Scoring Notes

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 Melissa Smey's commission mission Setting the scene with Joshua Luty Tim Davies takes the macro view MOLA 2022: Advancements in music notation software Cleo Huggins, the designer of the first music font The rights stuff

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. More reading and listening: Adrian Holovaty: Thoughts on my first machine learning project Soundslice: State-of-the-art music scanning Scoring Notes: Soundslice's Adrian Holovaty Scoring Notes: Marie Chupeau and the human side of Newzik's artificial intelligence

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.

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.

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

We've spoken about opera occasionally on a few Scoring Notes episodes — like in the 2-parter we did on lyrics, for instance. But a genre as big and complex as opera deserves our uninterrupted focus. Around for centuries as an art form, opera continues its appeal through the present day, with many contemporary composers working in this area, including a few that have made it their specialty. Due to its length, large forces and form, multiple movements, revisions, vocal elements, piano reductions, and more, if you're working with opera, you stand to benefit from a strong knowledge of different areas of music notation software. Joshua Luty joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to talk all about the intersection of the timeless art form of opera and the use of technology to help prepare it. Joshua is the music librarian for the Houston Grand Opera and serves with Philip on the MOLA Technology Committee. You won't have to search too hard to find his expert advice on the some of the Dorico and engraving forums on the socials. In addition to those credentials, Joshua's the editor and rental librarian for the composer Joel Thompson, and the Former Lead Editorial Assistant for the George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition at the University of Michigan's Gershwin Initiative, and has had other notable positions in the music field. Joshua takes us behind the curtain and into the dungeon of the opera music library, preparing a new opera from conception to workshop to revisions and finally performance. We discuss the mix of old-fashioned and new technology that Joshua and his colleagues use to make it all happen, and learn some surprising facts about the process. We also get essential advice about the importance of vocal scores, preparing parts, how to label inserts, cueing, and printing. Whether or not you work on opera, this podcast episode “sets the scene” with practical advice that you can “act” on when using music notation software and related technology to produce your next creation. More from Scoring Notes: Lyrics and vocal music, part 1 Lyrics and vocal music, part 2 Working with page numbers in Sibelius

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.

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.

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: Dave Metzger, part 1: Arranging and orchestrating Dave Metzger, part 2: Workflow and tech

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: MOLA 2022: Advancements in music notation software MOLA 2022 conference wrap-up Half Notes: Jane Cross, keeping music files safe Half Notes: Mark Fabulich on committing to technology Nicole Jordan, Philadelphia Orchestra librarian [encore]

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: MOLA 2022: Advancements in music notation software MOLA 2022 conference wrap-up Half Notes: Jane Cross, keeping music files safe

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: Digital Preservation in the Performance Library Digital Preservation Risk Mitigation Worksheet More from Scoring Notes: MOLA 2022: Advancements in music notation software MOLA 2022 conference wrap-up

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: MOLA 2022 conference wrap-up Measure items in PDFs using Acrobat Reader and Preview A review of optical music recognition software Scoring Notes Product Guide

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

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: Life Lines, by Nathalie Joachim Wander, by Nathalie Joachim Suite pou Dantan: III. Resevwa li, by Nathalie Joachim Homeland, by Allison Loggins-Hull Brown Squares, by Flutronix

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.

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. More from Scoring Notes and elsewhere: Nicole Jordan, Philadelphia Orchestra librarian [encore] MOLA 40th Annual Conference MuseScore 4 - First Alpha Released

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: Lyrics and vocal music, part 1 Tricks for lyrics in Finale 3 helpful plug-ins for working with lyrics in Sibelius Differentiating staff text, system text, and lyrics in Sibelius Traditional lyrics beaming and slurs on melismas Adding extra lines of lyrics Making lyrics something to sing about Elsewhere: The Lyric Hyphenator

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: Dan Kreider on hymnal engraving Use the Tinos font as a metrically equivalent replacement for Times New Roman

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: Re-input pitches in homophonic music The Sibelius 2018.1 release is smarter with multi-edit workflow improvements Sibelius 2018.4 released with multi-edits for text Dorico 4 review Dorico 3.5 review Sibelius 2020.9 update focuses on staves The focus is on staves with the Sibelius 2020.9 update

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: Dorico 4.0.20 update brings fixes and improvements; iPad version also updated Darcy James Argue jazzes up Finale with “style” Finale version 27.2 adds new jazz template, native Apple silicon support

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: Finale version 27.2 adds new jazz template, native Apple silicon support Finale version 27.1: SMuFL burrows deeper Finale version 27 review: SMuFL and MusicXML 4.0 support Cooperating with chords in Finale DJA's Notes: Left-align chord symbols A few brief thoughts about the size of music paper

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: Daniel Spreadbury on music fonts: past, present, and future Music fonts and open standards with Daniel Spreadbury A brief history of music notation on computers Back to the future of music notation on computers How to make a SMuFL font From the Finale Blog: Meet Steve Peha, creator of Petrucci, Finale's first music font A brief history of Finale fonts

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.

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. More on Scoring Notes: Dolet 8 for Sibelius adds MusicXML 4.0 support and much more Finale version 27 review: SMuFL and MusicXML 4.0 support NAMM 2017: Talking MusicXML and more with Michael Good MakeMusic and Steinberg transfer development of MusicXML and SMuFL to web community group NAMM 2018: W3C Music Notation Community Group meets; MNX is next NAMM 2019: W3C Music Notation Community Group meeting W3C Music Notation Community Group meeting at Musikmesse 2019

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

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. More on Scoring Notes and elsewhere: Chronology of a perfect music printing job Creating PDFs from Sibelius 7 Export File Names Dialog in Dorico Name Mangler and Moom productivity apps On the margins: Headers, footers, and footnotes in Sibelius Smarter title pages for parts in Sibelius Smarter title pages for parts in Finale Working with master pages in Dorico, part 2 How to fix a common page numbering problem in Sibelius PDF-MusicBinder and PDF-BatchStitch utilities for music printing

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: A brief history of music notation on computers Other articles on Scoring Notes by Ben Byram-Wigfield Daniel Spreadbury on music fonts: past, present, and future Michael Good, the inventor of MusicXML From elsewhere: Music Printing History How Allegri's Miserere should really sound (featuring Ben Byram-Wigfield)

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: Dorico 4 review: Do more with your score Dorico arrives on iPad Dorico and Sibelius come to the iPad The history and future of Dorico for iPad Daniel Spreadbury on music fonts: past, present, and future

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: StaffPad brings live recordings into your scores with Audio Update Graphical MIDI Tools 2 is a major upgrade to the DAW-like plug-in for Sibelius Avid introduces new license activation system alongside Sibelius 2021.12 update Dorico 4, planned for early 2022, will be first Steinberg product to use new licensing system [updated] Steinberg “PSA”: Limited time discounted price for Dorico 4 upgrade path

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

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: Score preparation and production notes Dorico 1.2 review, part 1: Cues, new notation techniques, and other improvements Dorico 1.2 review, part 3: Percussion DJA's Notes: Do not abuse one-bar and two-bar repeats Sam Solomon on writing for percussion Emily Grishman (revival) An interview with Elaine Gould, part 1: Early years at Faber An interview with Elaine Gould, part 2: Behind Bars

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. Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation, by Elaine Gould More from Scoring Notes: Score preparation and production notes Restore the link in File Info fields between score and parts in Sibelius A few brief thoughts about the size of music paper Smarter title pages for parts in Finale Smarter title pages for parts in Sibelius Working with master pages in Dorico, part 1 Working with master pages in Dorico, part 2 How to fix a common page numbering problem in Sibelius Working with page numbers in Sibelius View 2-page spreads in notation software and PDFs Go wild with text wildcards Three quick tips from engraving Copland

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, 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: An interview with librarian Lisa Dempsey Kane The best iPad score reader for most people Score preparation and production notes

Marie Chupeau, the co-founder of Magic LEMP, discusses Maestria, the artificial intelligence technology that allows Newzik to not just display a score, but also to understand it musically, resulting in a LiveScore that can be played directly in Newzik or exported to other software for further use.

We discuss the news that Fender has made plans to acquire PreSonus, and dig up an interview from the Scoring Notes archive with CEO Jim Boitnott about Notion, the PreSonus notation software that was an early pioneer for both its focus on playback and for its iPad app.

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.

The second of a two-part episode in which we discuss the playback features of music notation software. We share the tips and tricks we've learned over the years, look at some software-specific tools, and provide a few examples so you can hear how it all sounds.

The first of a two-part episode in which we discuss the playback features of music notation software, why playback is important, and how you can make use of it when you work on a score.

If you have trouble keeping up with all of your computer operating software updates, new hardware, and naming conventions, you're not alone. Fortunately, we can help. An encore presentation, with an update for Windows 11.

Jonathan Newman returns for the second of a two-part conversation, in which he emerges out of the copyist wilderness into a thriving composition career. We talk about writing for wind band and educational ensembles, and how that experience shapes his current position as an educator himself.

Jonathan Newman joins us for the first of a two-part episode, in which we discuss the profession of music copying, balancing a composing career with other obligations, and watershed moments in the history of music notation software.

Creating teaching materials to be completed directly in music notation software can help students learn both the theory and practical technological skills that are essential to a modern music education. Here's a curriculum to follow when doing this in your classroom.

Worksheets are that quintessential element of music instruction that appears in everything from homework assignments to quizzes. Here's how to work with music notation software to create documents that are worthy of top marks.

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. Courtesy of Twenty Thousand Hertz.

The second of a two-part interview with Darcy James Argue. In this part: Darcy's philosophy of music preparation; Finale tips, plug-ins, and resources; the role of publishers and software developers in elevating the quality of music notation.

The first of a two-part interview with Darcy James Argue, the acclaimed jazz composer, bandleader, and educator. In this part: His early years on through to creating original masterpieces — and how good music preparation, notation software, and getting a foothold in the New York scene were all intertwined.

Sam Butler and Joe Plazak talk about their journey that began with the goal of making Sibelius available on as many platforms as possible and resulting in Sibelius on iPad, with more to come in the future.

Daniel Spreadbury takes us behind the scenes into the making of Dorico for iPad, and reveals a forthcoming update to the app that will make it a lot more valuable.

We recap a wild and exciting week in the world of music notation software, with not one, but two major products debuting on iPad: Dorico and Sibelius.