A case for slab serifs in music

Music notation symbols, fonts, font sources and font creation, SmuFL.
Schonbergian
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by Schonbergian »

I especially like the numerals. However, if I were to use this in my own publications, I would need a heavier variant - that being said, the design itself is excellent.
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liuscorne
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by liuscorne »

Congratulation, Knut! It looks really great.
Knut
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by Knut »

Schonbergian wrote: 23 Sep 2017, 19:21 I especially like the numerals. However, if I were to use this in my own publications, I would need a heavier variant - that being said, the design itself is excellent.
Thank you!

Glad you like the numerals, and BTW, open style 4 and 1 with diagonal terminal (as commonly seen in time signatures) will be the style used for at least the semibold and bold weights. I have considered using them for all weights, but they are a lot less legible than their counterparts at small sizes when strokes get on the thinner side.

I'm curious how heavy you would need the font to be to be able to use it. After all, the regular weight shown here is heavier than the outlined version of Hercules Text used in liuscorne's example above. I was planning on including three weights: Regular, Semibold and Bold, but a Medium weight might be in order as well.
liuscorne wrote: 23 Sep 2017, 19:37 Congratulation, Knut! It looks really great.
Thank you, liuscorne! I'm really glad you like it.
Schonbergian
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by Schonbergian »

Knut wrote: 23 Sep 2017, 20:50 I'm curious how heavy you would need the font to be to be able to use it. After all, the regular weight shown here is heavier than the outlined version of Hercules Text used in liuscorne's example above. I was planning on including three weights: Regular, Semibold and Bold, but a Medium weight might be in order as well.
I can't give you any sort of objective weight specification, just my subjective eye - but if this is the Regular weight, than I think a Medium weight would be perfect. My engraving is often much heavier than the example you linked, and I feel a heavier font would be needed to balance it out.
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odod
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by odod »

liuscorne wrote: 20 Sep 2017, 14:25 BTW: The music font is my own. It is actually based on hand-engraved scores by Peters, though not from the particular time and in the particular style used in the score that Schonbergian referred to.
the G clef looks like SCORE or Partita font .. but i prefer this one
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Knut
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by Knut »

odod wrote: 25 Sep 2017, 13:23
liuscorne wrote: 20 Sep 2017, 14:25 BTW: The music font is my own. It is actually based on hand-engraved scores by Peters, though not from the particular time and in the particular style used in the score that Schonbergian referred to.
the G clef looks like SCORE or Partita font .. but i prefer this one
I agree about the SCORE comparison, altough the weight of liuscorne's clef is much more balanced with the other characters.
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odod
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by odod »

Knut wrote: 25 Sep 2017, 14:13
odod wrote: 25 Sep 2017, 13:23
liuscorne wrote: 20 Sep 2017, 14:25 BTW: The music font is my own. It is actually based on hand-engraved scores by Peters, though not from the particular time and in the particular style used in the score that Schonbergian referred to.
the G clef looks like SCORE or Partita font .. but i prefer this one
I agree about the SCORE comparison, altough the weight of liuscorne's clef is much more balanced with the other characters.
your EDITION PETERS looks a bit problematic with the kerning or spacing, the spacing between P and E, D iti on .. or maybe my monitor resolution
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my attempt
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liuscorne
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by liuscorne »

BTW: The font used for "Edition Peters" in my example is called Tenso. You can get the Regular weight for free:

https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/exljbris/tenso/

Tenso comes quite close in appearance to the original Peters scores. Since the original is basically a sans serif version of the Scotch Roman font style, the little "hooks" (see for example /t and /r) are part of the design. However, Knut's version (Univers condensed?) works well too.
Knut
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by Knut »

odod wrote: 25 Sep 2017, 15:03
your EDITION PETERS looks a bit problematic with the kerning or spacing, the spacing between P and E, D iti on .. or maybe my monitor resolution


I don't see the problem in print from the pdf, so I think this must be a display/hinting issue. In any case, I didn't design the sans serif font, so I have no license to mess with the spacing.
Knut
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Re: A case for slab serifs in music

Post by Knut »

liuscorne wrote: 25 Sep 2017, 15:31 BTW: The font used for "Edition Peters" in my example is called Tenso. You can get the Regular weight for free:

https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/exljbris/tenso/

Tenso comes quite close in appearance to the original Peters scores. Since the original is basically a sans serif version of the Scotch Roman font style, the little "hooks" (see for example /t and /r) are part of the design. However, Knut's version (Univers condensed?) works well too.
Exactly right! Impressive. I love Univers condensed and have used it a lot for engraving purposes. I agree, though that Tenso is closer to the original.

I've never noticed how the original font is so closely related to the Scotch serif style. It makes an excellent starting point for a sans serif version of my own font. Maybe some day ... :)
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