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Topic: Apostrophe in lyric line (Read 8792 times) previous topic - next topic

Apostrophe in lyric line

I just encountered one of those little "quirks" that probably has an easy answer: -
I just did a song with a lyric line that includes an apostrophe - in the word " we're ".  After saving the NWC file as a MIDI file, I changed the file extension from " mid " to " kar ", so that I could open the file with van Basco's Karaoke Player - and I find that " we're " has become " weAEre " (with the AE as a diphthong).  Any ideas please?  Might it be because I am using a UK keyboard?

Re: Apostrophe in lyric line

Reply #1 –
You didn't cut and paste Windows DumbQuotes, did you?

Re: Apostrophe in lyric line

Reply #2 –
... To clarify that: The characters are transferred and saved NOT as "characters," but as codes that correspond to characters. Some programs - in particular, MS Word with substitutions enabled (usual situation) - will change the character code automatically. Instead of the code for the single quote you typed, there will be the code for a curly single quote. But this substitute code is not universal. Thus, when the text (that is, the codes for text) is pasted elsewhere, results may differ.

That's not particular to NWC.

Solution: If you use a plain text editor (Notepad), it won't make substitutions.

Re: Apostrophe in lyric line

Reply #3 –
I think D. Umquot is referring to the automatic correction feature in Word.  Just go into Word's Tools/AutoCorrect/Autoformat menu and turn off the "smart quotes" button.

Re: Apostrophe in lyric line

Reply #4 –
Thanks guys!
Instead of typing the lyric, I had copied and pasted it from another program.  When I looked carefully, I saw that the pasted version had "curly" apostrophes.  I have now replaced them with straight (typed-in) apostrophes, and it carries through to Van Basco perfectly.

Re: Apostrophe in lyric line

Reply #5 –
D. Umquot, you are not distantly related to K. Umquat?

Re: Apostrophe in lyric line

Reply #6 –
... No, but I'm distantly related to N. Umnutz.
 

Re: Apostrophe in lyric line

Reply #7 –
The problem doesn't lie with word, nor with nwc, it lies with the stupid software that cannot handle 8-bit ASCII (ANSI) characters. We live in the 21st century, and one would assume that modern software should be able to read and understand modern character codes, or convert them, should it be necessary for output reasons. Personally I would complain loudly to the moron who wrote it. If they never hear anything about it, they'll think it's all well and dandy.