NoteWorthy Composer Forum

• Decide on the "staff metrics" size; I typically use 18...19 for instrument voices; 16...17 for choral scores (3 to 4 voices), piano and organ; 14...16 for director's scores.
• Setup up the printer's page format correctly (typically A4 or letter, but maybe something else).
• Now, select the correct "Contents", i.e. which staves are to be visible in the print; and let NWC do the page layout.
• If the layout is not "nice" (which happens almost always), one typically has one of 3 times 3 cases:
  - Regarding the number of systems on the last page, there may be
  (a) one system;
  (b) quite a full page of systems;
  (c) something in between ("half filled page");
  - Regarding the filling of the last system, this may be
  (x) almost filled nicely;
  (y) almost empty (ideally, a single final chord);
  (z) something in between.
  

  score:save()
  return

• 8 - also written as 8u411 or 1.8.0-411 (411 is the build number, which will change with each upgrade)
• 11
• 17 - also written as 17.0.10... or the like
• 21

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam,BeamGrp
|Note|Dur:8th,Dotted|Pos:5|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:b0^
|Bar
|Clef|Type:Bass
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

• "how to notate" this - just write, as in the original score, "una corda" (ok, that's probably obvious);
• "how to make it sound like that", then the question is, first, of course: "What is that una corda sound?" - I have not played too many upper-class pianos, but as I understand it it's a more mellow sound, and typically also with less volume (although you could hit the keys very hard in an una corda passage). Possibility 1: Typical piano soundfonts get more mellow when playing with less velocity; so reduce the velocity (with a dynamic with suitably chosen velocity) until you get the sound you want; and then adjust the channel volume (with an MPC) so that is as loud as you want. Possibility 2: If you find a piano sound font with an una corda bank, you can switch to that bank (with an Instrument Change).

	local fini = idx:sppOffset() + nwcplay.calcDurLength(idx:durationBase(t.Which == 'bottom' and 1 or idx:noteCount())) - 1

• Some are "specific instruments" - like "a violin", "a piano", "a choir". So, at least in a first setup, they are not controlled from the score, but directly in some GUI (except for the notes and the volume - these will always come from NWC).
• Some are "general purpose players", like e.g. "soundfont player" (sfz, sfz+) or, in a kind of Russian doll hierarchy, "instrument containers" that are again like a Playback Device (Kontakt Player, for example). If they are loaded with a single sound font (e.g. from the "Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra" collection) or instrument (e.g. a single choir), they are like the "instrument above"; but if they are loaded with a "general soundfont" (most important, a General MIDI Soundfount; like FluidR3 or Chorium), someone must tell it from the outside which sound to play! - and this is where the "Send Patch" comes in (on MIDI level, this is accomplished via  a "Program Change Event" - all this is highly confusing: Why isn't it called "Patch Send Event"??). The grey circle in the middle diverts the incoming MIDI events (for notes) now to the right "patch" - or "program" or "sound" -, and all is fine. Typically, your Digital Instrument remembers the last Program Change, and the Playback Device remembers all its instruments and what they remember - therefore, after you have sent a "Program Change/Send Patch", you will not have to send it again ... ... unless some other score sends another "Program Change" over the same MIDI channel - then the earlier one is forgotten.
  
  ... and yes, NWC's Send Patch GUI logic seems somewhat too complex. As I understand it (and use it), if the "Send Patch" checkbox is enabled and there is a number in the patch field, a Program Change Event will be sent (either when NWC starts playing, for a staff; or when it encounters an Instrument Change while playing along). Nowadays, I know the numbers I need (Ocarina = 79, for simulating a small barrel organ!), so I ignore the "Predefined instruments". But even if I use them, I look at the checkbox and the patch number to check whether a Program Change will be sent.
  
  Next complication (there are millions): I made it look like an instrument listens on a single channel (1, or 2, or ...). But almost all instrument can also "listen on all channels", and then inside them do a distribution of channels to patches. This even more blurs the distinction between devices/containers and instruments/players, and sometimes drives one crazy if some program change switches over something in a completely unexpected instrument ... It pays off to have a "simple standard assignment here" - I try to avoid such "omni-channel" settings as much as possible.
  
  Last thing, re the banks: A "sound", as in "soundfont" or in "(real) instrument", is, of course and unfortunately, too coarse:  At the simplest level, a violin can be played with the bow or pizzicato, a choir can sing with male or female or mixed voices - but one can go much farther here: There are different makes of pianos, and different sharpnesses of voices, and different whatevers of whatever. So, a single "patch" might provide an additional selector for selecting these "sub-sounds" - those would be the banks. I have not yet come around to need that in my layman sound creations attempts, so I always a rigidly leave Send Bank Select disabled - but it's there, for the brave and whoever needs it.
  

• Section A just plays eighths with tempo 100, then with tempo 200.
• Section B has the same tempo indications, but now, there is a "accel" some time after the 100; and a "rit." after the 200. And now NWC, just so, actually starts to accelerate at the "accel." and reaches a tempo of 200 at that mark; and slows down again from the "rit." to the 100 mark. That's just simple out-of-the-box NWC behaviour
• Section C shows that NWC actually does not care whether you write "accel." or "rit." - both mean to it only "slowly modify tempo to reach tempo shown at next tempo indicator" - that's just for fun info.
• In Section D, I tried the rubato tool on the items marked red; i.e., I selected that range (which includes the leading 100 tempo and the 200 tempo at the end), selected "5" as the parameter for the tool ... and presto, something had happened. You can see the effect in the image I have also added below - I actually do not understand what this result means. I would have guessed, from the comment in the tool, that it would do what NWC does, but with some randomization, i.e., it would select other tempi in that range going up and down a little. "quarter=4" is, however, quite far from anything specified, as you can also hear in the video (which I stopped after 3 eighths ...).