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Messages - Mike Shawaluk

1
General Discussion / Re: Font (Boxed Text)
There is also BarLabel.ms, which was intended specifically for rehearsal marks (I would have called it RehearsalMark.ms but at the time, I didn't realize that is what they are called). It can be easily scaled up or down in size, and will automatically determine the measure number. You can also enter alternate text, such as REFRAIN.
2
Object Plugins / Synamatic.ms (0.1)
This object draws synalepha (also called elision) marks below lyric syllables which are shared on a single note. This is commonly required in languages like Spanish and Italian where words begin and end with a vowel sound, and are therefore merged together while singing.

The object works in a manner similar to Melismatic.nw, such that a single instance is placed at the beginning of a staff, and all lyrics in that staff will automatically receive the marking where needed. To prepare the lyrics to receive the marking, just insert a _ character in the middle of the lyric text. If you want a wider marking, you can insert two or more successive _ characters, and the marking will extend over the additional space.

There are two parameters for the object:
Overlap - Indicates the amount of overlap on the syllables to the left and right of the marking. It is expressed as a percentage, varying from 0% to 100%, where the default value is 50%.
Strength - Indicates the strength of the curve of the synalepha, as a percentage from 20% to 100%, with a default of 50%.

To install the object, paste the following snippet into NWC and go to Tools > Manage Objects... and choose Online Synch.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposer(2.751)
|AddStaff|Name:"Staff"|Group:"Standard"
|Lyrics|Placement:Bottom|Align:Standard Rules|Offset:0
|Lyric1|Text:"San-to, San-to, San-to_es el Se-ñor,\n"
|User|Synamatic.ms|Pos:-1|Class:StaffSig
|Clef|Type:Treble
|TimeSig|Signature:4/4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-3
!NoteWorthyComposer-End

3
Tips & Tricks / Re: Synalephe
Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I am posting the new object now as a separate topic. Attached is one of @lawrroc's example scores, with the changes needed for the object, which is basically putting a _ character in each syllable where you want the mark to appear.
4
Tips & Tricks / Re: Synalephe
Update:

I wanted to report some good news and bad news. The good news is that I've got a working object, which I am calling Synamatic.ms, which works like Melismatic.nw in that you put one copy at the front of your score, and it automatically adds the synalepha where they are needed.

But I said there was also bad news: I didn't check lawrroc's examples closely enough, and the way I coded it, it will currently only draw one synalepha per syllable. One of the example scores has several cases where there are two separate marks in the same lyric syllable.  So, with this limitation, I don't think it makes sense to release the code at this time.

I'm trying to think of a way to handle multiple markings per lyric syllable without having to rewrite the entire logic from scratch. But just so you can see what they look like, I'm including a sample.

I'll keep everyone posted as to my progress.

  - Mike

PS - in the screen shot, the object looks a bit grainy, but that's only in the editing window. In a print preview, it looks much smoother.
6
Tips & Tricks / Re: Synalephe
Quote from: Richard Woodroffe –
Why not just have it as part of the lyrics  so that the lyrics would say
"Ar-ri-va‿un gril-lo, che‿è mol-to‿ar-zil-lo,"

Unless of course, you need the "synalephe"   to be a different colour.

R.
I was about to make the same observation, but you beat me to it.  :)

But then I looked at some Spanish sheet music that I have, which makes use of this marking frequently, and I noticed that there seems to be a preference for having the arc slightly overlap the two vowels, with just a single word space between.  And then it occurred to me: I bet it would be possible to have a user object that applied these marks whenever it found a _ character in the middle of a lyric. In fact, I bet that Melismatic.nw could be updated/enhanced to optionally perform this function, via a new option.

Any takers?
8
Avant-garde / Re: Windows Copilot may help faster than searcing the forums for help .
I would agree that objects like ChordPlay and GuitarChord have certain advantages over using lyrics for chords, but there is something attractive about entering chords as lyrics. One advantage is that they can be entered quickly and easily copied/pasted in bulk. They could be put on a separate layered staff with hidden rests (or stemless mute blank noteheads :-) ). And a user tool could probably be written that converts the lyrics into ChordPlay objects.
9
Object Plugins / Re: Acciaccatura.ms (version 1.4)
Quote from: Flurmy –
An NWC bug:
[snip]
The acciaccatura is played "ff" instead of "pp"!
I think there is nothing Mike can do.
The playback function uses the velocity that is present at the user object location in the score. Therefore, you can get the desired pp velocity if you use the Acciacatura.ms object with Class=Standard instead of StaffSig, and place a copy of the object at the note location.
10
General Discussion / Re: User objects issues
Perhaps the Melismatic object is crashing because there is something in your score that it doesn't like. If you open a previous score that uses the object and then press F9, it should reset the app. But you should close the score that caused the original issue before you try this.
11
User Tools / Re: Rhythmic slash notation
Quote from: Lawrie Pardy –
Too much messing around.  Placing a rest is a single key stroke, then when it comes time to convert, just select the required notes/bars and run the tool, provided it pushes the rest off the page - easy peasy.
If you are going to use a tool anyway, then placing a regular note instead of a rest is also a single keystroke. The tool that inserts the slash can also change the notehead to a blank, mute it and set its stem length to zero. Just as easy peasy :)
12
User Tools / Re: Beat slashes
Quote from: Lawrie Pardy –
My only objection to the headless, muted, stemless notes is that I make extensive use of the "CueHeads" object which functions on headless notes...
As the author of CueHeads.ms, I was thinking about this as well. In your usage of CueHeads, how often do the notes have zero-length stems?  The CueHeads object could have an option to exclude stemless (or mute) notes, so that it plays well with this tool.
13
User Tools / Re: Rhythmic slash notation
If there were still updates being done to NWC, I would vote for a visibility option of "Transparent", which allows that object to be hidden but still take up its normal space on the staff.  No more need to move objects into the stratosphere.
14
User Tools / Re: Rhythmic slash notation
Quote from: Flurmy –
This tool converts a sequence of notes to a rhythmic pattern (visual only) using the rhythmic slash notation.
(See attached image as an example.)
The original notes (or chords) are uninportant and will be standardized and muted.
What matters is simply their duration.
Assumes font User 1 being MusicDingsSans or MusicDingsSerif with the same size of the standard NWC2STDA.
I was recently watching a review of NWC on YouTube, that mentioned its lack of rhythmic slash notation. I was unfamiliar with slash notation at that time, so I looked into it a bit. I am curious whether you also saw this review, and whether it was the motivation for creating this user tool.

Of course, when I see something like this, my mind always says "I wonder how this could be done by a user object". It is possible to do something like CueHeads.ms and draw slashes on headless stems. I haven't tried out this new tool yet, but I will do so to get a feel for what it does.
16
General Discussion / Re: Bar Numbering using the bar number user plug in
Couldn't be easier. Just insert a new object and specify the number you want it to start at. The numbers will continue from there.
Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|TimeSig|Signature:4/4
|User|BarCounter.nw|Pos:7|Class:StaffSig|AllBars:Y
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|User|BarCounter.nw|Pos:7|Class:StaffSig|AllBars:Y
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
17
General Discussion / Re: User objects issues
The error message containing "execution limit exceeded" mentions CueHeads.ms, but I see that VerseNumber.ms is also being suspended. Are you using both objects in your score?

An execution limit exceeded message usually means that a plugin has gone into an infinite loop and is tying up system resources. NWC automatically detects this and will suspect an object if/when this happens. It could mean a bug in the user object code, or it could be a corrupted score. Or maybe both. (I have tried to write my objects to account for error conditions and exit if they can't find notation to act upon, but I might have missed a condition or two.)

If you are able to share a copy of the score that is generating this error, please send me a private message, and I'll give you an email address so you can forward the score.
18
User Tools / Re: NWCCONVERTOR
Quote from: Lawrie Pardy –
Quote from: Mike Shawaluk –
I was able to get the score to convert without errors by stripping out a few things. Specifically, I removed the segno and coda markings, since I was pretty sure they wouldn't have worked the same in the MusicXML file.
This is not really viable for me, some of my scores have over 50 staves...
I'm in contact with Opagust, and have sent him the original score which generated the error. I'm certain he'll post an updated version shortly.
19
User Tools / Re: NWCCONVERTOR
Quote from: Lawrie Pardy –
The only version I have that is currently working at all for me is:
2.0.05.01 - NB I haven't exhaustively tested this one so it may also throw similar errors with the right file.

The later ones either create unusable MusicXML files or else throw a bunch of errors like the ones you've listed.
I was able to get the score to convert without errors by stripping out a few things. Specifically, I removed the segno and coda markings, since I was pretty sure they wouldn't have worked the same in the MusicXML file.
20
User Tools / Re: NWCCONVERTOR
It's been a long time since I used this converter, and I tried it again today. And of course it would have to throw an error.

I am running version 2.0.05.04 under Windows 11. Following is the error log I got. I assume the boundary collapse messages are just warnings that I can ignore. I can remove those from the score before running the conversion if that makes a difference.


Object Boundary Collapse in staff Vocal not converted.
part: P1, voice: 1, measure: 1.
------------------
Object Boundary EndCollapse in staff Vocal not converted.
part: P1, voice: 1, measure: 4.
------------------
===================================
Conversion ended with error!
===================================
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "nwc2xml.py", line 1717, in convert
  File "nwc2xml.py", line 1497, in create_xml
  File "nwc2xml.py", line 1461, in create_part
  File "nwc2xml.py", line 1117, in process_object_ending
  File "nwc2xml.py", line 1092, in create_ending
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'split'
21
User Tools / Re: NWCCONVERTOR
Quote from: Lawrie Pardy –
This is correct.  The compressed NWC file format is proprietary, which is a big part of why .nwctxt exists in the first place...  Or so I understand.
This was originally true; the native NWC format used to be a proprietary binary format, but at some point, the program changed to use gzip compression of the .nwctxt representation of the score, which came out to the approximate same size as the old native binary format. I don't know if there is official documentation on the format, but I think it would be theoretically possible to create compressed NWC files in a converter.

This does not answer Flurmy's concern over only being able to convert .nwctxt file to .nwctxt, but I thought I would respond with the historical information.
22
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
I believe the issue is that the PageTxt objects do not do the actual drawing of text; that's done by the PageTxtMaestro object. So I believe you will need to change the color of that object to effect the colored text. Unfortunately, that means that all of the text it draws will be that color.
23
General Discussion / Re: Windows 11
Quote from: Flurmy –
Yes: running in Win3.11!  :))  :))  :))
I can believe that. But it doesn't answer the question of why you would want 1.75 installed on a Windows 10/11 system alongside 2.75. Maybe you have a Win3.11 VM because you are part of the retro software scene, and like to live the glorious days of 4MB of RAM and single-tasking? :)
24
General Discussion / Re: Windows 11
I am genuinely curious: what reason would there be for keeping a copy of NWC 1.75 on your system, if you also have the current version? I can understand that there are people who were perfectly happy with 1.75 and don't want "all that new stuff". Is there something that 1.75 does that the newer versions don't?
25
Object Plugins / Re: BarLabel.ms (1.3)
Now would be a good time to mention that BarLabel.ms primarily is used for rehearsal marks, which appear where the object is placed in the score, while the object BarCounter.nw will display bar numbers at the start of each staff, or optionally on every measure.  And it has always had the option of starting the count at a specified number, relative to the position of the object in the score.
26
Object Plugins / Re: BarLabel.ms (1.3)
The BarLabel.ms object has been updated, with the following change:

  • Parameter "Offset Count" has been added, which is added/subtracted from the calculated bar count at the current location (thanks to @fathafluff for the suggestion)

Please refer to the parent post for additional information.

(EDIT: If you downloaded the object within 15 minutes of this message posting, please re-download it; I made a small change that will automatically carry over the offset value when new copies of the object are inserted.)
28
General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar
One thing I forgot to mention about rest chords is that you have to create them by first placing the rest, and then press Ctrl-Enter to add the chord member notes. If the rest chord's note is pointing in the wrong direction, you can highlight the rest chord and press Shift+up arrow or Shift+down arrow.
29
General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar
Let's see if I can post this before Lawrie beats me to it :)

(Disclaimer: I am American, hence I use the fractional note names.)

This is easy to correct, as follows:
Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb|Tonic:G
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4,-1|Opts:Stem=Down|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|RestChord|Dur:8th|Opts:Stem=Up,ArticulationsOnStem,HideRest|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:5|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2,1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
The thing to remember when you are using two parts per staff is that when you have two notes of different durations at the same position (like the dotted quarter stem up and plain quarter stem down), the duration that is reserved for that position is that of the shorter note. NWC created the "rest chord" as a way of dealing with this. A rest chord is basically a split chord where one of the two notes is a rest. Also, in a rest chord, the rest duration must be less than or equal to the note duration (i.e. you can't have a half rest and a quarter note.)  So for your example, I change the lone quarter note to a rest chord with an eighth rest, which "steals" an eighth duration from the first two notes, so that the total duration is now 3 eighth beats, and the parts line up again.

You'll notice that the rest is shown greyed out. That is because a rest chord has an option of hiding the rest in the printout, since you don't always want to see them.
30
General Discussion / Re: Beats in a bar
I'm pretty sure Lawrie is spot on with this one. It sounds like you might have mixed or overlapping chords with different durations, which means you need to make one of the notes a rest chord. But it would really help to see a copy of the sheet music you are trying to enter.
32
General Discussion / Re: starting NWC application
You didn't mention whether you tried to uninstall NWC before you tried reinstalling it. If that is what you did, and it didn't work, I'm not sure what to try next. Hopefully someone else with more experience installing/uninstalling will be able to help you.
34
General Discussion / Re: Alternative notes per lyrics.
There is a user object which will do what you want, called CueHeads.ms.  You place a copy of the object at the start of the staff that contains the notes that you wish to have smaller noteheads. Then, on the desired notes, you change the notehead to a Blank Space. The object will automatically find the notes with the blank noteheads and draw in a smaller notehead. The properties of the CueHeads.ms object will let you specify the size of the cue noteheads. It defaults to 70% of a full size notehead.

To change the specific noteheads to blank space noteheads, do the following:
  • With nothing selected, hover over the notehead with the cursor.
  • Right-click and choose Noteheads > Blank Space.

You will probably want to manually adjust the stem length of the notes with smaller noteheads. If you are using split stem chords, this might be a problem because Noteworthy Composer doesn't let you set the stem lengths of the up and down notes individually. It might work best to have those notes on a layered staff.
35
Object Plugins / Re: Ottavamatic.ms (2.0)
Lawrie's description is spot on. You can also copy and paste the sample clip at the start of this thread to see an example of its usage.
37
Object Plugins / Re: BarLabel.ms (1.2)
The BarLabel.ms object has been updated, with the following changes:

  • Parameter "Reference Which Bar" has new option 'auto' to choose nearest barline (thanks to @fathafluff for the suggestion)

Please refer to the parent post for additional information.
38
Object Plugins / Re: BarLabel.ms (1.1)
Just to make sure I understand your request, relative to how the object currently works: With the new value of "default", if the user object immediately follows a barline, then you want it to display that barline's number (i.e. what "prior" would do), and if it immediately precedes a barline, then it should display the following barline's number (i.e. "next"). But what behavior should the object have if the object is somewhere in the middle of the measure?

I think I could accommodate your new behavior by adding another property, let's call it "Auto-select", as a checkbox. If the box is unchecked, then the behavior is as the object currently works. If it is checked, then it will choose the prior or next barline's number if it is adjacent to the prior or next barline. And if it is in the middle of the measure, then it will use the "Reference Which Bar" property to determine which value to display.

EDIT: After experimenting with the code, I think I found a better solution that is closer to your original request. I can add a new value for "Reference Which Bar" that is "auto". Whichever bar is closer to the object will be the one whose bar number is used. If the distance to either bar is the same, it will use the next bar.  Does that sound like a workable solution?
39
General Discussion / Re: Wrong verse highlighted after master repeat
It would be hard to tell for sure without seeing the actual score, but I am betting that it has to do with either using or not using special bar lines at certain spots in your score. There are people here who are experts at getting repeats and flow control to do their bidding. I am not one of those people unfortunately. :)
42
General Discussion / Re: Exporting NWC to Midi
If each voice is on its own staff, there is an easier way. Go to Tools > Mute List... or press the M key. That will show all of the staves in your score. Click "Mute All" and then unmute the staff for the part you want to export. Click OK, and then go to File > Export and save that part. Repeat the process by muting/unmuting the staves you want to be included in the export.
44
General Discussion / Re: alignment versenumber
This is how I did verse numbers as well, before user objects came along. But I am biased toward the object approach, having written this particular add-on :)
45
General Discussion / Re: Natural symbol
If you look closely, the natural symbol is grey, meaning that it is hidden, and won't appear on printouts or in the NWC Viewer. You can delete it if you want, but it is useful to leave in your score if you decide to transpose it again.
46
General Discussion / Re: Including small note-heads in a NWC score
Since that older thread was written, NWC has a new feature called user objects or plugins, which is a way to add new features to NWC for display and playback. One such plugin that was created is called CueHeads, which is a fairly easy way to add cue-sized notes to a score. You can read about it here.

Note: you don't need to install the object; if you have NWC 2.75 installed, it is already included.
48
General Discussion / Re: Tremolo with octaves
I am not an expert on tremolos, but to me, that measure seems incorrect, at least if the time signature is 4/4. A two-note tremolo that has 8th notes for each note would have a total duration of 1/8 note in the measure, and with two additional beams, it would play as 32nd notes. Adding up the other beats, there would be a total of 7 beats in the measure.

Perhaps it is a typo in the score, and it was meant to be quarter note tremolos? In that case it would add up to 4 beats.

I would welcome a comment or correction from someone else who is more familiar with tremolos.
49
General Discussion / Re: Tremolo with octaves
I notice that you changed the rests on the rest chords to quarter rests, instead of 16th rests. Except for the case of an eighth tremolo, the rest duration should be 1/2 of the note duration, meaning that in this case, the notes should be half notes[1]. Did you mean to use those instead? Is the bottom measure supposed to be 5 beats total?
1 My apologies to UK and Australian members who are used to seeing minims, quavers and crotchets  :)↵
50
General Discussion / Re: Tremolo with octaves
The help file for the Tremolo.ms object says the following:
Quote
To create a tremolo, first create two RestChords of the desired duration. For whole, half and quarter note tremolos, the rest duration should be half of the note's duration. For eighth tremolos, the note duration should be quarter and the rest duration sixteenth.

I chose this approach for eighth note tremolos since there is no easy way to hide the flag on eighth notes :)

Here is a fixed version of that measure. Also, please note that you should mute the notes on each side of the tremolo object if you are using playback.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-9,-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-9,-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Spacer|Width:200
|RestChord|Dur:16th|Opts:Stem=Down,ArticulationsOnStem,Muted,HideRest|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-7|Color:1
|Spacer|Width:300|Color:1
|User|Tremolo.ms|Pos:-8|Color:1
|RestChord|Dur:16th|Opts:Stem=Down,ArticulationsOnStem,Muted,HideRest|Dur2:4th|Pos2:-2|Color:1
|Spacer|Width:375|Color:1
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-9,-2
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End