Sam Solomon joins David MacDonald and Philip Rothman to talk all about how to write for percussion. It’s a good thing, too, because Sam’s got a book with that same name: How to Write for Percussion: A Comprehensive Guide to Percussion Composition, published by Oxford University Press. Sam’s got a ton of experience as an active percussionist and collaborator with some of today’s top composers, and fortunately he decided to share his incredible knowledge in the form of this 300-page book and hours of accompanying videos. Composers and music preparers alike will enjoy what Sam has to say about percussion-centric topics like multi-stave parts, improvisation, unpitched music, instrument keys, and more — and because this is Scoring Notes, we explore the role the software has in achieving the results that he recommends.

More on Scoring Notes: Sam Solomon on writing for percussion

Whether you’re looking to score some notes or score some deals, we’ve got the podcast episode for you. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald kick off Black Friday, which has gone from being just one day to now encompassing Cyber Monday and many more days on either side of the calendar. We’ll share some of the items on each of our wish lists in the music notation and tech universe and which products we’ve already stocked up on. More broadly, we’ll discuss why this time of year is a good time to think about upping your game when it comes to the tools you use, and how you can get the most out of the offers that are out there without breaking your budget.

More on Scoring Notes: Black Friday 2020 deals for music notation software and related tech

If you have trouble keeping up with all of your computer operating software updates, new hardware, and naming conventions, you’re not alone. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald will walk you through tips and best practices when it comes time to click that big button, whether it’s the one that says upgrade your operating system or the one that debits your bank account and results in a brand-new computer, and the steps you should take to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. We talk about the newest macOS Big Sur and the change to their new M1 chip machines, but our advice extends to all our listeners — both those that have imbibed the Apple juice and those that are opening Microsoft Windows.

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Whether it’s a squiggly line, a complex curve, or something that totally defies description, sometimes your music requires notation that’s more creative than the ordinary music symbols we’re accustomed to seeing. That’s when it comes time to dive into the use of graphics in music notation, and how to work with graphical files in the software. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald talk about how to create those graphical symbols and bring them into your notation software without sacrificing quality, as well as how to create complex graphics by just using the notation tools. We also cover exporting graphics out of notation software and into other programs, and discuss the “slices” feature in Dorico, which allows you to retain persistent score excerpts that you can export as graphics over and over again, changing them along the way.

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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. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss the spookiness of using the mouse and how you can better become a jack-o-lantern of all trades by focusing more on keyboard commands and other shortcuts in Sibelius, Finale, and Dorico. We also look at a frightening situation that happens when laying out your music and investigate how to fix it. So don’t be afraid — we won’t ghost you as we lead you unscathed out of the haunted house of software skeletons and onto the pumpkin patch to score some tricks and treats.

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Learn about several simple but incredibly useful applications that will help you be more productive with tasks related to managing music files on the computer. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss file renaming apps such as Renamer and Name Mangler, which perform the important function of quickly changing the filenames of many documents at once using various settings, saving you the tedium of manually renaming them and helping keep you organized. Then, we explore the suite of PDF batch processing apps available from Notation Central, including PDF Batch Scale, Batch Stitch, Batch Booklet, and Music Binder. These tools do just as their names would suggest, making quick work of manipulating PDF files so that you can make sure that your music is distributed and printed exactly as you expect.

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In music scores, a house style is the collection of dozens or hundreds of rules and preferences governing the look of the music — everything from note spacing algorithms, to font choices, to the thickness of lines, and lots more. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald discuss why these elements matter in the course of preparing a piece of music and talk about which types of text fonts pair well with music notation. We also explore the “tyranny of the default” settings in scoring software programs and get specific about how to manage house styles in Sibelius, Dorico, and Finale.

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John Hinchey is one of the most experienced arrangers, orchestrators and professional music preparers working today. He’s created thousands of charts and shows for musicians, touring companies, theme parks and everything in between. On this episode, John relays his experience producing shows for cruise ships to Scoring Notes hosts Philip Rothman and David MacDonald. We’re expecting you to learn from John how to prepare your charts so that what you put on the page ensures smooth sailing for the musicians. John also lets it flow with a boatload of tech tips and product recommendations, so you’ll want to come aboard – there’s something for everyone on this friendly shore.

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Many of us study and perform scores from our iPads on a regular basis and have prepared scores to be read from screens. Scoring Notes readers and listeners often ask us to provide recommendations for best practices when preparing a score with the expectation that it will be read from a screen and not paper. This is an excellent question, and one whose answer today may likely change in the coming years. David MacDonald and Philip Rothman discuss the pros, cons, challenges, and opportunities in reading and preparing music on a screen, and delve into the benefits, pitfalls, and technical considerations you should know about if you want to make your music pixel-perfect.

More on Scoring Notes: Preparing music scores for screens — the challenges and opportunities

We have a special treat for podcast listeners. If you’ve listened to our podcast before, you’ll remember our interview with music education technology expert Katie Wardrobe. Well, Katie also interviewed Philip Rothman for her show called the Music Tech Teacher Podcast, and we’re including a version of that interview in the Scoring Notes feed. In our discussion, Philip talks with Katie about his work as a music preparer and opines on the state of the industry, including everything from desktop applications to tablet apps, the improvements in playback tools such as NotePerformer, and what it all means for teachers, students, and anyone using this technology. Thanks to Katie and Midnight Music for permission to include this special conversation here.

More on Scoring Notes: Katie Wardrobe on music tech in education

Music Tech Teacher podcast episode 115: Music Preparation with Philip Rothman

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