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Messages - Bruce Miles

1
General Discussion / Re: Read-only Tracks and Step-Play
Yes a different colour is the best answer to the read only problem and a very slow tempo to the step-play issue. Whether these tracks are muted or hidden is not really the issue. Thanks for all the responses.

Bruce Miles
2
General Discussion / Read-only Tracks and Step-Play
Can I set individual tracks in NWC to read-only ? This is so that I can download a simple say 3 track file as a pattern and build a more complex say 10 track file from it by extracting and editing bits and pieces of the pattern. It is much easier to do if all the tracks are together and aligned bar-by-bar but it is all too easy to start editing a pattern track by mistake when chaos soon ensues.

Second question - is there a 'Step Play' facility ?. This would be useful for refining those tricky bits.

Aagain thanks fo your help -

Bruce Miles

3
General Discussion / Re: MPC help needed
I must confess I overlooked the options to set the Dynamic setting to control either Volume or Velocity or both.

So as a follow up to my original question and looking again at the way my Swell shutters perform, it seems that the dynamic + hairpins controls function in the same way as the MPC box etc does provided they are set to control the same things - velocity and/or volume. Regarding the Sweep Resolution setting, everything functions OK using MPCs with this set to the default 1, so it seems that this figure fits all, at least in this kind of application.

Thanks for all the replies. I've learned a lot from this discussion.

My emulation is indeed for an electric action theatre  organ where the response to key pressure is fixed . That is - leaving out the second-touch feature but that's another story.

Bruce Miles
4
General Discussion / Re: MPC help needed
In my setup NWC is feeding its midi messages to a virtual organ console in jOrgan and the controls on the organ screen (keyboard notes, stop knobs or tabs, swell box pedals etc)) move accordingly. The notes play and the sound responds to the controls. The swell pedals are set up to respond to controller 7 and they do move and respond in exactly the same way whether I am using MPCs and Linear Sweeps or discrete 'Dynamic' entries and hairpins.
I seems to me that the Dynamics and hairpins are just a graphic interface for the MPCs. The Dynamics can only control volume, but MPCs can control anything.
I don't think I can say I'm certain of all this yet. I was hoping to be able to record the actual midi messages NWC is producing but I haven't got round to it yet.
I am staying clear of the midi velocity minefield - it is just not relevant to organ music. It only concerns instruments whose tonality can change as they are played. (There - I've really stuck my neck out on that one)
This disagrees with most of what Flurmy has said - sorry about that but it's how things seem to me.

Bruce Miles
5
General Discussion / Re: MPC help needed
Thanks for those replies. Some understanding is beginning to break through although the actual identity of the parameter (ie the number to put in the Sweep Resolution box) remains obscure.

In any case it would seem that this figure applies to all the transitions in an MPC box. These (up to 3 or 4) transtions will probably be at completey different rates varying from a sforzando type volume increase of say from pp to ff (100) in an eighth note period to a slow and small increase from mp to mf (25) over several bars. One setting cannot possibly be suitable for all.

One solution would be to use a separate MPC for each transition (when a 'right' Sweep Resolution figure to enter is found).

Later today I intend try the Crescendo/Diminuendo (hairpins) alongside the equivalent MPC controls and compare the results. There are two swell boxes using midi volume control on two different channels - this BTW is addition to other controls using the foot and effects controllers.

Bruce Miles
6
General Discussion / MPC help needed
I am having difficulty in getting my head round the MPC settings especially the 'Sweep Resolution' entry. What does this actually define ? I am sequencing an arrangement for Theatre Organ using NWC and jOrgan where the Swell controls (aka Shades) are almost continually on the move and there are many quite complex MPC controls. I just can't get predictable or sensible results. Several times I have thought I had cracked it. Only to find that it doesn't work when I apply my hoped for insight. I have read everything I can find on this but remain none the wiser.

What is mising is a proper understanding of what the MPC controls actually control and do. Their names offer little help and the description of the Sweep Resolution control in the paper in the Scriptorium is, at least to me, totally opaque.

Some help would be appreciated.

Bruce Miles
7
General Discussion / Open Last Used
Is there an 'Open Last File Used automatically when NWC opens' option ? This is quite usual in other applications and would be handier than having to go into the History list. Or have I missed something which is obvious ? Thanks for you help.

Bruce Miles

8
General Discussion / Re: Long Lyric Dashes
Yes. Rick, you are quite right - I stand corrected. Word extenders should be on the base line according to the reference books.
Most commercially published vocal music appears to use a line which sits just above the baseline though a significant number do use a centre line. The underscore sits just below the baseline.
This is rather nit-picking, but I shall probably use the centre line extender for personal preference.

9
General Discussion / Re: Long Lyric Dashes
Thanks for these suggestions.

After a struggle I had just managed to work out a similar text solution but using 'en' (short) and/or 'em' (long) dashes. These characters are not on the keyboard but are accessed with keystrokes Alt-0150 and Alt-0151 respectively. They give a professional-looking centre-height continuous dash which can be closely controlled for length and, with added spaces fore and aft, for position.

Choir oo's and ah's often extend over many bars and it seems a good idea to use one text entry for each bar, centre justified, and (when needed) to cover a whole bar with some extra to give an overlap. Some adjustment will be required to allow for changed bar lengths as line breaks change with layout changes. A text insert per bar will minimise the fiddling about.

Not all fonts have these dash characters but the more common ones (Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New) do. But they don't display corectly in the Notation Properties Text Expression box.

IMHO underscores always look a bit odd and I think these dashes are much better.

Any comments. ? Perhaps it's worth a 'Tip and Trick' entry.

10
General Discussion / Re: Long Lyric Dashes
Thanks, Rick, for your reply. The example is something of a challenge to understand completely. I shall study it with great interest.
11
General Discussion / Long Lyric Dashes
In a lyric how can I create a syllable with a long dash extension which extends across a bar line without a break.? This is very commonly needed with tied notes across a bar line in vocal/keyboard music. It's easy enough to do it with a break at the bar line using a separate syllable of 'en' or 'em' dashes and setting the tied note lyric syllable to 'always'.

The unbroken dash is so common in commercialy printed music that I wonder if I've missed something.

I thought it might be possible (but messy) using using Insert - Text but NWC doesn't recognise these characters in  text although it does in lyrics - odd !!

Bruce Miles