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Microengraving

Posted: 22 Apr 2025, 18:00
by db322014
Hey fellas,

A colleague from grad school engraved two sonatas for violin and piano of a XIX composer. She called her work as microengraving.
Does that really exist? What is it about?

Re: Microengraving

Posted: 23 Apr 2025, 02:33
by John Ruggero
New one on me. Maybe she engraves at 800% or higher? That can give some very precise results.

Re: Microengraving

Posted: 23 Apr 2025, 03:20
by JJP
I immediately envisioned a sonata on the back of a postage stamp.

Re: Microengraving

Posted: 23 Apr 2025, 11:36
by db322014
Good morning, fellas

Yeah, that sounded strange to me too... I thought this term "microengraving" was common among professionals publishers. Maybe she's a professional and raises the detail level to the highest. Actually, I was wondering if that microengraving referred to a calculated kind of work, where everything would be based on numeric coordinates, not done manually with a mouse.

Re: Microengraving

Posted: 23 Apr 2025, 12:21
by John Ruggero
In the days of hand-copying, there was something called "autography" which was similar to engineering drawing of that time done on a drawing board with special equipment. It produced output that was quite close to plate engraving. Maybe she is doing something like that on a computer? There is a very fine engraver, Wesselin Christoph Karaatanassov, who does detailed work of this kind with Finale and his own battery of techniques, fonts etc. Maybe she is a disciple of Wess or does something similar.

Re: Microengraving

Posted: 30 Apr 2025, 07:23
by benwiggy
db322014 wrote: 22 Apr 2025, 18:00 She called her work as microengraving.
Does that really exist? What is it about?
Those would be questions for the person who used the term!

Perhaps they mean a portmanteau of "micro-managing" and "engraving", meaning extreme attention to tiny details?