Engraving Portfolio

What is music engraving?

Music engraving is the art of typesetting and designing high quality sheet music. In the modern era, though physical music engraving still exists, most professionals use computer programs to typeset music. However, music engraving takes a lot more skill than simply typing notes onto a staff. It is a form of art—akin to graphic design—that takes a well-trained eye for detail and a vast understanding of standard music notation conventions.

A composer may hire a professional music engraver to ensure their music is fully realized on paper and ready for print and publish. Engravers will spend tedious hours going over every detail of the written music and the layout of the page, making sure the sheet music meets high-quality standards. Music engravers will identify notational ambiguity, confirm with the composer what their intentions are, and make necessary changes to relieve the ambiguity—contributing to shorter rehearsal times.

In the end, the composer receives beautifully-designed, easy-to-read sheet music—professionally engraved and ready for print and publish.

What can you expect from a Resendes Engraving?

I have an affinity for organization and a keen attention to detail, which makes being a professional music engraver the perfect career choice for me. Throughout the engraving process, I double- and triple-check my work, then I check it all again when I am finished. Music engraving can be a very tedious process for some people, but it is one I enjoy.

For my engravings, I use Steinberg’s Dorico—a relatively new, yet very powerful, music notation software. With varying prices, I can engrave full scores, condensed scores, vocal scores, instrument and vocal parts, and some alternative-notation scores. Upon completion, I will provide PDF files of the sheet music (and/or the Dorico file, for an additional charge), which will be ready for immediate printing.

On this page, you will find examples of previous engraving work I have done.

Music Engraving Commission Pricing Information

In general, music engraving work is priced according to the finished pages, though sometimes it is priced hourly. Other factors which may affect pricing include: the complexity of the music (how much “ink” is on the page), number of instruments, “extra markings” (including figured bass, chord symbols, cues, et cetera), and the size of the staves.

Below, you will see a few examples of price estimates for my engraving work. To commission engraving work from me, and to receive a quote, please contact me at ResendesMusic@gmail.com.

Pricing Examples:

Solo Instrument or Solo Voice (with 1 line of English lyrics):
$30 per finished page

Solo Voice, with 1 line of non-English lyrics:
$35 per finished page

Solo Keyboard, reduced staff size (See “Cake-Walk-Kuchentanz”):
$40 per finished page

Solo Voice with Keyboard Accompaniment, with 3 lines of non-English lyrics (see “Der Duncancan”):
$45 per finished page