recommendations for professional looking score print outs?

[Sonare Coeli]

Hello everyone,
I was just wondering what all of you do to print out scores and parts for ensembles, auditions, etc. I've just been wondering because I just finished an orchestral piece, and 8.5" x 11" paper will not do for how many staves there are. I set everything up in Finale for an 11" x 17" printout, and have been considering using Fedex Kinko's online upload and print service, which is really great, because then I could send a PDF to them online and pick it up later in the day, bound and everything.

What do you guys do when you have to print high quality scores or have a large number of parts to print that need to look professional? Are there some other services out there that I'm missing?

[Jeff Turner]

Finding a print shop (like Kinkos) who can handle oversize printouts is a good idea. But depending on who the music is for could determine what size to use.

If you're writing for some specific ensemble, check with them about their preferences.

For parts, I never use letter size, too small.
Published music is normally 9" x 12".
Music for commercial settings like studio work, jazz ensembles or live acts is often 9.5" x 12.5" or 10" x 13".
And finally, music for symphony orchestras can be a variety of sizes including the ones I've mentioned and up to 11" x 14"

For scores, check with the conductor. Many like 11" x 17", but others don't because it's too tall for their music stand. The largest score that I've created was 14" wide by 24" long. But that was a nightmare.

I have a HP 5000 printer which can handle most of these sizes. But if you don't need large format printing done often, you're better off finding a print house to handle this.

Good luck,
Jeff

[danpowers]

I've been using Subito Music's printing services for several years now.

http://www.subitomusic.com/services/printing_services.cfm