Behind the Editor’s Desk

Usually, I’m pretty good at Word, but a mystery has been plaguing me for YEARS that I finally just figured out.

Sometimes, for inexplicable reasons, Word staunchly refuses to spell check. It behaves as if everything was spelled correctly, even though EVERYTHING IS NOT. You can go to Tools > Spelling and Grammar, and nothing happens. Just a stupid smile. You can spell cat “ddog” and it will just beam, peacefully at you. Nothing gets the red underline. Even the Preference “Check Spelling as you Type” is active. Ddog is fine with Mr. Computer.

To fix it:

1. Select Edit>Replace.

2. Click the arrow to expand to Advanced settings.

3. Click in the Find field to set the pointer there.

4. Click the middle popup menu “Format”), and choose “Language.”

5. Activate “Do not check spelling or grammar.” Leave the list field to “(no language).” Click OK.

6. Click in the Replace field to set the pointer there.

7. Repeat steps 4 and 5, but now deactivate “Do not check spelling and grammar.” Click OK.

8. Click Replace all.

Spell check should now work again.

In other words, we’re doing a search/replace for this mysterious behavior, and getting rid of it.

I hope that this changes your life as it has mine.

These are the books I use most commonly as references.

Notation

Music Notation: Preparing Scores and Parts, by Matthew Nicholl and Richard Grudzinski. (Berklee Press 2007). For contemporary score layout, this is really the definitive source. I was its editor. And I say that to make myself look more impressive by association with this great text (though in truth, I really didn’t actually help it very much), not out of any delusion that my involvement would make it seem any more appealing.

Music Notation, by Mark McGrain (Berklee Press). This book has been around for decades, and at Berklee, it’s long been considered the definitive source for handwritten jazz charts, particularly lead sheets.

Music Notation, by Gardiner Read. This is the old standby, really more optimized for classical music than for contemporary popular music. It’s a classic. Maybe, it’s THE classic.

The Art of Music Copying, by Clinton Roemer. This is a classic text on old school engraving, and a very fine book.

Finale: An Easy Guide to Music Notation (2nd Edition), by Tom Rudolph and Vince Leonard (Berklee Press 2005). Again, I’m the editor. If you are using 2007 or later, wait a few months until the 2009 edition comes out. But this book is worth its price for the chart on page 245 alone.

Orchestration

The Harvard Dictionary of Music. Classic. Everyone has this. It is often hailed as the ultimate arbiter for disagreements, and it’s hard to argue with “Well, the Harvard Dictionary of Music says….” The only effective rebuttal is “Yeah, but it’s geared towards classical musicians,” and even that doesn’t always work.

The Study of Orchestration, by Samuel Adler. Classic, focused on classical music. Most people have this or Piston. I have and use both, but prefer Adler for most things.

Orchestration, by Walter Piston. Classic, focused on classical music. Most people have this or Adler.

Writing

The Chicago Manual of Style. If you write, you need this book on your shelf. If you are a professional writer, you absolutely must have it. It is ubiquitous in the industry.

The Associated Press Style Guide. This is useful particularly for newspaper and Web authoring, whereas CMS focuses more on books. Someone swiped my copy long ago, and I frequently feel guilty when I have a question and don’t look it up here. Did you take my copy? Curse you, give it back! (shaking fist…)

The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. Among the most lovable how-to books ever written. It’s been said that you can judge how serious a graduate student is by how many copies of this book they own. It is small and easily misplaced, but fortunately cheap, so people buy it again and again. I think I have three copies, but it’s hard to say.

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