RevisionA rewrite or other modification of a musical score, track, or recorded performance of a music scoreA written representation of a piece of music, including the notation for all parts of an ensemble. might be part of any arrangingThe process of adapting a piece of music for a different ensemble, style, or performance context. project.
Sometimes we the arrangers “nail it” on the first delivery, but often you, the client, will have changesJazz shorthand for Chord Changes; the chord progression you might want to make. We include a complimentary round of revision in our original fee quote.
Revisions can include
- keyThe group of pitches, or tonality, that a piece of music is centered around. changes (transpositionThe process of changing the key of a piece of music.)
- modifications of instrumentationThe array of different instruments or sounds incorporated in a musical score
- possible omitted musical facts
- a correction or modification of musical facts in a transcriptionThe process of notating a piece of music as it is performed, either by ear or from a recording. such as meter, rhythmThe pattern of beats and accentuations in music, which gives a piece its sense of movement and flow., pitchThe perceived highness or lowness of a sound, determined by the frequency of the sound wave. or harmonic choices.
We rely on you to supply basic guidance, including the desired instrumentation list, any “sounds likeGuidance given to an arranger or composer in the choice of style for their work” examples you’d like us to consider, along with any suggestions as to style and mood.
We accept a wide variety of submission materials. Client recordings can be subject to interpretation. Professionally recorded material is usually clear, with easily detectable musical facts. Sometimes client recordings can be musically ambiguous, with performance issues such as approximate pitches or rhythms making transcription challenging, often resulting in things that need revision.
(We’ve adopted a policy of 2-stage submission in such cases, submitting a basic version with just the facts of transcription in a one- or two-line score to verify the result before beginning arranging and orchestrationThe art and science of arranging music for an orchestra, including the assignment of individual parts to different instruments and the creation of a score..)
Best Practices in Communicating Music Score Revisions
Objective Feedback
Most helpful in the process are fact-based revision requests, with edit lists referencing bar numbersSmall numbers, usually at the beginning of a line, indicating exact location within a musical part or score in the score, or markup of the score itself, with alternate notes, rhythms, metric or barA line that separates measures in sheet music. line placement marked in the score. Revision requests can also be typographical in nature, such as positioning of score elements on the page, or score and partsIndividual pieces of music, each designed to be performed by a single musician or section of an ensemble. page size. Markup can be scanned or photographed and delivered with the revision request.
We understand and use proofreaders marks (referenced here in the Chicago Manual of Style) – they’re very helpful.
Subjective Feedback
Some clients prefer to make qualitative revision requests with verbal descriptions. We’re usually able to work with descriptive, subjective feedback – “we want it more ominous starting at 2:10.” Opinion feedback can be counterproductive – “this sucks!.” The most helpful subjective feedback are “sounds like” examples.
Scope of Revision
A revision that contradicts the original brief used for our quote can require a complete rewrite. If the customer asks for “swing,” then changes their mind after delivery to “hip-hop,” or a change in instrumentation, then we’re outside the scope of the revision policy and need to quote a rewrite.
Markup
Making marks in the score is “markup.” Basic proofreader’s marks come in handy. Strikeouts, “V” insertion marks, circles indicating deletion or focus regions, and added or substituted elements in a different color are all useful.
This graphic shows how to move bar lines to change a metric scheme, and add notes to chordTwo or more notes played simultaneously; a group of three or more notes played or sung at the same time to create harmony. voicings:
Here, changes were needed in the metric scheme (source was customer midiA protocol for communicating musical information, such as notes and control signals, between electronic musical instruments and computers. recorded without a click). Notice the new time signatures and rhythms indicated with stemsIndividual tracks extracted or exported from a mix as individual sound files, beams and dots over the correct pitches in the score.
Some written instructions can be very helpful:
Here’s some markup that is really unclear, and appeared to vary markedly from the client’s submitted audio. In proofreading and musical markup, a circle means “delete this” – unless there’s a line pointing to an instruction in the margin. There were circles all over this markup with no indication as to their meaning:
Edit Lists
Here’s a really good, clear professional edit list:
Specific:
- Bars 5-7: Double that clarinet tremolo in the alto saxes. Same in bars, 9-10: Double· trumpets in flutes, with a trillA melodic ornament consisting of rapid back-and-forth motion to a neighbor tone or tremolo.
- Bars 111-12: There’s a piccolo line in the original that’s missing.
- Bars 21-36: This section is fine, but the melodyA sequence of single pitches perceived as a unit, usually the main theme or tune in a piece of music. needs to be more present. It’s only in Clar. 1 as written, and it’ll get buried in the middle voices. Alto sax, Horn and Euph are good places if you want to keep the trumpets in the middle for the “word” parts, and then we can put trumpets on top for the “Fa la la” parts.
Here’s an edit list with subjective notes.
This was hard for us to decode – what are “splashier chords?” (We still don’t know, even after an approved rewrite). How do you inject “pathos” into a written “run?” This markup is not particularly helpful:
- Could you make the chord structure a little splashier in bars 9 and 10
- Think about a little pathos in your run bars 27 and 28
- Could you make the chord structure in bar 43 the same as bar 45 which is the same as bar 47. In the recordings you will hear they are all the same and just build slightly.
- How about a bolder chord statement in bar 38 ?
Avoiding Misunderstandings
We make it clear in all our communications that we have a “Policies and Terms of Service” page, and we state our revision policy along with our initial quote.
We have a bit of a dilemma in that we want you to feel comfortable doing business with us – but we also have a policy that we do not releaseFollowing the building of tension, arrival at a resolution. In England, is synonymous with "bridge" completed scores before payment in full.
We guarantee a round of revision following delivery.
We ask that you review the score, and if you’d like revision, please send either a marked-up score or an edit list, referencing bar numbers in the delivered score with your specific changes. We can complete revisions in one round. We quote further revisions in advance.
The reason for this is we are not in the position to grant multiple revisions at your discretion – it takes time, and we have a full schedule of work. The first one is free !
