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Topics - Richard Woodroffe

2
General Discussion / Music stuttering problem with VST (Coolsoft) running on Windows 10 /11- Solved!
For those of you who use Coolsoft VST (or maybe other VST systems) as the sound system for NWC running under Windows 10 or 11 and have experienced a very annoying stutter of the music, where the notes play late or perhaps are shortened to catch up with where the music ought to be, then perhaps this is the solution for you.

The problem is caused by Microsoft Edge  (even if you don't use Microsoft edge or have not got it running at the same time as NoteWorthy).

Microsoft Edge is automatically installed in within Windows 10 and 11. Unfortunately, when it is installed, the default settings have an option which subsequently affects the VST. This is :

"Continue running background extensions and apps when Microsoft Edge is closed"

Even if you have turned this off, if there has been a windows update, it may have been turned on again.

This option leaves Edge running even if you are not using Edge and can really mess up your sound reproduction through VST.


What this option does is to monitor things such as Facebook and other websites for updates so that it can notify you. It leaves a whole host of processes running in your pc.

So to turn it off, start up Edge, and click the ellipsis (three dots) on the top right of the screen and select settings.
Then select "System and Performance"

In the window labelled System you will see "Continue running background extensions and apps when Microsoft Edge is closed". Turn this off.
Consider turning off Start up boost as well.

Exit Edge.

Remember to re-check this setting after Windows updates since it may have been switched on again if there has been an update to Edge.

The picture is of the Edge processes when the setting is switched on but Edge is not running.
3
General Discussion / Arpeggio symbol help please
Can someone kindly explain the meaning of these two arpeggios.
(I mean of course the lines connecting each arpeggiated chord to the Cnat) - and can it be achieved in NoteWorthy either with Mike's arpeggio.ms or by manually writing it out.
Thanks.

4
General Discussion / Mike Gibson, OBE
It has just come to my notice that Mike Gibson, a prolific supplier of NoteWorthy music  and also a provider of rehearsal music for choirs, recently passed away.

Mike was a squadron Leader who rose to the Level of Air Vice-Marshal and became a Director in the Civil Aviation Authority where I first met and sang with him. (He became a choir master at the CAA for specific occasions and was an accomplished musician)

Some while ago, Mike decided, because of health reasons, to give up providing rehearsal music for choirs and at that point, passed all of his NoteWorthy music onto me (to add to the Scriptorium where I thought appropriate) and to John Hooper (for him to use the music to provide for choirs as John also does in the way that Mike did).

Thanks for all the music Mike !


5
General Discussion / Very Sad news.
Fellow NoteWorthy Users,

I have just had some very sad news.

Rick Geibel (known as @Rick G.  here)   passed away on November 4th after a year of Cancer treatments.

His wife, Debbie said :
"He was always optimistic and fought hard, yet we had good times, cooking, dining, talking, and playing music together. He left me too soon. "

He will be sadly missed by the NoteWorthy community and as I wrote to Debbie, he was always the "Go To" person for any NoteWorthy user.  He was always able to find a way to solve any NoteWorthy issue.

Extremely sad news.





6
General Discussion / Using Soundfonts with NoteWorthy Composer
Many of you are already using Soundfonts with NoteWorthy Composer. For those of you that don't, perhaps it's because you do not know how to set up NoteWorthy to use them.

 I have written a step by step guide to setting up Coolsoft's VirtualMIDISynth and using soundfonts with NoteWorthy Composer. Written mainly for version 2.75 but will also work with earlier versions although the instructions may not quite match.

This can be found here :  https://nwc-scriptorium.org/csoftvsti.html

There is a pdf instruction tutorial to download as well as a resource pack. The resource pack contains all you need to follow through the worked examples given in the instruction tutorial.

The Tutorial includes the following:
  • Link to download file, Setup and installation of Coolsoft VirtualMIDISynth
  • 6 nwc music files, 4 Soundfonts, 1 nwcitree, 1 info document
  • Worked example of using a GM Soundfont
  • Worked example of replacing an Instrument in a GM Soundfont using a single Instrument Soundfont
  • Worked example of a multi bank single instrument soundfont
  • Worked example of using Percussion sets
  • Worked example of using Special Effects from GM Soundfonts
  • Worked example of adding a second device so that NoteWorthy can have 30 instruments on 15 channels (and 2 drum sets on 1 percussion channel)


My thanks to  @SEBC for the need and inspiration to do this.
Thanks also to @Lawrie Pardy for being a sounding board for some of it (Pun intended).
7
General Discussion / Happy Birthday
My son saw something like this on Facebook (What's that ? )

Anyway, the version he saw wouldn't work in NoteWorthy  and in fact, probably wasn't quite there anyway.

I kind of liked the idea and so I did a version that does work in NoteWorthy.  Since the Hill's ditty is now out of copyright, I'm sure  it's OK to put it here .

In addition, it gives "newbies" an insight into  Flow Direction, Master repeats, Special endings and Lyrics. 

The original version on Facebook had 9 bars. I have reduced this to 7 .
Have fun.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposer(2.751)
|Editor|ActiveStaff:1|CaretIndex:3|CaretPos:9
|SongInfo|Title:""|Author:"<Name>"|Lyricist:""|Copyright1:"Copyright © 2019 <Name>"|Copyright2:"All Rights Reserved"
|PgSetup|StaffSize:16|Zoom:4|TitlePage:Y|JustifyVertically:Y|PrintSystemSepMark:N|ExtendLastSystem:N|DurationPadding:Y|PageNumbers:0|StaffLabels:None|BarNumbers:None|StartingBar:1
|Font|Style:StaffItalic|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:10|Bold:Y|Italic:Y|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:StaffBold|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:StaffLyric|Typeface:"Comic Sans MS"|Size:10|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:1
|Font|Style:PageTitleText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:24|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:PageText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:12|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:PageSmallText|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User1|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User2|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User3|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User4|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User5|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User6|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|PgMargins|Left:1.27|Top:1.27|Right:1.27|Bottom:1.27|Mirror:N
|AddStaff|Name:"Staff"|Group:"Standard"
|StaffProperties|EndingBar:Section Close|Visible:Y|BoundaryTop:12|BoundaryBottom:24|Lines:5|Color:Default
|StaffProperties|Muted:N|Volume:127|StereoPan:64|Device:0|Channel:1
|StaffInstrument|Name:"Trumpet"|Patch:56|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127
|Lyrics|Placement:Bottom|Align:Standard Rules|Offset:0
|Lyric1|Text:"Hap-py Birth-day to you\n\nto you _ Birth-day\n"
|Lyric2|Text:"Hap-py Birth-day _ _ to you\n"
|Lyric3|Text:"Hap-py\n_\n_ _ _ _ _\nBirth-day dear re-peat Hap-py\n"
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:Bb|Tonic:F
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Note|Dur:8th,Dotted|Pos:-6|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-6|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Ending|Endings:1,2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-5
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-6
|Ending|Endings:1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Bar
|Ending|ClosedBracket:Y
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-4
|Bar|Style:MasterRepeatClose
|Ending|Endings:2
|Flow|Style:Coda|Pos:7|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Ending|ClosedBracket:Y
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-3
|Flow|Style:Fine|Pos:6|Wide:Y
|Bar|Style:MasterRepeatClose
|Ending|Endings:3
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Flow|Style:Segno|Pos:6.5|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Flow|Style:ToCoda|Pos:7|Wide:Y
|Bar
|Ending
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-5
|Note|Dur:8th,Dotted|Pos:0|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:0|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar|Style:SectionOpen|Visibility:Never
|Flow|Style:DSalCoda|Pos:7
!NoteWorthyComposer-End
8
Tips & Tricks / Set up a NoteWorthy Viewer play list running under Windows 10
This is an update to a previous play list tip running under older version of Windows.

These are the instructions you need to set up a NoteWorthy Viewer play list running under Windows 10.

A bit tricky to set up, but once done, is easy to manipulate and change.

Play list functionality is set up using the NoteWorthy Viewer and the old batch file command system.
You will have to set up 2 files. The first will be the actual play list. As an example, let's call it PLAY.TXT

In it, you will need to put in each file you want in your play list. This will need to be the full path and filename within quotes. One NoteWorthy song file to each line.

So let's suppose you want to play one file from your NoteWorthy Samples directory on the C Drive , one from your Viewer directory on your C Drive and one from a NoteWorthy directory on say the F drive.

The format of the file will be :

Code: [Select · Download]
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Noteworthy Software\NoteWorthy Composer 2\SAMPLES\Anchors Aweigh.nwc"
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Noteworthy Software\NoteWorthy Composer 2 Viewer\MOONLITE.NWC"
"F:\NoteWorthy Files\Version 2\SAMPLES\hoolchris.nwc"

So in other words, it doesn't matter where your files are in your computer as long as you give the drive, full path and file name.
(A single click on the file and then a click in the address bar will give you the drive and path, but you will need to add the file name)
So that's set up your play list. Save it in an appropriate directory (folder).

Now you have to set up the file that starts up the NoteWorthy Viewer and gives it the  instructions it needs.
Let's call it Play.bat (you can call it anything you like but it must end with .bat).

The following two lines need to be in the file exactly as displayed here except that some parts need to be relevant to your system and also the name you gave to your play list file. (above)
 

Code: [Select · Download]
for /f "delims=" %%q in (play.txt) do (
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Noteworthy Software\NoteWorthy Composer 2 Viewer\NWC2View.exe" %%q /play /close /wait)

So of particularly note : The set of brackets on the first line contains the name of the file that you set up as the play list. You will need to change this if you called the file something else.

In the second line, in quotes, is the drive and full path to your NoteWorthy Viewer and the Viewer executable which may be different on your system.
So save this file (Play.bat) in the same directory (folder) as your play list file. Now you just need to double click play.bat to play your list in the viewer.

You can set up as many play lists as you like but you will either need to change the name in Play.bat when you want to play a different list or you could have several batch files each one containing a different play list. (There is a way of playing different play lists from the same batch file - but that's for another day perhaps)

That's it - happy playing. For those that are interested, here is what is going on in the batch file.

/f tells the command processor to process an input file (Play.txt) a line at a time.

"delims=" tells the command processor that when it's reading in a file, to read all of the line - no delimiters.
(If you don't have this instruction then it will read the first line only as far as the first space)

%%q is the variable to which it assigns the record from the file.

do - do the following set of commands for each record read in

/wait - wait till the program has finished before looping back to the beginning

/play - tells the NoteWorthy Viewer to automatically play. (It doesn't wait for you to tell it to play).

/close - tells the viewer to close when it has finished playing the file. (It doesn't wait for you to close it).
9
General Discussion / Lyrics problem or a lyrics workaround - take your pick.
One of the Schubert files I have been working on has seven verses within a repeat. It then goes onto two verses within another repeat.

The problem comes when you try to reduce the boundary offset (for printing purposes) when moving from the seven verse repeat to the two verse repeat.

Lyric_example_1.nwc is a mockup of the relevant area of the file. As you can see from a print preview, page 2 looks a bit of a waste of space. So why not reduce the boundaries of the Lyric staff?

Lyric_example_2 has the lower boundary of the lyric staff reduced from 38 to 16 to deal with this. However, look at a print preview to see what happens to the second page where the reduction takes place. The remaining lyrics are pushed upwards into the staff. They can't be re-adjusted since there is no Lyric readjustment in the boundary change box. Clearly, this is of no use to print out.

So, the next thought was to have the lyrics for page two onwards on their own staff and to layer the staff. Lyric_example_3 has this option. A print preview confirms that this now works as expected. BUT, look at the second page in viewer mode or the editor rather than print preview.  You will see that these lyrics are now positioned alongside verses 6 and 7 rather than alongside verses 1 and 2. At best this is a "will do". But can I get the best of both worlds ?

Well, the answer is reduce the lower vertical boundary of the lyrics staff, as if there were no lyrics at all on that staff, (so that the lyrics do not fit in the boundary space), but then to increase the upper vertical boundary size for the staff below the lyrics staff to account for this reduction. The difference here is that on this staff, since there are no lyrics, when you come to reduce the boundary for the second page, the lyrics do not jump to a different position since they are not on a staff that is having a boundary changed. Lyric_example_4 shows this solution. You will see that print preview looks as would be expected and also the viewer mode and editor mode show the page two lyrics where they should be.

Having found this workaround (other solutions welcomed), it still would be better to have this fixed such that if you reduce a boundary for a staff that has lyrics, the lyrics position is recalculated such that the top line of lyrics is positioned with respect to the underside of the lyrics staff or provide a lyrics adjustment feature within the boundary change dialog box in the same way that there is one in the lyrics configuration dialog box.
10
General Discussion / Printing
Does Noteworthy Composer suppress certain options in the printer Driver?

For example, using the same printer driver,  In other programs, I can select specific pages in the Pages box.  So for example, I can select just pages 2 and 4  by using 2, 4 in the box.

In Noteworthy Composer and Noteworthy Viewer however, there are "from" and "to" boxes against the "Pages" option which means that you can only select an inclusive range  of pages.

So for example, I cannot tell Noteworthy Composer to first print pages 4 and 1 , followed by pages 2 and 3 (it will let me print 2 - 3) in order to make an a5 booklet on A4 paper.  I can do this, using the same printer driver in other programs.

OK, so I can print to all pages to pdf and then print pages 4 and 1, followed by 2 and 3 from pdf using the same printer driver and get my a5 music booklet but it would be better if I could do it directly from Noteworthy.
11
General Discussion / Beta Preview 43 (the MIDI Mapper)
For the most part, NoteWorthy Composer and its companion NWC Viewer, will work fine on Windows 10. However, there is a problem with using the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth for play back. In Windows 10, there are problems with the verification methods used by NoteWorthy Composer in Tools, Options, Midi while getting access to the requested MIDI devices. The issue and a work around is described further in our blog:


NWC 2.75 Beta Preview 43 is now available. It includes official support for Windows 10.


The NWC 2.75 beta preview now includes a complete work around for this problem.

Has this fix in beta 43 knocked out the usage of Microsoft Midi Mapper ?

This has disappeared from Tools/Options/Midi in Beta 43 however, it is still available in 2.51a

Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth is available in both versions.




12
General Discussion / A small Bugette?
Have a look at this series of beamed notes.

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.51,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Chord|Dur:16th,Dotted|Pos:-10,-7,-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:32nd|Pos:4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:0,7|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

They look fine.
Now remove the dot augmentation from the first chord so that the chord is not dotted at all and look what happens to the flags of the second note.

Surely this is a small bug.  The flags should not point to the right should they ?

13
General Discussion / Any knowledgeable horn players ?
Help please.

I am notating an orchestral piece that has Horns in E.

A number of the notes have a + above them.  I understand that this means to "stop" the horn by placing the hand in the Bell of the instrument which then lowers the pitch. However, some references say that it lowers the pitch and then when that hand is tight in, the pitch then rises by half a step and so the player should play a half step lower.

Other references tell me that when you do this, the pitch falls to half a step above the next lower partial harmonic.

To be fair, I don't know about this - and don't need to know.  All I want to know is that for a series of notes in the score, what notes to I have to pitch bend to given the following notes on the score : D, F and  A

Grateful for any help.


14
General Discussion / NWC Viewer 2.5 Beta 10
I've looked at the new opening mechanism on beta 10.

I do like access to the recently edited list from Composer. I also like the recently viewed list for access to previous files that have been played using the viewer.

What I'm not too sure about are the additional complications in having a drop down list for the "inbuilt" sample songs .  I certainly am not keen on the final option "Find more files".  Browse for a file on your computer is already implicit in the other browse button. Perhaps I understand the link to the Registered Users pages, but most of them have been taken away with the last NoteWorthy web page update.

Besides which, at the top of the dialog box, it says "Pick a work from a list for viewing".  You can't pick a work for viewing from a link in the registered users' links. Maybe if you only have the viewer and nothing else you can and it would work, but the rest of us that have both NWC and the viewer installed will get the file loaded into an NWC program, not the viewer. 
15
Tips & Tricks / Hymns out of the NoteWorthy Box !
There have been many questions in the past asking if you can use NoteWorthy to print hymns with the music systems above the hymn verses.
Up until now, the only way of achieving this was to put the music into NoteWorthy without the verses, do a print preview and copy the systems to a DTP program. Then use the DTP program (or a WP program) to write the verses and then add them into the DTP program at the correct position.

Now you can do it "out of the box" as they say, in one go using NoteWorthy. Takes some work, but it can be done.

I submit three examples of this.  In all cases, the page is set up as A5 and you will need to set this up (File / Printer Setup)  if you download these files to see how it is done.

I have merged the three pdf prints into one, since this allowed me to post all attachments in one posting. (Only 4 attachments allowed)

The examples are :
Eventide - possibly the easiest example to achieve.  This has two systems followed by 5 verses in a single column.
St. Clement - Two systems followed by two columns of 5 verses.  It's a shame that I couldn't find a way to centre the final verse. I dare say someone will find a way. Edit - I found a way. Files updated.
Just As I am - This is two different tunes for the same hymn, followed by 6 verses in two columns.

It should be particularly noted that when entering the hymn lyrics, that the number of lyric lines configured equates to the number of lines in each verse.  Each verse (or pair of verses if in two columns) requires an additional staff. Also, if you require the verses in two columns, you have to put the lyric lines of two verses into one lyric line. Examination of the attached files will reveal what I mean.

No attempt has been made to tart up the music or lyrics. If you want / need to do that, you will need to experiment further on your own.
16
Tips & Tricks / How to use some of the new features in Version 2.5
The attachment contains instructions on how to use some of the new features in version 2.5.
It uses Scot Boyd's song "A Rose in June", which is supplied with every copy of NoteWorthy Composer, to show :
Collapsing a Staff
Abbreviated Labels
Gapping the staff for a Coda.
Upper and Lower Boundary changes
Forcing a new page.

A You Tube video showing these instructions can be found at New 2.5 Features .  There is no sound on the video, so don't expect any !

17
General Discussion / Happy Christmas
Wishing all a happy Christmas and a very prosperous new year.

Have a great time with NWC in 2012, I know I shall. :)

18
General Discussion / Albert Scerri
Some of you might know of Albert Scerri who has been a really prolific supplier of transcriptions to the Scriptorium.

I am sorry to have to let you all know that Albert died at the end of last October in his home country of Malta. Albert had continuing heart problems which, in the end, he could not overcome.

Albert had sent me 190 transcriptions which are all on the Scriptorium but he also had a whole wealth of other material which his sons and his nephew have kindly now sent to me for eventual inclusion on the Scriptorium. I have had a look at all of the files supplied, and there are another 382 files that will be added to the Scriptorium over the next few months. What a testament to Albert and his love of Operatic music.

Our condolences go to his family, but especially to his two sons and to Noel, his nephew.

19
General Discussion / Why can't I have a stem up beam with this ?
As the title says, why can't I have a stem up beam with this combination ?

When beaming the two together, NoteWorthy insists that the beam will be in the downwards direction and I have been unable to get an upwards beam.



Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|TimeSig|Signature:4/4
|Key|Signature:F#
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-2,0,2|Opts:Stem=Down|Dur2:8th,Dotted|Pos2:5
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:4|Opts:Stem=Down
|Rest|Dur:16th|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:4th|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:4th|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:4th|Opts:Stem=Up
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

Yes I can do what I want with layering, I know - but surely an upwards beam should be possible?
20
General Discussion / THE FANTASTIC NOTEWORTHY COMPOSER POLKA COMPETITION
Quite a few of you round here may remember the March competition that PJ organised and ran back in 2003 (I think)

Well,  PJ has agreed to run another competition.  This time, not for a march but for a Polka.

The rules are as follows :

1.  You must submit a Polka in the style of what would be traditional in the country that you now live in. The instruments should be appropriate to your tradition. If you live in a country that has no Polka tradition you may submit a rhythmic composition in 2/4.

2. It must be danceable.

3. You may submit either a new Polka that you have composed or you may notate an old one. If you submit an old one it must have been composed before  the year 1900.

4. The competition ends Saturday August 15, 2009.

5. Submit your entry to this special address.


B2222 at optonline dot net

The competition will conducted from the NoteWorthy Newsgroup but I will try to keep this community up to date.
If you are not currently a member of the newsgroup, you can find out how to join by visiting the NoteWorthy Software site at :
https://www.noteworthysoftware.com/newsgroup/signup.php

Please note that you will need your registration information.

At the close of the competition, PJ will announce 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.  All submissions will be published on the Scriptorium on  a page devoted to the competition (similarly to the March competition).


Good Luck Folks.

Thanks PJ.
21
General Discussion / Tina Billett
I am so sorry to have to tell you all that I found out today that Tina passed away in January last year.

I think that because we all knew that her failing sight was preventing her from participating in one of her favourite activities, transcribing music into NoteWorthy Composer scores, we were probably not concerned that we had not heard from her.

Her husband, John, told me that she died of a heart attack.

Her website http://www.keyboard-creations.co.uk/ is supposed to be still up and running but it's not. This was one of the reasons that I tried to contact her today.  John thought that the site should still be up and running and so he will investigate why it is down.  He has given me permission to put more of Tina's work on the Scriptorium and so you will see that happening over the next few months.

We do already have some of Tina's excellent work on the Scriptorium but for those of you who are not familiar with her work, here are a few links :

Tina's Beethoven Files
Tina's rendition of Holst's famous Planets suite
Tina's Joplin Rags
Tina's Tchaikovsky files

I have offered our condolences to John. I shall be speaking to him again in the near future and will pass on any messages you may have for him.


Richard

22
General Discussion / Garritan Personal Orchestra, Soundblaster, soundfonts, synthfont and Vista
I have recently been forced to buy a new portable, this has Vista as an operating system. (no comment !!!!)

On my old XP portable, it had  pcmcia card slot in which I could use a Soundblaster pcmcia Audigy card (Audigy 2 ZS Notebook) which supported sound fonts.

My new machine has Express card slot.  Soundblaster now make an Express card sound card (X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook)and you would think, wouldn't you, that this would also support sound fonts. But it doesn't.

After several emails to Soundblaster, I discovered that not even their external USB soundcards support soundfonts under Vista. They would not say if there were plans to make a soundcard for Vista portables that supports soundfonts.

I next tried synthfont with midiyoke as the device that fed the output from NoteWorthy to Synthfont. The reproduction was terrible. Don't go there.

I next tried Garritan Personal Orchestra - Version 2.  This worked brilliantly although it is not as easy to manipulate as a soundblaster soundcard with sound fonts.  Garritan Personal Orchestra uses Northern Instruments Kontact Player version 1 to play the sound samples. In addition, you need to use some software called Garritan Studio to link NoteWorthy Composer to Garritan Personal Orchestra.
The sound reproduction is very good. So I thought I would go ahead and purchase Garriatan Personal Orchestra  ............


They have upgraded to Version 3.  This uses Northern Instruments Kontact Player version 2 to play the samples and guess what !  Garritan studio cannot use Kontact Player version 2. So the connection between NoteWorthy and Garritan Personal Orchestra version 3 cannot be made.

An email was sent to  to Garritan to enquire if, after purchasing Garritan Personal Orchestra version 3, you could then download Kontact player version 1 and thereby be able to use it with NoteWorthy Composer. They replied that Northern Instruments would not permit this.


However, they did say quote  "this fall we'll be coming out with a new version that most likely will interface with Noteworthy." end quote.
I'm not sure what to make of the "most likely" but there it is.

So I thought that I would relay all of this so that anyone else trying to get decent sound reproduction using a Vista portable will at least know the steps I have tried and the potential of a future version of GPO.

Now if NoteWorthy and VST .......... but that's another story. 
23
General Discussion / In sorrow
Friends,


It is with great sorrow that I have the sad duty to let you know that Carl B.Mill passed away last Friday morning June 20th

I haven't been given permission to pass on an email address publicly, so if anyone would like to send a  message to the family, please let me know and I will pass it on.
24
General Discussion / With great sorrow
Friends,

It is with great sorrow that I have the sad duty to let you know that Jim Karageanes (Dr Zorba) has passed away at the age of 64.

A graduate of Wayne State University, Jim worked for more than 30 years in the Detroit area as a computer consultant for the Big-3.
He is survived by his wife Sharon, sons Jonathan and Steven, daughters-in-law Dawn and Cindy, and four grandchildren.

Jim had contracted cancer and had been through some rounds of chemo therapy.  In November, a hospice took over his disease management and gave him some improvement in discomfort control (his words).

For those of you that would like to pass on messages to the family, Steven's email address is   drscoop "at" comcast "dot" net

Richard
25
General Discussion / Very small problem with grace notes
A very small problem - but I haven't found a way round it and it doesn't happen in 1.75.

I am unable to slur grace notes across a bar line. The slur stops dead at the bar line and no matter what you do, you cannot encourage it to go beyond.


26
General Discussion / Lyric Flow
I've Long had a problem with Lyric flow in NWC version 1 and It would be good if something could be done about it in version 2.
NWC highlights the lyrics (as it does the notes) as it plays.

When you have a master repeat, with a first time bar - the lyric flow correctly goes to the second line. However, when it gets to the second time bar, coming out of the repeat - the highlighting flow incorrectly stays on the second lyric line and does not revert to the first line lyrics as it should.

No big shakes - but off putting in you are rehearsing and the highlight goes to the wrong place.

(See attachment)
28
Tips & Tricks / Do you want a play list for the NoteWorthy Viewer? Read on.
Yes, I know you can do it with using Winamp with the NoteWorthy plugin - but supposing you don't have (and/or don't want) Winamp.

Or supposing you really want to see the music, perhaps for rehearsal purposes, or you want to play a complete suite comprising several NWC files ....  Then this tip is for you.

A bit tricky to set up, but once done, is easy to manipulate and change.

Play list functionality is set up using the NoteWorthy Viewer (with a couple of secret commands) and the old batch file command system. (Good old DOS - Rick will probably program an elegant windows scripting program that does the same thing but in the meantime, this does nicely ! - Rick, please feel free to do an equivalent windows script and post here)

You will have to set up 2 files. The first will be the actual play list. As an example, let's call it PLAY.TXT

In it, you will need to put in each file you want in your play list.
This will need to be the full path and filename. One NoteWorthy file to each line.

So let's suppose you want to play one file from your NoteWorthy 1.75 directory on the C Drive , one from your Version 2 directory and one from the viewer directory.
The format of the file will be :

Code: [Select · Download]
"C:\Program Files\NoteWorthy Composer\SAMPLES\rose.nwc"
"C:\Program Files\NoteWorthy Composer 2\SAMPLES\carmen.nwc"
"C:\Program Files\NoteWorthy Composer 2 Viewer\caverns.nwc"

So in other words, it doesn't matter where your files are in your computer as long as you give the full path and file name. You do not need to enclose the lines in quotes (except if there are spaces in them).

So that's set up your play list. Save it in an appropriate directory (folder).

Now you have to set up the file that starts up NoteWorthy Viewer and gives it the correct instructions.

Let's call it Play.bat (you can call it anything you like but it must end with .bat)

The following two lines need to be in the file exactly as displayed here except that some parts need to be relevant to your system and also the name you gave to your play list file. (above)

Code: [Select · Download]
for /f "delims=" %%q in (play.txt) do (
start /wait /max /d "C:\Program Files\NoteWorthy Composer 2 Viewer\" NWC2View.exe "%%q" /play /close)

So particularly note :
The set of brackets on the first line contains the name of the file that you set up as the play list.
You will need to change this if you called the file something else.

In the second line, in quotes, is the path to your NoteWorthy Viewer. This may be the same as displayed if you used the standard installation.

So save this file (Play.bat) in the same directory as your play list.

Now you just need to double click it to play your play list in the viewer. You can set up as many play lists as you like but you will either need to change the name in Play.bat when you want to play a different list or you could have several batch files each one containing a different play list.  (There is another way to supply the file name when you run the file - but let's keep this at a basic level).

That's it - happy playing.

For those that are interested, here is what is going on in the batch file.

/f tells the command processor to process an input file (Play.txt) a line at a time.
"delims="   tells the command processor that when it's reading in a file, to read all of the line - no delimiters. (If you don't have this instruction then it will read the first line only as far as the first space)
%%q  is the variable to which it assigns the record from the file.
do -  do the following set of commands for each record read in
start   -  start the program
/wait  - wait till the program has finished before looping back to the beginning
/max   - run the program in a maximised state
/d  This parameter tells the command processor which directory(folder)the program is in.
/play  - tells the NoteWorthy Viewer to automatically play. (It doesn't wait for you to tell it to play).
/close - tells the viewer to close when it has finished playing the file. (It doesn't wait for you to close it).
29
Tips & Tricks / Display staff for two note tremolos using layering.
Most of us are used to using a hidden staff as a sounding staff with with a display staff to attempt the more tricky visual note interpretations. Two note tremolos are one example of this. However, in this case, the display staff is usually littered with chorded rests which look ugly and detracts from the music. This is because in order to get the visual interpretation of a tremolo, the individual notes have to be half their time value in order to display both notes of the tremolo and fit in the time signature of the measure. The only way that the note can have half the time value is to form a chord with a rest half the value of the note. Unfortunately, the rest cannot be made invisible.

Some users use post processing and "white out" the rests.  This is fine when there are not too many tremolos but a pain if there are quite a few.  In addition, it would be so much easier if the rest could be moved below the lines of the staff for easy "whiting out". This can be done if the vertical position of the rest is adjusted before making the chord up but it is a trial and error process, never knowing exactly where the rest will end up.

Here is a solution that does away with the rests but uses layering instead. The music looks much better, not perfect, just better.

The trick is to use layering. On the top layer is the left hand note. On the bottom layer is the right hand note. At first this would be directly over the top note, but you must add extra note spacing to this right hand note. Add the maximum allowed (3). This just about gives enough space to add the tremolo sign using Lawrie's SwingDings.

In addition, where the right hand note needs an accidental, you will need to insert a text version.  This is because a real accidental on the note will be offset by three spaces to the left. Accidentals on the left hand note will not need to be treated in this way.

This workaround can be used in both versions 1.75 and 2.

The example attached (version 1.75) needs SwingDings which is loaded into the user 1 font and NWC2MusikDingsSans loaded into user 2 font .  (There is nothing to say that this font cannot be used in version 1.75 !)

In the example, you will see the top staff showing what tremolos look like using the chorded rest method.
The next two staffs (layered) show this work around.
For completeness, there is a hidden sounding staff.
When played, the tremolos in the chorded version go red separately whilst those of this work around play together (a small point I know).


This method does not overcome problems such as beamed flags for eighth note (and greater) tremolos but it is a step closer until we have a tremolo function natively within NWC.
31
General Discussion / Show latest posts at the top
Did you know that you can change your own settings so that you see the latest posts at the very top of each subject rather than ploughing through all the previous posts.
Go to Profile / Look and Layout Preferences  and tick "Show most recent posts at the top"

(Can't you tell I've only just found it - lol )
32
General Discussion / A Bit of Fun
I fired this challenge off a while ago on the newsgroup - but no-one took me up on it.

Did you know that as well as being a darn good piece of music software, NoteWorthy Composer version 2 is also a drawing editor.
Here's my attempt - anybody else ?

33
Tips & Tricks / Making MP3s of NoteWorthy compositions (and audio CDS if you have a burner)
If you want to make audio CDs of your NoteWorthy compositions, one way of doing this is to create an MP3. After that, most burner software has the ability to burn MP3s onto a CD as an audio track

So what's the easiest way of making an MP3 from your NoteWorthy composition. Well windows (XP)is set up to do it but it just needs a little bit of extra software (don't worry, if you don't currently have the right software, you can get it for free)

Those of you that have Sound Blaster/Audigy cards will already have the right software (Creative Wave Studio will do the trick). For anyone else, you need to download some recording software. (Windows SNDREC32.EXE just doesn't do the job)
A product called WavePad has all you need to do this. You can download WavePad for free from:
http://www.download.com/WavePad/3000-2170_4-10382895.html?tag=pdp_prod

Having installed Wave Pad, at some stage during the process I will outline, Wave Pad will request and install an mp3 encoder. Just allow this when it asks.

So what do you have to do.  Here is the process using Wave Pad. (Creative Wave Studio is a similar sort of process)

Run Wave Pad and minimize for the moment.

Run NoteWorthy (either version) and load the music file you want to convert to mp3. Set up any sound fonts you want to use etc and play the beginning of the file just as a check. If all is ok, go back to the start ready for your recording.

ALT TAB to Wave Pad.
Click New File and select the sample rate you want (44100 is standard). Select Stereo. Click OK
Click the Red record Button - in the record control window presented, on the right hand side, the top drop down should say Default Sound In.
In the second box, select Stereo Mixer (Those who have Audigy or other sound cards may need to select "What you hear" or a similar option)
In the Advanced Record Options, Make sure "Audio Trim Recording" is selected. (Leave Voice activated recording unchecked)
Click OK
Click the red record button.
ALT TAB to NoteWorthy and click F5 to start playing the music.
While you are recording, you can ALT TAB back to Wave Pad to see what it's doing, but remember that it is recording all sounds from your PC. So a critical stop noise (for example) would be recorded.

When the music has finished, ALT TAB to Wave Pad and click stop.
Then click the close window on the record control. Your recording will then be transferred to the main file window.

From there, you can examine the music and select any gaps at the beginning and end of the file, highlight the area and delete.  There are plenty of other things you can do but suffice it to say that you can now do a simple "File Save As", selecting the file type as MP3.  A window will be displayed asking for the bit-rate etc You can just use the default.

Job done !

Wave Pad will also write the file directly to a CD as an audio file if required.
34
Tips & Tricks / Testing Flow directions and Lyrics on repeats.
This is a bit fiddely but once you get the hang of what you are doing and why, it can be a boon when testing repeated lyrics and flow directions.

Sometimes you have a need to force NoteWorthy to go to a certain point in order to test lyrics in repeats, flow directions after a DC or DS function. This is not easy since each time you test, you have to wait for a number of iterations on the repeat or you need to start from the DC or DS instruction.

One way round this is to increase the tempo to epic proportions and then change it before the place in the file that you are monitoring.  This still takes time to get to the point you want to test and is a bit tedious.

Perhaps a better way is to create a special temporary staff. This staff contains a whole note rest and then a local repeat close. When you put in the local repeat close, you can make a guesstimate as to how may bars elapse before the point you want to test.  (If it's more than 250 then you will meed an additional local repeat bar since 250 is the maximum).

After the local repeat bar, put two or three normal bars with just a rest in. So your additional staff is all contained within one width of the page.

Now here's two working examples. (Shown in the attachment)

The attachment has 11 measures but the pattern is as follows :
6 measures, a master repeat bar (4 repeats and a default), a measure with a To Coda instruction, a measure with a DC al Coda instruction and a Coda mark, and then the remaining measures.

So the full flow would be :
6 measures, 5 repeated measures, the To Coda measure but haven't passed a DC instruction so carry on, - Reached the DC al Coda instruction, back to the beginning. 6 measures, ONE default repeated measure, Reached the To Coda Instuction and we have passed the DC instruction so jump to CODA mark, play to end.

1st Example
If you wanted to check the lyrics of the 4th and 5th passes in the repeat measure, you could place the cursor before the final note in the repeated measure and then wait for a further 2 repeats before getting to the bit you want to look at.
In the example, this is only one measure- but it could be any number.

Solution
See the top staff in the attachment. It has a local repeat configured for 9 measures. Place the cursor immediately after the local repeat and before the rest. Press F5 to start playing and immediately after that, press PAGE DOWN  to go to the real staff.
You will see that the music has started playing at the 4th lyric line

2nd Example
If you wanted to check that the flow direction is correct after the DC al Coda marking, you would normally have to position the cursor immediately before the marking and then wait for the music to go back to the beginning and follow through to the To Coda mark. This could take ages depending on your music. If you start the music at the To Coda rather than the DC al Coda, NoteWorthy will not think that it has passed the DC instruction and so you cannot test that all is correct by doing just that.

Solution
See the bottom staff in the attachment. It has a local repeat configured for 17 measures. Place the cursor immediately after the local repeat and before the rest. Press F5 to start playing and immediately after that, press page UP to go to the real staff.
You will see that the music has started playing shortly before the To Coda mark but you have fooled NoteWorthy into thinking that it has been passed the DC al Coda marking and so it obeys the To Coda instruction.

Remember that with flow directions, all instructions need to be on each staff for them to execute properly (This includes hidden staves etc). This is usually what you are testing - to make sure that each staff obeys the same flow directions at the same time.

In this paricular instance, you should NOT try and put any flow instructions in the temporary measures you have created for testing purposes.
35
Tips & Tricks / Cross staff Beaming on the Grand Staff without layering. – three examples
Here are three examples of how to achieve cross staff beaming on the Grand staff without using layering.
In all cases it is safer to make sure that the vertical spacing is the same for both staves and before you start and to make sure that you are satisfied with the distance between the staves.  If you alter this distance after completing the cross staff beams, it will throw the placement out. The examples are using NWC version 2 but should also work in version 1.75.

[glow=red,2,300]Example a[/glow] is where there are alternating notes on each staff.

The trick here is to play around with the “Override stem length” attribute of a note such that the beams from the notes on the treble staff co-incide with the beams on the bass staff.  Remembering that for any three notes beamed together (with rests in between), only the first and last notes need to be modified. Notes in the middle take care of themselves. You can change the default for the intervening rests to hide them. The easiest combination is for the beam to be horizontal but sloping beams can be achieved with a bit more work.

[glow=red,2,300]Example b[/glow] is where there are a number of notes on the treble clef beamed with a number of notes on the bass clef. and the beam moves from the treble to the bass clef.
In the example, notes e and e an octave lower on the treble clef are beamed to notes d and a on the bass clef. To get this to work, place four notes on the treble clef. Move the first two notes to the correct position. Move the second two notes to the bass clef. You will get leger lines running down in between the staves. Select the notes and go to note properties. Remove the leger lines. These two notes will not have the correct sound so at the same time as removing the leger lines, mute the notes. Now the trick is to repeat the same process on the bass staff. Except here, the notes that you move to the treble clef will need to be amended so that they have no leger lines and muted while the notes on the bass staff will not be muted. When played, these notes will now sound correct.

[glow=red,2,300]Example c[/glow] is where only one note is to be beamed from one staff and a number of notes are to be beamed from the other staff.
The problem here is because there is only one note from one of the staffs, NoteWorthy won’t by default apply a beam – and the note will have the standard flag.
So to fix this, you have to add anther note and beam the two together but make the first note muted and not visible. You can then use the processes in example a to align the beams.
36
General Discussion / Scriptorium Update
Folks,

Just to let you know that the Scriptorium has been updated with works submitted by :

Joe Roberts    She Walks in Beauty, (Roberts)
Joe Roberts    Lord of All Being, (Roberts)
Joe Roberts    Yes, Dear Departed Cherished Days, (Roberts)

https://nwc-scriptorium.org/whatsnew.html


If you would like to be notified every time the Scriptorium is updated, please send me an e-mail  requesting Scriptorium Update Notification
37
General Discussion / Scriptorium now accepts NWC2 files
Folks

Noteworthy Software have given their blessing to the Scriptorium hosting NWC2 files.
So I am now happy to accept your NWC2 files with the usual proviso that you also include the accompanying text file with your submission.
The template, if you need it, can be found here
38
General Discussion / Download the Scriptorium Database
Folks

You can now download a CSV file  holding a database of all of the NoteWorthy files on the Scriptorium so that you can browse off-line.
The file can be reached from the main database page (Click to visit)

The CSV file contains the following information :
the Composer, the url of the file, the name of the music, the url of the info file, the Scriptorium classification, and the user that created the file.

The Database file will be updated periodically - probably about once a month, depending on the rate of submissions.

Note that the url of the music and/or  the info file can be coped and pasted into your browser. If you paste the url of a  NoteWorthy file into your browser, this will either be downloaded or played dependant upon the installation of the NoteWothy plug-in.

Richard
39
General Discussion / Rogues Gallery
Just to let non - newsgroupers (?) know that the rogues gallery is alive and well. You can see mugshots of the infamous by clicking here : Rogues gallery page.

But be careful - wear dark glasses, you have been warned.

Anyone who would like to be included, please send a mugshot to me - with your birthdate if you want others to know it.
40
Tips & Tricks / Getting Rid of Negating Natural Signs
On changing key, if you dislike having natural signs negating the sharps or flats of a previous key, there is a workaround.

At the end of the previous bar (measure) insert the new key. This will have the negating natural signs. Make this invisible. (select it, and then hit ALT and ENTER.  Choose the visibility tab and follow your nose). Insert the new key again after the bar line. This will not have any negating natural  signs.
41
Tips & Tricks / Highlighting Two Different Lyric Lines at Once
There are many pieces of music around which have lyrics in more than one language. For example, Plaisir d’amour where both French and English versions are common, Schubert’s Ave Maria (Latin and English) etc. NoteWorthy Composer highlights the words as well as the music when you are playing back. With these dual language songs, changing from one language to another could be tricky if you do not wish to double up the number of verses. Using the layering feature, you can highlight both language versions at the same time.

For each staff that has lyrics attached, copy the music to a new staff directly below. In the first staff, enter lyrics for the first language and in the copy staff, enter the lyrics for the second language. The position of the lyrics with respect to the staff should be modified (from the lyric configuration tab) so that the first set of lyrics has a different position with respect to the staff than the other set on the copy staff (They can be both at the bottom or the top as required though). Finally, on the first staff, select ‘Layer with next staff’ from the Staff properties and you will now have what looks like a single staff with two different language lyrics by it. Both of these language lyrics will be highlighted on playback.
42
Tips & Tricks / Spread Chords with Grace Notes
Until now, if you wanted to achieve a spread chord effect (denoted by a vertical wavy line) using NoteWorthy Composer, you had to enter the notes exactly as they should be played. Whilst this worked well, there was always the problem of balancing the notes in order to keep to the time signature. With the implementation of grace notes on version 1.5, there is now another way of achieving the spread chord effect without having to balance the note values.

This is how : Supposing you have a chord of 4 quarter notes (crotchets) in a single stave. To turn the chord into a spread chord, turn on the persistent note tool, turn on the grace note attribute, turn on the tie. Select the eighth note (quaver) and before each note in the chord apart from the top one, enter the eighth note (i.e. press the enter key). Because you are entering grace notes, the note value of the chord does not need to be altered. (Each grace note will be above and in front of the previous one.)

If the spread chord is divided between two staves then use this procedure for ALL notes in the chord for the lower stave (left hand). For the upper stave (right hand), before entering the grace note eighth notes enter the appropriate number of 'grace note eighth rests' (If you enter a rest while the grace note attribute is selected, the rest will behave the same way a grace note does). You should enter the same number of rests that there are notes in the chord in the lower stave. After doing this, enter the grace notes for all notes in the upper chord apart from the top note.

You can beam the grace notes so that the chord looks neater. Press play and be happy with some good results without too much effort.
43
Version 1.75 Discussion / T&T: MIDI Instrument Numbers
When setting up the instrument type from the Staff Properties Midi tab, you can select from the instrument names (using for example the General Midi), or a numeric system (starting from 0 or from 1). Sometimes it would be easier to be able to see the instrument names as well as the number rather than switching between the numeric and named systems.

To achieve this you can edit the file ntwpatch.ini.

Important: Before editing this file, make a backup copy so that you can go back to it if you make a mistake or change your mind.

In the file you will find lists of your midi instruments. Under the [General MIDI] heading you will see the first instrument.

Acoustic Grand Piano=

To add the reference number, insert it immediately before the equals sign so that the line now looks like :

Acoustic Grand Piano 1=

(make sure that the equals sign is the last character on the line)

Continue in this way until you reach

Gunshot=

which, after amendment, will look as follows:

Gunshot 128=

Save the file and also save a backup copy as a different file name since a new release of NoteWorthy Composer will overwrite the file. The next time you select an instrument from the Midi tab, you will see both the instrument and its related number.