Thursday, September 15, 2011

Music Copying - before Sibelius

I spend a lot of time on Finale 2011 - more specifically, I spend a lot of time swearing at Finale - but I have a newfound appreciation for the program after reading this article by copyist/composer Stuart Balcomb.  He was the Head Copyist at Universal for many years, starting back when all music copying was done by hand, when copyists were dubbed "ink-slingers". Check out what life was like in a recording session before Sibelius:  "What -- and give up show business?"



2 comments:

Janet said...

Really enjoyed that article. Thanks so much for posting it! I use to do the hand copying before the Deluxe Music Construction Set, Composer, and Finale. I remember the preliminary pencil sketches and the scraping of ink off of vellum using razor blades. Today, I too have my swearing moments with Finale but I sure don't want to go back to the days of inky hands. ;)

Billie Whittaker said...

Thanks, Janet, I'm glad you enjoyed it! The author has a book coming out, eventually, so keep an eye out!