(a series of articles about how new musicals come to pass)
Preproduction: the period of time during when work is done on a show prior to the first rehearsal.
Traditionally copyists work with special ink pens with special nibs suited for writing music. (There are still some copyists who work with reservoir-less pens, constantly dipping into inkwells!). They write onto special, semi-transparent onion-skin paper called deshon. This paper is then fed into a special copying machine that reeks of ammonia called an Ozalid which is usually used for reproducing blueprints. One of the nice things about this type of "repro" machine is that, as opposed to standard xerographic-style copiers, it can accept sheets the widths of two to four pages. This cuts down on the time spent taping together multiple pages of a single song.
Theatre orchestra music appears on extra heavy paper stock, non-standard size, 9-1/2" X 12-1/2", which must be special ordered (it's usually cut down from a large sheet).
Many copyists are leaving the traditional deshon/Ozalid for regular copying machines -- although special machines are needed to handle the oversized stock. Because of this abandonment, copyists who use the old method are having trouble keeping their Ozalids maintained due to the unavailability of parts and knowledgeable technicians. (I swear I once saw a Xerox machine that handled rolls of paper -- perfect for copying music -- but no one believes me.)
As in all areas, in recent years the computer has encroached on the traditionally handwritten art of music copying. There are many benefits:
Then again, there are some negatives:
In the past few years a number of producers have made the mistake of believing that computer copying could be done by pretty much anyone with a working knowledge of the computer and the ability to read music. They've discovered, usually at great expense, that real musical preparation can only be done by someone experienced and knowledgeable of the requirements -- everything I've said above about handcopying still holds true. Their attempts at saving money using amateurs with computer know-how costs them later on with delays in rehearsal and the eventual need to recopy.
Like it or not, computer copying is going to become the standard eventually. There will probably always be some handcopying going on, but even now you see many of the copyists with the longest careers on Broadway buying computers and getting instruction on their use.
No miracles.
I'm often contacted by people who are not very knowledgeable about
computer copying. The conversation will go something like this:
"Do you do music on the
computer?"
"Yes? I mean, what are you
looking for?"
"Do you have that program where
you can play the piano and the notes come out on paper?"
"Well, I have something like
that. It doesn't work quite that way, though. If you spend the
effort, you can set the software up to give you a pretty good
representation of what was played in. But not something that a
player can really use. At least, not automatically -- not without
cleaning up first. You see, the computer can give a pretty good
idea of exactly what was played, but not in a way that would be
really meaningful to someone reading the music in order to reproduce
what was played. For instance, if the player holds a note only
momentarily but keeps it ringing by using the sustain pedal, the
computer doesn't know that the note should be written out in its
full length to communicate the real intention for a reader. Or
if there are multiple voices going on in one of the hands the
computer can't really sort out the different voices, instead transcribing
something that looks more like chords. And a lot of other things.
It still requires a substantial amount of cleaning up rand evising
by someone who knows what he's doing."
"Okay. Forget it then. I'll
look for someone who has the program."
For nearly 100 years, theatre lovers and the American Federation of Music have maintained the superiority of live performance over canned -- at the beginning waging a losing battle against the use of soundtracks in film, but more recently struggling against the use of pre-recorded or sequenced computer accompaniment in live theatre situations. I suppose the day will come when the meticulous working out of page turns will no longer be necessary because, instead of music stands, all the players will stare into individual LCD screens as music scrolls past at a speed dictated by a central computer. But as long as there are live musicians, there will be copyists.
Although the music software field is pretty large, in the professional theatre Coda Music Technology's Finale is the most frequently used. It has a very steep learning curve, but this is a result of the program's flexibility that allows the professional copyist to handle pretty much anything that's thrown. Several other programs have managed to make some inroads on Finale's territory, most notably Opcode's Overture, and Passport Designs' Encore.
See you at the theatre!
Originally published at Suite101.com Theatre, 10/21/97
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