GET SMART

Aug 1, 2002 12:00 PM

           
 

BRICHTMARK MUSIC

There are a number of programs for desktop music publishing that are able to produce high-quality scores. Although they offer the necessary tools, few of them provide the rhyme and reason behind creating beautiful, legible scores. Steven Powell's Music Engraving Today ($29.95) lays out the fundamentals of music engraving and how to use them to produce clear, playable scores and parts.

Part one covers engraving basics, including page fundamentals, rhythm, pitch, markings, and divisi. A section on musical genres covers scores for chorus, solo voice, orchestra, band, music for books, and commercial copy. A section on tools of the trade discusses notation programs, fonts, typography, page layout, and more.

Powell provides examples using Coda's Finale and Sibelius Software's Sibelius. Each step of the process is explained with examples and tips, and quizzes are provided at the end. Elkin Music International (distributor); tel. (800) 367-3554; e-mail brichtmark@aol.com; Web www.elkinmusic.com.

HAL LEONARD

I kutaro Kakehashi, founder of the Roland Corp., has released his autobiography, I Believe in Music ($27.95). Along the way, Kakehashi's book profiles major developments in the field of electronic music, including the advent of MIDI and the guitar synthesizer.

The book is peppered with anecdotes about the music industry and includes behind-the-scenes vignettes describing the development of landmark electronic musical instruments. For example, Kakehashi talks about Roland's DCB (Digital Communication Bus) and the emergence of the MIDI 1.0 specification. The book concludes with a tour of Kakehashi's favorite pipe organs and a collection of interviews with electronic-music pioneers such as Don Leslie (inventor of the Leslie cabinet) and Isao Tomita. Hal Leonard Corp.; tel. (414) 774-3630; Web www.halleonard.com.

PROMUSIC PRESS

Despite remarkable advances in digital sampling technology, the Mellotron is still an extremely desirable vintage keyboard, primarily because of its unique sound. In The Mellotron Book ($24.95), author Frank Samagaio recounts the development of and the principles behind tape-replay instruments.

The lavishly illustrated book includes interviews with a number of famous Mellotron players, as well as descriptions of the numerous tape-replay instruments, such as the Chamberlin, the Novatron, the Birotron, and the prototype Digital Mellotron. The appendices include a list of sound libraries for the instrument, Mellotron advertisements, and albums in which the instrument appears. Hal Leonard Corp. (distributor); tel. (414) 774-3630; Web www.artistpro.com.