Using leftover space

[db322014]

Hello fellas!

Hope you're all doing well. Would you know how to use empty spaces on a score that leftover from a movement? I'd rather use it and start a new movement than having just on or two systems and waste the rest of the space. That doesn't look much professional...

Actually, I think that's another topic which is worthy of discussion (if not discussed yet): how to properly distribute systems and measures to avoid empty spaces on a score.

Thanks!

[John Ruggero]

Hi db322014. You'll get a lot of different opinions on this, but I think that if this is a score that a instrumentalist will perform from, like a pianist, then one first finds the best places for page turns in all the movements, and let that determine the rest of the layout, with the number of systems per page varying as needed. If you do that, the situation you describe will come up relatively rarely. But if it does, and the page turns work out well, then if is fine for two movements to share a page. Usually it is best if this happens on a right page. But also on a left page as long as the earlier movement doesn't end with one or two systems, which can be awkward for the player.

If this is not a score that a musician will actually play from, then it is even easier to make it all work out without one or two or three "orphaned" systems on a page, which as you said is ugly and unprofessional. And having two movements share a page is fine.

[OCTO]

Generally, it doesn't look so good. I would try either:
a) to compress overall spacing so that the music fits on the last page
b) to expand overall spacing so that the music fits on the last page
c) as you say, to fill the rest with the following movement.

[db322014]

Hello, John and Octo

If I'm engraving a duo piece (piano and another instrument), I generally use 3 system for the first page (title, subtitle, composer, etc.) and 4 systems for the rest of the pages. That works for the score, but not always the movement ends with exact 4 systems. I was wondering if there was kind of a formula to measures and system end exactly how we wish them to and if this is how it works with well-known publishers.

I'm currently engraving a suite for cello and piano and the movements are very short. The first movement is two pages long and worked fine with the same number of systems i mentioned just by changing the number of measures on the system. But the cello part was just 5 system long and there's still some space to filled. I would like to start the second movement on the same page so, by the time that happens, I should start a new file or keep working on the same file and just take some space for the new title and add some staves? In case I create a new file, I should just Cut and Paste all the staves, notes and information to the leftover space on the previous file?

[John Ruggero]

As I mentioned, I don't use a preset formula, because every piece of music is different. I let the page turns dictate the layout since I want what is best for someone playing from the score. Some publishers try to minimize the number of pages for financial reasons and will do whatever that takes, with no concern for the player, but that has changed for some of the best publishers (Wiener Urtext for example) who try to provide good page turns.

It sounds like all the movements of your cello part could be in the same Finale file and the movements could start and stop in the middle of pages as long as the page turns work out well. However, there is nothing wrong with splitting the final systems of the first movement or the first systems of the second between two different files. That's what I have done when dealing with longer movements.