Show Posts - Bart

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Messages - Bart

101

General Discussion / Re: Cursor shape changing & F6 message

2015-08-04 06:41 pm

Nice conversation!

I am suffering too from my old - bad - habit to press F6, just to be sure the song has really stopped.
In the past, I never had bad experiences with failing drivers, so I didn't bother when I pressed F6 unnecessarily. With the new pop up screen, this has changed.

I think the confusion starts because one single key (F6) has a different behaviour depending on the fact that there is a song playing or not. I think this is not the optimal choice.
I would expect that if I ask to stop a song (F6) that isn't playing anymore, nothing happens!

Now, when the song has already stopped, the meaning changes in a - mostly - "unwanted" panic reset, and I always blame myself for not being careful enough.

It seems that there are at least 3 keys that can stop a playing song:
F6 of course and its corresponding "stop" button,
ESC (as Rick learned us in Reply 4),
but also F5 and its corresponding "play" button. F5 and the play button seems to be a toggle key between playing and stopping.

If the STOP function would be removed from F6 - there are alternatives -, this key could be exclusively reserved for a panic reset - maybe even when the song is still playing. But mistyping between F5 and F6 is likely, therefore I would prefer ESC to be reserved exclusively for a panic reset - Sorry, Rick.

In most other softwares ESC has no meaning at all or a special meaning. That's why it seems perfect for the unusual purpose of a panic reset. And I would be perfectly happy with a warning message when I didn't ask for unwanted panic resets (by pressing F6 at the wrong moment).

Bart

102

Tips & Tricks / Re: Breathing spaces

2015-07-15 09:14 pm

Addendum:

Futher checks prove that I loose these "hacks" when exporting and importing via midi-format.
So maybe not really what you are looking for.

Bart

103

Tips & Tricks / Re: Breathing spaces

2015-07-15 09:01 pm

MusicJohn,

With the example given by Rick and with your own explanation, I suppose, that you could try

inserting a zero-delay breath mark (for the visual effect)
inserting (hidden) performance style changes - sostenuto seems to be usable since it is somewhere between tenuto and staccato - (for the musical effect)

I admit that it only works for certain instruments like flutes or violins and that it is hardly audible for piano - I suspect the specific piano Attack,Decay,Sustain,Release envelope for obscuring this effect - http://making-music.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Envelopes-ADSR.jpg, but you could give it a try.

Your question (as I understand):

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.51,Single)
|PerformanceStyle|Style:Tenuto|Pos:5|Visibility:Never
|Instrument|Name:"Violin"|Patch:40|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:10|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th,Staccato,Slur|Pos:0
|TempoVariance|Style:Breath Mark|Pause:0|Pos:9
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

My (approximate) "solution"

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.51,Single)
|PerformanceStyle|Style:Tenuto|Pos:-8|Visibility:Never
|Instrument|Name:"Violin"|Patch:40|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:10|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|PerformanceStyle|Style:Sostenuto|Pos:-12|Visibility:Never
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|TempoVariance|Style:Breath Mark|Pause:0|Pos:9
|PerformanceStyle|Style:Tenuto|Pos:-8|Visibility:Never
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

Bart

104

General Discussion / Re: How do you call this rhythm indication in some music scores?

2015-06-19 04:01 pm

H.M., Rick,

This discussion comes in an area where my knowledge is limited and your last remarks are - at least for me - not very clear anymore.

I understand that too much midi commands or too large soundfonts can badly influence the playback performance.
But how can I know what is too much/too large, or in other words: how can I see how much stress I put on the system with a chosen configuration?
And: Are there some rules of thumb that can be used to check the quality/badness of an option (to predict that some scores will give problems on systems that are x times slower)?

I tried to check with Midi-Ox the 91 tempo changes in your simple example (reply 13), Rick, but I didn't detect the bad behavior.

Bart

(Yes I am trying to steal your knowledge in this field)

105

General Discussion / Re: How do you call this rhythm indication in some music scores?

2015-06-19 01:10 pm

Rick,

Am I right if I think that you want to show an example where it can go wrong?

A similar procedure as the one explained for dynamics in Tina Billets "mpcguide" ### can be a workaround for this problem, can't it? Or am I raving out nonsense, now?

Bart

###non-working link removed, please follow Rick's link in Reply 15###

106

General Discussion / Re: How do you call this rhythm indication in some music scores?

2015-06-19 09:26 am

Hi, Lawry,

You are right, it was also for me the first time that I saw this strange indication. That's, in fact, why I posted this question. I believe that the maker of the original document (probably not made with noteworthy composer) could't find the proper presentation and customized something himself.

I am not really interested in getting an exact copy of what I have on paper, so I don't care if I have to use different presentation.
I want the NWC files to sound good and to be easy to understand - with minimal effort, if possible, that's all.

When I will prints a score myself, I would go for the best quality and that is definitely with your fonts (especially since I see how easy you made the installation process). [I even tried Lilypond, but I wasn't really excited about the result/effort balance.]

If I distribute the NWC file itself, I prefer one that looks good for everyone, also for people that didn't customize their pc.
[I first hoped to implement a jpg - or your font characters - in user objects to get rid of the need to make customizations]
But Mike's solution perfectly fits for what I tried to achieve this time.

I highly appreciate your suggestion for the conductor staff.
I was investigating the "nwsw_Unjazzify.php" script to convert it into a "Jazzify" script. But with your conductorstaff solution this is not necessary.
Less work and even a better alternative (because: easy, effective and no redundancy).

Many thanks.

Bart

107

General Discussion / Re: How do you call this rhythm indication in some music scores?

2015-06-18 10:38 pm

Mike,

Your third option is the most general and so easy.
It is exactly what I was looking for.
With a hidden staff for the music and a muted staff for the visual presentation (as in attachment jazzified.nwc), both components can seamlessly combined.
Thank you so much.

Bart

108

General Discussion / Re: How do you call this rhythm indication in some music scores?

2015-06-18 09:18 pm

Thank you fathafluff.
The reason why i asked for the name is because I wanted to google for it, but I didn't find any useful hits.
So I hoped to get better results if I knew the correct official or unofficial name.

Mike.
I first also thought on font sets, but in the past I downloaded some files from the scriptorium - and not having installed the right font - they looked awful, This reduces their potential "reachability" and that's why I find the font set solution only a good "second choice".

I saw your user object for slurs - very impressive and most of all very useful - and because I spended (much) time in reverse engineering your script, I was wondering if rhythm indications could also be created as user objects. I found a slur object defined in the API, but I wasn't sure if these kind of "custom objects" would be available (or composable). Thank you for indicating that user objects could be possible. I will further investigate the possibilities.

Bart

109

General Discussion / How do you call this rhythm indication in some music scores?

2015-06-18 05:24 pm

I have a music score with a rhythm indication on top which states that 2 eight notes should be sung/played as triplets (see Capture.png in attachment).
What is the correct name for this indicator?
Is there a way to add this indicator in NWC songs with the current 2.51 version?
Could the future user object facility be used to create these kind of objects?

110

General Discussion / Re: Floating labels?

2015-06-18 04:28 pm

Indeed, Rick.
I confused channels with instrument changes, but the latter aren't shown (yet). Sorry.
Maybe these and other properties could be useful too, but I like the current sober layout.
Bart

111

General Discussion / Re: Floating labels?

2015-06-18 03:33 pm

Thank you, Richard,
"3. In the status bar, there is the clef, the time sig, the bar number , the channel used for that staff , the group name and the staff name."
for pointing to this little gem in the status bar.

Key signature should be useful here as well. Hopefully in the next ... ?

I see that the timing is hiding the status when playing the song.

There is also a little risk that if there are (master) repeats in the score, clef, channel or key signature could have been changed in successive passages. I see that the property of the first passage is always displayed. This could be misleading.

Bart

112

General Discussion / Re: Print Preview and Word-wrapping stalves

2014-11-17 05:24 pm

Hi, Al,

Of course my work around is not at all a word wrap solution, but with the GO-command (CTRL+G) you can jump easily to a specific bar number.

This needs of course some sort of administration, but it helped me in the past to speed up the work.

Bart

113

General Discussion / Re: Ties in solving chords

2014-05-23 10:43 pm

Better? I agree. But also slower!

I remember the days where, for instance, I could change the instrument of a staff with the keyboard only. In all the new versions I have to position and click the mouse several times to achieve the same result. Especially annoying when I want to find the best sound for my song.

The same happened with the selector buttons. Beautiful and elegant, but, instead of one click, you now need at least two clicks (and again position the mouse).

All these new things are slowing down the process of entering scores! And this has always been the distinctive key feature of Noteworthy Composer, I believe.

Noteworthy is still the easiest and fastest score editor for me, but the key thing that made me fall in love on this beautiful piece of software - speed -, is disappearing.
:-(

Bart

114

General Discussion / Re: Text Expression length too short

2012-11-28 06:50 pm

I was thinking of Lyrics (on a separate layered staff with only invisible notes), but it seems to enlarge the measure.
So, it is probably worse than what Rick did, but maybe in ideal circumstances you could try Lyrics.

115

General Discussion / Re: lyrics paste doesn't work

2012-09-13 04:42 pm

It is not a solution for your problem, but as a work around you can save the file as a noteworthytext file, where you can see (and modify) your text in a text editor of your choice.

116

General Discussion / Re: Strange tie behaviour in version 2.5.x

2012-07-25 06:41 pm

Just to verify I reïnstalled version 2.1 and in a new score I added 3 chords (G46,C36,C35).
Adding a tie to chord G46 only adds a tie on the G.
Adding a tie to chord C36 adds 2 ties, one on E and one on G.

I exported to nwctext (added below) and see indeed the ties "-2" in the first chord and "-4 and -2" on the second.

|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-5,-2^,0
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4^,-2^,1
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-6,-4,-2

I appreciate the improvement, but hardly see situations where every chord note should get a tie.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposer(2.0)
|SongInfo|Title:""|Author:"<Name>"|Lyricist:""|Copyright1:"Copyright © 2012 <Name>"|Copyright2:"All Rights Reserved"
|PgSetup|StaffSize:16|Zoom:4|TitlePage:Y|JustifyVertically:Y|ExtendLastSystem:N|DurationPadding:Y|PageNumbers:0|StaffLabels:None|BarNumbers:None|StartingBar:1
|Font|Style:Staff Italic|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:10|Bold:Y|Italic:Y|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Staff Bold|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Staff Lyric|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:7|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Page Title Text|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:24|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Page Text|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:12|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Page Small Text|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 1|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 2|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 3|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 4|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 5|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 6|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|PgMargins|Left:1.27|Top:1.27|Right:1.27|Bottom:1.27|Mirror:N
|AddStaff|Name:"Staff"|Group:"Standard"
|StaffProperties|EndingBar:Section Close|Visible:Y|BoundaryTop:12|BoundaryBottom:12|Lines:5|Style:Standard|Layer:N|Color:Default
|StaffProperties|Muted:N|Volume:127|StereoPan:64|Device:0|Channel:1
|StaffInstrument|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-5,-2^,0
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4^,-2^,1
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-6,-4,-2
!NoteWorthyComposer-End

117

General Discussion / Strange tie behaviour in version 2.5.x

2012-05-04 08:09 pm

In previous versions, when you applied a tie on a chord, the tie for note members did not appear if the following chord did not have that note.
In the newest versions (2.5.1 and 2.5.4) the tie for chord members does appear and remains until that note appears again.
I doubt that this feature was introduced on purpose.

Code: [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.5,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Instrument|Name:"String Ensemble 1"|Patch:48|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:8
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-6^,-3^,-1^
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-7,-5,-2
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-6,-4,-2
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

118

General Discussion / Re: Forcing line break under collapsed staff.

2011-12-30 03:22 pm

I think the system break only works on the top staffs and on bar lines, but I don't see any bar lines in the top staff between measure 348 and measure 365. The bounded 18 rests seem to prevent the layout that you want to achieve.

Bart

119

General Discussion / Re: "Silint Night" counter melody

2011-12-13 07:52 pm

Rik,

I know that the Flemish "Susa Nina" is sung as a counter part for the German Christmas Song "Stille Nacht".
I put the notes on a score for you.

Code: [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:-4
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:1
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:-5
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-5
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-6
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-6
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:-1
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:1
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:-2
|Bar|Style:SectionClose|SysBreak:Y
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

120

General Discussion / Re: Chord members with different durations

2011-11-19 04:35 pm

I always used to implement a workaround where i split the dotted half into a half and a quarter tied together - which at least gave me the correct sound.

Timing for adding the tie is crucial to avoid the D is also tied:
In this case I first focus on the stem-up notes (F half / F quarter / tie / G quarter) and then add the stem-down notes as chord notes (D half D half), but of course if the dotted half is

Code: [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|TimeSig|Signature:4/2
|Text|Text:"Problem"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:8
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Down|Dur2:Half,Dotted|Pos2:-3
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-5
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-6
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-6
|Bar
|Text|Text:"Work around"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:8
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-3^|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-5
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-5
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-6
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-6
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

121

General Discussion / Re: Dotted eighh notes with different stems

2011-11-19 04:15 pm

What Rick explains in his examples is:

When the default stem length is used, flag and dot can compete for the same spot and therefor the flag pushes the dot to the right.
When using a different (longer) stem length, the flag and the dot don't have to compete and the dot can be put on its default location.

Bart

122

Version 1.75 Discussion / Re: upgrade

2011-11-13 09:20 pm

I don't think it was ever possible to upgrade from version 1.75 to version 2.x for free.
Maybe you upgraded version 1.75b or 1.75c?
If you have a license for version 2.0 you can for free upgrade to version 2.1 (and hopefully also to 2.5 in the future).
The Viewer is free.

123

General Discussion / Re: not printing unused part of score

2011-11-12 08:58 am

Guido,

Layering should be possible when only a few measures are used.
Text-labels and stem directions can be used to indicate which instrument should play/sound.

Bart

124

General Discussion / Re: Forum Profiles

2011-11-10 07:33 pm

Greetings from Heverlee - Leuven - Belgium - Europe

125

General Discussion / Re: No MIDI reset when new scores are opened ?

2011-09-17 10:12 am

Thank you, Rick.
I will keep using F6 and the stop button.
Bart

126

General Discussion / No MIDI reset when new scores are opened ?

2011-09-09 11:15 pm

If no specific midi instructions are given, the states from a previous version are kept. So far so good. But, this can lead to unwanted behavior as you will find an example below in nwctxt-format.

F6 or the stop button (sometimes twice) is then a way to reset all the channels.

Is it on purpose that at the beginning of a new score the midi channels are not reset? Are there known disadvantages?
Are there alternatives to avoid the cacaphony in bar 3?

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|SustainPedal|Pos:-8|Wide:Y
|Instrument|Name:"Acoustic Grand Piano"|Patch:0|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:7|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-6
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Text|Text:"ACTIVE SCORE STOPPED"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:-10
|Text|Text:"NEW SCORE STARTED"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:-17
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Instrument|Name:"Church Organ"|Patch:19|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:7|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-4
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|SustainPedal|Status:Released|Pos:-8|Wide:Y
|Text|Text:"WANTED BEHAVIOR"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:-16
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Instrument|Name:"Church Organ"|Patch:19|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:7|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-4
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

Kind regards,
Bart

127

General Discussion / Re: Early note termination during playback

2011-09-09 10:30 pm

Hi, Rick,

I investigated your example and if the "second" note is different, there is no problem - as you hear in this example below.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Instrument|Name:"Flute"|Patch:73|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:9
|RestChord|Dur:8th|Opts:Stem=Down,ArticulationsOnStem,VertOffset=-5|Dur2:4th|Pos2:0
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2^|Opts:Stem=Down
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2^|Opts:Stem=Down
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Down
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

However, I don't think one performer is able to play your first bar since an instrument is not able to "start" playing a note which is already produced by that same instrument. Your second bar seems to me an interpretation from a performer who is trying to play the "different" parts with only one instrument. The only correct option for me is using different midi-channels since multiple instruments are necessary for what was put into one score.

Considering the technology for MIDI, I also fear that stripping off the note-off in a MIDI stream will be very hard to implement.

Bart

128

General Discussion / Re: Zero duration notes

2011-08-28 07:06 pm

May be that this seems a silly question, but when you have to aline some lyrics a non time consuming placeholder could be interesting.
Unfortunately this zero note duration, as Dulfagd names it, does not exist (yet) in Noteworthy Composer.

129

General Discussion / Re: KEYBOARDS

2011-04-25 11:41 am

Hi huntress,

Each MIDI keyboard can be connected to a computer if you have the right cables.
In the past every computer had a gameport on the soundcard and MIDI cables were supplied with the keyboard or with the soundcard. Today new computers do almost all their communication through USB-connectors.
So you should buy a MIDI-USB cable.
Once connected you should select the correct MIDI input in NWC (MPU-401 in my case) and that's it.

Bart.

130

General Discussion / Re: How do I make CDs of piano SATB arrangements sound more realistic?

2011-03-20 10:37 pm

Hello Mark,

Since Noteworthy Composer serves two goals (generating visually attractive scores and creating accoustically attractive sound) some commands serve only the former while other commands serve only the latter. Most of the options serve even both goals. As you already found out a slur doesn't change the accoustics and therefor it is just a visual tool. Ties on the contrary have a visual and an accoustic effect. Multipoint Controllers (one of the more complex tools in Noteworthy Composer) only have accoustic effects and are therefor only used by users that strive for a specific sound.

I think your choice for piano is the reason for your disappointment. The sound characteristics for a Piano, as defined by the Attack-Sustain-Decay-Release parameters, have only a short Sustain time and as a consequence the notes disappear quite fast. That's why your example 6, where you repeat your notes, gives you so much satisfaction. Sustain Pedal and Performance style (legato) can slightly improve the quality as you already found out, since your notes resound somewhat longer, but the improvement is rather poor. Chosing other instruments like Organs, Reed instruments, Flutes, Violins or even the "Ensemble instruments" sustain until the end of the note and are even more adequate .

In combination with dynamic changes that David suggested, you will sure get an acceptable result.
As Lawrie and Mark explained, you can achieve even better - almost perfect - results with VSThosts and Soundfonts, but as you already experienced, it is not an easy implementation and in fact you will then enter the fascinating world of professional music studios.

Bart

131

Tips & Tricks / Re: vstHost for Vista

2011-02-13 10:20 pm

William,
I installed Cantabile Light, and you are right, this is a piece of software that I like. It is very easy and works well - even on my 32-bit Vista.
Now I can playing NWC files through Midi Yoke patch cables with confidence.
Thank you for your suggestion.
Bart

132

Tips & Tricks / Re: vstHost for Vista

2011-02-09 06:59 pm

Hi William,

I will give Cantabile Lite a try.

Before Lawrie wrote his VST-manual, I always exported my files as midi files and generated audio files with Timidity.
The disadvantages were that Timidity was hard to configure (and to find) and that some NWC-interpretations like fermata, crescendos, ... disappeared.

Today, when I need an audio file, I just play the file in NWC - this way I am sure my fermatas and dynamics are right - and I record with Audacity where the preferred recording device can be selected. As far as I understand, Audacity gives the same flexibility as Wave Repair.

I am stuck only if I need a better "sound" than the default Windows GM, but until now, I have no real need for it.

Bart

133

Tips & Tricks / Re: vstHost for Vista

2011-02-09 06:32 pm

Hi Lawrie,

Thank you for your assistance.

My vista is a 32-bit version Home Premium.

I just played succesfully a piano-score and selected therefor the WST25FStein soundfont.

But when I tried to change back the soundfont to merlin_gm36 I got an access violation :
(Access violation at address 03491CCA in module 'VSTSynthFont.dll'. Write of address 0000000.)

I must admit, that when I stop the VST engine before making any changes, access violation doesn't seem to appear - but on my XP this VST-Engine switching was never necessary.

I am not desperatly looking for a solution for my problem, just wanted to share my experience with VSTHost on Vista.

Bart

134

Tips & Tricks / Re: vstHost for Vista

2011-02-08 10:28 pm

In the past I followed Lawrie's PDF-file and I was very happy with the results.
But on my "new" Vista computer, VSTHost or VSTSynthFont.dll are constantly crashing.
Even the last, so-called stable versions (VSTHost 1.48 / VSTSynthfont 1.060) don't last for more than one song. Especially when I try to change soundfonts, it is hurting me badly.
Also, I never managed to get usefull wav-files out of the VSTHosts recorder.
I already searched the web for better alternatives, but until now I didn't find programs that meet my expectations.

Bart

135

General Discussion / Re: Request: Visiblility check box in Lyrics lines tabs

2010-08-02 07:09 pm

As many files in the scriptorium prove, layout and music are very often seperated in different scores.
Why don't you just create a specific score just for the lyrics? This score can be muted, filled with hidden notes and layered on any other score.
Especially with different languages where lyrics often come on different notes, this can be very handy. Just duplicate this lyrics score for other languages and you can switch on and off at your will.

136

General Discussion / Re: cha cha

2009-12-15 08:24 pm

Hi snooker,

We sang with our choir a version of Tequila Samba and therefor used the following rhythm (first ten bars in nwctxt format):

Hope this helps.
Kind regards.

137

Tips & Tricks / Re: A VERY quick intro for getting started with VST - for dummies...

2008-10-08 10:09 pm

Lawry,

God news from Belgium. In my first configuration tries, I must have screwed up my VSTHost. After making unavailable the old configuration (in C:\Documents and Settings\Bart\Application Data\SynthFont) and after unzipping again VSTHost in a new location, VSTHost is now accepting instrument-changes as sent by NWC just as you explained it should do.

Two major differences could have caused my problems:
(1) I selected the sinfonia synthfont (sinfon36.sf2), which is not a complete GM-soundfont and added also a second soudfont (WST25FStein.SF2) since this has a superb Grand Piano. I always used the same combination when creating WAV/MP3 from Timidity or Synthfont. BUT: Tests have shown that for each channel you can define a specific synthfont file without corrupting the output. Even instrument presets are "corrected" with the midi commands from NWC, so these settings don't seem to hurt.
(2) Somewhere and somehow I also must have defined some bank configurations in VSTHost. This modification should be the reason why I experienced those strange effects. I'm quite sure now that this was my not forgiven mistake.

So, one caveat for all future users: do exactly as Lawry explains and don't play with different options in VSTHost unless you are prepared to get strange effects!

Thank you very much Lawry
Bart

138

Tips & Tricks / Re: A VERY quick intro for getting started with VST - for dummies...

2008-10-08 12:53 am

Thank you, Lawry, for investing your time in my problem.

I fear my lack of midi/vst knowledge and terminology causes confusion, but nevertheless I try to explain what I see and hear (and what/when I don't hear anymore) when I play for instance
the sample song Consecration of the House / Overture by Beethoven, by Tina Billet, and which is delivered with NWC2.

When I start playing this NWC-file I see in the status bar of VSTHost flashing the words "loading/saving/ready" while at the same time in the title bar of VSTHost a whole bunch of "numbers" are passing, starting with 74,69,71,61, etc until it settles to number 49. At that moment I read the full title VSTHost 49: ** Init ** Believe it or not, he last staff has instrument setting string ensemble 1 which corresponds to patch 48. I think the one-number difference can be explained by the starting count number which can be 0 or 1.

When I open the drop down box just under the menu bar in VSTHost (performances or plugins I suppose), I see that the selection is the 49th "plugin" (+1 since it starts counting with 0), which I sadly didn't configure. So I don't hear anything. If I change this to another "plugin" which I did configure VSTSynthfont.dll (in my case for instance plugin 1) I can hear all af a sudden the music that NWC is playing for me.

If I add an additional staff which I force to bank 0, what seems to correspond with plugin 1, I can hear the music immediately. But if I use a different bank number, it's again pointing to a non-defined and thus muting plugin.

With this file, there is also an instrument switch at the beginning of measure (for Pizzicato - patch 45) and my "plugin" 1 changes again, now to number 46.

I suppose NWC and VSTHost are doing what I ask, but since there are a few options that I don't fully understand, I'm not sure I'm asking them the correct things.

For instance, should I specify in STAFF:INSTRUMENT the predefined instruments or the Midi Patch Instrunctions (send patch, send bank select, MSB/LSB)? Even more obscure is VSTHost, since it is totally new for me. Should I define plugins for all 128(+1?) performances? And how do both programs interact?

I just use an ordinary PC with a build in soundcard, probably even on the motherboard (avance AC'97 audio). I don't believe this can load soundfonts directly. Until you explained this alternative I was doomed to use the acceptable (but less flexible) midi mapper.

Bart

139

Tips & Tricks / Re: A VERY quick intro for getting started with VST - for dummies...

2008-10-07 07:15 pm

Lawry,

In a previous comment I told you about my problems with VSTHost where a seeming random "plugin" was used when I started playing a NWC-file.

As you suggested, it is indeed related to my instrument settings (one for each staff) and/or instrument changes defined in my NWC files. When using microsofts built in midi-mapper, besides the channels I also had to define the instruments.

But when using soundfonts, the configuration of the instruments should be done in VSTHost (or more specifically in the VSTSynthFont.dll-plugin where one can define a different instrument for each channel). But this is probably already known stuff for an average soundfont user.

The consequence is that a NWC-file behaves differently when used with soundfonts than when used with the midi-mapper.
I found a workaround so that NWC-files should sound correctly with both midi-devices:
Just define the staffs with the instruments that are needed for playback with the built in midi-mapper and ADD A LAST staff (if necessary with only rests) for playback with soundfonts. This last staff should be given the same "instrument number" as the plugin number where VSTHost is configured. When playing the file VSTHosts starts with swapping to the different instruments, but since the instrument of the last (empty) staff corresponds to the used VSTinstrument, VSTHost uses the correct "plugin".

I believe this remark may be helpful for new soundfont/vsti/vsthost/midiyoke users.

Bart

140

Tips & Tricks / Re: A VERY quick intro for getting started with VST - for dummies...

2008-10-04 08:59 pm

Hi lawry,

The PDF contains the same information that you gave already in this forum, but since it is more structured and made more clear with screen shots, it will even better understood than the forums guiding steps. Thanks for the good work !!

I implemented your strategy last week for the following reasons:
I already learned before in these forums that creating audio (WAV,MP3,...) from NWC files should be done with midi2audio converters like Timidity, or Synthfont, which both use soundfonts. I also experienced that it's not a good idea to "tune" the sound in NWC since the sound that NWC uses differ from the sound that is generated when soundfonts are used. Especially balance between different instruments seem to be different. I think this problem should be tackeled with your strategy.

This is working now. But, I experience one problem which at first made me think it wouldn't work:

When starting to play NWC-files, VSThost switches to a random, usually undefined VSTinstrument, which - of course - doesn't generate any audio output. Only after switching back manually to the defined VSTinstrument in VSTHost, I can finally hear NWC played with soundfonts.

Also at random times during play VSTHost switches to another VSTinstrument. As far as I can see, this switch is not triggered by Noteworthy Composer. Why could VSTHost decide to change the used VSTinsturment during play? Very strange.

Bart