I am a barbershop harmony singer and have run into this problem a few times. I finally, after several days of working on the problem, have developed a way that works for my quartet. I use NWC2 to distribute 'learning tracks' to the other members of the quartet. They use NWC2 Viewer to play the files.
To further complicate the extra note problem, in our style of music the four parts (Tenor, Lead, Baritone and Bass) are written using two staff lines. The Tenor and Lead on the top staff and the Baritone and Bass on the bottom staff. Additionally it is standard practice to have the stems for the Tenor and Baritone pointing up while those of the Lead and Bass point down. So a dual stem approach won't work for us. Fortunately most of our music is not rhythmically difficult so I just enclose the 'extra' note in parentheses ( ) with a shorter stem length. Visually this and the difference in the lyric line give a clear indication of what is going on in this measure. Layer the control staff with a regular staff to assist printing.
My work around is not easy but does the job. Here is my basic approach. I am using an hidden/invisible control staff to play the notes for the 'special' measure and have the measure in question muted in the regular staff(s). Depending on the number of additional notes to be added to the measure, I change the 'special' measure to a different time signature 5/4 or 6/4 as required for just that one measure then it changes back to the regular time signature. The tempo for this measure is also changed to attempt to keep the playback sounding like it is in the correct tempo. So the 5/4 measure boosts the tempo 125% and a 6/4 goes up by 150%. The following measure goes back to the original tempo. During the iteration with the least number of notes, the 'extra' note(s) time is divided up between the notes to be played. That is, you are making a faster 5 or 6 beat measure sound like a standard 4 beat measure. I have used a couple of local repeats in the control staff to easily get to and between the iterations of the 'special' measure. One other note: Set the Staff Property-General-Ending Bar = Open (hidden) to keep the ending bar out of the print or play process.
I have attached examples that could serve as a guide for your attempts.
Rick G. writes: 'The rule seems to be that if you want a decorated bar line in a special ending, copy the special ending immediately after the decorated bar line and make it invisible.'
To which you replied: G'day Rick, that's neat mate, works nicely.
I agree with you. This is a neat. The music prints and plays as it should.
I don't need to know why the decision was made by the software developers to treat any decorated bar line (double in my case) as the finish of a special ending. Rick's work around does the trick. I'm repeating it here for those who might be reading this thread and want, for whatever reason, to put a decorated bar in a special ending.
Here's the situation. I have a master repeat section consisting of a chorus with two lyric lines and one special ending within a master repeat section. After the first special ending, but before the repeat, I need to insert a double bar to indicate the section divisions. (Going from a chorus to a verse.) The master repeat close then takes me back to the start of the chorus and then jumps to special ending two (Which occurs immediately after the master repeat close.) at the appropriate place within the chorus. The problem is that the special ending and repeat function will not function correctly with the double bar inserted at the appropriate place after special ending one but before the master repeat close.The only way I was able to get the structure to operate properly was to remove the double bar at the start of the verse and replace it with a single bar. It seems that I should be able to indicate sections (double bar) within this structure as I desire however, I am forced to use a single bar line between the musical sections. Is there some work around that I haven't been able to discover?
Thanks Rick for your quick response. Adding the Legato performance style does the trick. It 'smooths' that clarinet right out! A much more pleasing audio experience.
Is there any way to vary the ratio of a notes on/off playback timing? Staccato notes sound good, however, the on/off timing of regular notes seems to be such that the notes, during playback, sound rather percussive even if a non percussive instrument is used for playback. I like the 'smooth' playback sound when a tie is placed over the entire staff. This, of course, plays havoc with any lyric that is associated with the staff. Obviously note 'off' timing is changed to zero when a tie is used between a couple of notes or an entire series of notes. What I am looking for is something more closely approaching the 'smooth' sound of a tie but still having the notes play as a distinct entities but with not quite as much 'off' time between the notes. This would result in a 'smoother' or more continuous playback sound. Any suggestions?
I have had to deal with this problem too. The problem with putting the brackets around the tie is that if you are also changing to a different note between bars you do not really want a tie/swipe between the two notes you just want to go from one note to the other without a break in the forward motion of the song. If the song is exported to a MIDI file it is played as a tie. My solution is to place a text note at the appropriate point. I use NoBr or NB to indicate that there is no breath to be taken.
My reason for wanting to change font characteristics was to show the stressed lyric within a musical phrase. That stress can / should be added during rehearsal and performance to make the performance more musical. I just was looking for a way to get that lyrical stress recorded on the music. Volume, tempo and other characteristics which make a performance can be noted on the music. The performer can use or reject the suggestions as desired. I would like some way to do the same with the lyric line without becoming too cumbersome. Just being able to change one font characteristic, like bold on the fly would do the trick.
What is needed to change the lyric font characteristics on a word by word basis rather than globally? Gee it looks as if I can do it in this post but not in the lyric line.
