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Messages - SEBC

351
Object Plugins / Re: Slur.ms (2.1)
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...
353
User Tools / Line over notes
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?
354
Object Plugins / Re: Slur.ms (2.1)
Hi Mike
I was trying to work with the slur today but having trouble because when I removed the nwc slur then the lyrics got messed up. Can you talk me through the process? Was I doing it wrong?

355
General Discussion / Musical theatre
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!
356
General Discussion / Re: new computer recommendations
 It’s actually the battery connection that is broken so it does not recognize the new battery that I bought for it, not knowing the issue. I have been putting up with it for years this way. Now there are certain keys that don’t seem to want to work anymore on the keyboard, for example the home key doesn’t work which is annoying when working on scores. Is there a keyboard shortcut for that?

When I start up the computer I get the blue screen of death and have to go through quite a process to get windows up and running. It makes me nervous and I try to back up my work every time I use it.
357
General Discussion / Re: new computer recommendations
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.
358
General Discussion / new computer recommendations
My 8 year old lap top is slowly gasping out its last breaths and I have decision paralysis.

Any recommendations? For me it's like buying a new car...they all look nice and shiny.

Thanks
SEBC
360
General Discussion / Re: Fixing Transposition Playback Issues
You guys are killing me! I was so excited to have finally figured out something on my own  without having asked for help in the first place!

I did try Mike’s method on another score and it was so simple that I cried.

What else can you teach me to do faster? 🤓

361
General Discussion / Fixing Transposition Playback Issues
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!

 
362
General Discussion / Re: Quick rest insertion/note deletion and lyric placement
Well, the lyrics solutions are brilliant, and I will definitely try that out.

I had not downloaded the user tool starter kit for 2.75 ( I thought that  it would have come with the upgrade, but what do I know?) so I am not familiar with many of those tools. I will have to do some reading to figure out how to use them properly. If you have any suggestions, please let me know,

As an aside, where should I store the file for the User tool start up that was downloaded? Can it be deleted or does it need to go in with the NWC2 master file. Also, if I download a nwctxt tool, how do I get that into where it needs to be for use in the program? I have one sitting in my download file right now.

I am so computer illiterate!
363
General Discussion / Re: Performance Notes
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).
364
General Discussion / Quick rest insertion/note deletion and lyric placement
Good morning.

Is there a quick way to delete copied information and insert rests when I am creating a layered part. For example, I might only need additional harmony on the last verse and chorus of a long piece. What I have been doing is copying an entire staff, pasting it to a new staff, then adjusting the sections that need new harmony. This works fine for printing a layered score, however, if I want to print just that harmonic part, then I should really have just rests instead of another sections' notes. Is there a quick way to accomplish this?

Also, a related question is regarding lyrics for that third part. Is there a fast way to insert the lyrics at the point they are needed at the end? I have been doing it by just guessing at how many _ underscores_ I will need in the lyric control box to get to the location in the score. I am usually wrong and there is a great deal of back and forth to get them in the right position.  I can't have all the lyrics there because they will usually be in a different location ex. above the staff, and I only want lyrics above the staff for the ending/additional harmony section, not throughout the entire piece.

If I just had hidden rests (see the first part of my question) then it would be a simple thing to have the lyrics in the right place.

Thank you for your help,
SEBC
368
General Discussion / Creative process
This is a related but different question for those of you doing original arranging and composition. What is your creative process? We all are unique in our approach. I have read some different books on the subject and have incorporated some habits into my life as a result.

I keep my iPhone handy and if I get a melodic idea or lyric idea I will sing it into my voice memo section. Once I hid among the veggies at the grocery store to record the melody for a new composition.

I have lots of Notebooks. One is full of lyrics which are all tabbed by name. I probably could take years to work on all these pieces generated by that book.

I have a notebook where I am writing down people I have contacted and what we talked about regarding music. Some of you will end up in this notebook! I can’t rely on my memory anymore.

I have lots of notes in my iPhone and am trying to decide the best way to organize them. It gives me something to read on long journeys. I have a lyrics section there as well as other material.

I have started leaving pencils and erasers in all the important spots: pianos, couch, table where I sort my scores, computer desk. I’m trying to get out of the habit of using pen because pencil can be erased much more easily! And I hate wasting time hunting for them as they seem to have legs.

Care to share any ideas?



369
General Discussion / Proofreading process
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!
370
General Discussion / Re: Self publishing
Wow, those are great points on things I had a vague but not specific idea about. I was thinking about recording some demos with my excellent musician friends but need to figure out that process better. I do have live recordings by various groups but the quality isn’t quite there yet to use them as promotion and I know the quality of the composing is often judged this way.

I need to do more research about the topic. Thanks for your thoughts.
371
General Discussion / Self publishing
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?
372
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
Well it is great to hear from such Old timers LOL.  I came to NWC out of desperation because I was trying to use CueBase for scores and 15 years ago they were just awful ( I do not know what they’re like today but back then it was strictly an audio program with bare-bones capability for score. I would spend hours trying to get the lyrics to line up with the notes. Eventually in frustration I would print out the lyrics from Word, cut them up into strips, glue them underneath the notes word by word, sometimes syllable by syllable. Yes, it was that bad!)

The abilities of noteworthy composer at that time were such an answer to prayer! I have been told by other composers that if I am serious about my work then I should be switching. Obviously you have chosen not to do that as well and I am curious as to why.
373
Object Plugins / Re: Arpeggio.ms (2.0c)
Thanks again, Mike. My problem was that I was using the wrong method to try and move the marker, and it wouldn't budge (highlight and stretch with the mouse). Now I know to use the up or down arrow.  What Child is This, verse 2 is looking much better!

Thanks for taking time to explain it to me and for the example. I am not too worried about playback at this point. I am still figuring out how to make these scores look correct!

375
Object Plugins / Re: Arpeggio.ms (2.0c)
Good  morning

I am re-reading this thread and finally realizing that I can notate arpeggios to extend across both staves, but I am having trouble doing it. Of course I am.

Would someone be willing to walk me through the process step by step? I like to think that this might help someone else down the road...

As always, many thanks for your help!
376
User Tools / Re: Is it possible to scale down some of the staffs in a score?
I would like to be able to do this as well. Come on brilliant  programmers, we believe in you! You can do it! Make that plug-in!

I was wondering if there was a way where we can put two different scores on one page. I think I remember this being possible. Then the piano staves could be smaller but prepared in a different file and then merged with the choral file. Maybe I am just dreaming?
377
General Discussion / Re: Fake master repeat open
I hear that confession is good for the soul.

I confess that I’ve never got the hang of the different types of repeats and the different endings. I know how to make it look correct but I know when I do it, that  the playback won’t work correctly. It’s on my list of things to conquer in 2018. But maybe there is an inherent issue with the software options?
378
General Discussion / Re: Performance Notes
I hope someone who can figure out footnotes is listening and needs a post Christmas project. Oh, that and a smaller staves option for working with piano reductions!!
379
General Discussion / Performance Notes
I would like to ask a question to those of you who put text notation in your scores to help in the performance.

Where do they generally appear?

At the top before the piece starts?
At the bottom of the first page?
At the point of performance?
All or a mix of the above?

I am having some issues with having them inserted as a txt object using  "x" as sometimes they go off the side of the page if they are too long, or if I change by staff font size then it might up in the middle of the page instead of at the bottom of that page.

Is there a way to insert it using page text maestro and only have it show up on a certain specified page, like the final page. For example, I had a foreign word in my text and included a footnote of how to pronounce it. I tried to put it on the bottom of the page in which it first appeared, but it kept moving around as I edited the score and so I ended up moving it multiple times. This seems like a waste of time if it can be done only once. (Yes, I could have waited, but I like to get everything down on the score initially).
380
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
Thank you for your discussion of the topic (and creative ideas for Excel!!!!!!!)

I am going to try to make some templates. I need to get organized and save time. This will help for sure. The more I learn, the more I realize that I don't know. I started with version 1. something and have upgraded through the years but I have been too busy to really learn more nwc skills, but that is changing now.

Thank you all again for your patience and willingness to help with things are obvious to the rest of the world.
381
General Discussion / Re: Moving or placing all dynamics in one position
Thank you all for such quick replies. I decided to try Mike's idea with the filtered properties and I am happy to report that all dynamics are now below the clarinet staff! It was quite easy to do it this way, I have adjusted two that still collided with some beamed runs, but what a time saver this was!! Now I am curious to know what else I could use filtered properties to save time on. Suggestions?

Re: placement of dynamics, what are the best settings to use? Best fit seems to make them all too far in front of the note. (Is there an easy way to post a snippet of what I mean rather than a complete score?) Why are there so many options for placement? What does preserve width do? When I make changes, the score doesn't seem to be actually changing.

I have more questions, having to do with setting up templates, what fonts to use, using x to insert a direction such as rit. versus using the dynamic variation option, etc. I will wait to get the dynamic positions figured out first.

Thanks again for your time and patience. I am learning so much and my scores are looking much more professional!
382
General Discussion / Moving or placing all dynamics in one position
Hello again

I am editing previous scores. Turns out my clarinet guy told me to put all the dynamics on the top of the staff when the correct and common practice is to have them all at the bottom of the staff. (Perhaps I misunderstood him, and I will need to follow-up with him on it. ) Is there a shortcut that will move them all at the same time?

I'd also like to know if it's best to have them all in a fixed position on the staff? I'm always having to fiddle with them because I try them out too low and then they have collisions with high notes or hairpins or directions further down the line. It is a frustrating aspect that I would like to solve.

I did a search and there were some discussions from 4 -5 years ago, so maybe things have changed and are simpler now? Plus I don't speak code.

In a related question (and maybe this should go into a separate thread, but is anyone familiar with this resource:
Guidelines for Manuscript Preparation (Revised 2002) By Gayle Giese, Pick Edmondson. I do not have the $ for Gould's manual and wondered if this would do the job?

Thank you for your help! I am in the process of putting subtitles in all my scores and am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
383
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
Well I thought about suppressing them but that seems like it is more work to put in all those different objects rather than dealing with it in the one big file information box. Is there another way around it? Or is it a case of choose one or the other based on the situation?

And thank you for the clarification on my bad use of BR!
384
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
Quote from: hmmueller –
Like what I did in the PDF linked in that posting?

I do not use NWC for this, but write separate documents and combine them to a single PDF with free PDFCreator (a common and standard tool for creating PDF files).
In that case, I wrote the first page separately (in Microsoft Word) and then used the "Merge" feature of PDFCreator to first print the front page, then do "Merge", then print the NWC score (from NWC to PDFCreator as printer), and then "Merge All" to create a single PDF from it.

H.M.


Yes, exactly! It would be great to be able to do this within NWC. Is it possible? Could one of our talented developers or forum users come up with a tool or modification to make it happen? (You know who you are!!)

I also have a question about getting a line break. At the top is says to use br. Where, when, and how? When I put in br in the text line...it just shows up as br... ( you can all stop rolling your eyes).

Also, I am getting some subtitle collisions with the lyrcist, composer lines generated from the file information box. Is there a way to adjust that box instead of having to create 2 additional page text objects for each time this happens? I think I just need it to be about two lines further down on the page. Or maybe that will cause other collisions, like with the top stave?
One more question about performance notes. Where should they generally appear? At the top before the piece starts? At the bottom of the first page? At the point of performance? But I am having some issues with having them inserted as a txt object using  "x" as sometimes they go off the side of the page if they are too long, or if I change by staff font size then it might up in the middle o the page instead of at the bottom of that page. Is there a way to insert it using page text maestro and only have it show up on a certain specified page?
 
Thanks for helping me! I apologize if that question has already been asked and answered. Just point me in the right direction.



385
General Discussion / Re: Review of NWC on my blog
I'd like to thank everyone for helping me to understand the orphan issue, and especially to Mike who took a look at the score and experimented. I have now successfully completed the process on another score.

There are two things I would like to add to the discussion:

Only one space per measure per stave is to be inserted otherwise the opposite effect will happen - the measure will get longer. I missed that important information the first time.

Sometimes a piece will just have too many staves and notes for it to be successful. In that case, try unchecking the "increase spacing for longer notes" option in the Page Set Up, Options tab. This is what I needed to do with the original piece in question which was a 7 part polyphonic vocal score. Additional spacing can be inserted if needed to make the last note not look so odd, as well as balancing the whole thing by adding an ending system break.

I hope I have explained that correctly. If not, feel free to clarify things.
 
386
General Discussion / Re: It's that time of the year...
Hi

Sorry for the delayed response. I was trying to remember how I managed to get it as a NWC score but I can't. I am interested in learning about orchestration so I saved it as a file to study later. It doesn't actually play any sound...but maybe I assigned some instruments to parts to get an idea and that's when the issues began. I listened to the MP3 and it sounds great. It's a really fun piece! I love the Mozart "mash up." Has an orchestra performed this?

Sorry, I know that's not helpful, and I am sure the problem is on my end of things.

SEBC
387
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
I have another question that might belong in this topic.

I want to put performance suggestions at the bottom of the page. Can I set that up as a default setting with all the parameters already defined rather than having to put it in each time.

Also, if I wanted to make an entire separate front page of text with performance notes and background info, what would be the best way to go about it? (Not necessarily with this plug in if there is an easier way to do it within NWC.)

I apologize if this question has been answered already but I have a hard time finding answers for some reason! Plus my eyes glaze over if there is too much techno-babble....

Thanks for any help you can give me!
SEBC
389
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
I need some congratulations. I have successfully put in my first subtitle after years of wishing I had them but not knowing how to do it.

It took a lot of tweaking back and forth to get the settings right. What I used was:

y offset at 15 and font size at .5

Is there a better way to do this?

Thanks for your help!
390
General Discussion / Re: Handbell Help
I was hoping someone with the latest version would have done something in case updates changed the process!

Thanks for looking.
393
General Discussion / Re: File and Project Organization
I have realized that at some point in the past, entire song files were deleted from my computer. Hours of work wasted!!!! I am not even sure how that happens.  I must have had them highlighted by accident when I was doing some deleting or reorganizing.

But I can't even get my nwc notifications to show up in my email, so clearly there are some technical challenges.

Thankfully, I have hard copies of scores to use as templates to re-engrave. Blah. Let me encourage you to always have a printed copy of your scores just in case something strange like that happens to you.

Sadly,
SEBC

394
General Discussion / Handbell Help
Hello to all handbell composers out there!

I am going to venture forth into this unknown territory. I have rung a bit, but never composed for bells, but I have several choral pieces I would like to add some bells to.

What do I need to know? How can NWC help me in my efforts? I see some posts, but one was 18 years ago, and I'm pretty sure things have changed since then. I don't want to spend a lot of time doing something that has a better solution, if you know what I mean! Oh, and please explain things like you would to a small child...

Thanks in advance
395
General Discussion / Re: File and Project Organization
Hey thanks to everyone who chimed in. I’m glad to hear that I’m not alone.

It would be cool to have a search feature where you could highlight a passage and nwc would find all the files that have it. Really useful for when you realize that you’ve copied an error multiple times in multiple documents.
Is that possible? Also synchronized scrolling like when you have multiple Word documents open would be good.

I’m trying the dated version in the copyright section to see how that works for me on current documents. I haven’t worked up the courage to face the binder file rearrangement yet. Blah.
396
General Discussion / File and Project Organization
I had the unpleasant task recently of trying to go through 8 drafts of the same piece and figuring out which one to keep...I am really bad about keeping track of changes I make, and being organized. ANY HELP IS APPRECIATED.

I have asked other composers and they are no help at all. Most of them say they struggle with the same thing, or just delete all old versions. The problem is that I take time to commit to one idea, so I like to keep the other drafts until I have decided for sure. However, sometimes a lot of time has gone by since then and I can't remember what was unique about a past draft.  Or, I may have the same piece arranged for different voices/instruments, so there are slight changes to the arrangement (i.e. give the piano runs to the flute and change the piano accompaniment to adapt). Any advice on this? Where do you note things? I can be taught new tricks, just need ideas of what will be the easiest method.

What I ended up doing was opening them all up using the tile feature and then shrinking them down to one measure width, and then going through them all measure by measure... sigh. It seemed like the best option without me losing my mind completely and flipping back and forth between full size scores where I kept losing my place! I haven't completely recovered but I was able to delete all but 2 drafts.

I have rearranged my computer files several times to try different ways of organizing my projects. Also, I print off drafts of the scores. Is there a way to print dates on the scores to help keep up with the changes? Or another way to keep track? I have been putting a number in the title and that helps somewhat.

I have a big unwieldy binder divided by Choral, Piano, Vocal, Instrument then subdivided by current, in process, complete, source material. Then I have a smaller binder that is just alphabetical and regardless of genre or voice, it gets filed under the title if I am still working on it at the piano or in reading session. Then when the piece is finished it is supposed to go back to the big binder. (Not always done to be honest) I'm not sure which way is better. I probably should change the big binder to alphabetical since I have different versions of the same piece all over that binder and it makes me feel unorganized.

I'd love to hear how others are staying organized and on track. I know we all work differently but ideas would be helpful. I apologize if some of the answers seem obvious. I am technically challenged.

Thanks and Happy New Year to all!
398
General Discussion / Re: no specific instrument; I hear an oboe
Is there a place to read up more on this? I sometimes create a new staff via Cntrl  A and then discover during playback that it is on channel 10...you can guess the results. Quite humorous, but I'd like to avoid the effect, and figure out what I'm not doing right in the first place.
400
General Discussion / Re: Review of NWC on my blog
Sorry guys for being a bit tardy in my thanks. My notifications were going to my spam folder. I think I have that figured out now.

I am learning new tricks and tools on the forum and thank you for taking time to make it clear for someone who is technically challenged. Pictures will help. Just like with a toddler.

It's nice to know that there is an alternative to shrinking the font sizing to make scores line up better.

Speaking of font sizes, is there a list of standard sizing for different types of composition? I've googled but haven't found anything authoritative.

Many thanks
SEBC