Music engraving is an interesting subject and a dying art. There is, however, a short video available. Thanks to G. Henle Verlag, they have documented this process in a film from 1997. The following images are clips taken from the video.
This is a great video that shows the process of engraving a metal plate using special engraving tools.
Video courtesy of G. Henle Verlag.
Der Notenstecher aus Würzburg (The Music Engraver from Würzburg)
Written, directed and edited: Rüdiger Lorenz
Camera: Angela Witt
Sound: Rudi Maldaner
Narrator: Wolf Euba
Mixing: Artist Studio
Editorial: Jörg M. Schmid
Year: 2007
First broadcast: March 20, 2008, at 9:15pm on Bavarian Television
This is a film is about a dying profession - the art of music engraving. It features Hans Kühner, a master engraver of music. It is one of the last films that shows how much used to be printed. You can find more information concerning the video at "Der Letzte seines Standes?"
Fig. 1 - Hans Kühner's music workshop is located in Würzburg.
Fig. 2 - Before the notes are punched, the staff lines are drawn.
Fig. 3 - The notes are penciled onto the plate.
Fig. 4 - The notes have been penciled onto the plate.
Fig. 5 - Using a hammer and a punch to mark the notes on the metal plate.
Fig. 6 - Treble clef and bass clef metal punches.
Fig. 7 - Clefs, rests, accidentals - Hans Kühner has a huge collection.
Fig 8 - He also has lots of other tools.
Fig. 9 - The first sample impression.
Fig. 10 - Hans Kühner detected an error.
Fig. 11 - This should not be a G-flat.
Fig. 12 - The note is corrected by scratching it out.
Fig. 13 - The note heads are stamped into the soft metal.
Fig. 14 - Notating music by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Fig. 15 - The procedure is expensive and today software is used.