Does the following situation sound familiar to you? On recording of some live brass you distribute the parts to the players. Each part has more than one page - and then the nightmare happens. Someone opens the door and the parts all sail to the floor. And because all the trumpets have just „Trumpet“ as their part name, you have no idea which piece of paper belongs to what part. You spend valuable time sorting everything again.

When creating parts for performance, make absolutely sure that _every_ page contains:
- Part name („Trumpet in Bb II“)
- Page number and total pages („2 of 4“)
- If you have more than one piece, the name of the piece („My absolutely stunning Brass piece“)
- Your name (just to exclude the possibility for there being more than one piece with the same title)
- If there are doublings, write them somewhere at the top („Flute II / Piccolo Flute“)

It is also _highly_ advisable to write exact instrument names, so not just „Trumpet“, but „Trumpet in Bb III“. From the second stave on you do not need abbreviated instrument names, but if you do, also call it „Trp. III“, not just „Trp.“. You never know if the sheets get mixed up and this allows you to see which part the piece of paper belongs to at a glance.

Lastly, forgo _any_ fancy graphical effects. This stuff needs to be readable. No Comic Sans for any text!

Tags: instruments, naming, recording