NoteWorthy Composer Forum

This is a wonderful idea. As you know, I always have lots of questions about how to make things work. I'm sort of an old-timer, but new to learning how to make my scores look much better. I had to quickly learn the program 15 years ago and then was so busy as a musician that I didn't have time to figure out anything advanced. Now I am forcing myself to learn new tools, and going back and editing my old scores and improving new ones. I don't seem to have much luck with the search feature, and when I do search a topic, I am never sure if the information I find is the most current way to do things. I also get overwhelmed at the first hint of technical talk.

I think your blog would be a welcome addition to the great helpful community here. You could also have guest bloggers if you wanted someone else to tackle a topic.

Now I am off to figure out how to use the tremolo tool! Wish me luck.

I'm not sure where to look for that info on this new computer. It's whatever the default is on the Lenovo ultra book.

I should try it on my old computer because I don't recall noticing this before.

Of course I would use that in real life but inserting the pedal down symbol had
No effect  on the midi  playback.

Thanks. I'm reading it now.

Which processes are redundant?

Do you still use global modifications? I've never used it.

Thanks. That did the job.

I need to use a Hebrew phrase in an English piece and would like to italicize it. Is there a tool for this?

Thanks

Thank you everyone. I have downloaded the free version of PDF creator and I am able to get single documents but I cannot get the Merge feature to work and I would like to include a bio and a cover page. I am submitting some composition to a contest!

I'm having issues with this new computer. On my other I had installed cute PDF writer and used that to create PDFs of scores. On my new computer I installed that PDF program and am not getting a dialogue box to save anywhere and so am not getting any PDFs. 😫

Can anyone help or is there another free program that I could be using? I just downloaded open office today because I needed something on this computer other that notepad! I'd love to combine PDFs into one document so I can include program notes and a biography.

Thanks for any help.

This is a question for all you composers out there. How do you decide what dynamics you are going to apply to your works? It's something that's a creative challenge to me and I would like to hear your process.

Thanks

Well I just upgraded my computer and since I had the CD then I was able to reinstall and then download the latest updates from that website. Does that make it portable?

I don't see any of your intelligent friends here at the moment, so let me respond instead

I beg to differ.

Presto chango my dilemma is solved. Thanks as always, Mike!

 Hello everyone!
I have had a busy performance season and I am now getting back to some scores on my new computer. I have what may be a silly question but I cannot figure out the answer.

When I insert dynamics, I press on my keyboard and usually a little box comes up with a visual representation of all the options and I just press M or F or click on whatever I need.  However every now and then instead of that box, a different box comes up entitled notation properties where I have to scroll through different options and it takes longer. I cannot figure out why it switches and how to switch it back.

I am sure there is a simple explanation and that my intelligent friends here will enlighten me.

Many thanks!

I was wondering if you get a darker score when you  duplicate? It looks darker on the screen to me and it certainly sounds fuller if the duplicate staff isn't muted but what about the printing?

Ok. Thanks.

I always forget about the marker. What else can it do? I think I used it once to hide a troublesome triplet marking...

I was trying to use one of Mike's tools to put a line above some notes that are optional. I got the line ok but when I added text then the line disappeared. I'd like both. Is it doable within the tool or do I need to add text separately?

Are there any musical theatre writers using NWC? I am in the midst of developing a project. I searched the forum and some posts came up from 15 years ago!

Well I don't really know anything about emulators. Or computers. Other than how to use them. And sometimes that's a bit sketchy too.

Now that I think of it, I've never actually picked out a computer. I've always left it to others. I feel the same about cars. Is it easy to park? Does it have heated seats? Ok, I'm good then.

For computer, I want it to be fast and reliable. Kind of like a car.

Portable is good too. But I think my laptop is bothering my shoulders and back because I'm using it as a desktop since the battery is toast and the power cord keeps falling out.

Thank you for this. I will give it a try tomorrow. If it works, or to be more accurate, if I can figure out how to use it, it will be a big time saver!

I am working on updating an older arrangement and I noticed that the concert pitch playback is off by 2 semitones. I must have messed it up when I was transposing originally with that box about playback staying the same or not. It was some time ago and I don't remember anymore what key I came from.

I figured out how to fix it and will list the steps for anyone else who searches the forum for this answer:

1. Determine what key your piece is playing back in, as opposed to what key it is written in.
2. Calculate how many semitones higher or lower that is from the key that it is written in.
3. Transpose your piece either up or down to the key that it is playing back in (using the above semi-tone calculation), BUT KEEP THE "Update staff playback transposition" BOX CHECKED!!
4. Now, transpose it back to the original key that you want, but this time keep the "Update staff playback transposition" box UNCHECKED!!

The result should be that your piece is playing back at the pitch you see written on the score.

I figured this out all by myself. It may be obvious to others, but it wasn't to me! That pesky box has got me in trouble before. Sometimes I do numerous transpositions when deciding on the correct key for an arrangement or composition.

PAY ATTENTION TO THE BOX.

LISTEN TO YOUR TRANSPOSITION RESULTS.

One more helpful tip for unraveling this mess: Alt+T+T will get you to the transpose box without the mouse.

I hope this helps those of you lost in the tangle of transposition playback! If there is an alternate way to do this, please comment below. Thanks!

 

I have been away from my computer and unable until now to download the examples that were recently posted.

I think it is a great idea to use the file box comments to store performance notes. It would be even better to have a separate box in there for footnotes, so that I can continue to use the comments box to help me keep track of changes to scores and drafts (see my previous post on file organization!)

I appreciate the thought and effort you have put in to trying out different ways of addressing this with the current abilities of the software. I wish that I were computer code literate and could figure some of these things out. But I am not.

Is there a way to do a page break in a text object? Using %br% in the text box just adds %br% to the text.  If I stick with using the insert text command, then I need a way to keep the text from running off the page if it gets bumped for some reason (such as a reduction in staff font to save on paper while printing off proof drafts, which is my practice).

That was an interesting read. I wonder how many of those users are still here seven years later?

P.S. I finally had time to do some "research". It looks like about 10 out of the 13 posters are still checking in on the forum.

We had an earlier thread on this a few years ago.

That was an interesting read. I wonder how many of those users are still here seven years later?

I've been pondering my process for proofreading. It's not very systematic and it needs to be because I have
Versions of the same score for different ensembles or soloists.

Questions:
What is your step-by-step process for checking all the elements in your scores?

Is there a plug in that could be developed or exists already to somehow aid in the process?

Spell check for lyrics and text objects would be a start!

I look forward to your responses!

It had been on my mind for a while to ask about this topic. I'm thinking of setting up a website to promote scores and offer them for preview and sale.

How achievable would this be with NWC? People would need to use NWV viewer. The scores would have to appear as a preview copy. How do you protect copyright
and avoid piracy?

Anyone else doing this?

Thoughts?