Case Study: Creating a Hybrid Score for DJ and Live Musicians
- James Smith
- Jun 18
- 4 min read
Creating sheet music is like popping on the morning first brew. It is something we do all the time for all manner of instruments and ensembles, whether it’s for a single solo instrument or a full symphonic orchestral recording session, for a feature film, wedding, or a cricket match. We love creating the blue prints for a stand out performance and have got quite handy at turning around all manner of requests.
The Job
Here’s a fairly interesting request we had come in: ‘the DJ has done the arrangement and all the details have been cleared on their end, we just need a guide score for our live performers to follow for the gig. We have a DJ, prerecords, bagpipes, marching band and a line up of fanfare trumpets. We need a guide click, and parts for the musicians. The musicians need to blend seamlessly with the prerecords and DJ, for a one off performance and that’s all I can tell you.’
Our first thought was ‘what on earth is happening for all these performers to be in the same room let alone the same performance’, but it sounded like a great challenge.
How we went about delivering
Firstly the guide audio track provided was dropped into our DAW, a tempo map was created along with a master click. From here we had our structure, sketching out what was happening at each moment into our notated score. We placed plenty of cues in this score as it chopped and changed track and tempi with transitions all over the place.
As soon as you have a tempo map in place and structural directions in the score that is the hard bit done. Everyone in the room is now singing from the same hymn sheet and they know what is going to happen when. Anything on top of that is instructions to each musician to perform what they need to within this guide.
Each section gets notated in turn with So… Many… Checks… And Double Checks… And after all the dots are in the right place and thoroughly checked over one more time, we need to engrave the parts to make sure all the notation is the right size for each performer. We can’t be having a trumpeter with a massive novelty cheque size page right in front of their face or a snare drum part so small they have to hunch over to read their part. We also think about page turns if needed and do dummy runs for transitions and page turns to make sure the parts are legible for each performer.
Even though it isn’t always necessary, I like to print a page or two to make sure what is on the digital page translates accurately as what is on a computer screen doesn’t always flag everything until printed.
We always like to spend a little time ensuring the exported files are nicely organised and instantly findable in the delivery folder too. Even though we have templates that automatically export and title to what we need, a manual check is always beneficial If reprints are needed minutes before a gig (this happens frequently) we want the folder with all the parts to be in score order and exactly where it is expected to be. Nobody wants to be under time pressure and struggling to find what they need.
All the files are then checked one more time and sent out for delivery. We like to print our sheet music on 120gsm white paper for that extra stability on a music stand or lyre, but more often than not, these days printing is handled by the client or librarian.
The delivery is then checked by the client… usually during a sound check and then the performance occurs. So, on our end we are privileged that there is that innate assumption that the music is perfect but this leaves no margin for human error. So we need to get it right. Exactly right. Everytime. A 99% accuracy rate within a score just isn’t good enough and it can derail an entire performance.
Check out this video by Earspasm demonstrating this:
The Results
When we finally found out, this job turned out to be the finale of the British Fashion Awards, at the Royal Albert Hall in 2022, introduced by Naomi Campbell. This was a tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
See more about the show click here.
Seeing the impact of our work move from a small studio making noises, and drawing dots on a piece of paper, to a career progressing in the music industry is a hard going process at times. It is an industry that is notorious for being unforgiving with next to no margin for error. However at times like this, when you see the final show, it is so fulfilling and has led to the building of an excellent relationship providing music to the insanely talented London Fanfare Trumpets.
Thomas Rudd, Founder of the London Fanfare Trumpets said
"Couldn’t have done it without you, James.
When you’re working on projects like this, with tight turnarounds and a brief that’s little more than a concept at the start, it’s incredibly valuable to have people around you that you trust to just get it done.
We knew you were the right man for the job and you absolutely delivered. The arrangements were spot on, which meant we could focus on pulling together the performers and making the whole thing happen.
Always a pleasure working with you, and even more satisfying seeing it all come together on a stage like the Royal Albert Hall."
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