Developing new music fonts

[Dave2002]

Here is a very interesting video about developing new music fonts - https://youtu.be/XGo4PJd1lng
It also shows some of the history of music engraving and computer programs for engraving.

Whether Simon Smith is a real person or not is arguably open to question. All I can say is that I think Tantacrul's cartoon representation seems a bit cruel - maybe "tanta - cruel".

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

This is indeed a fascinating subject. I remember using early music software that used rather ugly font, along with inept formatting. Then I bit the bullet and bought an Acorn computer, as it was the only platform available to run Sibelius 7. I was amazed at just how superb everything was.
Everything? Not quite. In order to avoid complications when preceding breves with accidentals, this rarely used note was reduced in width by using only single vertical lines. I contacted Sibelius software, who said they preferred the single lines to the more common double, but told me how to edit the font, which I did, calling the new version of the Opus font “Real breves” Of course, this might occasionally result in a sharp being inextricably glued to a breve, but they were so rarely needed that a few seconds’ adjustment, wasn’t worth worrying about.
The video refers to “Score” software, which I understand was very good, but was difficult to use. Do any forumists have any experience of it?

[Richard Barrett]

The video refers to “Score” software, which I understand was very good, but was difficult to use. Do any forumists have any experience of it?

Sort of. In 2004 an orchestral score of mine was typeset using Score by a professional music-typesetting company. The results were excellent, I thought, but my then publisher balked at spending that kind of money a second time, so for the next orchestral score in 2010 they bought me Sibelius instead and told me to get on with doing it myself!

I think my next notation-related purchase might be this

https://www.klemm-music.de/notation/november2/en/index.php

When I started using Sibelius I was disappointed that it wasn't possible to have straight quaver flags which I'd always used in my manuscript style, and they're available in this November font, but in the meantime I became used to the curly flags so I'm uncertain about taking that particular plunge. The examples look very good though.

[Dave2002]

When I started using Sibelius I was disappointed that it wasn't possible to have straight quaver flags which I'd always used in my manuscript style, and they're available in this November font, but in the meantime I became used to the curly flags so I'm uncertain about taking that particular plunge. The examples look very good though.

On a single semiquaver or demisemiquaver in the new font the tails join up at the back to form enclosed "circles" - which seems wrong to me. Straight flags would avoid that.

I'm amazed at some of the other techniques which I guess were used even until quite recently - scraping metal with chisels, and also drawing a stave with a sort of 5 pronged chisel. I'd have though that numerical machine tools would have been the way to go for companies determined to stick with metal. Another techique shown in the video seems to have been some form of template - transfer method.

[Richard Barrett]

On a single semiquaver or demisemiquaver in the new font the tails join up at the back to form enclosed "circles"

Show me a music font where curly flags don't do that! It's a feature of every music font I've ever seen.