NoteWorthy Composer Forum

mh,

I am now talking for earlier versions of NoteworthyComposer, but I think this is still true today: NWC files and midi files don't convert perfectly into each others' format.

"Normal" stuff doesn't give differences, but if you use Fermata's, (some) multipoint controllers, or sound related "User Objects", your midi file will probably sound differently.

Since I found a way to let NWC play a score through soundfonts (multiple conversations and suggestions can be found in this forum), I now just record what Noteworthy Composer plays. I use audacity - but there are other alternatives of course. Just be sure to mute pings for incoming mails and other events.

Bart

Using two screens, the key combination CTRL+F8 that is defined as "repeat Last User Tool" doesn't work for me since Windows intercepts my command and manipulates my screen settings.
But, I found a useful little tool that let me assign a specific key to a sequence of keystrokes: AutoHotKey (https://autohotkey.com/)

After installation of the AutoHotKey program, create a little text based script, right click on it and choose "run script" (or double click on it if it has the .ahk extension, because then running is the default action). As soon as you touch the hotkey, your bunch of keystrokes is executed.

This little script defines function key F12 as my "repeat Last User Tool":

#NoEnv  ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn  ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input  ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%  ; Ensures a consistent starting directory.

if WinExist("ahk_exe NWC2.exe") 
   WinActivate, ahk_exe NWC2.exe

f12::
 send, {alt down}t{alt up}e
Return

Following the information in the AutoHotKey documentation, even combination of different key definitions (also for different programs) is possible in one ahk.script.

Bart

"This tool mutes the active staff and adds 2 copies with all its relevant information into 2 new sibling staves with two different instrument patches."    -- added as suggested --

For the people who want to learn LUA as a scripting language for Noteworthy Composer, I can distribute a LUA script I made myself a few months ago. I didn't publish it because it is all hard coded and therefore only usable for people who can make their own customization. I created this tool to speed up things, and didn't want it to slow down with user input boxes, etc.
Therefore it is not usable as a universal user tool. If you want to "tune" the tool, you will have to hack the code.

I must admit that it took a lot of time. There are only a few examples in the documentation and it was - for me - not the most comprehensive source of information. For creating my script, I combined the LUA documentation (https://lua.noteworthycomposer.com/) with the examples I found in the cloud. But most of my knowledge I got from examples that Rick G and Opagust posted in the forum. Without their work I wouldn't be able to create this script.

As far as I understand,  LUA is the preferred scripting language for user tools.  I am not aware if it is also a good choice for user objects.

There are different modes for LUA scripts and the mode should correspond with the option how a user tool should run. In this example FileText mode is used. A check for this mode is made with the method "nwcut.getprop('Mode')" in the first line of the main processing module.

LUA is a nested table oriented tool and has more flexibility in (nested) table manipulation as in text strings. These nested tables (also defined as objects) can be mapped on the structure of NWC files.
If "nwc.setlevel(2)" is specified, nwcobjects are interpreted as objects (or nested tables). You can force your script with a lower level (1) in text mode but it turned out - for me - that this is less flexible.


The structure of my script is as follows:

(1) check mode and returnmode
(2) define an object (or empty nested table) "mt" where the whole existing nwc-file will be staged and which can be printed out at the end of the script.
(3) loop over the nwc-file and collect interesting properties in variables, modify the properties - if desired -, and stage the result (original or modified) in "mt"
(3.1) all non-current staves are staged (almost) unmodified in "mt"
(3.2) the "current" staff is staged modified (muted) in "mt"
(3.3) the "current" staff is twice duplicated as "siblings" and - with modified visual and sound properties - staged in table "ST1" and "ST2".
(3.4) existing siblings of the "current" staff are skipped.
(4) at the end, all staged staves are "printed out".  If nwcut.status is rc_succes the existing score is overwritten, if nwcut.status = rc_Report, the output is sent to the log window - wich is very useful in debugging mode.

I make a detour to strings before using "newItem.new" to achieve real duplicates and not new pointers to the same content. This was a real pitfall for me!

-- $NWCUT$CONFIG: FileText $
nwcut.setlevel(2)
nwcut.status = nwcut.const.rc_Succes
--nwcut.status = nwcut.const.rc_Report

local progname = 'Sibling'
local ASI   = 0              -- Active  Staff Parameters 
local ASN   = "UnDefined";
local CSI   = 0              -- Current Staff Parameters 
local CSN   = "UnDefined";
local DSG  = "SIBLINGS"
local DSPN = "SiblingInstrument"
local HelpMsg = [[
This tool mutes the active staff and adds 2 copies all its relevant information into 2 new sibling staves.
The active staff is slightly modified if it is not already in this state: the instrument is explicitely specified [line 33] and the staff is muted [line 34].
If staves with sibling name <original_name>_Sibling1 or <original_name>_Sibling1 already exist, they will be removed [line 36].
2 (hidden) sibling staves are added at the end of the score based on the ActiveStaff (named : <original_name>_sibling<i>) [line 67 and line 68].
The midi channels used for sibling staves are 15 and 16 [line 48] and since they are at the end of the score, they will override midi definitions for staves that were assigned earlier to these channels.
The sibling staves are made invisible to avoid sibling them again [line 52].
The sibling staves receive Instrument Patches 00 (piano) and 89 (Pad 2 warm) [line 56].
Instrument changes in the ActiveStaff are skipped in the sibling [line 58].
]]

--------------------------------------
-- Main processing -------------------
--------------------------------------
assert(nwcut.getprop('Mode')       == nwcut.const.mode_FileText, "Input type must be 'File Text'")
assert(nwcut.getprop('ReturnMode') == nwcut.const.mode_FileText, "Under 'Options', check 'Returns File Text'")
mt = {} ; mt[0]={}
for item in nwcut.items() do
    if item:Is('Editor')          then  ASI = item.Opts.ActiveStaff + 0 ; end--if
	if item:Is('AddStaff')        then  CSI = CSI + 1 ; mt[CSI] = {} ; CSN = item.Opts.Name.Text ; CSOGN = item.Opts.Group.Text ; if CSI == ASI then ASN = CSN end ; end--if
	if item:Is('StaffInstrument') then  if not item.Opts.Patch then item.Opts.Patch=0 end ; if not item.Opts.Name  then item.Opts.Name="\"NN\"" end ; end--if 
    if item:Is('StaffProperties') and ( CSI == ASI ) and ( item.Opts.Muted ) then item.Opts.Muted="Y" end--if 

	if not ( string.gsub(CSN,'%-','_') == string.gsub(ASN,'%-','_').."_sibling1" or string.gsub(CSN,'%-','_') == string.gsub(ASN,'%-','_').."_sibling2" ) then table.insert(mt[CSI],tostring(item)) end--if

	if CSI == ASI then
       SS1 = nwcItem.new(tostring(item)) ; SS2 = nwcItem.new(tostring(item)) 
       if item:Is('AddStaff')  then 
          SS1.Opts.Name = CSN .. "_sibling1" ; SS2.Opts.Name = CSN .. "_sibling2" ; 
          SS1.Opts.Group = DSG ; SS2.Opts.Group = DSG   
          ST1 = {} ; ST2 = {} ;
       end--if
       if item:Is('StaffProperties') then 
          if ( item.Opts.Muted or item.Opts.Channel or item.Opts.Volume or item.Opts.StereoPan)  then 
            SS1.Opts.Muted = "N"    ; SS2.Opts.Muted = "N"                
            SS1.Opts.Channel = 15   ; SS2.Opts.Channel = 16           
            SS1.Opts.Volume = 100   ; SS2.Opts.Volume = 100   
            SS1.Opts.StereoPan = 64 ; SS2.Opts.StereoPan = 64 
          elseif item.Opts.Visible then 
            SS1.Opts.Visible = "N"  ; SS2.Opts.Visible = "N"
          end--if
       end--if
       if item:Is('StaffInstrument') then 
          SS1.Opts.Patch = 89    ; SS2.Opts.Patch = 0 ;  
          SS1.Opts.Name  = DSPN  ;  SS2.Opts.Name  = DSPN              
        end--if
       if item:Is('TempoVariance') and item.Opts.Pause then SS1.Opts.Pause = 0 ; SS2.Opts.Pause = 0 ; end--if
       if not item:Is('Instrument') then table.insert(ST1,tostring(SS1)) ; table.insert(ST2,tostring(SS2)) ; end--if
    end--if
end--for

for j=0,CSI do 
   for i=1,#mt[j] do nwcut.writeline (mt[j][i]) end--for
end--for
for i=1,#ST1 do nwcut.writeline (ST1[i]) end--for
for i=1,#ST2 do nwcut.writeline (ST2[i]) end--for

Thank you, Rick, Lawry, for your feedback.
I will follow the paths that you indicate.

Bart

Thank you.

I think I will try a work around with a tempo track (as explained in the previous postings about swing notes).
Faking length modifications with tempo variations seems perfectly possible.
"One" final modification in all staves isn't that hard.

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.75,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:F#|Tonic:G
|Tempo|Tempo:120|Pos:-8.5
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Tempo|Tempo:80|Pos:12.5
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0!1
|Tempo|Tempo:240|Pos:8.5
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1!1
|Tempo|Tempo:120|Pos:-7.5
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:6
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:4
|Bar|Style:Double
|Key|Signature:F#|Tonic:G
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th,Dotted|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Dotted|Pos:0!1
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-1!1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:6
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:4
|Bar|Style:SectionClose
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

Bart

Last week, when I was browsing some midi related programs I found VirtualMIDISynth from Coolsoft.

It is a free program based on bassmidi.dll (developed by Ian Luck and also mentioned in Gunther Nagels' document)

It is the easiest soundfont based midi tool I have met until now.

After installation and setup, you simply modify your midi configuration in NoteworthyComposer so that it points to the new driver, and then, everytime when you start noteworthycomposer, a child process with a handy midi mixer starts in the background. And when you close noteworthycomposer, this child process disappears too.

I hadn't any conflicts with other sound related device drivers yet.

It is not a VST host, I suppose, because it has only a few features. But you get soundfont based quality music very easily, and that's what matters for most of us, I think.

I haven't thoroughly tested VirtualMIDISynth yet, but if it proves to be stable, it could become my default NoteworthyComposer companion in the near future.

For those who are interested, just check : http://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/virtualmidisynth

Bart

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.75,Single)
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First|Dur2:8th|Pos2:0
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:0|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End|Dur2:8th|Pos2:2
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

The previous code shows how nwctxt changes when switching the direction for a chord with notes in different directions. The beamed notes come first, all others are added at the end but without a possibility to add a beam clause.

Layering is the way to go to achieve "multiple beamed chord notes".

Bart

Well, given the spyware built in to W10, my next machine will be linux.  Might take a while though - I still run XP on most of my boxes, though 2 do have Win7 - I prefer XP...

Many times I wanted to switch to Linux, but - at least for me - it was not easy to get Noteworthy Composer running on Linux. Installing Wine and NWC were the easy parts, but configuring Timidity++ was hard. Finally it worked, but after a week or so, playing (midi) failed again, and I had to debug the configuration. Eventually, I even reinstalled it from scratch.

Windows doesn't always do what "I" want, but at least it "works" quite well without much investment. Linux is more configurable, but without extensive configuration "I" get much less "out of the box". Keeping Linux up to date seems to be a major concern in comparison to Windows.

Don't hesitate to try Linux and if it fits for you, don't hesitate to use it. But don't expect it to be as easy as M$ Windows. And keep in mind that the time you loose on your OS is not available anymore for (learning) applications (like NWC).

Bart

QUOTE : "If time is money, how poor, then, is someone without time?"

Addendum:

Futher checks prove that I loose these "hacks" when exporting and importing via midi-format.
So maybe not really what you are looking for.

Bart

H.M., Rick,

This discussion comes in an area where my knowledge is limited and your last remarks are - at least for me - not very clear anymore.

I understand that too much midi commands or too large soundfonts can badly influence the playback performance.
But how can I know what is too much/too large, or in other words: how can I see how much stress I put on the system with a chosen configuration?
And: Are there some rules of thumb that can be used to check the quality/badness of an option (to predict that some scores will give problems on systems that are x times slower)?

I tried to check with Midi-Ox the 91 tempo changes in your simple example (reply 13), Rick, but I didn't detect the bad behavior.

Bart

(Yes I am trying to steal your knowledge in this field)

Hi, Lawry,

You are right, it was also for me the first time that I saw this strange indication. That's, in fact, why I posted this question. I believe that the maker of the original document (probably not made with noteworthy composer) could't find the proper presentation and customized something himself.

I am not really interested in getting an exact copy of what I have on paper, so I don't care if I have to use different presentation.
I want the NWC files to sound good and to be easy to understand - with minimal effort, if possible, that's all.

When I will prints a score myself, I would go for the best quality and that is definitely with your fonts (especially since I see how easy you made the installation process). [I even tried Lilypond, but I wasn't really excited about the result/effort balance.]

If I distribute the NWC file itself, I prefer one that looks good for everyone, also for people that didn't customize their pc.
[I first hoped to implement a jpg - or your font characters - in user objects to get rid of the need to make customizations]
But Mike's solution perfectly fits for what I tried to achieve this time.

I highly appreciate your suggestion for the conductor staff.
I was investigating the "nwsw_Unjazzify.php" script to convert it into a "Jazzify" script. But with your conductorstaff solution this is not necessary.
Less work and even a better alternative (because: easy, effective and no redundancy).

Many thanks.

Bart

Thank you fathafluff.
The reason why i asked for the name is because I wanted to google for it, but I didn't find any useful hits. 
So I hoped to get better results if I knew the correct official or unofficial name.

Mike.
I first also thought on font sets, but in the past I downloaded some files from the scriptorium - and not having installed the right font - they looked awful, This reduces their potential "reachability" and that's why I find the font set solution only a good "second choice".

I saw your user object for slurs - very impressive and most of all very useful - and because I spended (much) time in reverse engineering your script, I was wondering if rhythm indications could also be created as user objects.  I found a slur object defined in the API, but I wasn't sure if these kind of "custom objects" would be available (or composable). Thank you for indicating that user objects could be possible. I will further investigate the possibilities.

Bart

Indeed, Rick.
I confused channels with instrument changes, but the latter aren't shown (yet). Sorry.
Maybe these and other properties could be useful too, but I like the current sober layout.
Bart

Hi, Al,

Of course my work around is not at all a word wrap solution, but with the GO-command (CTRL+G) you can jump easily to a specific bar number.

This needs of course some sort of administration, but it helped me in the past to speed up the work.

Bart

I was thinking of Lyrics (on a separate layered staff with only invisible notes), but it seems to enlarge the measure.
So, it is probably worse than what Rick did, but maybe in ideal circumstances you could try Lyrics.

Just to verify I reïnstalled version 2.1 and in a new score I added 3 chords (G46,C36,C35).
Adding a tie to chord G46 only adds a tie on the G.
Adding a tie to chord C36 adds 2 ties, one on E and one on G.

I exported to nwctext (added below) and see indeed the ties "-2" in the first chord and  "-4 and -2" on the second.

|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-5,-2^,0
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4^,-2^,1
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-6,-4,-2

I appreciate the improvement, but hardly see situations where every chord note should get a tie.

!NoteWorthyComposer(2.0)
|SongInfo|Title:""|Author:"<Name>"|Lyricist:""|Copyright1:"Copyright © 2012 <Name>"|Copyright2:"All Rights Reserved"
|PgSetup|StaffSize:16|Zoom:4|TitlePage:Y|JustifyVertically:Y|ExtendLastSystem:N|DurationPadding:Y|PageNumbers:0|StaffLabels:None|BarNumbers:None|StartingBar:1
|Font|Style:Staff Italic|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:10|Bold:Y|Italic:Y|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Staff Bold|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Staff Lyric|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:7|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Page Title Text|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:24|Bold:Y|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Page Text|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:12|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:Page Small Text|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 1|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 2|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 3|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 4|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 5|Typeface:"Times New Roman"|Size:8|Bold:N|Italic:N|CharSet:0
|Font|Style:User 6|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:12|Lines:5|Style:Standard|Layer:N|Color:Default
|StaffProperties|Muted:N|Volume:127|StereoPan:64|Device:0|Channel:1
|StaffInstrument|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-5,-2^,0
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-4^,-2^,1
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-6,-4,-2
!NoteWorthyComposer-End

I think the system break only works on the top staffs and on bar lines, but I don't see  any bar lines in the top staff between measure 348 and measure 365. The bounded 18  rests seem to prevent the layout that you want to achieve.

Bart

I always used to implement a workaround where i split the dotted half into a half and a quarter tied together - which at least gave me the correct sound.

Timing for adding the tie is crucial to avoid the D is also tied:
In this case I first focus on the stem-up notes (F half / F quarter / tie / G quarter) and then add the stem-down notes as chord notes (D half D half), but of course if the dotted half is

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|TimeSig|Signature:4/2
|Text|Text:"Problem"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:8
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Down|Dur2:Half,Dotted|Pos2:-3
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-5
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-6
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-6
|Bar
|Text|Text:"Work around"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:8
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-3^|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-5
|Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-5
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-6
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up|Dur2:Half|Pos2:-6
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

I don't think it was ever possible to upgrade from version 1.75 to version 2.x for free.
Maybe you upgraded version 1.75b or 1.75c?
If you have a license for version 2.0 you can for free upgrade to version 2.1 (and hopefully also to 2.5 in the future).
The Viewer is free.

Greetings from Heverlee - Leuven - Belgium - Europe

If no specific midi instructions are given, the states from a previous version are kept. So far so good. But, this can lead to unwanted behavior as you will find an example below in nwctxt-format.

F6 or the stop button (sometimes twice) is then a way to reset all the channels.

Is it on purpose that at the beginning of a new score the midi channels are not reset? Are there known disadvantages?
Are there alternatives to avoid the cacaphony in bar 3?

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|SustainPedal|Pos:-8|Wide:Y
|Instrument|Name:"Acoustic Grand Piano"|Patch:0|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:7|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-6
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Text|Text:"ACTIVE SCORE STOPPED"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:-10
|Text|Text:"NEW SCORE STARTED"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:-17
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Instrument|Name:"Church Organ"|Patch:19|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:7|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-4
|Bar
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|SustainPedal|Status:Released|Pos:-8|Wide:Y
|Text|Text:"WANTED BEHAVIOR"|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:-16
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Instrument|Name:"Church Organ"|Patch:19|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:7|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:-4
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

Kind regards,
Bart

May be that this seems a silly question, but when you have to aline some lyrics a non time consuming placeholder could be interesting.
Unfortunately this zero note duration, as Dulfagd names it, does not exist (yet) in Noteworthy Composer.

Hello Mark,

Since Noteworthy Composer serves two goals (generating visually attractive scores and creating accoustically attractive sound) some commands serve only the former while other commands serve only the latter. Most of the options serve even both goals. As you already found out a slur doesn't change the accoustics and therefor it is just a visual tool. Ties on the contrary have a visual and an accoustic effect. Multipoint Controllers (one of the more complex tools in Noteworthy Composer) only have accoustic effects and are therefor only used by users that strive for a specific sound.

I think your choice for piano is the reason for your disappointment. The sound characteristics for a Piano, as defined by the Attack-Sustain-Decay-Release parameters, have only a short Sustain time and as a consequence the notes disappear quite fast. That's why your example 6, where you repeat your notes, gives you so much satisfaction. Sustain Pedal and Performance style (legato) can slightly improve the quality as you already found out, since your notes resound somewhat longer, but the improvement is rather poor. Chosing other instruments like Organs, Reed instruments, Flutes, Violins or even the "Ensemble instruments" sustain until the end of the note and are even more adequate .

In combination with dynamic changes that David suggested, you will sure get an acceptable result.
As Lawrie and Mark explained, you can achieve even better - almost perfect - results with VSThosts and Soundfonts, but as you already experienced, it is not an easy implementation and in fact you will then enter the fascinating world of professional music studios.

Bart

Hi William,

I will give Cantabile Lite a try.

Before Lawrie wrote his VST-manual, I always exported my files as midi files and generated audio files with Timidity.
The disadvantages were that Timidity was hard to configure (and to find) and that some NWC-interpretations like fermata, crescendos, ... disappeared.

Today, when I need an audio file, I just play the file in NWC - this way I am sure my fermatas and dynamics are right - and I record with Audacity where the preferred recording device can be selected. As far as I understand, Audacity gives the same flexibility as Wave Repair.

I am stuck only if I need a better "sound" than the default Windows GM, but until now, I have no real need for it.

Bart

In the past I followed Lawrie's PDF-file and I was very happy with the results.
But on my "new" Vista computer, VSTHost or VSTSynthFont.dll are constantly crashing.
Even the last, so-called stable versions (VSTHost 1.48 / VSTSynthfont 1.060) don't last for more than one song. Especially when I try to change soundfonts, it is hurting me badly.
Also, I never managed to get usefull wav-files out of the VSTHosts recorder.
I already searched the web for better alternatives, but until now I didn't find programs that meet my expectations.

Bart