ICSOM Editor Mike Muszynski
Photo credit: Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Just prior to the 2023 ICSOM Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, my predecessor, Peter de Boor, and I made a visit to Colonial Quality Printing (CQP) where we got to tour the facility that does the printing of Senza Sordino and the ICSOM Directory. Printing represents the final step for an issue of Senza Sordino, and before I discuss what goes on in the shop, I want to describe the process of getting to that point.

Generally, a fellow ICSOM member will enthusiastically suggest a great idea that they want to share in an article (or, often, I will suggest to someone that a recent event could make a good article if it were to be shared from the perspective of an orchestra musician). When the submission comes in, I upload the copy—that is, the actual words written—to Google Docs and make suggestions as to what might need to be changed, letting me discuss back and forth with the author (or authors) in a centralized location.

Once we are satisfied with the article, ICSOM Counsel Kevin Case provides a legal review (and often a gut check, as he has a keen eye about statements that—while they may be technically legal—may require adjustments in tone to avoid bias or rewording to add clarity and avoid causing problems in your workplace). At this point, the copy also gets a once-over from Jennifer Roop, a professional copy editor—and a college friend I worked with at The Daily Northwestern.

From here, the article copy and any associated images must be inserted into the layout design in Affinity Publisher, our design software. After all of the layout has been created, a PDF of the issue goes to the Governing Board for any last corrections. Once those corrections are made, I send a PDF to CQP for printing, along with a distribution list generated by the online directory.

John McAdams (center) of Colonial Quality Printing with former ICSOM Editor Peter de Boor (left) and ICSOM Editor Mike Muszynski (right) during a visit to CQP in August 2023.
Photo credit: Mike Muszynski

As I mentioned earlier, ICSOM has been using Colonial Quality Printing in Milwaukee since 2014. Owner John McAdams helped immensely during my first term as editor and continues doing great work for us. When the 2023 conference was scheduled, I wrote to John and asked if we could tour the shop.

One thing was certain as soon as Peter and I walked in the shop—John has a passion for printing. John mentioned a few times when we met that, while they do a large volume of printing, CQP is a small space. Still, the shop is packed with machines that handle a wide variety of printing services for most of the trade unions in Wisconsin, including the IBEW, Operating Engineers, Iron Workers, Plumbers, and many others. Despite this volume of work, John and I find time to fit Senza Sordino into the queue once each issue is ready.

Personally, my favorite part of the tour came when we got to inspect the machine that actually prints Senza Sordino. Since switching us to a color process in December 2022, each page is printed with each of four colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (also known as Key). The prints are created by generating a “plate” with the specific ink pattern for each color. Ink is rolled onto each page as the paper is pressed against the plate, once for each color. Each sheet contains a print of two corresponding pages (and because our publication is folded, the front page and the back page are printed on the same side of one sheet of paper), which then needs to dry before the opposite side can be printed.

The printer that lays down the ink for each issue of Senza Sordino.
Photo credit: Mike Muszynski

Colors are not combined directly on the page, but instead printed in patterns that fool your eye into thinking that they have combined. Relative strength of the color is determined by how large the tiny colored shapes are, since smaller-sized shapes will allow more white paper to be seen. Your eyes fill in the gaps for you. In fact, if you are reading this in print, you can prove this effect by inspecting the photos with a magnifying glass or a loupe.

After printing, the pages are folded and bound together—a task that is fairly simple for Senza, but complicated for something such as the ICSOM directory. Finally, CQP addresses the individual copies and boxes according to the distribution lists and mails them to ICSOM members and delegates.

Peter de Boor inspecting the dot patterns on an image of Mike Muszynski from a clipping of a previous issue of Senza Sordino that John McAdams keeps in the shop.
Photo credit: Mike Muszynski

In order to completely finish the publication of an issue, there are a couple of final steps, including publishing the issue digitally at icsom.org/senzasordino and sending an email version to those who have opted out of print publication. These final steps take a few days, but they allow for a wider publication of Senza Sordino not only on our website and email, but also through digital platforms such as Instagram and Facebook—thanks to Paul Austin and Rebecca Matayoshi.

From the start of each issue to its publication, Senza Sordino represents a collaboration between many different people: the authors of each article, the editors and Governing Board who help refine those articles, our counsel, our printer at CQP, the publishers of our website and social media accounts, and the delegates who ensure accurate addresses and distribution information. For me, this collaboration between so many different people makes each issue of Senza special, and I look forward to seeing the culmination of that work each time a printed copy arrives at my door.