The other day, I dug out my old midi interface "Midiman" cables. I believe I bought them when I was using Windows XP and a midi keyboard. I thought I'd connect up a new electric keyboard and see if I liked importing into NWC that way. I never liked my old midi keyboard, as it was just a controller, and it never felt like I was really "playing" a piano. With the new keyboard, I thought I might have more success in capturing composition ideas.
However, the driver is outdated and won't work on Windows 7 or 10, and M-audio, the company that produces the Uno driver, is no longer supporting the product. I am guessing that means that they aren't writing new drivers that are compatible. Something about 32 bits and 64 bits. My xp computer is long gone, and I wondered if there is a workaround solution? When I googled about the situation, I found this website:
Not being very "techie", I am right in guessing that a programmer might have written a driver to over this problem? If so, how would I know if it is safe to download?
It bugs me that something I invested in is no longer usable. I remember it not being inexpensive. I didn't use it very much because I found that I had better control by using the note entry method instead. If it's safe and possible, I'd like to try again using a better keyboard. Now that I have a lap top, I could even hook it up to an electric piano at work.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Lawrie. I actually find Unison to be a decent sound. I found it on the midi conversion site: Solmire. I just don’t like outsourcing the file conversion process since I’m not sure how secure that is.
It seems to always come back to the MS synth. Doesn’t it?
It’s on my to do list to do something about it but I’m unsure the best way to proceed. I get bogged down in internet discussions of which is the best in terms of size and sound and then I get scared to download anything in case there is a virus.
I finally got up the nerve to try recuva on my computer where the files were deleted by accident. I wasn't able to find anything under the name of the file, and I found the program results kind of difficult to interpret. It's disappointing to think the files are gone.
Windows 10 has a built-in recorder. Set NW Viewer to full screen and press Windows+G, then set the Viewer going. But, be warned, the file is very large, so you will need suitable compression software – there's plenty of free on-line ones.
Wow! I just tried this and was able to record a score. It just might be a way to making learning videos (as opposed to just learning tracks) for my choir. What do you think?
Some questions:
What is the difference between just playing the NWC2 file and opening it with the NCW Viewer and playing it from there? I'm not really seeing a difference.
Could the capture be uploaded to YouTube without being compressed?
Is there a way to compress "in house" or does it have to be done online?
Are there any tricks anyone would recommend for making practice videos (such as changing the dynamics of parts, or creating alternate colours for the different parts, to highlight a section ex. sopranos louder and in green)?
Could this also be used to provide a "score preview" of original compositions? Is there a way to "watermark" it, or is that just for pdfs?
I've learned that the settings be changed so it can capture an audio recording as well as the video. So, sometimes I convert files to better sounds using synthfonts. Now I just need to figure out how to deal with the lag between hitting the audio play button and the mp3 starting to play. That's three things to try to coordinate: the capture button, the NWC play, and the mp3 play, and I'm struggling to get them in synch. Can anyone think of a solution or better way to merge the mp3 and the video?
Thanks in advance!
This is an exciting option for teaching and promotion! Thanks, Peter Edwards!
As a follow up to this issue, I determined that even though I am the administrator on my computer, the security permissions of NCW 2 were not allowing me to modify the template. I didn't seem to be able to change the permissions, as it was labelled as a systems file.
I have now moved the template folder to a different folder where I do have permission to modify. So far, I have been able to change the template.
I hope this won't cause problems for me down the road.
Wow! I just realized that I did not respond to the helpful comments here from February. (I entered a very busy concert season, and then the pandemic shut-downs left me even busier learning to create and participate in on-line music activities. I had to learn a number of new software programs to make music videos for my groups.)
So, thank you to everyone who posted a reply here. Because we suspended all in person choir activities, I didn't prepare any rehearsal tracks for them. However, now I am thinking about doing it again, as a continuing way to engage them. I have been just sending out youtube links to familiar pieces that they can sing along with. I've also been using rehearsal and performance recordings that I made earlier, editing them in Audacity, creating lyric slides, then combining them into a "music video" that they can sing along with. (It doesn't show their notes, though.)
I think I would like to teach them something new, virtually. It doesn't look like it will be safe to have choir for a long time. Right now, there are different researchers trying to determine how safe singing is, but until we know more, we aren't singing together. So, having rehearsal tracks may be helpful. Not all of my choir members are computer savvy, so I may end up making CDs for those who don't want to use the internet.
I think I do want to try to use the NWC Viewer, so they can see their scores. I'm also thinking about providing mp3s instead of midi, to have greater control over what they hear on their end.
Now, the thing is that you can now give these out to your choristers, and tell them do download the NoteWorthy Viewer or send it to them if you know that their email will accept executables.
Rich, do you combine all the parts into one score or do you provide separate versions of each part to be rehearsed with using the Viewer?
Belated thanks again to everyone who told me their method. If anyone else has a different approach, I'd be happy to hear about that as well.
I thought it meant that I actually had to write code to make it happen, or as Flurmy guessed, to edit the NCWtext file. That would have been far beyond my technical abilities!
So, now that I understand it does not involve that, Rick G., could you step me through the process you took when creating the above scores? (I know that NWC requires certain things to happen in certain orders, to work properly when doing tricky manoeuvres).
I'm getting a new error message with the new installation. I removed the old one first. Perhaps that was a mistake:
Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\gustv\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\Lib\site-packages\cx_Freeze\initscripts\__startup__.py", line 40, in run File "C:\Users\gustv\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\Lib\site-packages\cx_Freeze\initscripts\Console.py", line 37, in run File "file_organization.py", line 400, in <module> File "file_organization.py", line 68, in read_score File "C:\Users\gustv\PycharmProjects\PYNWC\nwc.py", line 617, in __init__ File "C:\Users\gustv\PycharmProjects\PYNWC\nwc.py", line 127, in __init__ File "C:\Users\gustv\PycharmProjects\PYNWC\nwc.py", line 136, in check AttributeError: module 'nwc_terms' has no attribute 'type_opt_value_list'
You mention you get an error message, what does it exactly say?
In a different file, I am getting an error message related to visibility and key signatures. I have a hidden staff for a descant line. Have you tried the tool when there is a hidden staff?
Here's the traceback when I cancel:
Traceback (most recent call last): File "file_organization.py", line 68, in read_score File "C:\Users\gustv\PycharmProjects\PYNWC\nwc.py", line 612, in __init__ File "C:\Users\gustv\PycharmProjects\PYNWC\nwc.py", line 127, in __init__ File "C:\Users\gustv\PycharmProjects\PYNWC\nwc.py", line 138, in check AssertionError: |Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab|Tonic:E|Visibility:Never: field Visibility not in ['Signature', 'Tonic', 'HideCancels', 'AutoSys']
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\gustv\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\Lib\site-packages\cx_Freeze\initscripts\__startup__.py", line 40, in run File "C:\Users\gustv\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\Lib\site-packages\cx_Freeze\initscripts\Console.py", line 37, in run File "file_organization.py", line 400, in <module> File "file_organization.py", line 71, in read_score AssertionError: |Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab|Tonic:E|Visibility:Never: field Visibility not in ['Signature', 'Tonic', 'HideCancels', 'AutoSys']
I’m getting an error message when I try to use that function. It asks me if I want to save the change. I say yes. And then it takes me to the screen with my score and I can’t do anything else from there except cancel. I cannot do a print preview. What am I doing wrong?
Would this be able to take care of what sounds to me like accented chords even when there is no accent on the notes? It destroys the mood that I am trying to achieve in the music sometimes. Is there an automatic accent for the downbeat? If so, in some cases I would like to reduce that.
I've noticed that when I make mp3 conversions of my work, the accompaniment (piano) always sounds like it is being "pounded", despite the dynamic level I use. I would like to achieve a more musical effect. Is this possible? I am not sure what to look for in the forum; I don't mind checking out other discussions on the topic. Is it a velocity issue?
Yes and I got the very helpful point. It’s going to be a challenge for me because as a performing composer, I want to hang on to all performances of my work, whether by me or others. Due to the limitations of my smaller hard drive, it did fill up much faster than expected.
Just thought I'd post a quick update: I did uninstall NWC 1, not so much for space reasons, but because I will never use it again, so why keep it around.
I did get a program to show me where the large files are (WinDirStat) and have off-loaded the biggies. They were not, as Mike suggested, cat videos, but videos of university orchestration and composition courses.
I was able to reclaim some space, which I am now happily filling up again. It's a short term solution, to be sure, but has helped with some weird issues I was having possibly due to low space.
I've recently started having that message pop up when saving that the program is unable to save a BAK file, and do I want to save anyway (which I do). It's possible that I have changed something I shouldn't during a computer housecleaning episode.
This started me thinking whether or not I should fix that issue, or if I actually need the BAK files at all. I've rarely if ever used them, and storage space is becoming an issue on my hard drive, plus I back up my computer onto an external drive regularly.
I did read through the postings on BAK files, and see that some don't use them.
I'm asking for some opinions here (and help for figuring out the unable to save to BAK issue or how to stop the message from appearing).
Edit to add: my recent question to Mike here ( https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=9201.0) about having different versions of an object plug-in is linked to the fact that the multiples are BAK files, and I think I would like to delete them in that case. Is this a good or bad idea?)
I'm getting caught up on this plug-in and am happy with the results. I have a question: is there a quick way to undo the action once you have already run it? This is in case you decided to change your score.
After installing it, I am not hearing any difference between the truncated score and when I removed the markings. I'm not sure why that would be, probably user error on my part.
As you can see, I'm getting caught up on some object plug-in reading. I wondered how this truncate object has been working out for you? Any further development ideas? I can see its usefulness in preparing rehearsal tracks or audio demos of compositions.
I'm not convinced that my regular hairpins actually affect my playback. Perhaps I am not doing something correctly. By using a hidden dynamic, I move my hairpins up and down as needed. What other tricks could I learn from this plug-in of yours?
I thought I’d update this post. I’ve been using the stamp feature in PDF to stamp a “revised date “ prominently on my scores and that has been helpful. It’s not automatic so I’m not always consistent.
Thanks for weighing in on this issue. I’ve come to realize that my new computer from two years ago, which was a gift from my spouse, actually has only a third of the space of my previous. Which I have now filled up. I’m a little shocked to be honest. I’ll need to investigate an external drive.
I haven’t used it for years but it is still on my computer and I want to delete it. I can still open all my files with version 2.75 so it should be fine right?
Is there any reason why I should not uninstall version one since I am now using the latest version? I am running out of room on my computer and I need to delete some apps.
Does anyone have data on the use of hydroxychloroquine as a cure for the COVID-19 virus? There has been a lot of talk about that on the American news – both for and against. I don’t know the answer. But I do know that many people rely on this drug daily for their auto immune diseases.
And now there is a worldwide shortage. My pharmacy told me recently that it has none available. I hope that if it is the cure for the virus, that they will make much, much more.
I'm late to the party. I've been sick...was it Covid 19? Possibly so, but only people who had travelled were getting tested 2 weeks ago in my part of Canada. We know now that this is a wrong approach, since it denies the community spreading methodology. The local public health also announced after the third case that they would no longer be publicly reporting cases "to prevent patient confidentiality" (more likely, mass hysteria). I've been under lockdown for 2 weeks now because of being ill. The stores are struggling to get supplies on the shelves. I'm also immune compromised, so it's not great to hear about how bad this virus can be. One of my regular meds is the anti-malaria drug that was suggested as being helpful. Maybe it is helping me avoid getting really sick with whatever I've got? However, I just heard from the pharmacy that there is now a worldwide shortage of the drug, which is really bad news for people like me who depend on it for daily living.
I am a performing musician, and in the weeks before I got sick I was out in the community doing an extra amount of multiple choir rehearsals, public church services, funerals, food fellowships, etc. (That's why I suspect I may have picked something up.) I was gearing up for the Easter season, with a mass choir from different churches. Now everything has been put on hold, (and I expect will be cancelled). I should add that because of my health, I am very cautious with handwashing and sanitizing as a normal routine, and yet I still managed to get sick.
I had a two week Florida vacation booked, which also was cancelled. It's a good thing, since I would have been sick while travelling, and they closed the borders! I'm currently in my music office surrounded by 24 old NWC scores of my work, which I am attempting to review, edit and file. It's a job I have put off for a long time. I also have been working on new compositions, but I am getting a little stir crazy!
Glad to hear from everyone, and to hear the news from your part of the world.
No, I haven't. Is there a time limit on how long ago the files were deleted? I don't know when it happened; when I went to retrieve them, they were missing.
Thank you for clarifying. I am sensitive about this issue because I have lost files in the past and it is heartbreaking after hours and hours of work. I was never able to find them again for some reason. I am not sure how they got deleted. It must’ve been user error on my part although I would never have purposely deleted them!
AAs far as I remember, if you have your back up files folder the same as your autosave files folder, then it doesn't work. For some reason they have to be different folders. Sorry, I know that doesn't help you. Not sure that there is anything else I can suggest.
R.
Is this true about the file locations? Why did you edit this statement?
I was happy to see some action and just assumed they were doing some marketing. I never thought about the possibility of replacing the forum with Facebook. That would be unwise, in my opinion.
