Hi Paul, It's been a while since I've chimed in on the list.
If you were to measure any orchestral part published by Breitkopf (Leipzig), I believe the staff size is 7.6 mm or 88% in Finale. 7mm is a minimum, although commonly used by G. Schirmer. You can also check reprint publishers such as Kalmus or Luck's for those staff sizes. I'm fully aware of the MOLA Guidelines and know many of the orchestra librarians that contributed to the creation of it. I would recommend using the same staff size throughout all the parts. Hope this helps, Greg Greg Hamilton Music Service Home Office: 604.420.2679 Cell: 604.612.9204 > > From: Paul Hayden <phayden...@cox.net> > Date: February 16, 2011 9:47:25 AM PST > To: finale@shsu.edu > Subject: [Finale] Staff size recommendations > Reply-To: finale@shsu.edu > > > Just received my copy of Elaine Gould's "Behind Bars". It's going to take a > while to browse through all 600+ pages, but I wanted to ask about one thing > she discusses: staff size. On page 557 she states "If the performer is likely > to be some distance from the stand or if two players share a copy, the stave > size should be larger than otherwise (e.g. 7 mm)... An ideal staff size in > good lighting conditions is 6.7 mm..." > > However, "MOLA Guidelines for Music Preparation" (which I've been following) > states "The most readable staff size for all instruments is 8.5 mm... > Although 8 mm is readable for winds, it is less so for strings. Wind players > can read music from staves that measure 7.5 mm, but this is very problematic > for string players." > > Now the difference between 7 mm and 8.5 mm sounds small, but it is huge on > the page! I'd like to ask what you use for the following: > > 1. Large ensemble string parts (usually 2 to a part). > 2. Large ensemble wind parts (1 to a part). > 3. Chamber music parts (1 to a part). > > I know that vocal parts (e.g., a cappella choir scores) are different animals > altogether. > > Thanks. > > Paul Hayden > > > Magnolia Music Press > <www.paulhayden.com> > Voice & Pre-arranged fax: 225-769-9604 _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
