Engraving is a huge part of self publishing! The cleaner your music is, the easier it will be for performers to read your music.
Check out a few of our quick tips to engraving and editing your music below.
- Use fonts that are more visually appealing and compatible with music notation.
- Make sure your margins are appropriate for print. We recommend .75 inch margins on all four sides.
- Utilize multi-measure rests to make sight reading easier for your performers.
- Check your score and parts for collisions, overlapping elements, or crowding.
Before uploading your score print out your music and proof read it. Here's a checklist of some common errors that are found after submitting music -
- Title, composer, arranger and copyright information are consistent on all parts and pages
- All parts are in the correct key
- All tempos are listed
- There are no visual collisions, overlapping elements, or crowding
- There are no awkward page turns
These tips will help your publishing look more professional, and help your performers read their scores with ease!
When uploading your music to My Score, upload your part files maintaining score order.
Score Order is achieved by listing out the instruments separated by section (woodwinds, brass, percussion, vocals, etc...) in the order of highest sounding to lowest sounding. An example of a score order upload for an orchestra would look like -
Woodwinds
- Piccolo
- Flute
- Oboe
- Clarinet
- Bass Clarinet
- Bassoon
- Contrabassoon
Brass
- French Horn
- Trumpet
- Trombone
- Bass Trombone
- Euphonium
- Tuba
Percussion
- Timpani
- Percussion
Strings
- Violin I
- Violin II
- Viola
- Cello
- Double Bass