General questions I've been meaning to ask

Note: if there's a thread that could better answer any of the questions I've asked, feel free to link to them.

A lot of these questions might have a fair amount to do with personal preference. I'm still interested in hearing.

In your experience, what is the best way to do slurs for strings? If the the slurs are long enough, it will be understood that they are phrasing marks and not for bowing, however if they are shorter, it's a bit more ambiguous, isnt it? Also, who is to say that they're necessarily going to listen? If the 1st violinist sees a better way, isnt there a good chance that they'll just go with that?

What is your preference for layers? That is, for lines where 2 parts are moving in like rhythms, do you use multiple layers? The slurs in combination with multiple layers takes up quite a bit of space and makes things more cluttered. Ultimately, consistency is most important, right? So then if I were to use 1 layer wherever possible, and only use multiple layers where rhythms differed, would that be consistent enough?

How about something like crescendo/diminuendo, where you have the option of writing the word or using hair pins? From what I have written, I feel like I prefer using a hair pin if it indicates some sort of shape, or if I just want to be more specific in where a crescendo or diminuendo reaches its arrival point. Other than that I kind of like seeing the word.

How about an order or height difference for terms like "senza sord." and "unis" or something like that? If they both are directed at the same point, should their be any sort of order, or spacing going on?

English words. In general I would prefer to use English when possible, just because having everything "Italianized" seems unnecessary to me and someone limiting. However I have encountered terms in music dictionaries and other places where the translation has certain connotations that might not carry over in an English translation. For example, "Freddo" is supposed to have a connotation of "Cold, unemotional, hence depressive." Would that really be communicated if I were to just put "Cold?" Thoughts?

I am looking into options for setting up a website. Has this been discussed anywhere else? Any recommendations?

Since I know that copyright threads are abundant, anyone willing to link me to a particularly good one, if there have been any?

That's all. Please remain tame everyone.

In your experience, what is the best way to do slurs for strings? If the the slurs are long enough, it will be understood that they are phrasing marks and not for bowing, however if they are shorter, it's a bit more ambiguous, isnt it?

If the slurs are too long, a less experienced player will just try to follow the way it's written and take more bows where necessary. It's always good to write out exactly what you want, not just hope that the performer is going to get the hint (unless you're writing aleatoric music.)

Also, who is to say that they're necessarily going to listen? If the 1st violinist sees a better way, isnt there a good chance that they'll just go with that?

Yes.

Bowings that don't work get changed. If you're worried about bowings, you should consult with a string player in person while writing out parts.

If you're really hellbent on keeping bowings the way they are, for whatever reason that may be, write something like "do not change bowing" in the part.

since none of my fellow kinsmen seem to have been able to make a difference in the music world since the 16th century...(minus opera)

Berio, Francesconi, 800 other people lawl

Take it somewhere else, boys.

When you say "best to write what you want" do you mean that it's best to use slurs to indicate bow markings and not phrasing?

Take it somewhere else, boys.

When you say "best to write what you want" do you mean that it's best to use slurs to indicate bow markings and not phrasing?

In this case, yes.

Bump...

English words. In general I would prefer to use English when possible, just because having everything "Italianized" seems unnecessary to me and someone limiting. However I have encountered terms in music dictionaries and other places where the translation has certain connotations that might not carry over in an English translation. For example, "Freddo" is supposed to have a connotation of "Cold, unemotional, hence depressive." Would that really be communicated if I were to just put "Cold?" Thoughts?

No body is stopping you from using whatever language you want on your score. It's your work after all. As long as the performers understand what you mean I don't see the problem. It's just that Italian and German (and latin..? maybe not as much anymore..) are currently the universal languages for musical directions.

Seeing as I'm American.... I use English.

Slurs: I have now sometimes started to use dashed lines for phrase markings, to separate them from slurs. I know, that's not a common practice, but in my opinion it's very easy to understand intuitively and I've never seen any musicians having any problems with it. But I generally think that whatever is short enough to be playable on one bow will also be understood as a slur meant for bowing, and not as a phrase indication. (And obviously, the moment you have both smaller slurs over a few notes and sometimes larger phrasing slurs above them, it's immediately clear what is what.) The important thing is of course to be realistic with your slur lengths, so that the bowing is doable. As long as it is so, I'd expect from every serious performer to actually use the bowing I indicate, or discuss it with me.

As for layers: I'd be careful with mixing up two kinds of notation there. If you have layers sometimes, and sometimes just "chords", one might easily think at a quick glance that the "chords" are meant as double stops, in contrast to divisi parts where you use layers. Of course you'd still write "non divisi" there, but it's sometimes amazing how musicians will look over words on their parts, especially if they're sight-reading. I think it's much clearer when you stick to one style throughout. Chordal notation is fine when they always have the same rhythm, layers when the rhythms sometimes diverge somewhat, but are still not too complex, and entirely different staves when the rhythms are complex, you have jumpy lines with voice-crossings etc. If things get too dense when you use layers, just make the spaces between staves and measure sizes larger. Take the room you need to make it all clearly readable.

Cresc/dim.: I really prefer hairpins whenever possible, and I've also made the experience (both as composer and as performer) that musicians tend to react to visual elements like hairpins much more quickly and consistently than to verbal instructions, especially when sight-reading or when you don't have much rehearsal time. (Which is often the case.) Anything that's shorter than a measure should IMHO definitely be notated with a hairpin. For crescendi/diminuendi that span several measures it depends a bit on how it fits the page layout (since a hairpin that goes beyond a page or to a new system often isn't so clear). Also, I tend to favour hairpins for greater changes in loudness, whereas I generally use words if I want something to grow slowly and steadily louder/softer over a long period (such as "cresc. poco a poco").

I'm not aware of any standard in the placement of instructions like "unisono" or "senza sord.". Generally, as with all notational elements, I just try to follow two main principles there: Consistency and clarity. Imagine yourself in the place of a performer who sees the piece for the first time and consider whether your chosen form of notation is immediately clear. If it is, it's probably fine.

English words: Personally (German being my native languge), I tend to write most verbal instructions in German, since most of my pieces are being played by German-speaking performers too, so it's the most direct and clear way of communication. For very standardised expressions (like unisono, con sord., accel., whatever) I use Italian, since they are almost more "symbols" than verbal instructions, but whenever it gets more precise/detailed/complex I write it in my own language. When I write specifically for performers of another country, I use English instead. For people whose first language is English, I'd really recommend using English instructions. It's a bit pointless if you use Italian explanations of how you want a certain passage to be performed and none of the players understands it.

Helpful responses so far (mostly), thanks everyone.

I am looking into options for setting up a website. Has this been discussed anywhere else? Any recommendations?

Since I know that copyright threads are abundant, anyone willing to link me to a particularly good one, if there have been any?

Anyone able to point me in the right direction for these 2?

I am looking into options for setting up a website. Has this been discussed anywhere else? Any recommendations?

Since I know that copyright threads are abundant, anyone willing to link me to a particularly good one, if there have been any?

1) Recommendation: start a website. They're cheap to host and easy to maintain - assuming you can do it yourself. I pay less than $5/month for mine (with these guys - recommended).

Building websites is becoming easier to do and once you get it designed, built and running, maintenance is a breeze.

Another option - if you're not down with doing the dirty work, are the ubiquitous Dynamod sites... you pay more for less, but they have these customizable templates which take your "stuff" and output a tidy little site...trendy and slick.

See:

• http://www.therunawayfive.com/
  
• Marty Majorowicz- Jazz Trombonist and Composer
  
• http://www.jakehanlon.com/
  
• http://www.alexgoodman.ca/
  
• Avishai Cohen : Jazz : Trumpet : New York City
  

... coutless musicians are using this format, it's relatively cheap (no need to pay an actual webdesigner), easy to use, and looks good.

--------------------------------------------

2) Re: copyright... I dunno. I dig into these sites when I need to know something legal/bizness oriented:

Artists House Music: A learning resource for music and the music business.

KnowTheMusicBiz.com - HOME

Anything specific you want/need to know?

Slurs: I have now sometimes started to use dashed lines for phrase markings, to separate them from slurs. I know, that's not a common practice, but in my opinion it's very easy to understand intuitively and I've never seen any musicians having any problems with it. But I generally think that whatever is short enough to be playable on one bow will also be understood as a slur meant for bowing, and not as a phrase indication. (And obviously, the moment you have both smaller slurs over a few notes and sometimes larger phrasing slurs above them, it's immediately clear what is what.) The important thing is of course to be realistic with your slur lengths, so that the bowing is doable. As long as it is so, I'd expect from every serious performer to actually use the bowing I indicate, or discuss it with me.

As for layers: I'd be careful with mixing up two kinds of notation there. If you have layers sometimes, and sometimes just "chords", one might easily think at a quick glance that the "chords" are meant as double stops, in contrast to divisi parts where you use layers. Of course you'd still write "non divisi" there, but it's sometimes amazing how musicians will look over words on their parts, especially if they're sight-reading. I think it's much clearer when you stick to one style throughout. Chordal notation is fine when they always have the same rhythm, layers when the rhythms sometimes diverge somewhat, but are still not too complex, and entirely different staves when the rhythms are complex, you have jumpy lines with voice-crossings etc. If things get too dense when you use layers, just make the spaces between staves and measure sizes larger. Take the room you need to make it all clearly readable.

Cresc/dim.: I really prefer hairpins whenever possible, and I've also made the experience (both as composer and as performer) that musicians tend to react to visual elements like hairpins much more quickly and consistently than to verbal instructions, especially when sight-reading or when you don't have much rehearsal time. (Which is often the case.) Anything that's shorter than a measure should IMHO definitely be notated with a hairpin. For crescendi/diminuendi that span several measures it depends a bit on how it fits the page layout (since a hairpin that goes beyond a page or to a new system often isn't so clear). Also, I tend to favour hairpins for greater changes in loudness, whereas I generally use words if I want something to grow slowly and steadily louder/softer over a long period (such as "cresc. poco a poco").

I'm not aware of any standard in the placement of instructions like "unisono" or "senza sord.". Generally, as with all notational elements, I just try to follow two main principles there: Consistency and clarity. Imagine yourself in the place of a performer who sees the piece for the first time and consider whether your chosen form of notation is immediately clear. If it is, it's probably fine.

English words: Personally (German being my native languge), I tend to write most verbal instructions in German, since most of my pieces are being played by German-speaking performers too, so it's the most direct and clear way of communication. For very standardised expressions (like unisono, con sord., accel., whatever) I use Italian, since they are almost more "symbols" than verbal instructions, but whenever it gets more precise/detailed/complex I write it in my own language. When I write specifically for performers of another country, I use English instead. For people whose first language is English, I'd really recommend using English instructions. It's a bit pointless if you use Italian explanations of how you want a certain passage to be performed and none of the players understands it.

Deutsch!!! WUNDERBAR!!! Wir wirde Deutsch im Himmel sprechen! (und Bach wird Gottes Orgelspieler)

Another option - if you're not down with doing the dirty work, are the ubiquitous Dynamod sites... you pay more for less, but they have these customizable templates which take your "stuff" and output a tidy little site...trendy and slick.

See:

• http://www.therunawayfive.com/
  
• Marty Majorowicz- Jazz Trombonist and Composer
  
• http://www.jakehanlon.com/
  
• http://www.alexgoodman.ca/
  
• Avishai Cohen : Jazz : Trumpet : New York City
  

... coutless musicians are using this format, it's relatively cheap (no need to pay an actual webdesigner), easy to use, and looks good.

I can't stand flash sites......Do you like them? I never saw the point...

Me? Not so much.

They're generally very formulaic and feel "templated" ... (perhaps because that's what they ARE) ...

But, the dynamod ones are an affordable alternative to having a "real" one ;)

Thoughts on other sites I have found?

HostMonster - Web Hosting

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