# Composing an orchestral piece, engraving tips please?



## Lilijana (Dec 17, 2019)

Feedback and advice is most welcome! I'm currently trying to put this score I've been working on into a computer software to have a 'neater' version of it.

Are there clearer ways of presenting it? Sometimes I feel the irregularly spaced staves are a bit of an eyesore, but the plugin used to improve the spacing and allow room for the notes, articulation and text seems to want the score to look like this.

FYI, strings are divided into LH (bottom staff) and RH (top staff) to keep the parts as clear as possible.

Should I also leave out the tied notes in the steel drum part? I feel as if the relative lack of sustain makes it unecessary.

View attachment Chevalier d'EÌ�on - Full Score.pdf


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Spacing of horizontal notes with your varied, simultaneous rhythmic values is going to be what you have. I don't see a way to clean that up.

Things you can clean up (1) decide when you'll use quarter rests vs 2 eighths rests [see m.2] (2) some dynamics are too close to noteheads, others too far (3) what's the bass doing in m.8? I mean, when are they to start what is a gliss? (4) The phrase "multiphonic with high noise content" should neither be erasing part of the staff nor forcing the space between staves to be so far apart. Consider slightly smaller font size and be two lines, never three.

I'm not familiar with how to notate steel drums. I do know their notes have a short resonating life, but not as short as something like a snare drum.

As for the two staves for each string, if you've seen it done that way in another professional score, keep it. And if not, maybe that's still the only way you can come up with. But it's obvious that on initial glance some (if not all) will hate having to read two staves especially once they have to play rhythms beyond a long single tone.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

Re the steel drums, you might want to make it clear that tremolo is not to be used unless written, just to be absolutely clear. The ties do seem pointless in one regard, but then again, I found the part easier to read with ties. One _could_ put in rests and perhaps then it'd also be prudent to insert a performance direction that makes clear that the drum should always be allowed to vibrate (l.v.) irrespective of rests unless marked with a stacc. dot.

As always, practicality is the prime concern, plus the psychological effect the part will have on the player reading it. Given that the tendency with percussion parts, as you probably know, is to rhythmically mirror any melodic elements that they might happen to double - even if there is no sustain on the instrument - I'd be inclined to leave it as is because of the clarity for reading and its emphasis on the contrapuntal/melodic, rather than a percussive secco style which might be better served with rests.


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## Lilijana (Dec 17, 2019)

Thank you, and apologies for the lack of the explanation on the string section notation! the undefined glissandi really just indicate the approximate position of the left hand fingers on the strings (low means closer to the scroll and high means closer to the other end).

I'll start making some changes according to your suggestions to see how things look.


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