Before the digital age, music notation was either copied by hand or set using a musical notation typewriter. It was a time consuming affair, and was prone to mistakes. These days, most composers elect to use software such as Sibelius or Finale to engrave their music. The terms typesetting, engraving and copying are these days mostly interchangeable, and usually refer to tweaking an already existing file to make it “print ready”. I tend to refer to it as making the music “beautiful”, as the default settings in notation programs are typically flawed.
Music engraving is the art of drawing music notation at high quality for the purpose of mechanical reproduction. The term music copying is almost equivalent—though music engraving implies a higher degree of skill and quality, usually for publication. (Wikipedia)
We’ve all seen badly set notation, and it makes the music much harder to rehearse and perform. Basic notation principles are designed solely to make music more readable and when these are ignored, mistakes are most often made by the musicians. A good engraver also has the ability to find mistakes in the composition of the music, whether it’s dynamic consistency or small mistakes in the harmonies. Sometimes the role of editor is taken on by the engraver as well, so a good knowledge of musical theory and composition is essential.
Have you seen bad examples of engraving? Or perhaps you’re a composer who doesn’t have the time or nous to painstakingly check and set every part in an orchestration? An engraver could be the missing link in getting your piece performed and published.