The "someone" is my brother, who studied Jazz Composition at Berklee. He read about it in "Conversations with Stravinsky" by Robert Craft. Apparently he used it as a device to take "musical notes" of sorts. In other words he wasn't forced to use specific sizes of paper and could "print" onto anything.

hmm, it's been a while since i read that book, but i imagined it to be a 'roller' rather like this
.

there's no graph paper involved

geraint. thanks. i didn't mean graph paper, i just couldn't think of the term for "the paper used by composers". your drawing is exactly what my brother described. he realizes that he could probably go to the local crafty corner and get a wheel stamp but he is more interested in stravinsky's idea.

This is Renny speaking - Tiffany's brother....Geraint......that is exactly what I imagined the device to be like. I don't think it was made clear in the book whether the device had merely one staff or was capable of producing both a treble and bass cleff or any other configuration of 2 staves. With a single staff only....it is quite possible that it would still be wavy like the exerpt you posted.....but alas....where to purchase such a device........

First, design in Illy or PS how you want one complete rotation to look, then take it to a custom rubber stamp maker and tell them you want the rubber wrapped around a wooden disk/dowel/circle, then attach a handle.

renny

i always thought stravinsky was quite a visual dude anyhow:

when robert craft asked him to draw different types of music, here's the outcome:

If buying staff paper is out of the question, How about just drawing staff paper lines and printing sheets on a laser printer? Is this too hi-tech or is there some philisophical reason?

I have a feeling my brother is after the whole "feel" of it. He has composition paper. Like any artist, I think he's interested in other composer's techniques.

Renato Here again(Tiffany's Brother) - John B. - excellent idea....I have actually come to a similar conclusion myself...so it's off to a tacky stamp store.....

Also,,,,,Geraint you have a good point. as far as big band music goes...I have written many big band scores....and arranged many works by the so-called "core" of famous jazz composers....Ellington, Mingus, Monk, Coltrane, Evans, Strayhorn, and list could go on forever....but I also write alot of species counterpoint as a perpetual student of the perfection of Bach. However - the main reason for this idea is more of a compositional process that Robert Craft's book inspired when he went on to describe the methods Stravinsky had come to employ in the later serial phase of his life(serial meaning he had left his neo-classical period and embraced(albeit in his own inimitable way)the philosophy of the second viennese school(namely Schoenberg and his 2 disciples Alban Berg and my favourite - Anton von Webern)....at this point in time Stravinsky began to employ a method of composition involving blank paper that he could write ideas on and merely put staves whereever he neede to accompany ideas....a rather organic process...which appeals to me.....Chris....yeah i have loads of staff paper...i have even created several documents of custom staff paper in illy.....however it is more a question of trying to create a more organic process...plus lots of staff paper is printed on low quality paper that evaporates under the eraser of my obssesive/compulsive editing.....thanks for the ideas and tips....

Renato,
My daughter is a music composition major at Carnegie Mellon University. For a few years she was totally imersed in Shastakovich but now she is in Mahler heaven. She gets very obsesive when it comes to her composers. Is this the norm for composers? BTW, do you compose at the piano or just write on paper? We have a lovely 1928 Steinway grand in our house but my daughter composes while in her bed just scribbling notes a mile-a-minute with a pencil.

ChrisL

I once carried the music staff to a free-ish form. A few years ago I was asked to design a CD cover and some promotional material for a jazz musician. The name of the album was "Uncertain Times." I developed a logo-like image using a staff drawn in a circle to resemble a stop watch with no hands and key signatures instead of the usual numbers for hours. Attached is the logo and a picture of the disk itself.

ChrisL

Chris, that is pretty neat! Good work mate.

kris.

hey Renato, good luck with what you're doing.

i think mingus would sound amazing arranged for big band, great idea.

Take the innards out of 6 cheap ballpoint pens. Sand the edges of the tips for closer spacing on your lines. Tape them in a row with a splint if need be. Draw to your hearts content. This was the method pioneered by Charles Dikkens, the well know dutch composer.
Time Estimate: 5 minutes
Cost Estimate: 50 cents

One issue for your pizza cutter is getting good ink coverage.

It would be much simpler to cut your own punch, or if you're interested in an argument use a Benton Pantograph, make a matrix, cast some lead staves, set in a comp stick to the right length, fire it up and letterpress that badboy... use vegetable based inks. They're more organic...
Time Estimate: 5 months
Cost Estimate: Plenty

Come to a bunch typophiles, what do you expect :-)
Good luck.

Or get one of those very fat felt-tipped poster pens and carve
out 5 notches with an exacto knife.

Or get a watercolor chisel brush of the right width. Snip snip
until it looks like a comb. Might be too wavy.

The spirit of Stavinsky is not buying such a device, but crafting it.

great suggestions, randy

>Chris, that is pretty neat! Good work mate.
kris.<

Thanks Kris, it was a fun project. I ended up doing about 5 CDs for the same person.

ChrisL