Another reason for choosing "My Documents" is that, if you take your PC to the shop and they have to do a full backup before wiping out your hard drive, they will save your stuff, but not files under "Program Files". I had lost a few NWC2 files done since my last backup but none of my NWC1 stuff which was in "My Documents".
Hmm, then they're lazy! We NEVER reformat a hard drive without doing a complete backup. And I mean complete. If the data is visible to Windows, we get it; if it is visible to a sector copy from Ghost, we get it; if the drive chamber is intact but the drives' logic board faulty, then provided we can source an identical logic board we will use it, and we get it!
I am amazed at how many people will let cheapskate repairers get away with short changing them on repairs.
OTOH, if you don't want to pay for the extra, say, hour or so it might take then that is your look out.
/rant
Just re-read the above and realised I should qualify something - we do most of our work for businesses and you'd be surprised how many non-ms products do NOT use my-docs for their data storage - and rightly so too. These are often in small networks and sharing directories from my-docs can lead to some terrible confusion. Also, MANY products store their data and/or configuration stuff under "Program Files". This is also not the best place, but they're still there.
<snip> Usually my solution is to put the extra accidentals where I want, and then never audit. Having said that, I might give them a try. Have you set the symbols to use any particular text spacing? Does the forum have any hints? Layered staff just for courtesy accidentals?
I usually just place 'em Left justified, best fit with preserve width turned ON. Sometimes you need to fiddle but this usually works.
SwingDings was intended to be used at the same point size as the staff, though you may, of course, adjust this to taste.
But if you turn off "exclude from bar count" for both repeat signs, you can get an extra count too, so it has to be done carefully.
I notice the print preview won't show Bar 1, so you don't get any numbering of bars on the print until you have a system wrap. This shouldn't be troublesome, unless you have a pickup bar. Then you can't tell whether or not is is numbered 0 or 1 after it's printed.
Doesn't seem to matter what kind of barlines surround the hidden one, the phenomenon appears the same.
Bersyl91 is correct. If you paste the clip from the first post there are indeed 2 normal barlines labelled "2", with the back to back master repeats in between.
I reckon this is a bug.
NWC1 behaves differently. In that case, the back to back master repeat barlines get numbered as 3 and the surrounding ones are 2 and 4.
I downloaded it just now, Lawrie, and checked it out. I'm not sure how often I'd use it, but I think it will be useful for those with vision problems.
Yup. For those without vision problems it probably isn't the easiest to read, but for those for whom it was intended it is my hope that it is a big help.
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I tend toward your SwingDings, but I have been pretty inactive notation-wise for the past few months.
I appreciate your use of SwingDings. Knowing that people are actually using the fonts really is a big encouragement.
I too have been somewhat inactive in things musical lately - just a bit of playing - study of music stuff and notation things have had to take a back seat as I try to get my business back on track - 2006 has not been our best year, but I have high hopes for 2007 - some new strategies in place...
G'day Techgy, Welcome back. Hope you had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a great new year.
I notice the boys have already commented. As has been mentioned, the real problem is more one of understanding how music is notated. For bar lines to line up, the contents of each bar (measure) must add up to the same "time".
Your starting time signature is 3/4. This means that each bar contains 3 beats that are each of crotchet (fourth or 1/4 note) duration. This does not mean that every note must be a crotchet, simply that the total of the note (and rest) values must add up to 3 crotchets per bar.
So, you could have 3 crotchets (1/4 notes), 6 Quavers (1/8 notes), 12 semiquavers (1/16 notes) etc., and of course, you can have any combination so long as they add up to 3 crotchets. E.G. 2 quavers, a crotchet and then 4 semiquavers (2*1/8, 1*1/4 and 4*1/16) - grand total = 3 quavers (1/4 notes) etc.. There is almost no limit on the possible combinations, especially when you start adding augmentation dots... But that's another lesson
In order for the barlines to line up (and thus prevent the waste space) each bar (measure) on each staff must be the same "length".
In your example, the top staff has 2 quavers as a pickup (anacrusis). This is a short bar that is also known as a "lead in". The second staff doesn't, instead it starts with a full bar with the last note being tied into the following bar. This looks like you used the "automatic bar line" feature on the second staff 'cos the results are more "perfect" than the top staff. I consider that tool a "trap for new players" as it can give some very unexpected results if you haven't been careful with your note values on entry.
I note that David has gone to quite some detail for you. FYI, the sections of his post that look like this:
are text representations that NWC2 can import as notation. This example specifies that:
it is a NWC2 clip
a rest of crotchet (4th) duration is required
a bar line is next
and finally the clip is finished
Simply highlight the lines, <Ctrl-C> to copy 'em to the clipboard, go to NWC2, position your insertion point where the "clip" needs to go and press <Ctrl-V> and voila, instant music bits.
NWC is more "free form" than other music editors. This is one of its great strengths. The downside is that a little more understanding on the part of the notater (you) is required.
So yes, there is lots to learn, but it is very rewarding. I feel very confident you and your wife will be "up to speed" quite quickly.
thanks Lawrie, I realise what you say, but really I'm looking for a 'universal' "flat" that I can pop in any Word Processor type application, like with ANSI codes ê ë ì ç etc.
You'll still need a font that contains the required character(s)... Mostly I've only seen 'em in specific music fonts, not with text combined in the same font, hence my suggestion of the 'Dings stuff as you'd mentioned wanting to put it into the NWC song title.
I don't know if you've looked at any of my 'Dings suites but if you haven't, they contain matching fonts that include sharps and flats etc. in the text font.
So, if you want a sharp in the title, provided you're using say, SwingText, as your Page Title Text font then the # (hash) is the same as the sharp symbol in the matching NWC2SwingDings NWC2 system font (as well as the NWC1 replacement font included in the suite), <Alt-0132> will give you a matching flat, <Alt-0136> is the natural.
I didn't include double flat or double sharp though using the flat twice in succession may be sufficient and there is an X that may suffice at <Alt-0215> for the double sharp.
If you don't like SwingDings, there is also MusikDingsSans and MusikDingsSerif to try.
G'day Mike, if I've understood correctly, you are layering 2 staves (S & A) and are wanting the flags/beams to overlay?
If so, why not simply use the standard NWC chord construct (<Ctrl-Enter>) ? That way you don't need to worry about the overlaying of the beams etc.
N.B. Usually when entering S & A on a single staff you would have note stems for the Sop. going upwards and for the Alto going down. (using 2 staves overlayed is best for this - Sop stems up, Alto stems down) That way they are always visually completely seperate. If you do need to have the note stems in the same direction for some reason then the Chord suggestion above is probably your answer.
If you really do need to layer (and I normally would) you can still use the standard chord construct for the occasional note(s) and replace on the layered staff with a hidden note or rest.
I hope I've understood your requirements correctly. BTW, I think you'll really enjoy the benefits of the NWC2 beta.
Question: When you are using Page Title Text, is alignment over a note/bar critical? I would think that something that large would mostly be centered or flush left/right with the page.
Dunno, I haven't had an opportunity or need to use it that way yet...
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<snip>
What I hear both of you saying is that you have run out of font slots on some music. Good argument for adding User 8, 9, 10 ... but not responsive to the logic of a Page Font aligning with the Page.
On the contrary, I've never run out of font slots. I choose to use the Page Fonts 'cos that's what they're there for. Maintains consistency of type face and size.
Page Title is of course the title, Page Text is things like Author and Lyricist and Page Small is the copyright notice.
All of them are whatever else you choose to use 'em for. The only additional fonts I normally use are User1=SwingDings and User6=SwingChord - I reset the standard fonts to SwingText and the system font to NWC2SwingDings...
Constant changes in font size and/or type face make things harder to read.
To resolve your point, I think I'd be more inclined to add alignment options - something like "At Left Margin", "At Right Margin", "At Page Centre" and possibly some tab stops...
G'day Robin, I dunno 'bout you, but I occasionally manage to hit both the <ctrl> and <shift> keys together, get <shift> and <caps lock> a lot too... Perhaps a different key combo is in order, or if you can live without the hot-key, remove it altogether...
Haven't checked to see, but perhaps you could specify left <Ctrl> key and the right <shift> key. I think that would be a more difficult combination to accidentally hit. Or maybe both <ctrl> keys...
G'day Robin, out of curiosity, could you check your international settings and see just what your Windows hot keys are for changing 'round?
| Control Panel | Regional and Language Options | Languages tab | Details button | Settings tab | Key Settings Button |
'tis entirely possible your "Key sequence" is blank in which case we're barking up the wrong tree. 'tis also possible that you will be able to identify the culprit.
You don't need to actually use the viewer, but its installation program will detect the existence of NWC1 and 2 and then it (the viewer) will be made the default program for .NWC files to be opened by.
Within the viewer is a setting that will allow you to tell the viewer to open files in the editor rather than the viewer.
What this results in is the correct version of NWC being used for each NWC file you open. Each time you go to open an NWC file, the viewer code intervenes, detects the NWC version required and then the file is opened in that version of NWC.
<snip> Who's going notice 5 mm of extra space? For that matter, who's going to care? ...<snip>
Actually, I'm one who cares.., a lot. I may not be as critical as some but I appreciate their "eagle eyes" as the results that they achieve benefit us all.
I don't know if you've looked at any of my 'Dings font suites but if you have you may have noticed that some of the elements in the replacement NWCx system fonts actually take less horizontal space than the NWC originals. This wasn't by accident. I get better spacing control because of it.
I do understand that different ones have different requirements. Sometimes less, sometimes more exacting. That's fine, but for the sake of NWC as a product in a competitive market, the better it is, the more acceptable it will be to a broader customer base.
Richard's comment regarding users needing to use DTP applications to post-process NWC output for printers is a case in point. If this can be reduced, or better, eliminated then NWC will appeal to that broader customer base.
You can bet Sibelius et al require little or no post processing... If they had NWC's ease of use - read FANTASTICALLY better user interface - then there are probably a reasonable number of NWC users who would move. My preference is to see NWC totally blitz the competition and the attention to detail provided by the "eagle eye's" brigade is what will help NWC achieve this.
So, please, forgive and be patient with us as we press poor Eric for perfection in his software...
I'm using Mr Lawrie Pardy's Swing Text for all the standard fonts (at 11,11,11,24,16,8 points), and SwingDings at 20 point in User 1. My staff size is 19 point.
Way cool mate! Good to know people are using the fonts
G'day K.A.T., just had a better look at your method and I agree with Milton. It is neat, elegant and easier to calculate (read "no calculation necessary" - always a bonus).
We've checked most of what you suggest, but we're still not finding a problem in why the spacing is so erratic. Is it possible to post a copy of the tune or a graphic on these forums?
I'm not sure what level of membership allows it, but it is possible to copy files to the forum. However...
Could it be that you are simply adding notes to a bar on one staff which is pushing that bars' barline further out? The notes will align with the notes on the other staves but the barlines will not line up as the total number of beats within the bar that has been modified now exceeds the time signatures' declaration.
This will also seem to put the note spacing out as the space for the barline is still allowed for because of the note alignment with other staves.
To fix:
Make sure the total number of beats in the bar add up to what the time signature declares, OR
Use |Tools|Audit Bar Lines| - but beware, the results may not be what you want. In this case, <Ctrl-Z> (Undo) is your friend!
Other music notation software will often force bar content to add up to the time signature, NWC is more flexible than that (thankfully) but this flexibility requires that you, as the user, do a little more work.
As Rick says, there are places you don't want swung - this just takes a little more effort and fiddling with MPC's as well as counting bars to stop and then restart the swinging repeats in the right places... OR you could do what I've done sometimes and had a hidden, sounding staff where the notes values are modified to compensate in the few spots I needed to play it straight
And to top it off what's a swing chart without a swing symbol. You know; 2 quavers = crotchet/quaver triplet...
G'day Bob, you might look at the attached NWC1 file.
I've used pitch bend MPCs to do what I think you want.
Be aware that within NWC we only have a range of 2 tones that we can play with using a pitch bend - there is other discussion relating to this that I won't go into here...
The idea is to start a note and then bend its pitch to the next note above so:
place the first note
move the cursor to before the note and press < l > OR click |Insert|MPC|
Select the "Pitch Bend" Controller
Select "Absolute" as the Style
Choose the Time Resolution - I user Quarter - depends on how fast you want this to go
Set the Initial Controller Value - 0 for the note as written, +8191 for a tone above to -8192 for a tone below
Set the Time Offset to Zero
Set the "Setting 2" Time offset to how many "Time Resolutions" after the previous change (Initial in this case) that you want the change to take place
Click OK
It is possible to use a "Linear Sweep" Style here too, but your Time Resolution would need to be MUCH faster - Also included in demo
G'day srinivas, that really isn't enough detail, but...
I suggest you do a search of this site for MIDI and keyboard. There are any number of threads touching on this kind of problem and you may well find a solution.
Some things to think about though:
Not all sound cards support MIDI via the game port.
On those cards that do, you still need the correct driver installed
Is your MIDI to 15pin D cable correctly made (it should have some electronic buffering built in)
This is the Noteworthy Composer forum... what IS "FL Studio" and have you checked their support services?
Boxmark2 has both a breve and a brevis... The brevis could be modified into a passable (not great, but passable) longa by centre justifying it onto a headless note with a stem - maybe a grace note...?
You could also mess about with a headless semibreve and left or right justify the brevis and a vertical bar < | >. This also seems to be passable...
As my 'Dings suites were modelled on Boxmark2 they also contain the breve and the brevis.
With a LOT of *patience and concentration, and a font editor - I use "FontCreator" but there a many alternatives - <Insert favourite search engine here> is your friend...
*If you have looked at my SwingDings suite it took around 2 years, on and off, to get it to the Scripto. It still has "features" that I'm not completely happy with but it is now finalised. Any changes will appear in a completely new font that I may do in a year or so...
G'day linlin, the most common cause of "stuck notes" is a tie across a barline where the note to the left of the barline has an accidental associated with it (may be a note of the same pitch earlier in the bar that actually has the accidental) and the note tied to (after the barline) does not have the same accidental.
I won't go into details as to why this happens but that's a good think to look for.
You can use a tool from the edit menu... |Edit|Find|By Category|"Hanging Note Tie".
You will need to repeat this process for each staff until it reports none found.
G'day linlin, you're lucky. You can start the bar numbering from 0 instead of 1. Goto |File|Page Setup|Options tab|Measure Start - make it 0.
If you had more than 1 bar at the start you would have a problem. The way around it then is to use a text entry and turn bar numbers off: |File|Page Setup|Options tab|Measure Numbers - make it None.
To create the text entry position the cursor and press "x" to start the text entry dialogue...
Hmm, OK... This font was built from my MusikDingsSans suite. The crotchet rest should look exactly the same except for being a little bolder.
Perhaps you could look at that suite (MusikDingsSans) and compare. If they are basically the same then it may be simply a matter of interpretation. If not then I'll organise a new copy for you to check...
G'day Michael, I'm pretty sure this is an artifact from the decision to use the stem direction to determine which space the dot will be placed in for notes that are on a line.
If you move either of your examples into a space, you go back to one dot! (it's actually amusing to watch it "walk" up and down the staff - oh well, small minds an' all that
I'd say this is a buglet...
Personally, I'd prefer to always see the dots in the space above except when there are 2 voices on a staff. Then, the lower voice should use the lower space only if there is some potential for confusion.
This makes layering a problem though... Perhaps we also need to be able to specify the dot location in the notes' properties page... Maybe also be able to set it for an entire staff, of course we should still be able to override it in the notes properties.
Hmmmm... very good! I tried putting on broken glasses, and I could still see each note clearly!
Good! Thankyou.
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One strange thing is that the quarter notes look handwritten.
That is odd. Which part seems to be different? The notehead for the crotchet (1/4) is the same as for every shorter note. The minim (half) has its' own round, hollow head as does the semibreve (whole).
If it's the head that seems odd, then all the shorter notes should have the same problem. If it's the tail, then that is exactly the same no matter what system font you choose as it is generated by NWC and is not part of the font.
Are you finding it shows up in the edit view, the print preview or on actual printouts?
