off topic: composing a score

> From: Lewis_Jimmy@hq.navsea.navy.mil
>
> Could someone describe the steps (concept
> thru verification) a composer had to go
> through to produce a score before MIDI existed?

Rick Tagawa's response was pretty thorough.
My reply:

Back in the old days, composing required
a pencil, a big eraser, and lots and lots
and lots of paper. Presumably there would
be an ensemble to perform the composition
once it was finished, so it was necessary to
produce a finished score in ink, and to
copy all the parts by hand for each instrument

I distinctly remember sharing many all-night
copying sessions with fellow composers near
the end of the academic year, using a real
old-fashioned fountain pen, and erasing by
carefully scratching the wrong note off the
paper with a razor blade.

When I was composing this way, living in
New York, there were several places a composer
could go with a finished score and parts
written on "proofs" - thin semi-transparent
paper. These places would then print and
bind the score and parts (for a few dollars,
of course), and you'd be ready to start
rehearsals. (jeez, sounds like ancient history)
Quite a bit more involved than simply pressing
the "play" and "print" buttons.

Something Rick mentioned that I'd like to
emphasize was the need for *quiet*. In today's
MIDI- and PC-based world of composing, it's
usually a much more hands-on approach: you sit
down with your instrument(s), plug in, and
you're off, storing it on your hard drive
as you go.

Back then, composing for me meant finding
a quiet place (my favorite was in the park),
sitting down with paper and pencil, and
taking the sounds out of my head and
putting them on paper. It required
a great deal of ear-training (for those of
us without absolute pitch!) to be able to
compose without playing an instrument.
I suppose this is partly why I have a fondness
for such fine discrimination in pitch these days.

- Monzo
http://www.ixpres.com/interval/monzo/homepage.html
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Thanks for your descriptions. I'm writing a paper on the value of technology;
specifically how technology effects the following:

1) lower capital equipment costs
2) lower production/test time and costs
3) improve product/service quality (customer expectation)

I know that MIDI significantly made the field of scoring more competitive, but
didn't understand what aspects of the process
was eliminated or streamlined by innovations in music technology.

Thank you for your patience in this off-topic subject.

Lewis

> Something Rick mentioned that I'd like to
> emphasize was the need for *quiet*.

I interpreted that, perhaps incorrectly, exclude sounds of the music
you're composing.