The death of 9.5″ x 12.5″ paper

I was at Kinko’s trying to enlarge some standard US letter size charts on to paper this size (we used to call it Dance Band Size, quaint) on to my carefully selected, glossy, sturdy, custom cut paper to find that all their machines will not load it. Got to be either Letter, Legal, or Tabloid. That hacked me off something fierce. I don’t want to even own my own machine anymore, but I may have to break down and get one, and an office to put it in, just so I can keep this going.

Update; Finale vs. Sibelius

At the time of this writing, Finale 2009 has shipped and Sibelius is on version 5. I have both, but I am tending toward Finale at this time, and here is why. Sibelius has been bought by Avid Corp. which is also the owner of Pro Tools®, and now Sibelius is, in fact, the notation module for Pro Tools. Nothing against Pro Tools, (and I think it is a great app. for recording) but I just don’t see Avid as caring a great deal about notational excellence. As if evidence of that statement were required, Sib. v.5 still has a couple bugs that I was griping about since at least v.2. So, I have gone back to using Finale on all my new projects.

To contact me

rawmuse@me.com

Finale tip of the day

If you are numbering every bar of music, and your music exceeds 100 bars, set up two measure number regions, one for bars 1-99, another for bars 100-999. The second measure region will have a left offset greater than the first, that way the 3 digit numbers do not collide with the music information.

Go to Measure Attributes>measure number regions>Add region
Here are my evpu settings
Create 2 measure maps
The first one is for measure numbers 1-99
-16 left, -155 below
make a 2nd one for measure numbers 100-999
-32 left, -155 below

Stupid things you may have to do for money

Have you ever been asked to typeset or copy a work from a client that had some clearly stupid things in it? So you did what copyists do, you made them look good. You edited. And then later, the client will ask you put the items back in. Here are some of my favorites 1) putting a crescendo or decresendo hairpin under… a rest. 2) putting staccato dots over a pizzicato passage (don’t want to confuse them the tenuto pizz. passages I suppose). 3) Substituting “remove mute” for “mute off” (Hey, fella, you MUTE OFF!!!) 4) Repeat 2 times (I write that as “Play two times”, otherwise you could get 3 passes, one original, and two repeats. 5) Notating a tuplet that exceeds the value of the measure. What are your favorites?

Conductors, now another victim of automation

This is cute, compliments of Honda.

It’s where you’re going, not where you’ve been.

And in this installment we discuss anticipation. No, I don’t mean that feeling of when you guess when you will get your next beer or crab cake. A common mistake for arrangers is to voice the horn hit that occurs on the “and of 4″ (in 4/4 time)  or “and of 3″ (in 3/4 time) according to the chord sound in that measure. No, no. When it announces a change of harmony, the chord sound should be of the next measure, not the measure you are in. Of course, tempo can make a difference in this assessment, but unless you are playing in the serious Ray Charles Slow Ballad Tempos of quarter note equals 40 to 50 bpm, then you need to follow this advice. 

Frustration is…

practicing all week for your Temps gigs and have them get cancelled due to illness (not me, them). Oh, well, the music business is not for those who need secure incomes. It helps to have a wife who can support you in the manner to which you have become accustomed…

Get rich, quick

Richness, as musical terminology, is used interchangeably with “dissonance”. The only difference usually is the register that the dissonance occurs. Now, consider that dissonance can be measured. In this example we see several treatments of a “D” chord of various flavors. The first example has no dissonance or richness. The later examples have some, and it is measured by what has been called “primary dissonance” method or p.d., for short.  Primary dissonance is an interval of a minor second, or any inversion thereof (major 7th, minor 9th). Please note, in the following examples, that notes have been moved to create some dissonance, or richness, in ways that create such rich intervals within the voicing.

Cognitive Dissonance can be Rich

The use of dissonance in writing in the Jazz idiom is something that seems to be falling from favor, if any the recordings of modern artists are of evidence. Not to mention names, but I was perusing iTunes, and listening to some new artists. First of all, you have to have a vocalist (see previous post for that blog). And IF you have some horns, then they seem to my ears to be arranged in the most inoffensive, Wonder Bread style possible.  So in coming days I will show you how to incorporate richness (otherwise known as dissonance) in to your writings. Stay tuned. 

Restoration of older music

Lately it seems that I have been mostly doing a lot of restorations of older music. Here is a flyer of one such event. While I try to arrange these projects for the exact instrumentation on the recordings, this is not always possible, due to the fact that a lot of these instruments are either rare, or in some cases do not even exist anymore (for instance, the C melody saxophone or the Bass Saxophone). 

Today is Easter Sunday.  The weeks prior to this have been saddened with the unexpected deaths of some close friends and even some family. So I have been mostly quiet. That will all change in the weeks to come. 

Say what you will about Kenny G. but

when was the last time we had an instrumental Top 10 or Top 40 hit?  Why does everything have to have a singer or singer(s) on it now? I like singers, yes, but I can recall when we had Instrumental hits.  Some of my favorites were by Booker T. and the M.G.s, the Ventures, Herbie Hancock, John Handy (OK “Hard Work” had lyrics, 2 of them…), and Ramsey Lewis.  Now, you must have a vocalist.  I blame “American Idol”.

“Your music sounds too…perfect”

You ever get that one? You have a very polished performance, inspired solos. Everything is crystal clear on your sound system, and yet… the excitement meter is not reading. I have some old recordings of Duke’s band that were made with wire recorders, and the music thrills to the max.  So, it isn’t the polish or the technology.  

Great copyists, where are they now?

If you are a great pen and ink copyist (you know, the ones with Esterbrook pens) chime in here.  Remember when we would have heated arguments over whether Formula 409 or Janitor in a Drum made the best diluting fluid for india ink? When 4 to 6 pages an hour rocked? When we would copy a cue while the orchestra recorded the thing we just got done copying? When it took 15 of us to get anything done? Where are you, what are you doing now?

Proofread, it’s important to find the misteaks

With the advent of midi playback, we often let proofreading slide. My advice,  don’t. Midi playback will only draw attention to those mistakes that cause dissonance.  It is possible to have mistakes in your music that are consonant sounding, yet are mistakes nonetheless. Also proofread for missing text items, dynamics, instructions like “Play 2nd time only” and so forth. In addition, notes may be spelled enharmonically which should not (example, the leading tone to G is F sharp, not G flat). 

Legacies, the decline of the apprentice system in music

All of us, if we are lucky, had mentors.  Some we met in high school, college or in private studies. Mine were Herb Pomeroy, John LaPorta, Michael Gibbs, Phil Wilson, Tony Lada, and Marty Paich.  In the de facto system that existed back in the day, before you could be an arranger or orchestrator, you had to be a copyist. Learning how to copy was how you learned how to arrange, you sat at the feet of the master and learned as it were. In this manner you saw what worked and what did not, and how the master for whom you were copying solved these problems. Better yet, you got to attend the rehearsal and performance, and you got to hear the result of his or her work, and yours as well. As far as I can tell, this method has now all but vanished. One can be a famous composer without ever having been a copyist, or for that matter, having ever mastered the writing of music. Without mentioning names, many composers have “people” to handle all the messy notation chores.  I know, because from time to time I have been one of those “people”. I am not passing judgement on this phenomenon.  It simply is the way things are in the year 2008. It is all part of the perfect Democratization of Music.

Appropriateness

This is really the tough one. After years of study and devotion to your craft, you have the ability to write anything you want. But who will play it? A studio full of top shelf musicians, or your local reading orchestra, or perhaps your own church group? The trick is to write music that sounds great even if you are not graced with the most adept musicians.  I know, for instance, a very good trumpeter, a gorgeous tone, excellent, inspired solos, but somehow, not much ability above the staff.  While not ideal, situations like these abound in real life. When arranging, consider the strengths and weaknesses of your ensemble. Is anyone old enough to remember when you bought sheet music, the range required of the singer was shown right there on the front panel, along with a category describing the degree of difficulty? Those should make a comeback.

Transposition

Possibly the biggest untruth in the world of music is that All Keys are Created Equal. This could not be a larger fiction. With the advent of music notation software, the notion that once you have an arrangement in software form, that you can change the key at will without consequence, is a naive one, at best. For starters, good arrangers will often arrange for the entire range of most instruments, or at the very least use a great deal of the range of each instrument. So, the act of changing the key will almost certainly result in going outside the comfortable or even the extreme ranges of the instruments for all but the most elementary charts. Going a step or two in either direction may work, but just consider this, a chart that lays great on all the instruments in the key of D flat, when lowered to B, all of sudden the chart becomes listless, the robust voicings for the tenor instruments now become murky and plodding, and your bari sax needs a lower note than the low A. So, problems result, which the slovenly can shrug off, but the caring arranger will want to rearrange accordingly when writing in a new key. In the aforementioned example, the transposition is across the break (changing from flats to sharps or vice versa) so the spellings of your accidentals may need to be flipped. 

Do arrangers make a lot of money?

Sadly, the answer to this question is no. Unless you are on the publishing contract as a contributor to the overall product, along with the composer, and perhaps the lyricist, you will be paid once. AF of M contracts are another matter, and I can’t really get in to that topic here. Suffice to say that the ranks of arrangers who never made a lot of dough are abundant, and a couple famous examples have even died in abject poverty. Ultimately the real reason you will be an arranger is to be able to organize your own music (or in my case, that of my wife as well).

Some favorite arrangers

Should be separated in to 2 categories, living and dead.Of living arrangers, probably my favorite is Mr. Gordon Goodwin, followed closely by Bill Holman, and Vince Mendoza. Of arrangers who have passed, I certainly am a big Duke Ellington fan.  There always was a mystery to his compositions. And when I say mystery, I mean exactly that. Some of those sounds defied standard analysis. We arrangers would get together from time to time for blindfold tests and not only be able to readily identify the arranger, but also the particular technique being employed at the time. With Duke’s band, you knew you were listening to Duke, but as to the arranging technique, we often were left scratching our heads. Some of this may have been due to the fact that Duke often dictated parts to the players verbally, while seated at the piano, with the band gathered all around.  I have several pictures of him doing just that. This method would certainly result in some new sonic paints being thrown on the palette.  For an example of some of these sounds, give a listen to “A Tone Parallel to Harlem” sometime. 

Frequently asked questions about music notation

• Q) Why write music out?
• A) So you don’t have to explain it. It is faster than teaching parts by rote.
• Q) About music notation: Which is better, Finale® or Sibelius®?
• A) Seeing as how they both do roughly the same thing, there is not a good answer to this. I have both and have used both to great advantage.  Lately I am tilting back to Finale 2008 because it has a lot more of the features that attracted me to Sibelius in the first place, without that one annoying bug that has been in Sibelius since version I. Additionally, I really like Finale’s Staff Styles for handling woodwind doubles.I do not work for either company (but have in the past applied to both) nor am I a paid endorser. They both have had their problems from time to time. Right now, they are both good products.
• Q) Do you like any other notation products? 
• A) Not particularly. There was one called Music Press which looked outstanding, but sadly, never caught on.
• Q) What size paper is best for parts?
• A) I am a big fan of what they used to call “Dance Band” size paper. 12.5 inches high and 9.5 inches wide, this was the music standard in the United States. Pre-printed manuscript paper was always this size, and only one place left in the US still makes it, as far as I know, and that place is Valle Music.  In the New York Area, try Anixter-Rice Music Service. To get to this size from standard US Letter size, you need to enlarge about 113 percent. You can pre order blank paper this size from any wholesale supplier, or start with 11×17 inches paper and cut it down with a paper trimmer. Other full time copy houses can do the print job for you. The going rate appears to be about a dollar a page, with a $50 minimum. Of course, in the US, where every printer is geared for Letter Size, this will not always be possible, so stay away from Squinty and everyone will be happy.
• Q) What is the best size for the music type? 
• A) I am for 24 point. This is considered 100 percent, or full size. This is the best for general sight reading. This is not always the best for economy, in other words, this will occupy the most pages, easily. A slight reduction will greatly diminish the number of pages you need for your piece, at the cost of easy sight reading. Some musicians have genuine optical issues with their peepers, and my advice is to err on the side of large.  
• Q) What is the best paper?
• A) Any stiff paper that will not flop over on the music stand, I recommend 60lb. glossy paper.
• Q) What is the best tape with which to assemble parts?
• A) Artist tape is best.  Try the art supply or art framing shops to find these. The tape should be acid free or else it will become unassembled quickly.
• Q) What is the best layout for music?
• A) That which makes the job of reading and performing the part easiest for the musician. If your music is longer than 2 or 3 pages, you will need to find a rest so that the player can turn the page. Page turns usually occur on pages 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. In extreme circumstances you will need a blank page so the the part layout can be reset for odd number pages. The goal is to make your part read like a book. So, remember, most musicians like to play their instruments with both hands, look for rests and plan the turns for those places. Be careful, do not give Everyone the Same Turn at the Same Place, as turning pages make noise when done in unison. 4 measures per system was a standard way of doing things, but only when billing by the page, or when the music phrases fell in multiples of 4 bars.
• Q) Which way do slurs go, up or down?
• A) If your intention is to imitate the look of hand copied manuscript, then slurs go up, regardless of stem direction.  This is because hand copyists needed to turn the page upside down to draw down slurs, which took up valuable time, so they just drew all slurs up. In general, you can’t go wrong by drawing non-cued, non-grace noted, non-divisi music slurs up, all the time. However, the previous sentence does contain the exceptions.
• Q) How important is it to number every measure?
• A) Recommended for recording sessions, or for the premiere of a new work. Not so important for works that have a history, where every 8 or 10 measures can suffice. The more bar numbers, the more you have to look out for collisions of notation, and hence, it is not suggested for publishing. Having said that, no one should ever have trouble finding their place in a rehearsal. If they are, it is probably your fault for not having enough rehearsal letters/numbers.

The first music post

Hello musicians.  You are here at the beginning of a discussion of music and music products. Check in from time to time for updates as my blogskilz improve. In the near future, I will be teaching some basic arranging classes at Stanford. The dates are Mar. 4 and 6, 2008, at Braun Hall, room 106 at 1:15 pm until 2:45pm. Auditors are allowed and even encouraged. Topic for Mar. 4 will be arranging for 4 horns. Topic for Mar. 6 will be writing for the Rhythm Section. We need a trumpet, bassist and a drummer to play the projects due on Mar. 13, same time. Interested parties can reply below.