346 - Deadlines
As a composer of occasional large scale works I can really appreciate how professionals can afford assistants for orchestration, score layout and proofreading.
I just finished a large work for mandolin orchestra, to be premiered later this year when we host the annual convention of the Classical Mandolin Society of America. I don’t know why I’m grousing because works for full orchestra are worse, but literally every time I open the score I’m seeing some little detail that needs to be fixed - an accidental left off here, a crescendo that aligns awkwardly there, a note missing an accent or staccato mark. It’s kind of never ending.
My score was due the 19th and just when I thought, okay, it’s done, a couple of changes occurred to me, these are the kinds of details Frank Zappa used to refer to as putting the eyebrows on the score. So I go in and add the eyebrows, shouldn’t be a big deal.
Well because one of the eyebrows involved splitting one measure into TWO measures - that messed with the layout of all the parts, which had to be corrected. It caused other issues too.
Finally I’ve had enough. It’s turned in. I have no doubt I’ll continue to find small errors, but those are just going on an errata sheet - I’ve had it!
