Podcast appearances and mentions of David MacDonald

Six years after our “Score preparation and production notes” episode — Episode No. 2 — essentially launched the podcast, 163 episodes later, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald return to the article that inspired the conversation: David’s score preparation checklist. The principles — respect for performers, readable parts, enough time for page turns — are as true as ever. But almost every specific tool reference in the original has a fuller story now. The conversation moves section by section, serving as a reminder of the timeless principles and exploring all of the meaningful changes in the technology. Dorico’s live-reference cue system has become the standard no one else has matched — and the ease of it has quietly changed how generously cues get applied. The Dorico 6 Proofreading panel represents a new category of preparation tool, while the Sibelius plugin ecosystem has its own parallel answers. The condensing and decondensing workflows now available in both Dorico and Sibelius 2025.2 have transformed what was once among the most tedious jobs in parts preparation, and Sibelius 2025.7’s Auto-Respace toggle closes a gap that used to just be accepted. Two sections are entirely new to the checklist: digital delivery — where the iPad has become as common in rehearsal as a music stand — and a pointed look at the file-organization habits that make or break a delivery package. This one’s chock-full of tips, resources and advice — with David’s updated accompanying article to come soon. Products mentioned Notation software Dorico (Steinberg) Sibelius (Avid) MuseScore Studio (Muse Group) Finale (MakeMusic) (mentioned as discontinued) Fonts MusGlyphs (available at Notation Central) NYC Music Services / Notation Central PDF Batch Utilities Desktop publishing and document tools Affinity (Canva) (now free) Apple Pages Microsoft Word LibreOffice Other tools mentioned Claude Cowork (Anthropic) (mentioned for AI-assisted file organization) Name Mangler / Renamer (mentioned briefly for file naming) forScore (mentioned as a score-reading app) Previous Scoring Notes posts and podcast episodes Directly mentioned or closely related: Score preparation and production Notes (David’s original 2018 article) Score preparation and production checklist (Episode 2, 2020) Partying with parts, part 1 (podcast, December 2021) Partying with parts, part 2 (podcast, December 2021) Orchestra librarians want you to know about parts paper sizes (May 3, 2022) Orchestra librarians want you to know about instrument names (June 20, 2022) Behind “Behind Bars” with Elaine Gould (podcast, July 2023) Behind Bars: General Conventions edition published (June 2023) Dorico 6: Proof positive (review, April 2025 — Proofreading Panel) Dorico 6.0.22 extends proofreading capabilities (July 2025 — ignore feature) Sibelius 2025.7 brings note spacing control, UI updates (July 2025 — Auto-Respace) Sibelius 2025.2 introduces decondensing parts with staff filters (February 2025) Sibelius 2022.5 brings multi-section headers, other workflow boosts (May 2022) MusGlyphs: an advanced music text font (April 2021) PDF Batch Utilities get a major rebuild — and a brand new app (March 2026) Freshly pressed (podcast, April 2026 — PDF Batch Utilities in depth) Calculate the weight, basis weight, or grammage of paper (April 2025) Chronology of a perfect music printing job (January 2022) DJA’s Notes: Music preparation basics (Darcy James Argue, September 2023) Documenting the documenter: Lillie Harris (podcast, April 2021 — Dorico manual) David MacDonald’s updated Score Preparation and Production Notes article Other references Elaine Gould, Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation (Faber Music) — cues: p. 566; front matter: chapter 17, pp. 501–504 Elaine Gould, Behind Bars: General Conventions (Faber Music) — the first third of Behind Bars as a standalone paperback and e-book MOLA Guide (Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association) — free PDF download Sibelius plugins page (still active at sibelius.com) Darcy James Argue, Music Preparation Fundamentals for Jazz Composers & Arrangers — free download Darcy James Argue, Music Preparation for the Large Jazz Ensemble — free download (supplement to the above)

David Macdonald - May 9th, 2026 - Are You Thirsty? - John 4:1-14 JOHN 4:5 – THE ENCOUNTER – AT THE WELL Jesus – weary from travel  Came to Sychar – aka. Shechem – ancient city with a substantial history a) Where Abram first came when he arrived into Canaan from Babylonia. (Gen 12:6) b) Where God first appeared to Abram in Canaan - renewed the promise of giving the land to him and his descendants. (12:7) c) Where Abram built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord. 12:8 d) This is where Jacob came safely when he returned with his wives and children from his sojourn with Laban. (33:18) e) Jacob bought a piece of land from a Canaanite named Hamor (33:19) f) Jacob built an altar to the Lord, and called it El Elohe Israel (33:20). g) Connected Jacob and what became known as Jacob's well there in Sychar. h) Jacob's daughter – Dinah, raped – and his sons massacred the men in retaliation. (Genesis 34) i) This was the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph j) Where the bones of Joseph were eventually buried - carried up from Egypt. (Josh 24:32) k) Joshua made a covenant with Israel, renewing their commitment to the God of Israel and proclaiming, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24) JOHN 4:5 – THE ENCOUNTER – AT THE WELL  Contrasts Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman  He was a Jew; she was a Samaritan  He was a Pharisee; she had a rival religion  He was a politician; she had no status  He was a scholar; she was likely uneducated  He was highly moral; she was immoral  He is named; she is nameless  He was a man; she was a woman  He came at night; she came at noon  He sought Jesus; Jesus sought her  Both had the same need JOHN 4:6-14 – THE CONVERSATION – GIVE ME A DRINK  Jesus – engages the woman in conversation  Likely a surprise to the woman - a) A rabbi – wouldn't speak to woman in public b) A Jew speaking to a Samaritan! (vs. 9) c) Strange time to draw water – i. Noon ii. Alone d) Jesus turns conversation to heart of the matter – a) Vs. 10 – “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.“  He made her curious –  He made her curious about the things of God (If you knew the gift of God).  He made her curious about who Jesus is (who it is who says to you).  He made her curious about what He could give her (He would have given you living water). JOHN 4:10, 13-14 – THE OFFER – LIVING WATER  People are thirsty  Don't admit it  Don't recognize it  Try to satisfy it and thirst never quenched  Pleasure Possessions  Addictions Fame  Wealth Relationships  Career Path THIRST AGAIN  If only….  Panama company  “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever.”  Satisfy spiritual longing –  Will become a spring – in the person – living & fresh  Life giving – everlasting life ARE YOU THIRSTY? How to get Living Water John 7:37-39 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. (38) Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" (39) Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  What if you have come to Jesus, but seem to be thirsting again? Spurgeon -  Someone might object: “I drank of what Jesus offers, and I feel thirsty and empty again.” The answer is simple: drink again! It isn't a one-time sip of Jesus that satisfies forever, but continual connection with Him.”  Have you found satisfaction in the Living Water – the Lord Jesus Christ – the Bible ends with this invitation  Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

What if your notation software could sing? At the top of this episode, we play a short clip, performed entirely in Dorico with NotePerformer handling the orchestra, and a plugin called Cantai rendering the baritone voice. That voice is synthesized directly from the Dorico score with minimal configuration, and it marks the arrival of something the notation world has been waiting for for a long time. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk with Richard deCosta, composer, software developer, and founder of Cantai and the Turing Opera Workshop, about what it took to build it. The conversation goes deep on the technology: why synthesizing the voice is fundamentally harder than synthesizing instruments, how the phonemizer works, why Cantai renders offline rather than in real time, and what it really means to build a plugin that reads a score rather than simply receiving MIDI. Richard also explains how years of frustration with the disconnect between notation and external vocal synthesis tools — from EWQL Symphonic Choirs and WordBuilder to ACE Studio and Synthesizer V — led to the central insight behind Cantai: that the lyrics were always there in the score; they just weren't being passed to the playback engine. We also dig into the ethical and business model Richard has built around the singers whose voices power Cantai. Every vocalist is contracted, paid a competitive recording fee, and receives an ongoing share of the product's profits in proportion to how much their voice is used. Cantai is already live for MuseScore Studio and Dorico, and arriving for Sibelius on May 30. The roadmap — more languages, less vibrato, Broadway and jazz styles, and a thought-provoking vision for the future of real-time vocal generation — gives us plenty to look forward to. Products mentioned Cantai (Turing Opera Workshop) Turing Opera Workshop Dorico (Steinberg) Sibelius (Avid) MuseScore Studio / MuseHub (Muse Group) NotePerformer (Wallander Instruments) ACE Studio Synthesizer V (Dreamtonics) EWQL Symphonic Choirs with WordBuilder (East West) Emvoice One Vocaloid (Yamaha) Wendy Carlos, Secrets of Synthesis (1987) Previous Scoring Notes posts and podcast episodes Directly mentioned or closely related: Cantai now sings straight from Dorico (companion article) Dorico 6.2.20 released with Cantai vocal synthesis support MuseScore Studio 4.6.4 released with Cantai support Using WordBuilder with Sibelius to make vocal text come alive Sibelius sings with EWQL Symphonic Choirs Scoring a 16th century ayre with Dorico and Emvoice One Scoring the 11 o'clock number with Dorico and Emvoice One

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 Notation Express PDF Batch Utilities Stream Deck Elgato Stream Deck Virtual Stream Deck Stream Deck Mobile 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

Ray Hannah - March 29th, 2026 - David MacDonald - April 3rd, 2026 - 6 Hours One Friday Six Hours one Friday 1 1 Peter 3:18 Friday Notable Fridays in our culture— Black Friday: The day after US Thanksgiving, marking the start of the Christmas shopping season. Now in Canada as well Friday the 13th: Considered a day of bad luck, occurring 1–3 times a year. Casual Friday: A day of relaxed dress codes at the office. Famous Fridays – weekly events in Toronto and Vancouver featuring Reggae, Hip Hop, and Soca music.Free for all Fridays Most notable - Good Friday Good Friday 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit A Day of Suffering A Day of Singularity A Day of Substitution A Day of Salvation Good Friday – a day of Suffering One-third of the Gospel record is dedicated to Jesus' final week. Jesus entered Jerusalem and presented Himself as Messiah. Before the cross, Jesus sweat blood (a condition called hematidrosis) He endured six hasty trials where he was mocked, punched and spit upon. He was scourged with a flagellum (leather strips embedded with bits of stone and metal); Carried His cross to Golgotha. Jesus hung on the cross in agony for hours. And after six hours, He proclaimed, "It is finished" (John 19:30). It was suffering the worst and most torturous death of its time Although he wasn't at the crucifixion, Peter wrote his first letter to a group of suffering believers, saying, "Christ also suffered" (1 Peter 3:18). Good Friday – a day of Singularity 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit Hebrews 9:26-28 ESV for … He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (27) And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, (28) so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). "It is finished," (John 19:30). Good Friday – a day of Substitution 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Isaiah 53:5 Isaiah 53:6 Romans 5:6-8 Good Friday – a day of Salvation 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit Colossians 1:21-22 (21) Acts 16:30-31 2 Corinthians 6:2 The invitation – Revelation 22:17

David MacDonald - March 1st, 2026 - How Can These Things Be? John 3:1-21 , John 3:1-2 The Man Named Nicodemus - Religious -Pharisee - pledged to keep all the law.  Rich – according – Talmud - one of four richest men in Jerusalem.  In John 19:39 – he brought costly myrrh and aloes when Jesus was buried. Ruler – Name is Greek, means "victor over the people."  Ruler, archon in Greek. Teacher - He was "the" teacher in Israel (vs. 10). Famous,  sought after lecturers. A member of the Sanhedrin – the elite of the religious rulers Later defended Jesus at His trial Assisted Joseph of Arimathea in the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ Met with Jesus at night – reason unknown Respectful of Jesus Christ – “Rabbi” Spiritual curiosity brought him to Jesus The Source of New Life – Heaven – vs. 9-12 Exodus 3:6-8 The Cost of New Life – Death (vs. 14-17) John 3:14-17 , 1 Peter 3:18 , Isaiah 45:22 NKJV John 20:30-31 Missing the New Life – judgment (vs. 18-21) John 3:17-21 , Romans 8:1 the invitation to New Life (vs. 21) John 3:21 CEV , Romans 4:5 NKJV , Acts 16:31

David MacDonald - January 11th, 2026 - You Must Be Born Again John 3:1-8 – the interview Spurgeon - “If we were asked to read to a dying man who did not know the gospel, we should probably select this chapter as the most suitable one for such an occasion; and what is good for dying men is good for us all, for that is what we are; and how soon we may be actually at the gates of death, none of us can tell.” Account of a nighttime conversation between Lord Jesus Christ & a ruler of the Jews – Nicodemus Account filled with the most profound truths of Scripture A sincere seeker of God John 3:1-2 – the curious ruler - Nicodemus The Man Named Nicodemus - Religious -Pharisee - pledged to keep all the law.  Torah, oral law; the Mishnah and the Talmud Rich – according – Talmud - one of four richest men in Jerusalem.  In John 19:39 – he brought the myrrh and aloes when Jesus was buried. Very costly. Ruler – Name is Greek, means "victor over the people."  Ruler, archon in Greek. Teacher - He was "the" teacher in Israel. One of the most famous,  sought after lecturers. A member of the Sanhedrin – the elite of the religious rulers Later defended Jesus when He was on trial Assisted Joseph of A in the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ Met Jesus at night – reason unknown Respectful of Jesus Christ – “Rabbi” Curiosity brought him to Jesus John 3:3-6 – the Answer – You Must… Jesus answers the question that wasn't asked - John 3:3 - Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 2:23-25 The Meaning of the New Birth Gennethe anothen - born from above….born a second time Nicodemus believed - only birth needed was the first birth. Widely believed among Jews that descending from Abraham guaranteed heaven. To be Jewish and to keep the law. Is Jesus saying keeping the law and good works are not enough?? Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins Essentially, means to have new life. A theological term - is regeneration. Not simply a moral or religious reform “To belong to the heavenly kingdom, one must be born into it.” John 3:7-8 – Born Again Ezekiel 36:24-27 John 3:7-8 – An Illustration The Observation The Wind Changes Places – invisible but effects are plainly observable. The Spirit Changes People - When a person is born again the changes are observable. Pneuma is the word for wind and spirit.  It's the same word. Jesus said you MUST be born again. He said this to a religious person.  Status, religion and good works were not enough.  Born once(physically) Die twice (physically and spiritually) Born twice (physically and spiritually) Die once (physically) John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

By 9:23 a.m. on January 2, Canada’s highest-paid CEOs will have already earned what the average Canadian worker makes in an entire year. That’s according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which found that the top 100 CEOs now earn, on average, $16.2 million a year, about 248 times what the typical worker earns. David Macdonald is the senior economist behind the report, he spoke to Andrew Carter.

Michelle Weger, Kelly Alexander, Tom Mulcair, Dr. Mitch Shulman, David Macdonald, Maya Johnson

David Macdonald - December 24th (Christmas eve service) - His Name Matthew 1:18-25 Luke 1:30-33 Isaiah 9:6-7 Matthew 1:18-25 , Luke 1:30-33 His Name is a Great Name – Son of the Most High Luke 1:32 (32) He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David His Name is Jesus - The Salvation of Yahweh Matthew 1:21 (21) She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." His Name is Immanuel – God with us Matthew 1:23 (23) "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). Salvation is in His Name - John 1:11-12 ,John 20:30-31 , Acts 4:12 NLT

David MacDonald - December 14th, 2025 - The Word Dwelt Among Us Uniqueness of Gospel of John Key word “believe” (98x) Intended audience is the entire world John focuses on who Jesus is – presents Jesus as the Son of God Matthew focused on what the Lord Jesus said Mark focused on what the Lord Jesus did Luke focused on how the Lord Jesus felt John focused on who the Lord Jesus was Jesus Christ is presented as God Himself in a human body John starts with the beginning (just as the scriptures do in Genesis 1:1) Matthew and Luke go to beginnings in genealogy – John back to very beginning – before time John 1:1-5 The Word – Jesus Christ is Eternal God (vs. 1,2) John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (2) He was in the beginning with God. Lord Jesus Christ – was the Word – existed before the beginning – already there The Word was with God – intimately face to face with the Father - Philippians 2:6 …who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, The Word was God - John 1:10-11 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. (11) He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. The Word – Jesus Christ is The Creator (vs. 3) John 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. Colossians 1:16-17 (16) For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. (17) And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:14-15 (14) in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (15) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Revelation 4:11 NLT "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created." The Word – is Life and Light for All Mankind (vs. 4-5) John 1:4-5 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. NET – “In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.” In Him was LIFE (zoe- spiritual life, eternal life, quality of life) 54x in Gospel The Word is the source of all life – zoe vs. bios This life is the LIGHT of men, -- spiritual light as well as natural light. Not the Word “contains” life and light; He is life and light. That life was light. It illuminates, shines. 21x light in John John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.: translated “did not comprehend it.” Comprehend: laying hold on something to make it one's own. Affects everyone (vs9) Every person has light that makes them responsible. Men love darkness rather than light. John 3:19 describes the state of our world and the heart of mankind. The Word – Became Flesh & Dwelt Among Us (vs. 3) John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. One of the greatest miracles – God became flesh – born of a virgin Prophesied in the OT – Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 5:2-4 He became flesh for YOU! Dwelt among us – Tabernacled John 1:11-12 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. (12) But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God,

Ontario signed a 1-year renewal contract with Ottawa earlier this week, keeping childcare between $19-$22/day. Instead of a 5-year renewal, Provincial Education Minister Paul Calandra wants the federal government to address Ontario's $2 billion shortfall, or else daily fees for families will increase. Meantime, Ontario's Auditor General said Ontario wasn't meeting it's ECE staffing targets, nor was it building enough spaces to satisfy the 5.9 : 10 ratio requirement set out by Ottawa.Host Maria Kestane speaks to David Macdonald, Senior Economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives to discuss their recent report on childcare deserts across the country, and how close Ontario is to lowering the average childcare price to $10/day. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

Josh Smee, CEO of Food First N.L.; Russell Williams, MUN political science professor; David Macdonald, senior economist with Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives; Darrelle Bennett, whose family owns a couple of convenience stores in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

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: Music Type Foundry fonts newly revised and re-released Download and install all Finale fonts on Mac and Windows MuseScore Studio 4.6 adds full SMuFL support, other engraving and playback updates Cantorum, a plainchant font for Dorico Introducing Lelandia, a new suite of music fonts for Sibelius 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 A fount of fonts at Notation Central Introducing the Norfolk and Pori chord symbol fonts for Sibelius — and an angled slash variant From the Finale Blog: Meet Steve Peha, creator of Petrucci, Finale's first music font A brief history of Finale fonts

This week we have a special two-part interview with renowned artist and educator David MacDonald. His large functional vessels are carved with intricate patterns that highlight and celebrate African heritage. For part two of my interview with David we talk about finding an entry into African aesthetics, the formal aspects of his repeating patterns, and how the use of functional objects in daily rituals can imbue them with spirituality. MacDonald is a Professor Emeritus of Ceramics at Syracuse University where he taught from 1971 to 2008. www.davidmacdonaldpottery.com Today's episode is brought to you by the following sponsors: Monkey Stuff www.monkeystuff.com The Rosenfield Collection of Functional Ceramic Art www.Rosenfieldcollection.com Cornell Studio Supply www.cornellstudiosupply.com

This week we have a special two-part interview with renowned artist and educator David MacDonald. His large functional vessels are carved with intricate patterns that highlight and celebrate African heritage. In part one of our interview David talks about discovering ceramics at Hampton University in the 1960's, the influence of Joseph Gilliard, and his early-career art that reflected the social change of the Civil Rights Movement. MacDonald is a Professor Emeritus of Ceramics at Syracuse University where he taught from 1971 to 2008. www.davidmacdonaldpottery.com   Today's episode is brought to you by the following sponsors: Monkey Stuff www.monkeystuff.com The Rosenfield Collection of Functional Ceramic Art www.Rosenfieldcollection.com Cornell Studio Supply www.cornellstudiosupply.com

David MacDonald - October 12th, 2025 - Believe! John 20:30-31 ESV John 20:30 – Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book Disciples witnessed His signs Signs = “distinguishing marks” – tied to miracles or wonders Signs - indicated that He is the Son of God, the One sent from God 1 John 1:1-3 Why John Wrote… John 20:31 First – that you may believe – Not to just information for your head, but truth for your heart Believe what? Jesus is the Christ Jesus is the Son of God Secondly – that by believing, you may have life Not physical life Eternal life, abundant life Believe – Have Life! John 3:16-18, Acts 16:30-31

Can climate justice in the UK be helped by a more efficient tax system? FT Adviser editor Simoney Kyriakou is joined by David Macdonald, founder of impact-only investment company Path Financial on the latest Margin Notes podcast. In addition to being a financial adviser, he's a strong advocate of the need for tax reform in the UK. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back to School! In this episode, Robby and David cover Apple upgrades, Obsidian and Craft workflows, automation shortcuts, learning resources, AI in education, and much more.   Subscribe to the Blog… RSS | Email Newsletter   Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS   Support Music Ed Tech Talk   Become a Patron! Buy me a coffee   Chapters   00:00:00 – iPhone Replacement Plans 00:04:25 – Replacing Apple Watch with Real Watch, Replacing Apples with more Apples 00:11:00 – iOS Windows - Beta Problem or Just Hosed? 00:15:15 – Obsidian (for a minute) 00:17:17 – Just kidding, Finale News 00:26:46 – Okay NOW Obsidian… 00:27:38 – …and Craft 00:45:35 – Video Series Learning Resources?? 00:50:54 – Search terms and how to find the basics 00:59:20 – Automation Station: Robby's “Let's Go To Work” Shortcut 01:11:30 – Siri News - SirAI 01:16:11 – Technology Dreams 01:22:55 – David Bullies Robby… 01:24:25 – Is EVERYONE cheating their way through college? AI in Education 01:33:18 – NAfME's AI Guidance Document   Show Notes and Links • iPhone Replacement Plans • Patreon – Music Ed Tech Talk • David's Last Episode • Scoring Notes • OmniGraffle • Obsidian • Cory Meals – Building a Second Music Teacher Brain • Craft • Obsidian Bases • Things • LinkedIn Learning • Ask.Video • David Sparks – MacSparky Courses • The Focused Calendar • Udemy • Domestika • Govee Smart Kettle • Fantastical • NYMag – Everyone is Cheating Their Way Through College • NAfME AI Guidance Document • KPop Demon Hunters • Merlin Mann Podcasts   Where to Find Us   Robby – robbyburns.com David - davidmacdonaldmusic.com   Please don't forget to rate the show and share it with others!

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: An interview with librarian Paul Beck Road report: Copland’s Rodeo in Milwaukee How to charge for music preparation Chronology of a perfect music printing job The tale of the tape The staples of printing self-published music

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: Export PDF to true black in Finale, and a macro for all parts Fix printing problems with Sibelius, PDFs, and Acrobat Quickly scale many PDFs with PDF-BatchScale Make booklets and 2-ups with PDF-BatchBooklet PDF-MusicBinder and PDF-BatchStitch utilities for music printing File renaming and PDF batch utilities MusGlyphs, an advanced music text font MusGlyphs updated to 2.1; text version added MusAnalysis, an advanced font for musical analysis MusFrets, a font for chord diagrams Introducing Ambitus, a new font for pitch incipits, scales, and range diagrams Preparing teaching materials in music notation software “Playing” with notation software, part 1 of 2 “Playing” with notation software, part 2 of 2 Apps and fonts we talk about: Microsoft Word Apple Pages Affinity Adobe Acrobat PDF-BatchScale PDF-BatchStitch PDF-BatchBooklet PDF-MusicBinder PDF Squeezer PDF Expert MusGlyphs MusAnalysis MusFrets Ambitus

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

Canada Post says it has received a strike notice from the union representing 55,000 postal workers, with workers planning a walkout on Friday. David MacDonald from the Centre for Policy Alternatives joins the show to discuss what this means for the Canadian economy as we ask viewers what can be done to avert the strike.

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

A healthy and robust news environment is central to any country's democratic health. However the last sixteen years have not been kind to local news outlets in Canada. Many residents of communities, both big and small, now find themselves living in “news deserts” or “areas of news poverty.” A new report aims to better understand the decline in local news outlets across Canada and to examine what role public-service media could take to tackle local news deprivation. We speak with David Macdonald, one of the authors, and senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

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

This episode was written by Andrew Anderson. 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. 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 Dallas Taylor. Art by Divya Tak.

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

Subscribe to the Blog... RSS | Email Newsletter Subscribe to the Podcast in... Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS Support Music Ed Tech Talk Become a Patron! Buy me a coffee Show Notes with Timestamps [00:00:00] New format - expect more Will [00:05:30] News [00:05:45] Widgetsmith update [00:08:00] Apple updates out [00:11:00] Stream deck profile for Logic - Notation Central [00:14:30] Affinity free for educators [00:17:00] Tonal Energy on Mac through iPhone [00:19:30] Zildjian headphones [00:22:00] New Apple products [00:27:00] Apple Intelligence Preview [00:35:00] What to do if you are a Finale user [00:50:00] Segments [00:50:30] Music of the week [00:54:00] App of the week [00:56:00] Media picks aka "something you like" Links to Resources Mentioned Widgetsmith for iOS Apple macOS Updates Stream Deck Profiles for Logic - Notation Central Affinity Apps for Educators Tonal Energy Tuner Zildjian Drummer Headphones Apple Vision Pro iOS 18 Features Dorico Conquering Finale by Jason Lafredo Scoring Notes - Finale's Finale Episode Evan Chapman - Reveries Zoom for Window Management The Bear - Hulu Dark Souls III Golf It! Please don't forget to rate the show and share it with others!

‘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: MakeMusic discounted crossgrade to Dorico Steinberg Cyber Deals Avid Black Friday Savings PDF Expert Black Friday deals Acon Digital Black Friday sale Muse Hub StaffPad on iPad and Windows Notation Central, Notation Express, Scoring Express, NorFonts Bambu Lab Black Friday Sale Studio Neat Mark pens Sidekick Notepad from Cortex Matthew Maslanka’s Beam Slants Reference Poster Henle engraving plate Samsung T7 SSD, T7 Shield SSD, T9 SSD Xkey 25 MIDI controller Nektar SE25 and Se49 MIDI controllers Logitech MX Keys S – Windows and MX Keys Mini – Windows Logitech MX Keys S – Mac and Logitech MX Keys Mini – Mac

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: Sample rate, bit depth, bit rate, and you(r ears) Katie Wardrobe on music tech in education [encore]

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: MakeMusic ends development and availability of Finale; partners with Steinberg to sell Dorico directly [updated] Finale version 27 review: SMuFL and MusicXML 4.0 support Finale v27 and the SMuFL shuffle Finale version 27.1: SMuFL burrows deeper Finale version 27.2 adds new jazz template, native Apple silicon support Finale version 27.3 adds eight powerful JW tools, fixes some linked part issues Finale version 27.4 supports macOS Sonoma, true black printing, other fixes Jason Loffredo’s “Conquering Finale” video tutorial series

    Subscribe to the Blog… RSS | Email Newsletter   Subscribe to the Podcast in… Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Castro | Spotify | RSS   Support Music Ed Tech Talk Become a Patron!   Buy me a coffee   Show Notes:   • Fantastical • Music Ed Tech Talk WWDC Episode with Craig McClellan • Due app • Things app • Obsidian • Craft app • OmniFocus • Arc web browser • Anytune • Affinity apps • Canva • Canva CEO Melanie Perkins thinks the design world needs more alternatives to Adobe • Dorico • Musescore • Scoring Notes   Music, App, Tech Tip of the Week   VELCRO Brand ONE-WRAP Cable Ties, 100Pk, 8 x 1/2” Black Cord Organization Straps, Thin Pre-Cut Design, Wire Management for Organizing Home, Office and Data Centers   Nmixx: Fe3o4: Break   Stray Kids: 5-Star   Classical Session: Hayato Sumino | Apple Music   Bandle   Sequel App   Foodnoms   MusicBox: Save Music For Later   ATEEZ

David Macdonald talks about the effects of truth-in-sentencing policies. “Truth in Sentencing, Incentives and Recidivism” by David Macdonald. OTHER RESEARCH WE DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE: “Police, prosecutors, criminals, and determinate sentencing: The truth about truth-in-sentencing laws” by Joanna M. Shepherd. “Responses to more severe punishment in the courtroom: Evidence from truth-in-sentencing laws" by Libor Dusek and Fusako Tsuchimoto. "Truthiness in punishment: The far reach of truth-in-sentencing laws in state courts" by Emily G. Owens. "How should inmates be released from prison? An assessment of parole versus fixed-sentence regimes" by Ilyana Kuziemko. "Can Parole Reduce Both Time Served and Crime?" by William Arbour & Steeve Marchand. “Parole Supervision on the Margins” by Michael LaForest-Tucker. “The effect of parole supervision on recidivism” by Evarn J. Ooi and Joanna Wang. "Prison Rehabilitation Programs and Recidivism: Evidence from Variations in Availability" by William Arbour, Guy Lacroix and Steeve Marchand "Can Recidivism Be Prevented From Behind Bars? Evidence From a Behavioral Program" by William Arbour. Probable Causation Episode 102: William Arbour

Eddie and Rocky talk Bengals with James Rapien, UFO's with David MacDonald, chat with John Matarese, and more on 700 WLW!

Eddie and Rocky talk Bengals with James Rapien, UFO's with David MacDonald, chat with John Matarese, and more on 700 WLW!

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: MOLA 2024: Cleveland rocked MOLA morsels: Conversations from the 2024 conference Videos from the MOLA 2024 Conference: MOLA 2024: Welcome! MOLA 2024: Putting Technology Into Practice in the Music Library MOLA 2024: Notion’s Chris Swaffer MOLA 2024: Avid’s Justin Tokke, product designer for Sibelius MOLA 2024: Steinberg’s John Barron, product specialist for Dorico MOLA 2024: The Cleveland Orchestra’s Michael Ferraguto MOLA 2024: Alastair McKean, MOLA President 2023-2024 MOLA 2024: Conference and Tech Fair Wrap-up

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. 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

This is the fourth episode of our new series Japan Scalers. In this series, we will only interview guests who have surpassed 100 million yen in revenue annually. We have many interesting guests lined up for the upcoming episodes so make sure to follow us on social media and stay up to date with the podcast.  In this fourth episode, we are delighted to welcome David Macdonald, founder and CEO of DJMAC. His company specializes in corporate consulting and advisory, particularly in global and intercultural business challenges, drawing upon his extensive experience at Docomo, Disney, and YouTube, as well as his role as an outside director at KADOKAWA Corporation. Join us as David shares his journey as one of YouTube's early executives in Japan and Asia, and how he led the team that expanded the creator economy in the region. Starting with just 5 team members, David grew it to over 50 in 5 years, benefiting tens of thousands of YouTubers and businesses. Show notes: 00:00 Introduction 1:26 What is the “Creator Economy”? 2:38 Competitive Advantage 3:17 Stage 1 and the History of Youtube in Japan 7:25 Localization of the Market 10:12 Talent Scouting Youtubers and Partners 16:05 Tips on Getting Partners on Board 19:07 The Turning Point of Youtube 28:35 Importance of Localized Content 34:40 Who are the Right People to Hire? 37:22 What Defines Stage 2? 41:46 Challenges of Youtube 47:55 Takeaways from the Interview 49:08 What's Next? --- Links from Guest Appearance : Linkedin | DJMAC --- Exciting News for Getting More Sales in Japan !! We are thrilled to launch our live cohort course: "Mastering Sales Decks for the Japanese Market" hosted by Tyson Batino. This online program is for CEOs and sales professionals eager to enhance their sales pitches and improve their chances of securing meetings with Japanese corporate decision-makers. ⁠⁠⁠https://scalingyourcompany.com/salespamphlet/⁠⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/scalingjapanpodcast/message⁠⁠⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/scalingjapanpodcast/message

Join guest host Malene Barnett as she talks with Lydia Thompson, Ashlynn Pope, and David Macdonald about the rich tapestry of ceramics across the Black Diaspora. From the ancestral lands of Africa, to the vibrant Caribbean and the diverse cultures of African Americans, join the panel as they explore the artistic expressions and design aesthetics that are rooted in clay. This conversation was recorded in front of a live studio audience at this year's NCECA conference in Richmond, VA.   Today's episode is brought to you by the following sponsors: The Rosenfield Collection of Functional Ceramic Art www.Rosenfieldcollection.com Bray Clay www.archiebrayclay.com

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!)

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 NAMM 2024: John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO NAMM 2024: Muse Group's Jack Sutton on Hal Leonard, MuseScore development and more NAMM 2024: MakeMusic's Jason Wick on MakeMusic Cloud, Finale, and more NAMM 2024: Avid's Sam Butler on upcoming Sibelius features, Android app, and more NAMM 2024: Exhibition mission

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. More on Scoring Notes: NAMM 2024: John Mlynczak on his first show as president and CEO NAMM 2024: Muse Group's Jack Sutton on Hal Leonard, MuseScore development and more NAMM 2024: MakeMusic's Jason Wick on MakeMusic Cloud, Finale, and more NAMM 2024: Avid's Sam Butler on upcoming Sibelius features, Android app, and more NAMM 2024: Exhibition mission

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.

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. More on Scoring Notes: StaffPad “captures” the imagination — and your piano performance StaffPad audio update, Graphical MIDI Tools, and software licensing StaffPad brings live recordings into your scores with Audio Update Daniel Ray “muses” about Audacity and StaffPad StaffPad acquired by Muse Group; audio support planned David William Hearn and StaffPad StaffPad wows with long-awaited iPad release and new free StaffPad Reader

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: Music notation platforms: an industry perspective A Notion of the future Notion iOS 2.5 and Notion 6.6 desktop updates released NAMM 2019: A “Notion” of music with the 6.5 update and more Notion 6.2 released with more integration with Studio One Notion 6 released

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: Asked and answered, part 1 Asked and answered, part 2: In awe of the DAW High fidelity audio comes to Zoom Better music experiences come to Zoom with high fidelity audio Share video and audio of music notation software via Zoom Noteflight, education, innovation, and inspiration Paperless composition lessons with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Teaching and teaming up with tablets and tech StaffPad acquired by Muse Group; audio support planned Daniel Ray “muses” about Audacity and StaffPad Dorico and Sibelius come to the iPad

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. More from Scoring Notes: The tech trek to the 2023 MOLA conference Half Notes: A comparison of tablet music reader technology experiences

The push for assisted suicide in Canada in the name of compassion has made significant gains in recent years, but the witness of pro-life Catholic Kirsten MacDonald, who was diagnosed with debilitating Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (or ALS, also known as Lou Gherigs disease), demonstrates that every life is worth living, Despite coping with the lack of motor skills caused by ALS, Kirsten McDonald lives a life of vibrant faith and joy, offering her personal sufferings to Christ as a means of sanctification for herself and the world. Join John-Henry Westen in this special episode of the John-Henry Westen Show as he visits Kirsten and her husband David MacDonald in their Canadian home and shows why assisted suicide is no answer at all when it comes to dealing with suffering and hardship.To help Kirsten and her husband David MacDonald manage their health care costs in a nation that promotes assisted suicide, visit: https://www.lifefunder.com/kirstenLOVE LIFESITE? LOVE BEING PRO-LIFE? GET THE FIRST AND ONLY LIMITED EDITION PRO-LIFE SILVER ROUND FROM LIFESITENEWS: https://www.stjosephpartners.com/lifesite-silver-roundSHOP ALL YOUR FUN AND FAVORITE LIFESITE MERCH! https://shop.lifesitenews.com/ HELP US FIGHT THE CENSORSHIP OF BIG TECH: https://give.lifesitenews.com/Connect with us on social media:LifeSite: https://linktr.ee/lifesitenewsJohn-Henry Westen: https://linktr.ee/jhwesten Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.