Created: 8/19/2021-3/15/2023
(All illustrations by Melanie Shaw; except for the 5 hole binding instructions & making a pamphlet cover instructions, which were created by an anonymous former Art Book Room worker)
I-Preliminaries
A-SUPPLIES
Webpage for Archival Products music binders: https://archival.com/quickbindmusic.html
Binders with pockets | codes on the package | translation for ordering |
|---|
Music Binder Quick Bind with pocket (most common music score size) | MBQB-11-1P-TD-A 9 1/2” x 12-1/4” Clear front | MBQB-11 = Music Binder Quick Bind -A = zero spine -1P = 1 Pocket, -TD = Tyvec Diagonal; 9 1/2” x 12-1/4” = size Clear front = clear front cover |
Music Binder Quick Bind with pocket, next most common score size | MBQB-2-1P-TD -B 10” x 13-1/4” Clear front | MBQB-2-1P-TD = (1 Pocket, Tyvec Diagonal) -B = 1/8 spine 10” x 13-1/4” = size Clear front = clear front cover |
Music Binder Quick Bind with pocket:
MBQB-11-1P-TD (1 Pocket, Tyvec Diagonal)-A (zero spine), 9 1/2” x 12-1/4” Clear front
MBQB-2-1P-TD (1 Pocket, Tyvec Diagonal)-B (1/8 spine), 10” x 13-1/4” Clear front
Music Binder Quick Bind without pockets:
Binders without pockets | codes on the package | translation for ordering |
|---|
Music Binder Quick Bind (most common score size) | MBQB-11-A 9 1/2” x 12-1/4” Clear front | MBQB-11 = binder no pocket -A = zero spine Clear front = clear front cover |
Music Binder Quick Bind | MBQB-2-B 10” x 13-1/4” Clear Front | MBQB-2 = binder no pocket -B = 1/8” spine 10” x 13-1/4” Clear Front = clear front cover |
MBQB-11-A (zero spine) 9 1/2” x 12-1/4” Clear front
Music Binder Spine Wraptm – using our remaining supply of these for extra thick single-signature scores that won’t lay flat in the regular binders
Resupplies: instead of spine wraps, just order Quick Binders, as above (see 1.b.), but with thicker spine: -B (1/8” spine) or -C (1/4” spine).
Our Spine Wrap Binders came with a wider spine than the Quick Binds, so we’ve been using for scores & parts with thick spines (instead of their listed use)
Alternate supplier for pre-made binders: Gaylord Archival - 2023 prices
Other supplies for pamphlet binding scores:
Binding Needle, Linen Binding Thread, Awl, and Beeswax
Metal Ruler, Triangle or Carpenter Square, Pointed Bone Folder for measuring and scoring (locally supplied)
Card-Weight Paper (supplies can be found locally)
Binder tape (without adhesive) for making our own binders, and with adhesive for many other uses.
Pamphlet Boards for making odd-shaped binders (two possibilities for resupplies):
PETG clear Plexiglass plastic sheets (12 x 12”), 20 mil (.020”/.051mm) for front of binders - available online from various vendors (usually) through Amazon.
Double-sided archival tape (used in place of glue when making slipcover/pockets).
Jade 403 Adhesive (8 oz.) - acid free binding adhesive.
B-Prebinding: Score Formats
d. Thick scores: If the score is much thicker than usual, but still a single-folio stapled score, use one of our “spinal wrap” premade binders (somewhat different than their original purpose) or make a hand-made binder. If there are parts with the thicker score, you may need cut or fold a square pocket and glue it to the back of binder.
e. Oversized scores will usually need hand made pam-binders (very rarely, often for extremely large scores, we will laminate the covers instead).
3. Scores that are not single-folios will need different processing.
1. Set aside any spiral-bound or comb-bound scores for processing decisions.
2. Set aside any square-back (or perfect) bound scores for laminating or taping into a pamphlet.
3. Set aside any scores that are just loose, unbound pages for special processing.
Unbound accordion-folded sheets will also need decisions made for binding
Always remember when binding music scores: the music must be playable afterwards |
II-Binding the scores
A-FIVE HOLE PAMPHLET BINDING (single signature folio)
(Illustrations by anonymous former Art Book Room worker)
1a-Measure the thread
Use the pamphlet binder itself as a guide as shown in figure 1a: unroll enough thread to go twice the length of score, plus 3 inches extra, cut the thread, and then use the block of beeswax to wax the entire thread: this will both strengthen the thread and keep it from tangling.
1b-Thread the binding needle;
You can tie a knot at the end of the thread (leaving about 1 1/2 to 2 inches at the end), or not, depending on how much control you have over the thread during sewing, as in figure 1b. (A knot can help keep the thread from falling out of the first hole.)
2-Place the score into the pamphlet binder cover
Line up its edges with the binder as tight to the binder spine as possible, figure 2A--Open to the centerfold of the score, and use a binder-clip or paperclip on each side to hold the score in place, figure 2B.
4-In the centerfold of the score, use an awl or dissection tool to poke a hole in the center fold, then poke 4 more holes, evenly, as shown in figure 2B. (This will make it easier to get the needle through). Some folks will remove any staples before making the holes; However, do remove any staples that are rusty.
3-The 5-hole pamphlet sewing pattern
Figure 3, no.1
The sewing starts from the inside center hole, then makes two figure-eights through the holes, skipping the central hole on the first pass, then finishes by coming thru the center hole again, but from the outside (figure 3, no.9), while keeping the thread tight, and tying the two ends together.
See also step-by-step Detailed description below and in Figure 4, no. 1-5:
Detailed description:
Figure 4. no. 1. Start from the inside and insert needle into the center hole, to the outside (you can tie a knot in the thread, if needed); then turn the binder, and go thru the next hole outside to inside. Turn and go thru the next hole, inside to outside. no. 2. Turn, then return to the second hole from outside to inside, being careful not to pierce the earlier thread. no. 3. Turn, and skip the center hole; instead go thru the next hole, and continue as shown, turning between each hole. no. 4. The last stitch returns to the center hole, but the needle goes from the back of the binder to the inside.
4-Make sure all sewn stitches are tight, before tying the knots
Pull threads (gently) only along the stitches, to keep from tearing the paper. no. 5. Then, either tie the first & last threads together over the long center stitch (figure 3, diagram), or tie the knot to the center stitch thread - but only if the first thread was knotted (figure 4, no. 1 & 5); then trim excess thread off, leaving about 3/4 inch thread.
5-Finish by removing any cover guards and labeling.
If there are parts, label each part and place into the pocket on the inside back cover. Stamp Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library on the score (and parts), either on the page ends (if thick enough) or the inside first page. Do not cover or obscure any music or caption titles
Parts may not have a cover or title page, so if necessary, trim the labels, or move the label placement to the top corner of the first page of parts, to keep from covering any music. |
Print friendly version:
B-Complex Bindings and Processing:
SQUARE BACK SCORES:
Includes scores with Perfect Binding (glued spine) & Multiple Signature music scores. Various treatments have been used in USU.
1-Simple “laminating” with clear self-adhesive sheets:
2-Laminating with a thin pocket:
3-Gluing two pockets into a binder for housing both score + bulky parts:
OR:
3-Taping into a regular Pamphlet cover for score + bulky parts:
This square-back score and parts came back to Circulation with no sign of its binder. I used pre-gummed opaque book tape to fasten the large score into one of our Spinal Wrap binders, front & back, and made a square pocket for the 2 parts, glued on the binder back. We’ll see how durable it turns out to be.
SPIRAL OR COMB-BOUND SCORES:
USU Libraries have tried various methods of dealing with these scores through the years:
1-Laminating covers (spiral/comb left unmodified):
For thick popular music anthologies bound with spiral/comb bindings, we often laminate (with KAPCO sticky sheets) the front and back covers (being careful not to cover the holes), while leaving the comb/spiral in place (unless it is coming apart). We use two separate Kapco back cover pieces to laminate them.
This strengthens the back and front cover enough to improve sitting on the shelf, but doesn't address the problems with entanglement and damage to spirals & combs over time in the stacks.
Comb-bound scores have sometimes been laminated over the comb in the past (especially if they’re breaking), but won’t open as flat afterwards (esp. in high use items, like pedagogical scores).
For Art Music (Classical) scores, we generally use one of the processes below:
2-Making pockets or slipcover to hold the bindings within a pamphlet binder:
Instructions for square pockets, slipcases, and pamphlet binders:
https://usulibrary.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ULC/pages/1329168442/Music+Scores+-+Binding+Procedures#Strong-Square-Back-Pocket
https://usulibrary.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ULC/pages/1329168442/Music+Scores+-+Binding+Procedures#Simple-Slipcase%2FPocket%3A
https://usulibrary.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ULC/pages/1329168442/Music+Scores+-+Binding+Procedures#Stronger-Slipcase%2FPocket
https://usulibrary.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/ULC/pages/1329168442/Music+Scores+-+Binding+Procedures#III-Making-a-pamphlet-binder-from-scratch
3-Tacketing/lacing (tying or lightly sewing) and gluing into a pam-binder
Glue the score’s back to the binder, and use a few stitches to tack down the spiral to the binder with binder thread; leaving enough space to allow it to open flat & move freely;
I used a T-square or triangle to draw a line to punch the holes along,
Then clamped the spiral-bound text block to sew the spiral into the binder.
This isn’t usually possible for the more brittle comb-bound scores (lamination or housing in pockets is about all we can do for them) Although, for a very light-weight comb-bound score, I did test out gluing and further taping it to the back to a pam-binder, without tacking (time will tell how lasting it will be).
The very few explanations I’ve found on the web show tacking down a few spirals, since the glued down back cover does a much of the work of holding the score in the binder, but I ended up using more stitching and running the thread thru the spirals between each double station in this thin spiral bound score shown here:
4-Thoroughly sewing the spiral into a Pam-binder without gluing down the back
Unfortunately, some spiral bound scores come with multiple parts, usually requiring a handmade pamphlet binder for these, with two pockets on the front and back cover.
But, for a fairly lightweight score and parts, I’ve recently just started adding more sewing stations to strengthen the attachment of the spiral/binding structure and left the back cover unglued, so the pamphlet back was free to attach a pocket for the part.
I repeated the loops of a 5-hole binding multiple times up & down the spiral; running the thread thru 2 spirals each time:
Start and finish the sewing somewhere in the center, and tie the 2 ends together in the middle where it’s less likely to get snagged during use and shelving, then knot & trim ends as usual:
Multiple-5-hole binding, threaded through every two spirals: still allows the spiral bound music to open flat, and allows for a pocket to be glued to the inside binder back to hold separate parts.
6-Archival Products ready-made pamphlets for spiralbound music:
Another possibility would be purchasing ready-made pamphlets made specifically for these problem bindings. A rod mounted into the pamphlet binder runs through the spirals. We haven’t yet tried this, but if the number of purchased scores bound with spirals or combs keeps rising it may be worth doing so.
SCORES PUBLISHED AS UNBOUND SHEETS
Scores are sometimes published as one or more unbound leaves of paper. They may be just one sheet of paper, a pile of loose sheets, or folded in various configurations.
One sheet of paper only:
If a score consists of just one leaf of paper:
we can score a fold inside its left margin (making sure not to get too close to the music notation), and sew the page into a binder,
if the margin/gutter is too narrow for scoring, just use clear binder’s tape or to attach it to a folded cover (or guard it with a glued narrow piece of paper to its back (verso), depending on how narrow the back page margin looks), then sew it to the binder.
For one page part(s), we will usually place it unprotected in a pocket (each with its own label), but if it’s a set of parts without a score, or a high use part, or printed on flimsy paper; we may fold card-weight paper into a cover (making it slightly larger than the part), and sew the part(s) using 5-hole binding (or use 3-hole binding, if really thin paper).
More than one sheet of of unbound paper in a pile:
1-These pages can be always be left loose as long as each page is labeled (with the page numbers as well as the call number) and stored in a pocket of a binder. However, if there is a lot of loose pages, they can be difficult to keep together (and one lost page leaves the score unusable).
2-Some descriptive scores can be stapled together and stored in a pam-binder pocket, but this is only really feasible for some purely descriptive scores that won’t be necessary for the performance (i.e. some scores by Cage) or these could also be bound with Japanese stab binding with 2 flexible cards for covers, if you want to get fancy. However, all other scores will need better bindings for usability.
1-Taping/gluing into a single folio, then binding into a pam-binder:
Fasten together the inner margins of double page edges, using either archival gummed Tyvek gummed tape, or if not available using archival paper strips to glue, into folios for a single signature score. This is tricky work, as music reading direction needs to be maintained.
a-I usually start by laying out the pages for each folio in order in two piles for each folio side-by-side, and tape or glue together using the inner margins to make folios, being careful not to cover any music staffs, symbols, notes, and other musical symbols:
b-In the past, I have used either acid-free, clear sticky book tape (for speed) or, less often, thin, flexible strips of paper with glue applied during the folio formation (press glued folios under a weight until dry). However, I am planning to change to using Gaylord’s gummed Tyvek tape for this: a lightweight, thin, strong paper-like tape with acid-free, wet-able adhesive.
* Taped folios can be bound together as soon as they dry, which is apparently, pretty fast.
* Gluing flexible strips of paper takes longer, but it must be completely dry to bind. It can be pressed, left to dry overnight, and bound the next day.
c-Once the folios are ready, stack them in order into a single signature and bind them into a pam-binder using regular five-hole single signature pamphlet binding.
2-Folded Edge binding (or stub-binding):
Folios are formed in this method by scoring a fold in the white space of the margin of each sheet & overlapping the folded stubs. This is a little trickier than taping sheets in a folio, so if at all possible, use that method instead.
In particular, the 2 scores I ended up binding this way, had unusually short, but very wide pages, and were already too wide to fit into the regular shelves; taking out some of the width was a plus
Best used with leaves having a wide inner margin
If there a lot of pages, this will swell the spine, as shown above (but so does taping into folios)
Also, this should be used only with flexible, lightweight leaves, not card-stock or thick paper
Care must be taken to preserve the order of reading of the page. This method can be trickier than than regular taping/gluing into a folio, and may be best used for only pages wider than high.
When checking if enough white space is in the margin to accommodate the fold, also make sure the stub ends themselves won’t obscure the musical notation.
I-Lay out each of the future folios as double pages in two piles with the inner margins facing each other.
II-Measure and score each page with a a pointed bone folder, on each page’s inner margin; using a metal ruler as a straight-edge. Then fold the edge.
c-Nest the folded edges into their new folios, in order, and clamp them into a pamphlet binder
*Scores with an extremely shallow gutter can sometimes be bound with this method by arranging all or most of the folded stubs to lay on one side:
d-After making doubly sure that the resulting folios are still in order, use the regular five-hole single-signature pamphlet binding procedures to sew them together.
3-Sew a single-sheet “Coptic” binding with 3 needles:
For some card-weight scores on single leaves with little inner margin/gutter to fold or guard, I’ve used the more complex single sheet bookbinding technique described here:
Simplified Coptic Single Sheet Binding (still under construction).
This is a rather complicated bit of binding & requires a bit of practice. (I made several models before using this on two gift scores). If possible for purchased scores, use one of the first 2 methods instead.
Accordion folded or other folded sheet(s):
III-MAKING A PAMPHLET BINDER COVER FROM SCRATCH:
(Created by an anonymous former Art Book Room worker, with slight revisions)
Print-friendly version:
MAKING POCKETS FOR PARTS:
Here are a few folded pockets for holding parts, or scores plus parts. (We can also use cut-down archival envelopes from Special Collections and Archives downstairs if the parts/scores are flat enough.)
Ready made archival envelopes cut into a pocket.
Easiest method; good if the parts are flat enough to fit into the resulting pocket. Just ask Special Collections before taking any.
Simplest Pocket for a thin part:
Pattern for a simple pocket: very thin, so useful for laminated square-back score with a thin part.
Fold from strong, but not card-weight, paper or Tyvek (if you can find it). I have used this pocket for fairly thin parts with a score, or for pockets inserted into the back of a thick score itself:
Printable version:
Strong pocket for several thin parts
Strong Square-Back Pocket
For thicker parts or a score plus numerous parts.
Spread glue over the entire back to the pamphlet binder, and press the pocket into place on the pamphlet back. Wrap the parts with wax paper and insert them into the pocket, then press everything in the pamphlet binder overnight with heavy book or brick on top.
Simple Slipcase/Pocket:
Requires archival, permanent, double-sided tape.
Stronger Slipcase/Pocket
This slipcover has an extra flap (4) which folds over & is glued to the back, which makes it much stronger than the previous slipcover. The other flaps and tabs may be taped with archival “permanent” double-sided tape. Cut a notch in the front for ease of score removal.
After gluing the two flaps to the back, cover entire back with glue, press into binder, then wrap the set of scores & parts in wax paper, insert in pocket, and let it set overnight, with a weight on top.
Add a Velcro dot to hold the cover closed, if the slipcover is wide enough:
