At 8:19 AM +0100 12/10/10, Jonathan Smith wrote:
All the problems involved in altering parts over the stand could be accomplished quickly and efficiently by one person. Music theatre show productions requiring cuts to numbers, alternate versions etc. could be set up in advance of rehearsals. Even transpositions to suit vocal ranges could be made fairly quickly in comparison with re-copying parts. Forget all those pencilled marks, alterations could be implemented for real. Even cross cues added to parts, missing instrument cues added, simplification, re-voicing, this could all be carried out from by any finale competent MD or Librarian (or copyist if budgets stretch).
I love your dream, Jonathan! Just a couple of small flaws that come to mind immediately.
1. Using proprietary file formats rather than a universal one would be, I suspect, a huge non-starter. Strange to say, not everyone uses Finale, and not everyone who does is fully conversant with it. I believe that's why the Portable Document Format was developed in the first place.
2. "Cuts to numbers, alternate versions etc." are almost NEVER made in advance of rehearsals, at least in community theater. They more often come up in the middle of rehearsals and require scrambling to make them work. Been there, done that--a LOT!!!
And of course the biggest problem of all: the rental agencies guard their copyrights like vicious attack dogs, and will NOT allow anything that will either lower their income or defeat their absolute control over their Grand Rights. And digital files of their orchestrations could be copied and shared indiscriminately.
John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[email protected]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html "We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
