David C. Schaap

For hundreds of years, printed music has been prepared mostly by engraving metal: scratching or punching the notes and ledger lines and all the musical elements into the metal plate (and it was done backwards so that when the paper picked up the ink from the depressions, it would appear correctly). This was a very skilled trade.

Along came music typewriters with noteheads and stems and dynamics markings rather than the alphabet. Typing required less skill than metal engraving, but the pages looked clunky.

I preface any workshops I do on computers with a warning: if you don't already have a computer, think seriously before buying one. You will spend far more money than you imagined, and far more time than you ever thought possible fiddling with it.

DECEMBER

O Come, O Come, Immanuel

In the past few years Advent has become my favorite liturgical season. Why? Because there is nothing more exciting to me than anticipating a great event such as the birth of Christ. "O Come, O Come, Immanuel" anticipates the celebration of Christmas and implores God to be among us always.