A transcript of one of our most popular podcast episodes. If you’ve ever needed to open a music notation file in a different program, you’ve relied on MusicXML. Michael Good tells us how it happened.
history
A brief history of music notation on computers
Music engraving dates back well before the computer age, but it’s easy to forget that the computer-aided portion of the history spans back a good long time. We summarize that history and explore a few key moments leading up to the present.
Three quick tips from engraving Copland
In the course of preparing a new edition of Copland’s Three Latin American Sketches, here are three improvements that should not be overlooked when preparing a new edition, aside from the improvement in readability that an engraved part will bring. Also: Remembering Vivian Perlis, 1928-2019.
The equanimous Mathilde Pincus
Before accepting her special Tony award in 1976, Mathilde Pincus said, “People think of us as music copyists, but we’re much more than that, and we’re trying to change our image.” She succeeded.
An interview with Elaine Gould, part 2: Behind Bars
This is the second in a series of interviews with Elaine Gould, senior new music editor at Faber Music and author of the music notation treatise Behind Bars, in partnership with Music Engraving Tips. In this interview, Elaine talks about the ideas behind her writing the book.
An interview with Elaine Gould, part 1: Early years at Faber
The first of a series of interviews with Elaine Gould, senior new music editor at Faber Music and author of the music notation treatise Behind Bars. Conducted by Justin Tokke in partnership with the Music Engraving Tips community group.
Leland Smith, creator of the SCORE music typography system, dies at 88
Leland Smith, creator of SCORE, the first commercially available music notation program, died on December 17th, 2013 at his home in Palo Alto, California. He was 88 years old. Born August 6, 1925 in Oakland, California, Smith held music degrees from the University of California in Berkeley, and taught composition and theory at Stanford University beginning in […]
Thomas Brodhead on Leland Smith and SCORE
Here are Thomas Brodhead’s unabridged remarks about Leland Smith and SCORE, as provided by Thomas Brodhead to Sibelius Blog. I began using SCORE in 1993 on the recommendation of publishers (mainly in New York) who insisted on it at the time, when the alternative programs were deemed unsuitable for high-quality publication. Leland Smith’s genius was that […]
Bill Holab on Leland Smith and SCORE
Here are Bill Holab’s unabridged remarks about Leland Smith and SCORE, as provided by Bill Holab to Sibelius Blog. 1985 brought a small revolution to the publishing industry as a company named Aldus released a program called PageMaker. That, coupled with the new Macintosh computer (with its 9” screen) and an Apple Laserwriter ushered in […]
A brief history of music printing
A few years ago, Ben and Jonathan Finn, the original creators of Sibelius, were interviewed for a TV programme here in the UK for The Open University for the TA212 Technology of Music course. The programme’s synopsis is as follows: From the middle of the 15th century onwards, the intellectual and cultural life of the […]