ss11Dynamics
Alternate dynamics aligned to the baseline, without rotation.
Music font
Alba
Italian: “dawn” /ˈal.ba/
Alba is a SMuFL-compliant music font for Dorico, inspired by the plate-engraved music of early 20th-century European publishers.
Full-page examples
Pages engraved using Alba, based on the editions credited below. Select a page to open it at full resolution.
Design
Rounded details and subtle irregularity give Alba its warm, inviting look. Typographic contrast and hierarchy, rather than uniform symbol weight, keep dense notation clear and comfortable to read—from conductors’ scores and orchestral parts to chamber music. Alba was created by Polish-American film composer Abel Korzeniowski.
Noteheads
- Noteheads are taller than one staff space.
- White noteheads are larger than black noteheads for optical balance.
- Narrow notehead variants are intended for tighter layouts, larger rastral sizes, grace notes, and cue notes.
- Alba’s narrow black notehead has a 15% larger surface area than Bravura’s equivalent, while remaining narrower.
Accidentals
- Internal white space of accidentals is optically balanced.
- Sharps are gently rotated toward noteheads for smoother flow and more compact spacing.
- Related symbols share a consistent design while retaining distinct silhouettes.
Clefs
- Horizontal space around different clefs is optically balanced.
- Mid-system clefs are optimized for use at 75% scale.
- Treble clef supports tight vertical spacing.
Rests
- Eighth-, sixteenth-, and smaller rests become progressively more upright to improve horizontal spacing.
- Whole rests resemble hand-carved marks rather than punched symbols, with subtle joins that suggest ink flowing into the staff line.
Dynamics
- Dynamic markings vary subtly in rotation and form.
Semantic clarity
- Tuplet numerals are both italicized and rotated slightly clockwise, increasing typographic contrast with fingering numerals.
- Staccato dots are smaller than augmentation dots.
- Tenuto dashes are thicker than dashed continuation lines.
OpenType features
Alba includes optional stylistic sets, ligatures, and contextual alternatives that provide additional control over its appearance, while AlbaText lets you add musical symbols directly to text (SMuFL and AlbaScript).
Alba
Music font
ss12Octave markings
A non-italic style for octave markings.
ss13Multisegment lines
A monoline style for multisegment lines.
ligaTuplet ligatures
Compound tuplet numerals from 10 to 25 with a hand-punched appearance.
caltCoupling elements
Automatic coupling elements for multisegment lines.
In Dorico, contextual alternatives work in ordinary text strings, such as playing techniques, but are not currently supported in line bodies.
AlbaText
Companion music text font
rlig rcltTypeable ligatures
Use Alba’s symbols as musical text in Dorico (SMuFL), or type them using ordinary keyboard characters with AlbaScript, a typing system based on Dan Kreider’s MusGlyphs.
No manual activation is needed.
Download & install
Alba will be available for free under the SIL Open Font License (OFL).
Download coming in 2027Font proof →
Explore glyphs by category, with SMuFL names or Unicode values.
AlbaScript editor →Try AlbaScript with editable examples and a live preview.
01Alba.otfSMuFL music font
02AlbaText.otfAlbaText-Bold.otfAlbaText-Black.otfCompanion music-text font family with both SMuFL and AlbaScript support
03Alba.jsonSMuFL metadata
04Alba.doricolibDorico library with additional symbol replacements
Install all fonts
Install Alba.otf, AlbaText.otf, AlbaText-Bold.otf, and AlbaText-Black.otf using Font Book on macOS or the font installer on Windows.
Copy the metadata file
Place Alba.json in one of the SMuFL metadata locations below for your operating system. Choose either the all-users location or the current-user alternative. Create the Alba folder if it does not yet exist.
macOS — all users
/Library/Application Support/SMuFL/Fonts/Alba/Alba.jsonmacOS — current user (alternative)
~/Library/Application Support/SMuFL/Fonts/Alba/Alba.jsonWindows — all users
%COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\SMuFL\Fonts\Alba\Alba.jsonWindows — current user (alternative)
%LOCALAPPDATA%\SMuFL\Fonts\Alba\Alba.jsonChange the music font in Dorico
Restart Dorico, then open Library → Music Fonts. Select Alba, choose whether to use the font’s recommended engraving options, and confirm.
If Alba does not appear, confirm that the folder is named Alba and contains Alba.json, then restart Dorico.
Note: Changing the music font in Dorico doesn’t automatically replace certain symbols, such as mid-system clefs, chord-symbol accidentals, and metronome notes. These retain their Bravura or Bravura Text appearance. Follow step 04 to replace them with their Alba and AlbaText equivalents.
Import the library
- Open your project in Dorico Pro and choose Library → Library Manager.
- Under Compare to at the top right, click Dorico project. In the file chooser, select Alba.doricolib from the Alba installation package and click Open.
- In the left-hand list, click the red ≠ symbol beside Collections so it changes to a green left-pointing arrow. This selects the library’s symbol replacements and supporting font styles for import.
- Click Apply, then Close, and save your project.
The replacements apply to the current project; repeat these steps for other projects, or save a project template to reuse them. Engraving and layout options remain unchanged.
Sources
Sheet music from these publishers informed Alba’s design.
- Aibl
- Augener
- Bärenreiter
- Belaïeff
- Bèrben
- Boosey & Hawkes
- Bosworth
- Bote & Bock
- Breitkopf & Härtel
- Chester
- Choudens
- Costallat
- Cranz
- Decourcelle
- Delrieu
- Durand
- Hansen
- Henle
- Heugel
- Jobert
- Leduc