2) Yes. The cost is $85 + shipping and applicable sales tax
3) No. My idea was to use the KeyPad is to supplement and not replace regular keyboard/MIDI_Instrument note entry. Starting with 24 keys: One is dedicated to "shift" (in the LLHC) and two are configured as "double keys". There are therefore 42 possible commands (21 * 2) available for a judicious selection of functions. "ppp" and "fff", being the most infrequently encountered dynamics, must be entered from a regular keyboard. The "payoff" is after learning "22-key by touch", you don't have to look away from the score/screen when composing/arranging-transcribing.
4) Pressing one of the dynamic keys will place that dynamic 3 spaces above the lower boundary of its respective staff. (Care must be taken when manually inserting a dynamic to always exit the Dialog Box with the "Dynamic" tab having focus and the "Alignment Placement" control set to "at next note bar".)
***Suggestion for improving Noteworthy*** Avoid having multiple commands (in the same spinner control) that begin with the same letter
5) The ULHC key is now configured as Slur/Tie depending on whether "2nd Level" is selected.
6) To avoid confusion, key 2 ("rastering" from the ULHC) is now labeled "Ten/Stacc". In the revised keyboard diagram (attached) all "2nd Level macros" are printed above the primary level function
7) Yes, Articulations toggle on/off just as with keyboard entry.
No. Again, I am using the ControlPad (Fentek's name for the keyboard) in conjunction with a regular keyboard.
9) Pressing 3 [dot/double dot] selects a quarter note. The "minus" and "plus" augment/decrement the NoteValue, respectively. UPDATE: Would changing the minus/plus key legends to a [whole note followed by a left-pointing arrow] and a [right-pointing arrow followed by a 64th note] respectively improve clarity?
10) There are now only two double keys Note/Rest and Chord(note)/Bar Line just above it. Use 2nd Level Toggle (the LLHC, or "key 21" in the documentation's nomenclature) to insert a Rest and Bar Line
11) I designed the macros specifically to work with Noteworthy. I have attached the ControlPad Key Definition file (Noteworthy_1.txt) that contains the macros corresponding to the JPEG keyboard diagram. You will have to change the extension back to *.ckd before it can be loaded into the application that flashes the keyboard
NB: The short arrows move the insertion point one note. The long arrows, one measure. The crosshatched double arrows select one note/measure respectively. The up/down arrows flanking the "Note/Rest" key behave as expected. 8vo/8va shift down/up one octave.
I know it's a lot of money to spend on a "pig in a poke". I'll post updates/revisions here as the "most intuitive" key configuration evolves.
Since my original post I have discovered that a standard 18-key numeric keypad, even when remapped, does not offer a sufficient speed advantage to justify learning "a new way". However programmable macros are a "game-changer". For instance you get the ability to add a dynamic with one keypress: Pressing a key labeled <p|pp> can "read" the lower boundary of its staff and insert a "piano" two spaces above that. (Use <SHFT> for pianissimo)
The 24-key keypad I have ordered has three "double keys", situate-able/orientable to taste. These are most useful optioned as <ENTER>, <SHIFT> & <CTRL>. <ENTER> and <CTRL>+<ENTER> work as expected, but I am assigning <SHFT>+<ENTER> "rest" and <SHFT>+<CTRL>+<ENTER> to "bar line".
Rather than dedicate 6 keys to note values (as the program does), I labeled one key "3|." (period) and flanked it with the "-" and "+" functions. (Pressing <SHIFT>+"3-Dot" cycles through dot/double-dot/no-dot.) Common note values are thus a maximum of three key presses of adjacent keys.
The top row is dedicated to to articulation and the second row to dynamics.
A little background: I am a cellist (who also plays a little piano) and the idea of turning a keypad into a musical instrument has always appealed to me. The functionality above is based on the assurances of the tech staff at Fentek Industries (I am waiting for delivery) that the N-key roll-over will work as billed: E.G "shifting" flat will toggle double flat
I have attached a keyboard diagram. As I have not yet made the final selection, please feel to comment. NB NCRB = "Note | Rest | Chord | Bar (line)"
Is anyone else using a remapped numeric keypad to enter notes? If so, what functions, and in what configuration, have you found to optimal. I am in the process of experimenting and would like to avoid learning twice (three/four times!) "18-key-by-touch" if the group mind has already hit upon the "right combination". If not, I'll post mine :-) Omar
Thank you for the PDF idea and script - I think I have a "Merge PDF Files" program somewhere so I will try that one first.
Maybe a "Bug Fix" in the next update can be a checkbox that pre-pends a blank title page so printer drivers automatically generate the correct pagination in duplex mode. (The actual title page would be created on a word processor) Just my 2¢.
How can I get parts with an even number of pages to properly format (on a duplex printer) when I use a word processor to print a special title page, and print page 1 of the music on the back; so that the even and odd pages (of the actual music) print "Front/Back" instead of "Back/Front". Put another way, is there a simple way to put a completely blank page as the first page of music, or do I have to do a "Cluge Fix" by scaling up the title page font sizes large enough to force a page break and pasting the real title page over that?
Apologies for asking a question whose answer already been posted: Is there any way (other than using a visible text glyph and "hidden" tied notes - Thank You Richard W.) to enter notes with more than 4 beats? I.E. a "whole note" rest will accept the value of the measure's time signature - Shouldn't there to be a quick way of entering a note that will do this. (I frequently encounter this shortcut in an academic environment) Even using the above workaround, how does one tie two "breves" together across the barline?
Richard - If you wouldn't mind revisiting the subject of two note tremolo: After creating the Layered Staff for the second note, how does one suppress printing of the terminal double bar which cannot be hidden with the "visibility" property. In my case the tremolo occurs at the beginning of a rather long piece and it is somewhat disconcerting to have the ghost image super-imposed whilst arranging.
I keep hoping that one day the software engineers at Sibelius and Finale will turn to Noteworthy as a "neutral language" on which to base a standardized music notation format. Just as all Word Processors can "Save As" and open RTF files, the industry desperately needs an alternative to MIDI as the "Lingua Franca" among the various polarized communities. Just standardizing articulation including "bowings" (strings) and tempo/dynamic variances would go a long way towards keeping the peace in many a university's Music Dept.
Is there an easier way of notating "changes" other than using multiple fonts in successive text expressions? It often takes three expressions to write chords with naturals and inversions requiring sub/super scripts.
Thanks and apologies if this has been previously hashed out. Perhaps a reference to the appropriate thread?
No. Again, I am using the ControlPad (Fentek's name for the keyboard) in conjunction with a regular keyboard.