Score preparation and production double-checklist

Six years after our “Score preparation and production notes” episode — Episode No. 2 — essentially launched the podcast, 163 episodes later, Philip Rothman and David MacDonald return to the article that inspired the conversation: David’s score preparation checklist. The principles — respect for performers, readable parts, enough time for page turns — are as true as ever. But almost every specific tool reference in the original has a fuller story now.

The conversation moves section by section, serving as a reminder of the timeless principles and exploring all of the meaningful changes in the technology. Dorico’s live-reference cue system has become the standard no one else has matched — and the ease of it has quietly changed how generously cues get applied. The Dorico 6 Proofreading panel represents a new category of preparation tool, while the Sibelius plugin ecosystem has its own parallel answers. The condensing and decondensing workflows now available in both Dorico and Sibelius 2025.2 have transformed what was once among the most tedious jobs in parts preparation, and Sibelius 2025.7’s Auto-Respace toggle closes a gap that used to just be accepted.

Two sections are entirely new to the checklist: digital delivery — where the iPad has become as common in rehearsal as a music stand — and a pointed look at the file-organization habits that make or break a delivery package. This one’s chock-full of tips, resources and advice — with David’s updated accompanying article to come soon.

Products mentioned

Notation software

• Dorico (Steinberg)
• Sibelius (Avid)
• MuseScore Studio (Muse Group)
• Finale (MakeMusic) (mentioned as discontinued)

Fonts

• MusGlyphs (available at Notation Central)

NYC Music Services / Notation Central

• PDF Batch Utilities

Desktop publishing and document tools

• Affinity (Canva) (now free)
• Apple Pages
• Microsoft Word
• LibreOffice

Other tools mentioned

• Claude Cowork (Anthropic) (mentioned for AI-assisted file organization)
• Name Mangler / Renamer (mentioned briefly for file naming)
• forScore (mentioned as a score-reading app)

Previous Scoring Notes posts and podcast episodes

Directly mentioned or closely related:

• Score preparation and production Notes (David’s original 2018 article)
• Score preparation and production checklist (Episode 2, 2020)
• Partying with parts, part 1 (podcast, December 2021)
• Partying with parts, part 2 (podcast, December 2021)
• Orchestra librarians want you to know about parts paper sizes (May 3, 2022)
• Orchestra librarians want you to know about instrument names (June 20, 2022)
• Behind “Behind Bars” with Elaine Gould (podcast, July 2023)
• Behind Bars: General Conventions edition published (June 2023)
• Dorico 6: Proof positive (review, April 2025 — Proofreading Panel)
• Dorico 6.0.22 extends proofreading capabilities (July 2025 — ignore feature)
• Sibelius 2025.7 brings note spacing control, UI updates (July 2025 — Auto-Respace)
• Sibelius 2025.2 introduces decondensing parts with staff filters (February 2025)
• Sibelius 2022.5 brings multi-section headers, other workflow boosts (May 2022)
• MusGlyphs: an advanced music text font (April 2021)
• PDF Batch Utilities get a major rebuild — and a brand new app (March 2026)
• Freshly pressed (podcast, April 2026 — PDF Batch Utilities in depth)
• Calculate the weight, basis weight, or grammage of paper (April 2025)
• Chronology of a perfect music printing job (January 2022)
• DJA’s Notes: Music preparation basics (Darcy James Argue, September 2023)
• Documenting the documenter: Lillie Harris (podcast, April 2021 — Dorico manual)
• David MacDonald’s updated Score Preparation and Production Notes article

Other references

• Elaine Gould, Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation (Faber Music) — cues: p. 566; front matter: chapter 17, pp. 501–504
• Elaine Gould, Behind Bars: General Conventions (Faber Music) — the first third of Behind Bars as a standalone paperback and e-book
• MOLA Guide (Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association) — free PDF download
• Sibelius plugins page (still active at sibelius.com)
• Darcy James Argue, Music Preparation Fundamentals for Jazz Composers & Arrangers — free download
• Darcy James Argue, Music Preparation for the Large Jazz Ensemble — free download (supplement to the above)