Note engraver
Sheet music engraver is a historical occupation that consisted in the production of printing forms for music . The production of sheet music has meanwhile been integrated into the new apprenticeship as digital and print media designer .
history
The engraving of notes in copper plates , later also other soft metals and alloys , spread from France in the 18th century. Notes , clefs , staves , lyrics, etc. were transferred to the plates by hammering or piercing, which then served as a printing form.
The traditional engraving of sheet music in metal plates has now been almost completely replaced by computer-aided typesetting and printing techniques. So was z. E.g. the last record was engraved at Musikverlag Schott in 1995, and electronic music notation began there in 1989 . Since the computerization of music notation and the end of the typesetter trade, the activity of the note engraver has generally been taken over by the media designer and has developed from a manual to an IT profession. In the former GDR, the profession was carried out under the names of skilled typesetting technicians (making notes) and typesetting technicians (making notes). Music engraver was a recognized training occupation in Germany until 2007 .
education
The dual training lasted three years and was regulated throughout Germany according to the Vocational Training Act. It mostly took place in sheet music printers and music publishers .
In Austria, the teaching profession of note engraver no longer exists since 1978.
Job description
The first step is to divide the notes on the pages in order to obtain a score that is as easy to read as possible. This is followed by the vertical division of the needle plate, i.e. the distance between the staves , taking into account any lyrics or other text entries, dynamic instructions , auxiliary lines, etc. The staff lines are then drawn up with a raster and a ruler and the horizontal pages are divided with a compass. The notes are given their place in proportion to their value , and the entire manuscript is then transferred backwards with a stylus . The characters that remain the same for all compositions, such as clefs , noteheads , accidentals , accidentals , pauses , etc., are then stamped into the record. The resulting bumps due to material displacement are smoothed immediately. All elements that differ from composition to composition, such as note stems, bars, slurs , crescendo and diminuendo forks, etc. Ä. are then engraved. The burrs that arise here are also eliminated.
To check the image, the plate is coated with paint and a negative print is printed using a hand press . This is checked by correctors , any incorrectly engraved areas are noted by the engraver with the correction pliers (a pair of compasses with inwardly curved tips) on the back of the throat plate. From there, a stamp is used to drive the material back to the front so that the area becomes level again. A further smoothing of the front side prepares the surface for the correction.
The approximately 1.5 mm thick needle plates often consisted of a lead - tin - antimony - alloy which certainly constitute a health risk. It took about five to seven hours to create a plate, and it could then be used for about 1500 prints.
Web links
- Summary of a contribution by Bavarian television about the Würzburg music engraver Hans Kühner
- Note engraving / notation on the website of G. Henle Verlag with videos on the work of the note engraver
literature
- Karl Hader: From the workshop of a music engraver . Waldheim-Eberle-Verlag, Vienna 1948, DNB 996 857 583 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Description of the job of a music engraver. (PDF; 114 KB) In: www.berufenet.arbeitsagentur.de. February 23, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Facts about the engraving. (No longer available online.) In: schott-international.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017 ; accessed on April 21, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Description of training as a music engraver. (PDF; 121 KB) In: berufenet.arbeitsagentur.de. July 29, 2002. Retrieved April 21, 2017 .
- ↑ Steps for creating a music engraving plate. (No longer available online.) In: schott-international.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015 ; Retrieved December 25, 2015 .