ExampleKrafter, PrintKrafter, LuteKrafter, and Shape Notes by Robert Fruehwald, published by MusiKrafters, Louisville, KY, Jack Griffin, president.
•ExampleKrafter: 1986, typeset musical examples for books and journals.
•PrintKrafter: 1987, Postscript printing (fonts and downloader).
•LuteKrafter: 1987, typeset historical string tablature.
•ShapeNotes: 1987, typeset FaSolLa and Aiken Shape Note music
•TextFonts: music characters for use with word processors.
Between 1984 and 1989 Robert Fruehwald developed a number of music printing applications for Macintosh computers. These applications transformed the computer into an "intelligent music typewriter." The keys of the computer keyboard were remapped with music symbols. Vertical pitch placement was determined by "pitch keys." Placement of ledger lines, flags, accents, etc. was automatic. Beamed groupings were determined by the user but were drawn automatically. Composite rhythm and rhythmic placement were determined by the user but were calculated by the computer. Slurs, ties, hair-pin dynamics, and text were placed with the mouse by the user but were calculated and drawn by the computer. These programs produced both compressed bitmap files (MacPaint) and PostScript files. PostScript printing was accomplished using Adobe's Sonata font and custom characters. With the proliferation of MIDI and the introduction of the Finale program in the late 1980s, the economy of the "music typewriter" interface ceased to compensate for its clumsiness. Development of the programs ceased in 1989. The programs were used to typeset musical examples for journals, self-published editions, papers, and a few textbooks. References to the software appeared in the following sources: MacUser Magazine, vol. 4 No. 10, Oct. 1988, p. 172. Macazine, Dec. 1987, p. 85. Directory of Computer Assisted Research in Musicology, 1988, p. 50, 95-97. Directory of Computer Assisted Research in Musicology, 1989, p. 50, 61, 102-103. The original promotional brochure for ExampleKrafter appears below:
Examples printed by the programs appear below. These examples illustrate the programs' ability to typeset examples based on historical sources. For example, red notation was simulated by characters printed in gray. Characters for printing mensural notation (including simple ligatures) were included. All examples were printed at 300 dpi with an Apple LaserWriter.
A few of the special characters created for the programs appear below. These include symbols for percussion and harp notation. A special font was included that allowed users to place rhythmic notation within the text of a word processor document. Also shown are a Schenkerian Analysis typeset with ExampleKrafter, a portion of the manual cover, and a newspaper photograph of the company founders.
