Though far less functional than the current version, Finale’s earliest software made it possible for composers to efficiently and cleanly present their music in notation. When personal computers first became affordable in the ’80s, the earliest versions of music engraving software appeared, and they were to music notation what word processing was to text. Readers of a certain age will remember the onerous task of using correction tape to fix mistyped words. Still, music typewriters were cumbersome by today’s standards. Needless to say, this was a complex and often tedious process.ĭeveloped in the 19th century and used throughout the 20th, music typewriters worked similarly to conventional typewriters, but, as the name suggests, the keys had musical symbols instead of letters.
Notation was engraved onto zinc metal plates that were then inked and used for printing. Music was prepared for mass production through a process of engraving-a term still used to describe notation software, even though it’s all but outmoded. They didn’t really know exactly how their pieces would sound until they were performed. For centuries before the personal computer revolution, composers committed their music to notation with pen and paper. But now, with their high-quality sampled sounds, they’re like instruments in themselves, and so are the handful of feature-rich programs they’ve inspired. Gold-standard programs such as Finale and Sibelius were originally designed for the sole purpose of creating musical manuscripts. And music notation software has received all of the benefits of this technology. What could be done only with expensive studio hardware not long ago is now possible with powerful desktop software and inexpensive smartphone apps-on the fly, no less. T he last couple of decades have seen a dramatic evolution in the tools used to create and record music. BY ADAM PERLMUTTER | FROM THE SPRING 2018 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR
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