As we close the book on 2025, it’s time to look back at another year of music notation news, updates, creativity, and conversation.
music engraving
New and updated fonts from Music Type Foundry
Three more fonts from the legendary Music Type Foundry are now available for the first time in SMuFL format: MTF-Gutenberg 1939, MTF-Ross, and MTF-Improviso. In addition, each of the original five MTF fonts receives significant updates.
Music Type Foundry introductory sale extended by one week
The Music Type Foundry introductory sale is extended by one week. Each MTF SMuFL font is available at Notation Central at a special discount of 25% off through April 7, 2025.
Music Type Foundry fonts newly revised and re-released
Five of the premium Music Type Foundry fonts have been newly revised and re-released exclusively on Notation Central, the first time in three years that these fonts have been made available.
Simon Smith headlines free music engraving lecture [updated]
Letterform Archive is hosting an online, free lecture titled “Music Engraving in the Digital Age” with Muse Group’s Simon Smith, exploring some of the history of music notation and engraving, the current state of play as well as the challenges facing the developers of notation software.
Behind Bars: General Conventions edition published
Faber Music has published Behind Bars: General Conventions, the first section of Elaine Gould’s industry-standard music notation reference book, as a separate paperback edition.
Videos available from Mozarteum music engraving conference
The Mozarteum University has provided videos from everything filmed from their music engraving conference. The playlist is available on YouTube and contains 26 videos totaling approximately 17 hours of material.
An interview with Nor Eddine Bahha, musician and font designer
We interview jazz pianist, educator, author, and musicologist Nor Eddine Bahha, whose passion for typography led to the creation of his music and text fonts, available at Notation Central.
Measure items in PDFs using Acrobat Reader and Preview
Accurate measurement is crucial to the creation of quality music notation. Learn how to use the built-in tools in the free Acrobat Reader and Preview desktop apps to measure anything in your PDF, from staff size, to margins, to text.
Highlights from the Mozarteum music engraving conference
Some highlights from the “Music Engraving in the 21st Century: Developments and Perspectives” conference at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, including a keynote by Elaine Gould and other presentations.