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Topic: Playback tempo (speed) control? (Read 2664 times) previous topic - next topic

Playback tempo (speed) control?

Hi all:

I'm a complete newbie, so please do not flame...

Here's my question: After loading a NWC file, how would I
be able to control the speed / tempo of the playback? (preferably, without editing the score.)

TIA

Diogenes

Re: Playback tempo (speed) control?

Reply #1 –
Go to the very beginning of your score. Use the Insert > Tempo menu. Choose the tempo you would like to use. Normally, that will place a tempo indicator in the printed score. But you can use the tab Visibility > Never to make the tempo marker non-printing.

Actually, the above does edit the score, but not in a visible manner. The information is saved when you save the file, and included if you export MIDI. You can change the tempo value by selecting (highlight) the tempo maker, right-click to call its properties dialog box, and change the number.

This method can be used in other parts of the score, when you want to locally change the tempo.

But if what you wanted was a "speed dial" that would simply crank the tempo up or down (like your media player's volume control), no.

Re: Playback tempo (speed) control?

Reply #2 –
The thing to watch for, though is whether there are already tempo controls in the score. If so, these will take affect from the point they are inserted.
So, for example, if the score starts with a 120 bpm control, and there is a change to 90 bpm half-way through the score, inserting a 60 bpm control at the very beginning will have no effect whatever, as the existing 120 bpm will override that. Changing the existing tempo control to 60 will have the desired effect, but only up until the first tempo change, in which case the playback will get faster, not slower as was the original intention.
It would be nice to have (hint hint) a means of slowing down the entire score, affecting all tempo controls, but I'm afraid there is no such thing at the moment.

Robin
 

Re: Playback tempo (speed) control?

Reply #3 –
For slowing down playback, you can always use Amazing Slowdowner, available from http://ronimusic.com/

This might not be as useful during the edit process,  though, since you would have to create a .wav sound file during playback, and then adjust the tempo in Amazing Slowdowner.

Probably too cumbersome to be practical.