Even with years of performance experience, an innate sense of various musical styles, and a professional demeanor, one of the unfortunate situations encountered by community musicians is an unorganized and/or unprepared director. I would guess this is not an issue that professional musicians must deal with.
Conducting Style
It’s all about communication. Numerous times I’ve conducted various ensembles, on a podium and off, with a baton and without. However, I NEVER assumed that trying to tenderize an invisible slab of steak with my baton was the way to convey orchestral music to the players. WHAP! WHAP! WHAP!
I know – not everyone is agile enough to show various styles when conducting, nor have they studied conducting at university. I understand that perhaps they don’t think they can do any better, especially beginning conductors. But if you’ve been waving a stick in front of your fellow musicians for at least a few years, I would hope you’d have enough self-respect to improve your technique so that non-verbal communication becomes easier during rehearsals/performances.
If a conductor has low expectations of themselves or their ensemble, or if they’re just that lazy, then the music will likely remain sloppy, and most of the musicians will likely remain confused and frustrated. Directors, like musicians, must constantly strive for the highest quality they can give for every rehearsal. If you can’t, or won’t, please pass your baton to someone who can.
Preparing Sheet Music
This same concept applies to preparing sheet music for your players. If you have a condensed score and must create numerous individual parts from it, you have my sympathies. Been there, done that. Directors, librarians, or others who have been tasked with this onerous job should do themselves the favor of investing in quality music notation software, especially if they expect to create various parts for many years. This helps remove most of the guesswork.
I really don’t understand why some folks attempt to take on such a monumental task with only a pen and staff paper. This sometimes results in music that is not part of any chord structure guys like Mozart, Sousa, or Tchaikovsky had in mind. (For some, transposition is a harsh mistress!) If you’re one of the few who don’t happen to have a computer, I can’t help you. Good luck with your quill, ink well, and sheepskin parchment.
For everyone else, there are many excellent computer applications on the market today that ease the burden of music notation, as well as letting you hear the finished product to make sure all the parts sound the way you want. Printing an ensemble full of individual parts without listening first is like buying a house sight unseen – it’s just asking for trouble.
Even if you have a thin budget, I bet you could find a music notation program to fit your needs. Some have many bells and whistles; others are more basic. I am not here to recommend any one program over the others because I haven’t personally compared them, but if you Google “music notation software” you’ll see a plethora of choices.
One good place to start comparing apps might be here:
http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/home/best-music-notation-software/
Most of these cost between $50 – $100, and like most everything else in life, you get what you pay for. Consider paying to decrease your time, effort, and frustration when creating orchestrations, individual parts, and any other musical projects you may have. This goes double for any composers, arrangers, or conductors who expect to work with music scores over many years.
Computer Savvy?
And after you’ve purchased and installed your program of choice, please learn it. Yes, “user-friendly” applications are everywhere, but the reality is: there are no guarantees you’ll immediately understand how to make your new program do what you want. Usually it’s fine, but I’ve poked my head into my Finale instruction manual more often than I would’ve liked, to figure out how to transpose, change a time signature, add a partial measure at the beginning, make the computer playback swing instead of straight, etc.
If you’re even a little computer savvy, your learning curve may not be as steep as you might think. But don’t take one man’s guess for gospel – study the musical features, editing options, and other items for your potential software, then make your best choice that won’t break the bank. If you already have your software, but just haven’t learned how to do/create certain output, just do it. Please.
Hunker down and learn something new, if not for yourself, for the many eyes that will be reading and ears that will be hearing your results. You owe it to them.