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About breath marks

If I assign a value to breath marks (1 or 2 sixteenth-notes), how is NWC handling that? Is it shortening the note before by that duration, or is it inserting a rest of that duration? I can't quite detect where it's happening -- I need to set up a metronome staff and a slow tempo. Or I can ask the experts!

My choir director insists that we take the time off the note before (or face his wrath), and since I'm making NWCs for my fellow altos, I want to get it right. 

Re: About breath marks

Reply #1 –
What an interesting question!  The NWC breath mark seems to act as a fermata between notes.  "Hesitation" describes it well.  It delays the beginning of the sound in the playback of the following note, but doesn't seem to rob time from the next note.  It just delays its beginning.

You can see that for yourself if you set up a bar of eighth and quarter notes, with a tempo of q=60.  Then insert a breath mark somewhere in the middle, with a delay value equal to 8 sixteenth notes. 

If you don't want the following note to be delayed on the playback, use a delay value of 0.  If you want the note before the breath mark to be shortened, as your choir director suggests, then mute it, and add another staff.  Copy the contents of the first staff to the second one, then replace the muted note with an unmuted one of a shorter value, perhaps replacing a quarter note with a dotted or double-dotted eighth note and a suitable rest.

The second staff will "sound" on the playback, but doesn't have to be displayed.

 

Re: About breath marks

Reply #2 –
For a breath mark, NWC just stops sending MIDI events for the # of 16th notes specified.
For a fermata, it sends note on (a MIDI message) for all the notes it encounters immediately following the fermata, then it stops sending MIDI events for the # of 16th notes specified.  This happens globally, not just on the staff where the tempo variance appears.

This is why fematas and breath marks can't be exported to a MIDI file.  There is no appropriate file command to stop processing.  This can only be done in real time.

There is no global command for: "handle breath marks like my choir director wants them", so your best option is not to use them.  Put a text comma where the breath mark should be.

For playback you have these options:
  • a hidden staff as David suggests
  • a volume or expression MPC command, killing the sound at the appropriate time and then restoring it

Registered user since 1996
 

Re: About breath marks

Reply #3 –
Quote
There is no global command for: "handle breath marks like my choir director wants them", so your best option is not to use them.  Put a text comma where the breath mark should be.

Just use a breath mark with a delay of zero.