Marking on Orchestral Parts (advice and tips from a orchestral librarian)
Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2025 8:14 pm
It seems like when I am given the opportunity to play with an orchestra, rehearsal time is less and less--one rehearsal concerts (essentially a dress) on movie music concerts, I get 1 rehearsal and a dress for the next masterworks I was recently called for (Bolero, Carmen Suites), so when something happens, I normally mark quickly and boldly to make sure I don't miss it or do what the maestro wants when it counts.
@Colby Fahrenbacher, an orchestral librarian, gave some very good advice on how to mark these on social media to make their jobs easier (and perhaps, so orchestral librarians judge us less when we turn parts back in).
1) Use a sharpened, soft graphite pencil (2B) or a mechanical pencil (.9mm preferred). I normally use .5mm so this is new to me
2) Mark as lightly as you can with it being legible. I normally write very fast, so it becomes hard.
3) Don't make markings multiple times to make it bolder--let the lead do this. Don't mark over old markings, erase it first
4) Make sure the surface behind the paper is hard to make sure the paper doesn't get deformed, so if it is a larger program, write with the stand behind instead of other papers.
5) Use a high-polymer eraser (usually the white ones). Don’t use an old eraser as they dry out and become less effective.
Something I generally cover when teaching is specific markings and to mark music to ensure we don't forget it. I have had that youth orchestras have used prior where every single fingering is written in pen (for BBb tubas, with wrong fingerings at that) and the part gets included with the next set, and these often are not rentals, so I fear the costs occurred with rentals. I was the band librarian for a year while in college, but every rental I was instructed to make photo-copies and not pass it out. I have learned a lot about what our unsung heroes do to ensure we have the music for the rehearsals.
@Colby Fahrenbacher, an orchestral librarian, gave some very good advice on how to mark these on social media to make their jobs easier (and perhaps, so orchestral librarians judge us less when we turn parts back in).
1) Use a sharpened, soft graphite pencil (2B) or a mechanical pencil (.9mm preferred). I normally use .5mm so this is new to me
2) Mark as lightly as you can with it being legible. I normally write very fast, so it becomes hard.
3) Don't make markings multiple times to make it bolder--let the lead do this. Don't mark over old markings, erase it first
4) Make sure the surface behind the paper is hard to make sure the paper doesn't get deformed, so if it is a larger program, write with the stand behind instead of other papers.
5) Use a high-polymer eraser (usually the white ones). Don’t use an old eraser as they dry out and become less effective.
Something I generally cover when teaching is specific markings and to mark music to ensure we don't forget it. I have had that youth orchestras have used prior where every single fingering is written in pen (for BBb tubas, with wrong fingerings at that) and the part gets included with the next set, and these often are not rentals, so I fear the costs occurred with rentals. I was the band librarian for a year while in college, but every rental I was instructed to make photo-copies and not pass it out. I have learned a lot about what our unsung heroes do to ensure we have the music for the rehearsals.