We’re back with Darcy James Argue, the acclaimed jazz composer, educator, and bandleader of the 18-piece Secret Society. Philip Rothman and David MacDonald pick up with Darcy for the second part of our interview, and if you missed the first part where Darcy talked all about breaking into the jazz music scene and getting his first professional copying jobs, go back and have a listen.

In this part we speak with Darcy about his philosophy of music preparation, and we go into detail with him about his approach to creating quality scores and parts using music notation software. He lays out his Finale setup along with the plug-ins and resources he relies on to speed up his work, and he also expresses his opinions about what could be improved in all software platforms with respect to jazz music. Finally, Darcy explains the roles that developers, publishers, and music preparers must all play in order to elevate the quality of music notation that gets produced for the next generation of musicians.

More on Scoring Notes:

Darcy James Argue, part 1
DJA’s Notes: Group instruments correctly
DJA’s Notes: Left-align chord symbols
DJA’s Notes: Do not abuse one-bar and two-bar repeats
DJA’s Notes: Music preparation basics

Photos: Lindsay Beyerstein, James Matthew Daniel