Rastrum
A rastrum (pl. rastra) or raster is a five-pointed writing implement used in music manuscripts to draw parallel staff lines when drawn horizontally across a blank piece of sheet music. The word "raster" is derived from the Latin for "rake". Rastra were used to draw lines on paper that had not been pre-ruled, and were widely used in Europe until printed staff paper became cheap and common in the nineteenth century. Some rastra are able to draw more than one staff at a time. Rastrology, the study of the use of the rastrum, is a branch of music manuscript studies that uses information about the rastrum to help find the date and provenance of musical materials.
Modern variants
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In recent years, rastra made of five ballpoint pens have been marketed to students and composers.
It was common in primary and secondary schools to use rastra that use chalk on a chalk board for music education. They may be called staff liners. An alternative is to use a chalk board with staff lines etched in or taped on.
Some rastra hold markers for use on whiteboards.
Another variant is the so-called "Stravigor", a wheeled instrument that Stravinsky attempted to patent around 1911.[1][2] He used them extensively in his compositional sketchbooks.
References
[edit | edit source]Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Randel, ed. The New Harvard Dictionary of Music (1986; 9th printing, 1999), p. 681.
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