler, which perform the important function of quickly changing the filenames of many documents at once using various settings, saving you the tedium of manually renaming them and helping keep you organized. Then, we explore the suite of PDF batch processing apps available from Notation Central, including PDF Batch Scale, Batch Stitch, Batch Booklet, and Music Binder. These tools do just as their names would suggest, making quick work of manipulating PDF files so that you can make sure that your music is distributed and printed exactly as you expect.

More on Scoring Notes:

Product links:

The elements of (house) style

Scoring Notes — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 12:44:16 +0000

In music scores, a house style is the collection of dozens or hundreds of rules and preferences governing the look of the music — everything from note spacing algorithms, to font choices, to the thickness of lines, and lots more. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss why these elements matter in the course of preparing a piece of music and talk about which types of text fonts pair well with music notation. We also explore the “tyranny of the default” settings in scoring software programs and get specific about how to manage house styles in Sibelius, Dorico, and Finale.

More on Scoring Notes:

John Hinchey lets the music flow

Scoring Notes — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 12:16:39 +0000

John Hinchey is one of the most experienced arrangers, orchestrators and professional music preparers working today. He’s created thousands of charts and shows for musicians, touring companies, theme parks and everything in between. On this episode, John relays his experience producing shows for cruise ships to Scoring Notes hosts Philip Rothman and David MacDonald. We’re expecting you to learn from John how to prepare your charts so that what you put on the page ensures smooth sailing for the musicians. John also lets it flow with a boatload of tech tips and product recommendations, so you’ll want to come aboard – there’s something for everyone on this friendly shore.

From score to screen: preparing your music for digital surfaces

Scoring Notes — Sat, 03 Oct 2020 12:15:33 +0000

Many of us study and perform scores from our iPads on a regular basis and have prepared scores to be read from screens. Scoring Notes readers and listeners often ask us to provide recommendations for best practices when preparing a score with the expectation that it will be read from a screen and not paper. This is an excellent question, and one whose answer today may likely change in the coming years. David MacDonald and Philip Rothman discuss the pros, cons, challenges, and opportunities in reading and preparing music on a screen, and delve into the benefits, pitfalls, and technical considerations you should know about if you want to make your music pixel-perfect.

More on Scoring Notes: Preparing music scores for screens — the challenges and opportunities

Music preparation tech, travails, tools, and tips

Scoring Notes — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 12:18:55 +0000

We have a special treat for podcast listeners. If you’ve listened to our podcast before, you’ll remember our interview with music education technology expert Katie Wardrobe. Well, Katie also interviewed Philip Rothman for her show called the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, and we’re including a version of that interview in the Scoring Notes feed. In our discussion, Philip talks with Katie about his work as a music preparer and opines on the state of the industry, including everything from desktop applications to tablet apps, the improvements in playback tools such as NotePerformer, and what it all means for teachers, students, and anyone using this technology. Thanks to Katie and Midnight Music for permission to include this special conversation here.

More on Scoring Notes: Katie Wardrobe on music tech in education

Music Tech Teacher podcast episode 115: Music Preparation with Philip Rothman

Sibelius 2020.9 update focuses on staves

Scoring Notes — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 12:23:06 +0000

Hosts Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss the Sibelius 2020.9 update — specifically the improvements to the Focus on Staves feature, which has the potential to unlock new workflow and layout capabilities for many users. We trace the history of the feature and cover the different ways of formatting your score to include or exclude staves. We also compare the similarities and differences of Sibelius’s approach to the way Dorico deals with this important element of score preparation, so join us as we bring this topic into “focus”.

More on Scoring Notes: The focus is on staves with the Sibelius 2020.9 update

Samara Ginsberg, cellist and arranger

Scoring Notes — Sat, 12 Sep 2020 12:50:56 +0000

Cellist and arranger Samara Ginsberg visits the Scoring Notes podcast to talk about her multi-part cello arrangements of TV and movie themes that have taken over social media in the past few months, and how her experience as a working instrumentalist informs her approach to arranging. To that end, she divulges the secrets of how to succeed when writing for cello and the practical nature of getting music ready for a session. More broadly, we discuss Samara’s perspective on using music notation software and other tools to create her arrangements and videos and even listen in a bit on the music that’s caused such an internet sensation.

More from Scoring Notes: The multi-cello universe of Samara Ginsberg

Baby Shark for orchestra

Samara Ginsberg on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram

High fidelity audio comes to Zoom

Scoring Notes — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 20:03:50 +0000

David MacDonald and Philip Rothman talk about Zoom, and how this popular videoconferencing software that was originally intended for spoken word meetings has received some major updates that improves its audio quality in ways that make the platform work much better for musicians and for music educators — just in time for the start of the school year. David explains how data and audio compression work and what you need to do to get the most out of the new updates, whether you’re using Zoom to teach lessons, learn music, or share audio demos of scores that you create using music notation and scoring software.

More on Scoring Notes:

Better music experiences come to Zoom with high fidelity audio

Share video and audio of music notation software via Zoom

Stream Deck profile for Zoom

Christopher Willis, part 2: Music preparation — past, present, and future

Scoring Notes — Sat, 29 Aug 2020 11:53:26 +0000

Christopher Willis joins us for the second of two episodes. Chris is the composer of the score to the film “The Personal History of David Copperfield.” If you haven’t yet heard the first part of our conversation, check it out as we talk about the score and its fresh take on familiar musical ideas to match the aesthetics of the picture, and hear excerpts of the music.

On this episode, we break down Chris’s music preparation process on a film, from orchestration to copying. Chris even turns the tables, interviewing host Philip Rothman about the history of music engraving and asks his thoughts on the latest developments in the world of music notation software. We cover established products like Sibelius, iPad readers like forScore and Newzik, and newer entries on the scene like Dorico and StaffPad, and discuss how we can expect to use them on the scoring stage in the future.

More on Scoring Notes: Christopher Willis on scoring “The Personal History of David Copperfield”

Christopher Willis, part 1: Scoring “The Personal History of David Copperfield”

Scoring Notes — Sat, 22 Aug 2020 12:09:52 +0000

Christopher Willis joins us for the first of two episodes. Chris is the composer of the score to the film ”The Personal History of David Copperfield.” On this episode, we talk with Chris about that score and its fresh take on familiar musical ideas to match the aesthetics of the picture. We learn about juxtaposing traditionally notated music with the world of audio samples and the technology that’s used to achieve satisfying results. Chris traces his career with us from his days a pianist, doctoral student, and arrival in Los Angeles to his latest work scoring top movies and television shows. We’ll hear excerpts of the David Copperfield score and go behind the scenes to find out more.

Join us on our next episode for the second part of our discussion as we break down Chris’s music preparation process on a film, from orchestration to copying. Chris even turns the tables, interviewing host Philip Rothman about music engraving and asks him thoughts on the latest developments in the world of music notation software.

More on Scoring Notes: Christopher Willis on scoring “The Personal History of David Copperfield”

Soundslice’s Adrian Holovaty

Scoring Notes — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 12:03:02 +0000

Adrian Holovaty is the founder of Soundslice, a service that syncs audio, video and music notation into a beautiful browser-based player. Adrian started Soundslice as a way to transcribe guitar excerpts for himself, and in the past decade it’s grown into a robust platform for music professionals, teachers, and students to learn any kind of music in a unique way. Adrian talks to us about their philosophy of music notation and how it intersects with both the challenges and opportunities presented by being a web-based service, including what it takes to make music notation interactive and foster an enthusiastic community of users to share and market their creations.

More on Scoring Notes:

NAMM 2018: Soundslice adds an editor, channels, and other new features

NAMM 2017: Soundslice, a web-based music education tool and player

Katie Wardrobe on music tech in education

Scoring Notes — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 11:06:20 +0000

Katie Wardrobe is the founder and director of Midnight Music, a thriving service which helps music educators integrate technology into their teaching. Katie provides workshops, presentations, online training courses and ebooks for her community, and on our show she tells us all about how she uses notation software and many other tools to achieve results. Katie shares with us her surprisingly low-tech but effective tips for staying organized, and we learn how she got started doing this important work, and how her business has changed over the years.

David William Hearn and StaffPad

Scoring Notes — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 13:23:25 +0000

David William Hearn is the founder and lead designer of StaffPad, the revolutionary music composition app for pen-and-touch devices like Windows Surface and iPad. StaffPad automatically detects your musical handwriting and instantly converts it into music notation and plays it back using high-quality sound libraries. There’s a lot more to StaffPad, and David tells us all about it, including the StaffPad Reader, which instantly syncs tablets containing the parts to the score, allowing players to view and play changes in real-time. Many more advancements are on the way, and David gives us a few clues about what we can hope to see as StaffPad evolves on the cutting edge of music notation technology.

More on Scoring Notes: StaffPad wows with long-awaited iPad release and new free StaffPad Reader

StaffPad and Reader for iPad video review

An interview with David William Hearn, creator of StaffPad (from 2015)

Justin Tokke, publishing, and Music Engraving Tips

Scoring Notes — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 11:24:18 +0000

Justin Tokke joins us on the show. Justin is the technical lead at the music publisher Carl Fischer, and you may also know him as the founder and admin of Music Engraving Tips, a web site and Facebook group with more than 20,000 members. Justin talks to us about his work in publishing, including everything from learning the ropes printing scores to the intricacies of digital distribution. We uncover the publishing mysteries of licenses, rights, and promotion, and what you should consider when publishing your music. We also learn about the origin of the Music Engraving Tips group and get Justin’s thoughts on where music notation software is headed.

Daniel Ray, Martin Keary, and Musescore

Scoring Notes — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 10:14:29 +0000

Daniel Ray and Martin Keary from Musescore join the podcast. Martin tells us about making his popular Tantacrul videos and how those critiques of software programs eventually took him from Microsoft to being the head of design at Musescore. Daniel talks to us in his capacity as director of product strategy about the open-source community powering the product and the way Musescore aligns with the goals of Ultimate Guitar, which has acquired the software. Together we all have a collective nerd-out about the user experience, and find out the plan for what’s to come in Musescore 4.

Whether or not you’re a Musescore user, you’ll find this episode to be chock-full of discussion and opinions about how music notation software is designed, the quality of its output, and the trends in the industry.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald host.

More on Scoring Notes: NAMM 2020: An interview with Musescore’s Daniel Ray

Sam Butler and Sibelius

Scoring Notes — Sat, 11 Jul 2020 17:40:05 +0000

Sam Butler is the senior principal product manager for Sibelius. We talk with Sam about the challenges and opportunities of keeping Sibelius running through the pandemic and what it means for both professional and educational users. Sam tells us about the strategy of releasing more frequent Sibelius updates, what some of his favorite features are, and what they’ve got cooking up for the future. We discuss the new MIDI and MusicXML importing features and the ongoing partnership with Berklee College of Music to make Sibelius more accessible to sight-impaired users, and how this initiative benefits everyone using the software.

Plus: Sam does Dad duty live on the show.

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald host.

More on Scoring Notes: Sibelius development and accessibility, from the 2020 NAMM Show

Nicholas Buc and film score preparation

Scoring Notes — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 22:44:34 +0000

Nicholas Buc is a composer, conductor, and arranger whose recent conducting engagements have taken him around the globe conducting live-to-picture concerts featuring the most beloved movie scores of our time. We discuss his career and the many ways that music preparation and technology can provide the score with the Midas touch in those high-stakes performances. Nick helps us avoid the phantom menace of notation pitfalls, giving us all a new hope in our quest for the holy grail of music engraving perfection. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald join Nick as we learn what it’s like to be part of his world.

Read more on Scoring Notes: Preparing David Newman’s Matilda score for live orchestra

Nick’s podcast: Art of the Score

Newzik’s Raphaël Schumann

Scoring Notes — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 01:53:24 +0000

Newzik started in 2015 as a music reader solution for iPad, and since then it has grown into a complete digital solution that serves musicians, publishers, orchestras and opera companies. CEO Raphaël Schumann discusses its recent developments and its bright future after raising €3 million in private investment.

How do you technologically revolutionize the long-established custom and practice of working with printed music that has been evolving for centuries? Cloud sharing, collaboration, and licensing are just some of the areas that Newzik must navigate as it continually innovates, aiming to make a seamless transition for customers to read, share, rent, purchase, and sell sheet music on digital devices.

Emily Grishman

Scoring Notes — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 01:14:10 +0000

For decades, Emily Grishman has been one of Broadway’s most sought-after copyists, and her list of credits includes the most acclaimed music and theatrical productions. We talk about her career and how the means and manner of producing music has changed along with advancements in the music notation software she uses every day. Come along with us as we learn what Emily has to say about the world of music copying, the process of getting the music from the composer’s pen to the player’s stands, and the tools she uses to achieve superior results.

Further reading: Emily Grishman on Maestra Music

Photo credit: Jamie Maletz

Dorico and Sibelius updates

Scoring Notes — Sat, 06 Jun 2020 02:06:20 +0000

We explore the latest updates to Dorico and Sibelius. Dorico 3.5 introduces pitch-before-duration input, figured bass, a line style editor, graphic slices, and much more, while Sibelius 2020.6 brings a more advanced MusicXML import method and a number of accessibility enhancements. Plus, an answer to the age-old question: When should you take the plunge and update your software? Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss.

Score preparation and production checklist

Scoring Notes — Sat, 30 May 2020 01:03:30 +0000

Learn more: Score preparation and production blog post on Scoring Notes, with lots of links to other posts about how to achieve results in notation software.

Hooked on music notation software

Scoring Notes — Sun, 24 May 2020 10:24:16 +0000

Philip Rothman and David MacDonald officially inaugurate the Scoring Notes podcast. They reminisce about how they first got hooked on writing music with notation software, how they eventually became fascinated by the ever-changing developments in the programs and in the field, and why so many student compositions have a tempo of quarter note = 100 bpm. Also: The brief history of the Scoring Notes blog.

Dorico 3.5 interview with Daniel Spreadbury

Scoring Notes — Thu, 21 May 2020 11:43:55 +0000

Steinberg product marketing manager Daniel Spreadbury talks with Scoring Notes about the Dorico 3.5 release. We learn about pitch-before-duration input (a.k.a “Speedy Entry”), semantic figured bass notation, VST expression maps, and what a “graphic slice” is. Also: Daniel talks about what it’s like creating music notation software in the middle of a pandemic, and we find out his personal favorite feature in this release — even if it’s obscure.