dc wrote:
I'm wondering how much time one should be spending on average on getting
a page of music ready for publication. I know, of course, it depends on
the type of music. I'm thinking specifically of the type of music I do
mostly myself, of course: baroque vocal pieces for one or several voices
and (unrealized) basso continuo. Which means lyrics (very time
consuming, in my experience), figured bass (even worse!), but, on the
other hand, relatively few articulations, dynamics, etc., and fairly
simple music.
The reason I ask is 1) I don't consider myself as a professional
engraver, so I don't imagine I can hope to work as fast as one and 2) I
rarely if ever do only the engraving of a project, since I'm involved in
the editing, the research, etc.
I've never precisely timed my work, and, of course, even in this limited
repertoire there are many variables, but I do think that I must spend at
least 45 minutes on each page, between the entering of the music and the
lyrics, and all the rest - the spacing, the layout, the proofing, the
corrections, etc., before I have something I consider fit for
publication, or at least fit for proofing by someone else.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Of course the amount of music on a single page must be taken into
account, but I think that 45 minutes for a single page of baroque vocal
music with basso continuo is a good amount of time. At a rate of
$50/hour, that would translated into just under $40/score page which is
a reasonable price for music of that nature, in my opinion.
What's most important, though, is that you need to take the amount of
time required by you to end up with a well-engraved piece of music. If
that entails spending 2 hours on a single page, then fine.
The amount of time only matters when you are being paid by a client and
need to fit the engraving time into a previously agreed upon budget.
And even then you'll find some pages which take 1.5 hours and others
which can be done in 20 minutes, so billing is never completely accurate
for each page.
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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