Sibelius Is Part Of The Big Picture For Disney's Booker White

Until recently, a music copyist's job relied almost exclusively on his or her calligraphy skills and the ability to decipher composers' (often illegible) manuscripts. And, although notation, transposition and arranging skills are still de rigueur, today's job description now requires a working knowledge of computers and software-based notation programs.

Nowhere is that requirement more prevalent than in the film and television industries, where fast-paced production schedules are a way of life, and where sheet music must be completed and on the stands in time to be recorded - often hours after changes and approvals. Booker White, Supervisor of Music Preparation and Director of Library Services for the Walt Disney Company, has seen - and has successfully adapted - to those changes first-hand in his 25 years as a copyist, and counts Sibelius 4 as one of his most valuable tools.

"The time-saving element is tremendous," says White, whose recent projects include Mission Impossible III, Brother Bear and Pirates of the Caribbean II for Walt Disney Pictures, along with Lost, Desperate Housewives, Alias, and Commander in Chief for Touchstone Television. "We may have a recording session scheduled for a Friday and have no music until late Thursday or early Friday morning, and it starts pouring in from then until the session. The size of the ensembles varies anywhere from a rhythm section with a few horns to something like MI:3, which had an 111-piece orchestra. Our ensembles average between 75 and 95 pieces, so when we're creating and printing out parts, time is of the essence. Here at Disney, the staff is sharp and talented, and with each project, you want a team of people that can handle the most difficult situations without being totally stressed out. A program like Sibelius helps us deal with those schedules and time restraints, and helps us work globally."

After pursuing studies in composition at Cal State Los Angeles and several other schools, White entered the realm of television music, as he describes it, through the back door.

"I was the arranger and keyboard player in a band with a friend who was a copyist," he explains. "One day, he asked if I could help out with a session for an Aaron Spelling show, and the rest, as they say, is history."

White honed his craft with Spelling Productions through the mid-1980's, working on television hits Dynasty and The Love Boat and as a freelancer for a number of recording artists before landing at Disney in 1990. It was during this time that the industry embraced the use of computers for all aspects of production and postproduction, including music preparation.

"Composers, orchestrators, arrangers and other copyists were starting to move from the manual to the electronic world," notes White, "and notation software was becoming more and more prevalent. People we worked with would bring in Sibelius (version 2.0 at the time) and say, ‘We're using this program, and it's amazing.' I, for one, was impressed. The common thread was  that the program was extremely user-friendly, very fast, had a minimal learning curve, and most importantly for us, generated accurate copies."

As supervising copyist, White successfully transitioned the department to computer-based notation, a move that was embraced by most, but unpleasant for a few.

"There were some who were dead set against computers," he says. "For them, it was akin to using canned music in live theater; the organic nature was gone. But for me, the immediateness and features such as the ability to share and send sound files outweighed any perceived disadvantages."

White now oversees a staff of around 20 full-time employees and freelancers, working from the Walt Disney Pictures studio lot in Burbank, California, and is currently exploring an upgrade to version 4.1.

"It offers bar number ranges on multi-measure rests, which is a feature that helps the musicians keep their place, count the rests and not get lost," he explains. "It's ideal for a fast-moving piece.

"These are not only very expensive sessions," he adds. "The music tends to be tough, and the players are great, but are always sight-reading. Anything we can do to help them adds to the success of the session, and ultimately, the success of the picture."

To date, there are more than 250,000 Sibelius users worldwide, including television composer Alf Clausen, musician Pat Metheny, composer Sammy Nestico, choral composer John Rutter, guitarist Andy Summers and conductor Michael Tilson-Thomas.