This is an interesting question I get asked a lot:

“Given that there are so many good digital music reader options and iPads and other tablets, why are we still printing music?”

It’s a fair question.  This is the digital age after all; software is easy to purchase and use, and these once expensive devices are now ubiquitous and, relatively speaking, cheap.  So again, why are we still printing music?  It seems like such a waste of resources, and surely it's easier for everyone to just read off one of these newer options than a piece of paper.

The answer to this question is that despite what it may seem, there are very few true digital music stands out there, and depending on the circumstance in which the sheet music is being used, digital isn’t always easier.  Let’s dive into some use cases and see why paper may still be the best option for your music.

1) Book publication – Let’s say you wrote a piano method book for your students with scales, fingering exercises, etc.  It would be easy to just give your students (or have them purchase) a PDF from you and then use a tablet to view.  Simple, straightforward, and makes sense.  However, printing and binding copies for your students may make just as much sense.  The printed copies can be written on during lessons to make notes for students, and students may not always have easy access to yet another screen at home or for lessons, so a printed copy is much easier to use.  In this case, I think physical or digital copies both have equal advantages and disadvantages, so it comes down to what makes the most sense for your application.
 
2) Publisher works – This is like the discussion on book publication, except on a larger scale.  When you are printing 100 or 1,000 copies of a book, different market forces come into play.  Printing physical books is a more expensive method of distribution and then adding on the cost of shipping makes it even more costly.  Digital distribution can be more cost-effective, but it’s not free; there are costs to host and maintain websites and e-commerce charges, etc.  Again, this is a case where either option can make sense; it just depends on the goals for the presentation of your music.  Also, you’re relying on your customer to have a good digital method to view the music. 
 
 
3) Live performance and studio sessions – This is where Engraver’s Mark Music does most of our printing.  We print, on average, 150,000+ pages a year of music that goes to the concert stage or the recording studio.  So, you say, the advantages of digital would get multiplied as you use them for these larger groups, correct?  Well, not exactly.  This is where the economics of using digital screens or physical printing get interesting.
 
Let’s use an example of a recording of a 30-piece string group, with 10 1st Violins, 8 2nd Violins, 6 Violas, 4 Cellos and 2 Basses.  This comes out to 16 stands of music, with the Violins, Violas and Cellos sharing stands and each bass having its own stand.  To use a digital music stand, we would have to have 16 screens, all of which would need to be the same, either with power cords for all of them or have them all fully charged before a session, and then a method to connect them all to a central location to load all the files for that day and then set up each stand with only the music for that instrument.  Then, you would need a dedicated network to connect all the screens to a host computer in case there were edits or changes or additional music to add to the stand.  And then you need to have 16 foot pedals for the musicians to use to turn pages and some sort of stylus for each stand to mark changes on the sheet music.
 
All this technology is available, but only as separate pieces that would have to be coordinated by the copyist and librarian.  You could not rely on the musicians to purchase everything on this list and then bring them in addition to their instruments to each session.  Knowing that, someone must purchase all this equipment, maintain it, and set it up before each session and break it down.  This is expensive and very time-consuming.  All the advantages of digital distribution go out the window.  A recording studio is unlikely to want to spend the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to purchase and maintain a system like this and then they would also likely have to hire a person just to run this system, since they could have different projects each day and assuming that someone outside of their studio would be able to learn and adapt to the software and set up instantly would be foolish.  Beyond that, the simple question of who must pay for something when it breaks or gets lost is another expense a studio is unlikely to want to add.
 
Printed music is much easier to manage in this case.  Beyond the music, our team brings our own printer and supplies to each session, which is simple to set up and train our team members to use.  Setting out the music is easy, and changes can be quickly made and then printed to hand out to the players.  If a piece of music falls off the stand, no harm done, unlike a screen, which would likely be permanently damaged if it fell. 
 
Also, consider the size of most tablets; at best, you’re getting about a 9in x 12in screen, and you can only view one page at a time.  I can tell you, as a copyist, it’s impossible to have a clean page turn on every single page for a part.  When using printed parts, musicians can set up 2 or 3 pages on the stand to make playing longer passages easier. 
 
Similar limitations and hurdles for using digital screens for live performance exist as well.  An orchestra would have to purchase all the equipment and maintain it along with all the challenges of running the orchestra.
 
From an environmental perspective, it seems like printing music is much less eco-friendly than a screen, but that’s not always true either.  All the screens and accessories use more power, their lifespan isn’t always very long, and e-waste is a huge problem.  Printing music certainly uses additional resources to make the paper and print it, and that must be accounted for.  At least for Engraver’s Mark Music, we collect, shred, and recycle all the music we print for sessions locally and do our best to use products made from recycled materials whenever possible. 

In the end, it really depends on how you are using the sheet music that will dictate which method is best to use.  If you have a small recording session for a single player or two, then a digital screen might work just fine.  A larger session or even a book you’ve completed might be better served as a physical copy.  Not sure which option is best for your project? Contact us and let’s see what may be best for you!

One of the first things I do when starting to engrave a new piece is to decide which page size for the score and parts I will use. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, there are quite a few options and standards depending on the type of piece you are writing and the final use of the music, whether for publication through a publisher (who may have their own particular standards) or for a concert or other live performance or recording session.

The first thing I want to address is that it’s ok/fine/acceptable to use standard letter size paper in the US or A4 size elsewhere for scores and parts.  Here’s my logic: if you have only a few instruments in the score and the staff size is large enough to be readable, then a standard page size will work.  Do you see this page size in more professional settings, especially for conductors? No, not often, that’s true. However, if you are just using a score to produce a small group recording or to follow along with at a rehearsal for a string quartet or something like that, it will work perfectly well.  To me, what makes a score or part work best is a readable staff size, regardless of the page size it’s on.  Yes, having a larger page size will allow you to use a larger staff size in general, but if you can get the music on the page in a way that works for you and those who will ultimately use it, then all is well.

Now, with that out of the way, here are my recommendations for both scores and parts:

• For Scores = (letter as needed) 9x12, 10x13, 11x14 and 11x17 (and very rare occasions 12x18).  All of these sizes are acceptable any will work great depending on the size of the group or other considerations in the notation.  Most often, I see 10x13 and 11x17 (predominantly) for orchestral scores, with 9x12 being used for pieces with small groups, like a string quartet, etc.  11x14 is also an option, but I tend not to see or use this size as often.  

 

• For Parts = (letter as needed) 9x12, 10x13.  I would say about 80% or more of orchestral music I format and print is 9x12 these days, with 10x13 a distant 2nd.  The 9x12 page is great because it can be used for saddle stitch booklet printing (using a 12x18 page that’s folded and stapled) far more easily than a 10x13 page, which would require a 20x13 page and finding a printer that can handle that size is even more expense than the larger printers that are need for a 11x17 or 12x18 page size.  (For more details on a good desktop printer option, see my previous post here).

Scores and parts are also formatted in portrait orientation.  The only places I see any use of a landscape orientation in in big band scores, which traditionally use a landscape format, or sometimes new/avant-garde music where the notation style is (by and large) non-traditional and the formatting is best served with a landscape orientation.

Now that you have your page size for the score and parts set, here are the binding methods that work best:

• For Scores = printed double-sided and spiral-bound is generally best.  Another option, which is standard in recording sessions, is to print the score single-sided and then tape the score in an accordion style, so that page turns during the recording are as quiet as possible.  Both methods can be used for any of the page sizes I mentioned before.

 

• For Parts = there are a few more options here, with saddle stitch staple booklets being used most often for live performances/symphonic works, printing the parts single-sided and taped in an accordion style for recording sessions (and occasionally for live performance) and then printed double-sided and spiral boud, which is best for longer works with higher page counts for each part.  Another method for live performance is to print double-sided and then use a cloth tape to bind the left-hand edge to create a booklet.  All methods can be used for the the various page sizes, however, if you are using a 10x13 page size, it’s unlikely that can be bound in a saddle stitch staple booklet due the difficulty in being able to print the 20x13 page size and booklet finishers usually cannot bind anything larger than a 9x12 page size. 

If you need help in choosing the right page size for your project, please contact me, and I can walk you through all the different considerations.  Also, Engraver’s Mark Music has custom templates in Sibelius, Dorico, and Finale, all set and ready to go for many different page size combinations of scores and parts, so your music can be engraved and formatted from the very beginning with the end use in mind, with precision and efficiency throughout.  

If you are looking for even more details, here’s a link to a Scoring Notes post from several years ago. 

I get asked to come up with my estimates for printing costs for various projects almost every day.  When the music is already written and finished, all I need are the pdfs and the printing requirements and I can give an accurate cost estimate.  Thanks to our published price list on our print shop page, you can pretty easily get an idea of the cost of your print project; find your preferred page size, total up the number of pages you intend to print, multiple that by the per page price and you got yourself an accurate and predictable way to estimate the costs of your project.  That being said, it’s still best to contact Engraver’s Mark Music directly to confirm the costs and go over any other options you may have as those can affect the printing cost.
 
There are also many projects where a client will ask for me for a printing estimate when the music still hasn’t been written yet.  As impossible as this task may seem (how can you possibly estimate a cost for something that doesn’t exist yet?), there are some formulas that Engraver’s Mark Music has developed that can give you an estimate that can be used for budgeting proposes AND will be fairly close to a final cost after the project is completed.  How is this possible?  Does Engraver’s Mark Music use some sort of time machine or other occult method to know the future?  Well…. no.  Thanks to years of experience with a wide variety of musical projects, Engraver’s Mark Music has found patterns and standards that allow us to provide a basis for printing costs that our clients can use as they begin the initial planning for their project costs.
 
So, here’s the formula we use:
 
Minutes of music (total) x estimated pages per minute (depends on the instrumental section in question) x number of stands (i.e., copies of a part or number or stands used in a section) =
​estimated printing cost
 
It sounds complicated, but let me walk you through an example:
 
Sample Project:
 
Recording session for woodwinds, brass and strings. 
Orchestra size =
Woodwinds (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon) (only 1 each)
Brass – 6 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 4 Trombones, 1 Tuba
Strings – 12/10/8/6/4 (22 Violins total, 8 Viola, 6 Cello, 4 Basses)
Total number of minutes to record = 30min (no overdubs or 2nd passes in this example to make things a bit simpler).
 
 
Now that we have this information, let’s use these figures to estimate the number of pages per minute for each orchestral section:
 
Woodwinds = 1.25 minutes of music per page
Brass = 1 minute of music per page
Strings = 1.5 minutes of music per page
 
 
Woodwinds and brass all have single stands, meaning each player has their own stand.  String players typically share a stand (though not the basses if possible) (COVID notwithstanding). So that makes 18 single stands for the woodwind and brass and 22 total stands for strings.
 
And now the mathematical fun begins:
 
Woodwinds = 30min of music x 1.25 pages per minute x 4 stands = 150 pages of music

Brass = 30min of music x 1 page per minute of music x 14 stands = 420 pages of music

Strings = 30min of music x 1.5 pages per minute x 22 stands =
990 pages of music
 
Next, let’s say we’re using a 9x12 page size for parts.
1,560 pages total x using our per page price of $.37 per page for printing and taping for 9x12 = $577.20 total.
 
 
For scores, we use an estimate of 6 pages per minute of music.
Using this example, 30min of music x 6 pages per minute = 180 pages of scores

180 pages total x using our per page price of $.58 per page for printing and taping for 11x17 = $104.40 total (for 1 copy of the score). 

This project requires 3 scores (1 conductor set and 2 scorebooks) = $104.40 x 3 = $313.20 total
 
Combined, the complete score of printing all scores and parts for this project = $890.40
 
 
Whew, we made it!  These types of equations are pretty easily put into a spreadsheet and then all you have to do is plug in the different variables for minutes of music and the orchestra size and then you can get a customized estimate for just about any size project.
 
This example doesn’t include things like overdubs or 2nd passes for different parts in the orchestra, so the final result may vary.  I would also say, the figures I used to estimate the minutes of music per page for each instrumental section tend to run a bit on the high side so in the end, this formula will more than likely give you an estimated printing cost that is MORE than what the final cost will end up being.  It’s always better to estimate a bit high then low (ask anyone who ever did a flooring job and ordered too little flooring).
 
Well, now you know a few tricks to help estimate the printing costs for a project that hasn’t even been written yet.  And, using this kind of formula, you can make adjustments based on the particular project.  For example, if this is an animated movie, you could assume a higher page per minute value for each section of the orchestra as those types of scores tend to have more complicated music than a romantic comedy, which might be mainly underscore with no action cues therefore uses less pages per minute of music.
 
As always, if you have any questions or ideas that you need help with, please contact Engraver’s Mark Music and we can guide you through all our processes to get you the information you need to have a clearer picture of the costs of various aspects of your project.  

When it comes to printing out sheet music, there are a lot of considerations to make.  How many pages, how often, what paper sizes are you using etc.  Beyond that, there are dozens of printers that may work for your needs.  In this blog, I wanted to go over the important factors that determine what printer would work best for your situation and when you may want to consider upgrading your printer (or, shameless plug, use a music printer like Engraver’s Mark Music).
 
For the sake of simplifying my recommendations a bit, I am only going to focus on desktop laser printers.  I have never found any inkjet printer that did a good job, beyond maybe just a few pages of printing here and there.  To me, they cost too much and are too slow for the job.
 
The most important consideration in choosing a printer is the size of the paper you intend to print.  Simple enough, right? Well, not exactly.  Here in the US, we tend to print the vast majority of our documents on two different page sizes: 1) letter size (8.5in x 11in) and 2) legal size (8.5in x 14in).  The rest of the world uses slightly different page sizes, but most have a close equivalent to these two pages sizes.
 
Given that letter and legal page sizes are the standard in this country, just about any printer you find at an office supply store (like Staples) or online will print these two page sizes and a fair amount of other preset page sizes that are smaller.  Any laser printer you can find will do a decent job printing these page sizes and most will give you speeds up to 25-30 pages printed per minute.  If this is the only page sizes you intend to print for your music, then a standard laser printer will be fine, and you should have no major issues.  (more on this in a bit if you have a large printing volume)
 
However, if you want to go beyond the 8.5in page width, then things get a bit trickier.  Since most standard laser printers can only handle page widths up to 8.5in, if you want to print page sizes like 9x12, 10x13, 11x17, etc., you must upgrade to a different level of printer.  And this jump comes with a significant price increase.  You can find regular laser printers by the dozens from $100-200 all day; not so with printers that can handle these larger page sizes.  Most of the desktop printers (and I use the term loosely here since most of these printers weigh over 50lbs and are a good bit larger than your regular laser printer) that can handle these larger page sizes range from the cheapest I’ve found starting at around $1,200 all the way up to $3,000+.  Definitely a sticker shock if you are used to purchasing a $200 or less printer every few years. 
 
The best option (IMO) by far in this desktop printer range is the Ricoh SP 6430dn. 
(Side note, I really like the previous version of this printer, Ricoh SP6330n as well if you can find one used.) 

They are getting a bit harder to find, but you can usually get one for around $1,200 (last I checked).  These can print up 37 pages per minute letter size (all printers are rated on their letter size page rate when it comes to speed of printing), handle page sizes up to 11x17 and has a host of other good features.  I absolutely love this printer; I have 2 of them! The toner and drum cartridges have a long lifespan (usually around 10k pages or more), and the print quality is truly excellent.  There are other options from HP that I know other people have used, but compared to this Ricoh, they are more than twice as expensive to purchase and way more expensive to maintain.  I just do not see any advantage in the HP printers compared to this Ricoh.  Ricoh makes some of the best professional, commercial, and industrial printers in the world so this unit is truly a workhorse and the quality and versatility for the price cannot be beat.
 
The next consideration to make in choosing a printer for your sheet music is the weight of the paper you intend to use.  Again, if you plan on using standard copy paper you can buy just about anywhere (which, honestly, is crap) then just use a standard laser printer.  However, you will find the quality of the paper and the quality of the printer you use will show in how your music looks on the page.  Without getting into a deep dive on the crazy world of paper weights (trust me, I did and even for me, it can be boring to say the least), you should be using higher quality paper for you sheet music, especially if you plan on using it for rehearsals and performances.  Standard copy paper is too thin, translucent, and just will not hold up well to repeated use.  Check out the MOLA recommendations for paper weight (page 6 of this document) and you’ll see what I mean.  Here are Engraver’s Mark Music, the lightest paper weight we use is 70lb text weight, which is far superior to anything you can buy off the shelf at an office supply store.  Generally, you cannot find the quality of paper we use anywhere unless you work with a commercial paper supplier (like we do).  If you value your music, then it should be printed on paper that reflects that.  Regular printers will not hold up as well or provide as high-quality printing on thicker paper since those machines just are not built for that.  Keep that in mind.
 
The last issue to think about is how much printing you are planning on doing.  If all you plan on doing is printing out a few pages here are there for practicing charts or lead sheets, then a standard laser printer is fine.  Once you start printing out larger quantities other considerations come into play.  First, think if you really need to print something.  There are dozens of iPad apps or other options that might work fine for you or a small ensemble.  Save some trees! 
 
If you are printing out music for a larger work for a larger ensemble, then consider how much time it will take to print all those pages and the cost in toner and other parts.  The standard laser printers you can buy off the shelf do a good job printing (usually) but are slower and have a much higher cost to print each page in terms of toner costs and other parts than a more expensive printer may have.  Once you start printing hundreds or even thousands of pages, the cost difference becomes noticeable.  Also, most of the regular printers are designed to wear out much faster than a professional machine; you may find yourself replacing entire printers just as often as someone else with a professional machine replaces toner cartridges.  Our main printer here at the shop (a Konica-Minolta commercial machine) has a monthly duty cycle (meaning what the manufacturer expects the workload to be) of over 200,000 pages per month!
 
These are just some things to consider as you think about printing your music.  If you have any questions, please contact me and I would be happy to go over any details with you.  Engraver’s Mark Music has the high-quality paper, printers and binding options (even more than what I mentioned here) that your music deserves; let us show you how the best paper, printing and binding can bring your music to a whole new level!