Composers: what type of pen do you use?

[paul]

I've been happy writing music in pencil, which is necessary for most people, but when I want to make neater drafts for myself and for people to read, I find myself wanting to write in pen. What types should I try out?

[Mark G. Simon]

I've been using Finale for the past 16 years, but when I was still using pen and ink I used:

A fountain pen with a special music nib
A rapidograph pen with a very thin tip (I can't remember the specific width. I think it might be .01)
A pencil and eraser.
A clear plastic ruler.

The fountain pen was for the note heads, flags and beams, clefs, instrument names, dynamics, and for tempo markings and other bold-face directions such as cresc., dim., con sord., etc. The rapidograph was for stems, ledger lines and barlines. The pencil was for measuring the amount of space on the page I was going to allot for each measure, then drawing light lines for each beat so that there would be good vertical alignment of notes. All of the pencil marks would, of course, be erased after the ink was dry.

[The Mad Hatter]

I use either a black felt-tip pen or a (don't laugh) pen and ink-bottle.

The former makes everything look clear and bold, but the latter gives a gorgeous line.

[lukeottevanger]

I use anything-that-comes-to-hand and then write it into Sibelius. Even in the pre-Sibelius days I never had  anything particular for score-writing, except when writing large orchestral works when I would use something with a very thick nib for large time signatures, tempi and so on.

[Bonehelm]

I've been happy writing music in pencil, which is necessary for most people, but when I want to make neater drafts for myself and for people to read, I find myself wanting to write in pen. What types should I try out?

It's called a keyboard. Welcome to the 21st century.

[Cato]

Back when I composed regularly I used 3 fine-tipped PaperMate Flair pens: black for the notes, red for dynamics, and blue for instructions.

I tried the fountain pens with special nibs and so on, but we usually ended up fighting, and somebody would get thrown up against a wall and roughed up.

It wasn't pretty!   

Yes, today I would just use the computer capabilities!  Much faster and neater!

[karlhenning]

It's called a keyboard. Welcome to the 21st century.

But you understand, if you learn first how to notate properly by writing the score longhand, then you know where the computer software is helpful, and you know its limitations – and you are then forearmed in terms of how you need to work to refine the result from the software.

Welcome to reality.

[Monsieur Croche]

But you understand, if you learn first how to notate properly by writing the score longhand, then you know where the computer software is helpful, and you know its limitations – and you are then forearmed in terms of how you need to work to refine the result from the software.

Welcome to reality.

"...yes I said yes I will Yes." ~ James Joyce, Ulysses.

Welcome to current reality, indeed. Midi Marvels where instrumental samples allow taking an alto flute through a tessitura ranging from the highest note possible on a piccolo to below the lowest note possible on a piano, for example. Well, be prepared for a gale of laughter and an irritated storm of scorn from the player when you show them part -- and be prepared to go back to the drafting board and extensively rethink and rewrite what you had first done.

Indeed.

Midi also allows any ole operator to 'write' a part which would be both unplayable on a specific instrument, as well as that part being inaudible in a large orchestral texture if played by an acoustic instrument in an ensemble of acoustic instruments. Those 'unreal' possibilities can be well taken advantage of if the piece is to live only in a recorded midi / sample-based version.

Ditto, to be redundant, what you've generally said about notation [and amen to that as well.]

There is also that little matter of, like being able to type quickly, generating voluminous amounts of material faster than one can think.

Writing and notating by hand allow the time to think about what you are doing, and to make more discerning choices along the way. If you have the skills and have accumulated enough experience of doing things by hand, you can then readily bring those experiences, and 'learned discernment' to any midi / computer / notation software set up, which are fabulous tools. Those tools are infinitely better and more useful in serving you if you have the tools of those other musical skills to bring to the electronic musical media.

There is more than enough completely uninteresting trash without merit being generated through both means, but to go the midi route without hardly knowing anything of the craft of composing and orchestration, or notation -- especially if one has any hopes of actual musicians performing whatever has been made -- is like relying on spell check to correct all your lack of skills in grammar, syntax, and spelling.

Those who go to the midi-computer M.O. before knowing anything of the craft of composing, instrumental writing and notation are utterly reliant and only aware of 'what those programs can do,' and -- gasp, those programs, even the best, have limitations. Notation software 'guesses' wrongly, quite regularly, from played-in midi data, and unless you know what you want, and specifically how to notate it, you won't have a clue to go in to that program and use its 'exception / over-ride' capabilities. You end up stuck within the more fundamental functions of the software, and good luck with that.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Pencil only for me! When I write neater drafts I still use pencil, but then I photocopy it this converting the pencil markings to ink.

[Monsieur Croche]

Pencil only for me! When I write neater drafts I still use pencil, but then I photocopy it this converting the pencil markings to ink.

If you use a soft enough lead for those neater drafts, you can then carefully ink those over while further tweaking spacing, beams, and other elements, and then gently go over the dry copy with an art gum eraser to then remove the original pencil. That makes the actual copy prior the photocopy much more permanent -- better looking, too, imo; you also get, really, a better photocopy from the inked draft.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

If you use a soft enough lead for those neater drafts, you can then carefully ink those over while further tweaking spacing, beams, and other elements, and then gently go over the dry copy with an art gum eraser to then remove the original pencil. That makes the actual copy prior the photocopy much more permanent -- better looking, too, imo; you also get, really, a better photocopy from the inked draft.

For those versions for performance I leave the copying to copyists....they use computers and I can get on with more composing.

[Karl Henning]

I use anything-that-comes-to-hand and then write it into Sibelius.

Ditto.

[Karl Henning]

Pencil only for me! When I write neater drafts I still use pencil, but then I photocopy it this converting the pencil markings to ink.

I did that when I was your age