REPRODUCING MUSIC FOR BRAILLE
TRANSCRIPTION
I
wrote this article to help instructors, student services staff, and blind
musicians reduce the amount of time that it takes the braille transcriber to complete
a piece of music. This document and many other digital print and braille
resources are available at www.papermusic.org.
Legal Obligations: Before sending material to be transcribed, it is
extremely important that you observe care and prudence when reproducing
copyrighted materials. If you are a student, and the transcriptions are
required for your education, you are allowed under the fair use exemption to
the copyright law to reproduce materials for that purpose. Otherwise, it is
your responsibility to secure permission before sending copies of music.
It is also important to exercise due restraint in re-distributing printed or
electronic copies, including your embossed braille volumes.
Reproduction Guidelines: The quality and readability of the manuscript
dramatically affects the amount of time it takes to produce the finished
braille. It is optimal for the transcriber to have the published print edition,
but if you must send a photocopy or a digital image of the manuscript, please
observe these guidelines:
1. Ensure that the music is aligned straight,
horizontally and vertically, when copying. Sloppy or careless scanning
techniques possibly cause the greatest amount of frustration for transcribers.
2. Though it increases the size of the scanned files,
it’s preferable to have a black & white grayscale image instead of
two-tone. Faxed copies of music are never acceptable. A resolution of 300dpi is
good for standard sized music. Increase the scanner resolution as the music
gets smaller. For example, a standard choral octavo-sized piece scans well at
300dpi. Miniature study scores should be scanned at 600dpi.
3. Minimize shadows in the copy, especially within the
valley of the spine of a book, by applying gentle pressure to keep the copy
flat against the scanning glass. It is expected to have some shadow around the
outside of the image, but try to ensure that everything on the page has at
least a half-inch of white space around it. Most published music is slightly
larger than can be copied directly onto standard 8.5 × 11 inch paper.
Reduction to 93% is acceptable as long as the music remains completely
legible (see the point #2). Avoid the temptation to scan two print pages
side-by-side. This level of reduction makes the music very difficult to read,
especially for electronic processing through optical character readers (OCR),
and also for those who have been staring at computer monitors all our lives.
4. Always check the entire scanned document to ensure
that nothing has been omitted from the original, including the full title of
the piece and individual movements or sections, the composer information,
copyright information, etc. If the copy you send is an excerpt from the middle
of a larger work, please include a scan of the first page of music that
includes all of this important information.
5. Because individual performers' markings are not part
of the original published manuscript, they are generally not included in the
finished file. This includes such markings added after publication
(i.e., by the performer, instructor, or conductor) such as bowings, fingerings,
pedalings, etc. If these markings are part of the original, they should be included. If the instructor and student
need other “after-print” markings, the transcriber needs to know this. The
transcriber’s intent is always to faithfully reproduce the original published
print copy.
6. Again, please double-check the scan/copy to ensure
that it is completely legible and clear throughout. Frequently encountered
problems include: missing or fragmented bottom staff (bass line), missing
clefs, missing bar lines at the ends of staves, faint or missing stems,
overabundant performers’ markings that obscure or distort the music, and
technical problems with the reproduction technology that obscures and/or
distorts the music.
By following these simple
guidelines, you can greatly increase the productivity of your friendly
neighborhood braille transcriber by decreasing the amount of time it takes to
transcribe your music.
Thank
you for helping us help you help us all! --Andy English
