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| Top to bottom, all with music nibs: Platinum #3776. Sailor 1911 Standard. Franklin-Christoph Model 02 Intrinsic. Noodler's Neponset. Waterman 94. |
Traditional music nibs have a broad stub tip with smooth edges. It's a nib that was made for just that: writing music. (Not composing it, mind you, just writing it down.) You'll notice that music has fat, filled in notes, and thin horizontal bars. The nibs are usually wet writers because this generous flow allows musicians to fill in those notes more easily and more quickly. Vintage music nibs were produced with two slits and three tines, and were flexible.
Two Tines, Three Tines?
Typically, we expect music nibs to have two slits and three tines because this offers a wetter flow and more line variation (wider stub), both needed for actually writing music, but this isn't a requirement, and it's possible to achieve such wetness and variation without three tines. The feeds for these nibs are often made specifically for these nibs as well, as in the case of the upcoming Noodler's Neponset, which has two slits to feed the nib with ink.
What's The Difference: Stub, Italic, Music?
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| Top to bottom, all music nibs: Noodler's Neponset. Waterman 94. Platinum #3776. Sailor 1911. Franklin-Christoph "Christoph". |
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| Image from RichardsPens |
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| Image from RichardsPens |
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| Different music nib tips! Noodler's - round. Waterman - elongated. Platinum - elongated and stubby. Sailor - stubby. Franklin-Christoph - elongated. |
Music nibs are often used at very high angles relative to the paper, where down strokes would be thin, and side strokes would be the width of the nib. This is probably the opposite of what you expect from a stub/italic nib, whose down strokes are thick and side strokes are thin.
In addition, stubs/italics frequently have sharp corners and edges where the rounded bottom of the tines meet the flat top of the tip. If one tries to write music with an italic, rotating/holding the pen as musicians often do when scribbling notes and bars would dig into the paper.
True music nibs should have smoothed edges so the nib glides across the page, even if the pen is rotated, and at both high and low angles of writing.
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| Music nibs line widths, with proper music nib grip. First + with no pressure, second + with pressure. Note the Noodler's and Waterman have flex, and the Platinum, Sailor, and Franklin-Christoph do not. |
If you've ever tried to write music, or even just draw notes, you'll notice it's a heck of a lot more difficult (and irritating) to try and draw them with a hard, unyielding nib. Music nibs with flexibility is a modification that allows the nib to flex on the pull stroke to widen/wetten/thicken notes and lines - such as notes and note bars. It may not be a requirement, but a nib without flexibility will hamper the ability to quickly and easily write music.
A nib without flexibility isn't less enjoyable though. They can still offer some great line variation and a wonderful writing experience, especially if you aren't using it for actually writing music.
Want A Music Nib?
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| Standard nibs lines with normal grip. |
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| Music nibs line widths, used normally (not at "music nib angle"), except for bottom row of Waterman music nib, where I use the nib with proper music nib grip, to show the difference. |
is a single slit, double tine music nib in 14K gold. This nib offers the wide stub needed for filling in notes, with the ability to draw thinner, horizontal lines for the note bars. It's also meant to be a wet writer. The tip of this nib is very stubby and even if you're not a musician, it offers a wonderful, expressing writing experience with bold lines. The edges are also fairly smooth so it doesn't catch on the page easily. It has no flex.
is designed in the traditional double slit, triple tine style, also in 14K gold. This is a nice, smooth nib that has good flow, but it isn't a gusher. It also doesn't have a very rounded, as stubby a tip like that of the Sailor so the writing experience is a little more crisp and precise, although it still offers a lot of line variation. The edges are slightly sharper than that on the Sailor, if you are looking for a nib with a little bit of a crisper feel. The nib has no flex whatsoever - it's a nail.
Check out Serious Nibbage Part 2 with SBREBrown, where we discuss this nib.
Check out Serious Nibbage Part I: a short discussion of the Neponset with SBRE Brown.
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| Music Nibs with normal grip. Lines with increasing pressure | | | | Testing responsiveness of nib ------ Loop-the-loops - line variation in writing. |
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