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Topics - Lawrie Pardy

51
General Discussion / Time for a smile...
I was just going through my wallet looking for something and came across a small slip of paper I'd put there years ago. It had the following text:

Bob: "When did you get that trombone?"
Keith: "I borrowed it from my neighbours son just recently."
Bob: "I didn't know you could play the trombone."
Keith: "I can't. And now, neither can he."

Just thought you all could use a smile :D
52
General Discussion / Merry Christmas
MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone - I was gonna wait till midnight but I'm too tired, so you're getting it now. :D

I pray that we will all have a blessed time this season and a blessed and prosperous new year. To put it in scriptural terms:
"I would that you would prosper, even as your soul prospers."
I believe 2011 will be a year of change, let's look forward to what God has in store for us!
53
General Discussion / pbutcher - your inbox is full
G'day Patrick,
couldn't reply as your inbox is full, so response below:

Quote from: pbutcher –
I need to produce something like~~~ turned through 90 degrees. I would then need to create that effect in midi format using a very fast arpeggio in a layer.  I guess some one will have achieved this already.

Ahh, an arpeggio - easy, same fonts, different character.  For the audio there is a user tool...

Check this thread:
https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=7581.msg52439#msg52439
57
Tips & Tricks / Howto - Creating Lead Sheets with NWC2
G'day all,
Every so often the subject of how lead sheets, or adding chords to music published in NWC, can be done, comes up

Given that I do this a lot, it occured to me that I might have something worth sharing, so I created the following document, LeadSheetsInNWC2.pdf, as my gift to the NWC community for the new year.

It is available from the Scripto in the "Explanations" section of the "Helpful Files" page:
http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Explanations

I hope you find it informative and helpful.  Feedback is solicited.
58
General Discussion / Proof Reading - usual suspects only please :)
Howto-LeadSheetsInNWC2
This document has now been published.  Please see:
https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=7065.0
for details.

Thanks everyone.


G'day all,
I wonder if a few of "the usual suspects" would mind giving me a hand.

I've prepared a "Howto" for making lead sheets, or at least a description of the way I do it and need proof readers and critics to have a look at it.

If Rich, Rick, MusicJohn, Bill and perhaps one or two others could PM me to register their interest and I'll reply with a link to the PDF.  I would prefer "old hands" rather than newcomers as they are more likely to spot any errors.

Rich, when completed you can have it for the Scripto

Thank you.
59
General Discussion / Note positioning bug
I'm not if this has been brought up before or not..

The following construct displays incorrectly:
Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|RestChord|Dur:8th|Opts:Stem=Up,ArticulationsOnStem|Dur2:Whole|Pos2:-3,-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

The quaver on the 4th space should be to the right of the semibreve on the second line.
60
General Discussion / Merry Christmas everyone
I had hoped to be about 15 or so hours earlier than this, but my internet link has been incredibly unreliable for nearly a day.

Anyhow:
[move]MERRY CHRISTMAS[/move]

everyone.

May God richly bless you all and may you all have a very happy and propserous new year.
61
General Discussion / Another flow control issue
Reckon I've got a bug here:
Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:C
|TimeSig|Signature:Common
|Bar|Style:MasterRepeatOpen
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-6
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-5
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Bar|Style:MasterRepeatClose
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:3
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Bar
|Ending|Endings:1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Flow|Style:DaCapo|Pos:7|Justify:Right|Placement:AtNextNote
|Bar
|Ending|Endings:2,D
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:2
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Bar|Style:Double
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-3
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-5
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-6
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

The n time bars never play - doesn't matter whether there is a Master repeat close at the end of the 1st time bar or not...

BTW, this is a real world example - except for the "tune" of course.
62
General Discussion / Page breaks and other bits...
G'day all,
with my recent entry into playing musicals, and needing to fix the notation of many of the parts I've played, I'm really starting to need a page break option.  Getting effective page turns is quite a challenge in works that are 70 and 80 pages long.  Fiddling with dummy bars and system breaks is OK for a page or two, but when you need to do it 10 or 12 times in a single work it becomes, shall we say, tedious.

In addition, and while again workarounds exist, the ability to create indents for Coda's etc. would be greatly appreciated.

The biggest problem with the workarounds that exist is they are difficult to apply when extracting parts from a full score.  Not every instrument needs a page break or an indent at exactly the same place, and the "digital whiteout" really screws up the full score presentation.  Adding a bar line attribute for page break and possibly indent seems to me to be an obvious solution, but not being a programmer I'm probably ignorant of the programming challenges this may present.

In more detail, I'd like a page break facility that basically works like the system break option, but instead of a new system, it throws a page.  I'd like a system option within NWC2 that allows you to choose whether or not to vertically justify the remaining systems on the page (my preference for the default would be NOT) and that this choice should override the global vertical justification option for that page only.

Add to this the ability to start a page offset downwards from the normal top of the page.

Of course my previous desire for "handles" on slurs so I can adjust their vertical start and end position and overall curvature still remains, as well as an associated line drawing facility.  The line drawing is a much lesser priority.

I'm pretty sure these have been added to the "wish list" but to make sure I'll be visiting there shortly...  ;)

Comments?

<edit> Additional bits in italics
63
General Discussion / And now for something a bit different...
G'day all,
I'm still on a high from last Saturday night (Oz time).

Just finished a VERY short season (7 shows) of G&S "Pirates of Penzance" (the Papp version). Had the opportunity of playing the 'bone part in the orchestra and had an absolute ball.

The show was put on by the "Wyong Musical Theatre Company" and they did a first rate job. The following article was printed before the show started.

http://express-advocate-wyong.whereilive.com.au/lifestyle/story/pirates-life-for-wyong-players/

The young lass in the right, Suzanne, has a wonderful soprano voice which she used very effectively as "Mabel". The guy in the Middle, Mat, played Frederic and has a good strong voice too. Did a terrific job.

The chap who played Major-General Stanley, Marc Calwell, did the most amazing job of the Major-Generals song and in the final show let it really rip for the "very fast" reprise. I'm told he managed to shorten it by 30 seconds! - All I know is my slide was smokin' !!! His articulation has to be heard to be believed, the audience absolutely erupted calling for more in the middle of the show! They didn't get it of course as it would have interrupted the flow of the show but it was exciting just the same. We sold out every show (well almost, a couple of shows {2 or 3} were about 10 seats short of sold out) and for the last two shows we had to bring in extra seating.

The whole presentation was truly excellent and considering the limited budget was really very, very well done. The entire cast were fantastic and though I've highlighted a couple of the leads, they couldn't have done nearly as good a job were it not for the supporting actors. A really first rate job!

Most of you probably don't know but the majority of my playing is in my church, which I quite enjoy but can sometimes be limited in variety. Recently I've been able to expand on this, firstly with a student big band ('bout 4, maybe 5 years ago) and now musical theatre. This is my 4th show playing in musicals in less than a year, 3 with Gosford Musical Society and this one with Wyong. I'm really looking forward to more opportunities and hope to play "Cats" later this year (the current 'bone player is trying out for the pit choir - hope he gets it as it will leave the chair open), and Mikado early next year, both with Gosford. Wyong are doing Grease next and I don't think there's a 'bone part :(

The pit at Gosford is, unfortunately, UNDER the stage, is very small, and we can't see squat. The Wyong theatre is much plainer, but the orchestra sits in front of the stage (we had a catwalk around us so we were actually in the MIDDLE of all the action for Pirates) and could see everything as well as being able to interact more effectively.

It's all very exciting! Can you tell I had a good time?
64
General Discussion / New *Chord fonts released
G'day all,
after a somewhat short beta period (there really weren't many people that seemed to be very interested) I have decided to release my new *Chord fonts:
SwingChordDoSi.ttf
SwingChordGermanic.ttf
MusikChordSansDoSi.ttf
MusikChordSansGermanic.ttf
MusikChordSerifDoSi.ttf
MusikChordSerifGermanic.ttf

They are temporarily available in the zip file:
http://zoundz.pardyline.com.au/SupportFiles/Fonts/ChordFontsDoSiGermanic.zip

I say temporarily only because I intend to make them available via the Scripto.

The character mappings are identical to SwingChord.ttf EXCEPT for the following:
*DoSi - A to G have been replaced by La, Si, Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol
*Germanic - Maj6/9 (a triangle followed by 6/9) has been moved to Chr$ 0189 and an H introduced in its place giving the letters A to H for those countries that use H in lieu of B and B in lieu of Bb

Please note that while Andrew Purdams excellent TextChord transpose user tool will work just fine for the DoSi fonts, it will need modification for the Germanic versions.

Comments are always welcome, but unless there is some glaring error that I've missed these will be the final release versions.
65
General Discussion / Page control...
David Palmquist will, I'm sure, be able to identify with this...

I've recently had the opportunity to have some great fun playing in the orchestra for a few musicals.  In the last 5 months I've done "West Side Story", Alice in Wonderland" and "Pyjama Game" - and am about to start rehearsals for "Pirates of Penzance" - I've played 'bone since about 1970 or '71, but NEVER played a musical until late last year - I'm having an absolute ball!

BUT...  Some of the scores are almost illegible - these things are hired from companies like Hal Leonard, but take "Pyjama Game" - originally a handwritten score that has simply been scanned and put into book form - some bits are fine, others are almost illegible, then add cuts and changes and reordering of whole sections to suit the choreography...  Enter NWC2. 

Now, as many of you know, I play a 'bone and am thus reasonably conversant with the notation peculiarities associated with that instrument.  Between what NWC does natively and the additions my *Dings font suites provide I can create some pretty reasonable scores, but I have a couple of real irritations:
  • Glisses - it really would be soooo much easier to be able to natively notate a gliss - the text objects from the *Dings fonts "make do" pretty well, but there is nothing like the real thing.  Especially if it could affect playback properly.
  • Page Breaks - a couple of the parts of the score I recreated so that I could actually read them ended up with impossible page turns - no matter how hard I tried I simply couldn't get all the page turns to occur on rests.  A page break command would have made this almost trivial...  Sure, I would have had some short pages, but that's nothing in comparison to trying to play and turn a page at the same time.  (In hindsight I could have just created some blank staves and used some "digital white-out"  but I was in a hurry and didn't think of it...)

I guess I'm really just having a bit of a grumble, but I'd really like these things - I know they're in the wishlist 'cos I put 'em there ages ago...
66
Tips & Tricks / A VERY quick intro for getting started with VST - for dummies...
G'day all,
there is now a formal PDF with screenshots available from the Scripto. 
Please visit: http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Explanations for access.

The new document contains additional information as well.

Oops, error found - updated section is in green

In another thread fitzclan asked about access to better sounds than the defaults in vista when you don't have a soundfont capable soundcard.

It just happens that I've been playing with this a bit recently and found enough bits 'n pieces to get basic VST happening.

Given that I was unable to get a handle on what other had said to me when trying to help I thought I'd take a crack at a very quick rundown to just get people started...  I've been thinking of writing a kind of intro based on my frustrations but that will take a while...

Here goes:

A) You need a virtual MIDI cable - MIDIYoke works for me...
Get it from the MIDI-OX site: http://www.midiox.com/
Click the MIDI Yoke link and go down to the NT version - works with 32 bit vista - dunno 'bout 64 bit

B) You need a VST host - "VSTHost" works for me...
Get it from the authors site: http://www.hermannseib.com/english/vsthost.htm
Scroll down to the download link labelled "here"

C) You need a VSTi that plays soundfonts - VSTSynthfont is the only one I know of - it works for me...
Get it from http://www.synthfont.com - click the "Downloads" link on the left and then select the VSTSynthfont link.

D) Find a soundfont you like...  This is very subjective though I like the "Airfont 340" (though the version I downloaded had a "percussive" flute which I fixed - dunno if the download has been updated) and S. Christian Collins "General User GS".  A good resource has always been Hammersound: http://www.hammersound.com/

======

OK, install MIDIYoke and VSTHost according to their respective instructions - VSTHost is little more than extracting it to a destination folder...  MIDIYoke will require a reboot.

Next, copy the VSTSynthfont .DLL to an appropriate location - a folder under the VSTHost installation is as good as any, though not the only choice.

Put your soundfont into a directory somewhere - perhaps associated with your VSTSynthfont .DLL.

Launch VSTHost.  From the |File| menu select to add a "new plugin".  Browse to the VSTSynthfont .DLL location and select it.  On initial load this will request a soundfont - browse to your soundfont and select it.


You need to tell VSTHost which MIDI Input devices are valid for it to listen to: Select |Devices|MIDI...| and click the desired device(s) in the list in the MIDI Input Devices list - if you want to be able to use more than one use <Ctrl> when clicking.  For our immediate purposes MIDI Yoke 1 is sufficient, though you could just as easily select all the MIDI yoke options.


By default the synth will listen on all available MIDI ports which may not be useful so you can select a specific: Click on the centre button on the right hand edge of the VSTSynthfont window.  This opens the "MIDI Devices" dialogue which will allow you to select from a list of available MIDI devices - select the first MIDIYoke one and click OK


You may also need to select a wave output device.  |Devices|Wave| - Output port - experiment here, the "MME Microsoft Sound Mapper" should always work but will have some latency - if you have an ASIO compatible card it is worth trying the ASIO options

NOW, open NWC and change your playback device in |Tools|Options|MIDI (tab), remove the current device and add the SAME MIDIYoke device you selected in the VSTHost application for VSTSynthfont.

Load a song and click the play button voila

You will need to load VSTHost before you can use it, of course, but you could opt to place a link into your "Startup" folder.  Note that it remembers it's setup between loads so you don't have to go through all that rigamarole every time.

=======

The added bonus to all this is you now have access to a bunch effects and stuff to really make your sound come to life.  Compressors, reverb, you name it, the effect plugin will be available somewhere.  I haven't begun to explore this aspect yet - Given time, I will.

67
General Discussion / Updates to the *Dings font suites
Greetings everybody.

For those who have been finding my font suites useful, I'd like to alert you to a small update.

It was prompted by a question here on the forum.

The *Dings fonts now have an added "swing" indicator glyph, this one is for semiquavers (16ths).

In addition, all 3 swing glyphs have been added to the *Text fonts.  The only difference is that the *Text versions are not surrounded by parentheses.

See the Scripto for access to the update package.

http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Fonts

68
General Discussion / Invisible objects and horizontal space
A few versions ago invisible objects were modified to reduce/eliminate horizontal space consumption.

While this has been useful in some places, it has created some issues for me in others...

One of the techniques I regularly use is to have a "lyric" staff that is muted and which has all the normal elements of the staff it is copied from (normally the vocal staff) made invisible (Print|Never)

This enables me to have a staff with lyrics, chords and other common annotations that I can layer with any other staff to create a part that includes useful information for the instrumentalist.

Occasionally I will have rests on both staff but need to "hang" some chords from some place holder - I use rests.

With the change to visibility attributes comes my problem - please see the attached:

As it is it looks about right, but if you hide the lower staff (which is how I would normally use this snippet) you will see what happens to the chord notation


NB, the example uses the SwingDings suite...  It will work without it, but the chords will look funny(ier)...
69
General Discussion / VERY OT - I see we just notched up member 2001
I see we just notched up member 2001...

"Hello Dave, my name is HAL"  :)

That had to be one of the slowest moving films of all time - I enjoyed most of it buu-uut some of it was sooo boo-ooring.

Welcome to the forum Je.i.L, thanks for the excuse to "waffle on"
70
General Discussion / Gettin' along...
G'day all,
The following is an excerpt from a posting that appears occasionally in the newsgroup for the aid of new comers.  Some of its' content is obviously NG specific and can be ignored in this context.  My primary interest in posting it here is the "Etiquette" section.

I suggest you remember a small quotation as you read through: "There is none holy, no, not one."

I might add that I am not taking a "holier than thou" position.  Nor should anyone else...  IMHO


This posting is intended to help newcomers to the newsgroup join in comfortably. Lots of other help is at the Noteworthy Scriptorium, at http://nwc-scriptorium.org especially the larger Frequently Asked Questions page at http://nwc-scriptorium.org/faq.html.

Of course, http://www.NoteworthySoftware.com remains the home of Noteworthy Composer software.

<snip some newsgroup operational specifics that aren't relevant>

ETIQUETTE
Folks on the newsgroup are very friendly and helpful. Posting of NWC files for sharing, feedback, etc is encouraged on the newsgroup, and your own participation in feedback is welcome. Please don't flood the newsgroup with too many songs in a day. Otherwise, usual newsgroup etiquette prevails:
Talk politely when addressing folks. No flaming, please. If someone flames, it's best to ignore it or e-mail objections privately so as
not to prolong the annoyance.

It's okay to complain about aspects of NWC, but try and do so constructively if possible. It may be a Mercedes at a Volkswagen price, but it ain't a Lamborghini (yet). Often, however, if you are stuck when doing something with NWC, more experienced users will have already found a workaround, so it may well be worth your while to ask. If you are posting a wish, don't forget that Noteworthy Software have a special web page at http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/composer/wishlist.php for you to provide that sort of feedback. Do use it, as it is the only official channel for helping to shape future development.

When quoting other users, try and make the quotes brief and relevent to what you want to say. Avoid requoting whole postings simply so that you can say "LOL" (Laughing Out Loud) or "Great!".

The newshost disallows posting files other than NWC, GIF, JPG and itree, and limits posting to about 80k. For other files, a good alternative is to make the file available on the web somewhere and simply post a link to it.

Avoid posting in HTML format if possible (most newsreaders will give you the option), as it unnecessarily increases the volume of posts, and there still exist newsreaders that don't care for such formats.

"This appears to also be a Forum for creative individuals from everywhere on Earth to share their creative struggles, accomplishments, failures, share advice, get help, no matter who or where they are, with no discrimination on any grounds of age, gender, nationality, philosophy, religion, education, physical limitations, emotional concerns." This went without saying, until someone said it! :-)

VIRUSES
Everyone on the newsgroup is encouraged to protect themselves from internet-borne computer viruses, worms etc by using a good antivirus program and KEEPING IT UP TO DATE. We rarely get any posted to the newsgroup, but it has happened. Outlook Express is particularly vulnerable, and users of OE are encouraged to install security updates from http://www.microsoft.com and use the more recent versions which have better security options. In particular, setting OE to only read a message in plain text format (no "formatting"), and setting OE to "restricted zone" security. Disabling attachments (IE6) is a very safe option, but means that you won't be able to play NWC files, so is best avoided.

Look in Tools | Options | Security and Tool | Options | Read. Users of NetScape/Mozilla 7 should not open any attachments ending in .bat, .scr, .exe, .com etc. and Edit | Preferences | Scripts and Plugins | Uncheck "Enable javascript for mail and newsgroups" (default)

MOST FREQUENTLY USED ABBREVIATIONS
AFAICT As Far As I Can Tell
AFAIK As Far As I Know
BG Big Grin
BTW By The Way
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
FWIW For What It's Worth
FYI For Your Information
G Grin
HTH (I) Hope This Helps
IIRC If I Remember/Recall Correctly
IMHO In My Humble Opinion
IMNSHO In My Not So Humble Opinion
IMO In My Opinion
IMS If Memory Serves
LOL Laughing out loud
NG Newsgroup
NW NoteWorthy
NWA NoteWorthy Artware (now NWS)
NWC NoteWorthy Composer
NWP NoteWorthy Player
NWS NoteWorthy Software (formerly NWA)
OTOH On The Other Hand (or Off Top Of Head)
ROTFL Rolling On The Floor Laughing
Scripto The Noteworthy Scriptorium, at http://nwc-scriptorium.org
TIA Thanks In Advance
TTYTT To Tell You The Truth
VBG Very Big Grin
YMMV Your Mileage May Vary
---------
71
General Discussion / NWC2 beta 2.20 - tie problem
G'day all,
found a problem with ties on chords with an interval of a 2nd...  If the lower note is above the centre line (B) then the tie slopes upward - this results in it crossing the note above it:

Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:0^,3^,4^
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:0,3,4|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
|Chord|Dur:Half|Pos:-3^,0^,1^
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-3,0,1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

The first bar shows the problem, the second shows how it changes at Pos 0

I don't recall this in previous betas but may simply have never come across it...  I suspect it may be an artifact from the recent stem alignment fix.

<edit> there needs to be a 3rd note in the chord below the 2nd interval - if it is only a 2 note chord the ties go in opposite directions and it is OK.  Tie direction isn't the problem as such, it is the fact of starting too far left for the lower note in the 2nd interval part of the chord.

I hope that's a bit clearer...
72
General Discussion / Lines and controllable slurs - a suggestion/request
G'day all,
this thread https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=6175.0 suggests an enhancement that NWC2 would benefit from.  I know it's come up before but I thought I'd stick another AUD $0.02 worth in :)
 
Some rudimentary line drawing capability - I'm not suggesting a "paint" type facility, but rather the ability to set some endpoints and instruct the software to "draw a line between these points". 

If the line could also have 1, 2 or even 3 "off curve" points or handles we could also have controllable curves.  Some of the same code could probably be used to give control over slur shape too.  This would surely be a bonus.

In the case of the thread referred to above, it would give us tha ability to draw the melody flow between hands, a "free standing" curve would allow for phrase marking - a line "type" option would even allow us to have dashed slurs, and dare I suggest it, ties for those times when subsequents repeats of a passage are subtley different.

In reference to another thread discussing ties and slurs broken over system breaks, it would possibly give the ability to manage those better too.

73
General Discussion / OT: a few thoughts on download managers...
G'day all,
this is partly a whinge and partly informative...

As many of you know I've produced a couple of font suites for use with NWC.  Now, even though the standard way you download them is via links on the Scripto, the files are actually hosted on my own web server.

As a matter of interest I occasionally check the logs to see if they're still being downloaded.  I'm very pleased to say they there is a relatively steady stream - my work was not in vain ;)

However I have noticed that on occasion someone will download with a download manager/accelerator...  Believe it or not, this is not a great idea.

A recent instance may demonstrate what I mean. 
  • All 3 suites were downloaded by the same person (well IP address) earlier this month.
  • Their manager was set for 30 threads.
  • My server duly delivered on each thread
  • The SwingDings.zip file size is 388776 bytes
  • The total data downloaded by the 30 threads was, wait for it, 6766470 bytes.
  • Yes folks, they downloaded enough data to get the file 17.4 times.
  • One thread actually got all but 1200 bytes of the file all by itself...
  • As my uplink is only 384 kbps (on a good day) it would have taken at least 3 minutes, actually more like 4 with comms overheads - not very long I guess,
  • But it would have been about 10 (say 14) seconds without the download manager
  • Hmm, not such a good idea I would think...
  • Of course, if my server supported it, they would have been able to recover from a broken download had it been necessary - but that only needs 1 thread...


I guess what I'm saying here is, download managers have their place, but be careful you don't end up paying for a lot more excess data on your internet service than you actually need to.

Small files or slow servers/internet links will end up using more of your data allowance than they should - and it will also cost you time rather than saving it.
74
General Discussion / Triplet display buglet...
I stumbled on the following construct while updating an old swing piece I'd some time ago.  This is from a hidden staff to give the swing to a straight tempo bar...

!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Chord|Dur:4th,Triplet=First|Pos:-8,-4,-1,1,3
|Rest|Dur:8th,Triplet=End
|Chord|Dur:4th,Triplet=First|Pos:-8,-4,-1,1,3|Opts:Stem=Down
|Rest|Dur:8th,Triplet=End
|Rest|Dur:4th,Triplet=First|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:8th,Triplet=End|Pos:-8,-4,-1,1,3|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:4th,Triplet=First
|Chord|Dur:8th,Triplet=End|Pos:-8,-4,-1,1,3
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

Note how the triplet "bracket" crosses the stem of the chord that is the first part of the triplet in the first 2 ...

Swap the chord and the rest and it's OK - the last 2 show it even though the values are reversed...
75
User Tools / Inline editing of user tools
G'day all,
it occurs to me that it might be helpful if there was a mechanism that allowed you to spawn an instance of, say, notepad - or even your editor of choice - from the edit usertools dialogue.

I'm not sure exactly how this would work but currently if you go to edit a tool invocation you get a dialogue that allows you to edit the Name and the Command.

Perhaps if the Command field were to be split into Program (E.G. php or wscript to name 2 common ones), Command (actual script file) and Parameters (passed to the command) fields then the command field might be passed to the editor to enable you to edit the actual script from within NWC2.

Would this be truly useful or is it more likely to be unnecessary "bells and whistles"?

Thoughts anyone?
76
General Discussion / Forum speed...
Is it my imagination, or does the forum seem to be slower since the recent upgrade...

Other services I access are OK but they are generally local (I.E. in Australia) so the slow down I'm seeing could simply be a trans-Pacific saturation issue...
77
General Discussion / Beta 2.19 <Ctrl-Z> returns to start of staff after changing font
I'm not certain, but I think this behaviour is new...  It is certainly unwelcome.

If you place a text object and select a font - normal or user, doesn't matter, then go into page setup to change the font - maybe it's too small, or you want to specify a different typeface - whatever - and then discover you've made a bad selection and press <Ctrl-Z> the insertion point moves to the start of the staff.

I'm sure it used to stay at the current location and you could see the effect of <Ctrl-Z> and <Ctrl-Y> without having to search for it.
78
General Discussion / A call for comments on a proposed change to my *Dings suites
G'day all,
I've been thinking about a change to the *Dings suites.  Specifically adding a glyph to the *Text and *TextEuro fonts.

There has been some comment regarding "Word Extenders" and a few workarounds that are kind of OK, but a proper line as part of the font used for the lyrics is IMHO a better idea.

The proposed character is 0144 which is unused in each pair of fonts.  By using this free character, no existing works will be affected.

Comments please?

79
General Discussion / Restchord formatting bug
Found the following irritation...

The first bar should, in my view, look like the second...

Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble|OctaveShift:None|Color:0|Visibility:Default
|TimeSig|Signature:4/4|Color:0|Visibility:Default
|RestChord|Dur:8th,Slur|Opts:Stem=Up,ArticulationsOnStem,VertOffset=2|Dur2:Whole|Pos2:-3,-2
|Note|Dur:8th,Slur|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-3,2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-4,1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar|Style:Single|XBarCnt:N|SysBreak:N|Color:0|Visibility:Default
|RestChord|Dur:8th,Slur|Opts:Stem=Up,ArticulationsOnStem,VertOffset=2|Dur2:Whole|Pos2:-3,-2
|Text|Text:"    "|Font:StaffItalic|Pos:3|Wide:Y
|Note|Dur:8th,Slur|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:3|Opts:Stem=Up
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-3,2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:-4,1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

The quaver in the top voice should not appear to be directly chorded with the semibreve chord in the lower voice.  The second bar has some white space added to correct the appearance.
80
General Discussion / NWC2 beta 2.13 crash
Eric,
I just had a crash - NWC2 just disappeared - I was in the file open dialogue about to search for a file and it simply closed down on me.

I have had a similar shutdown within the last couple of days but I don't remember the circumstances...

My PC is generally very reliable (except when I forget to suck the dust out of the CPU's heatsink ;)   ) so I don't _think_ it is attributable to faults in the machine but I'm open to suggestions...
81
General Discussion / Happy New Year
Happy new year everyone!

I dunno if I'm half an hour early or half an hour late!  'tis 12:30 AM here on the East coast of Australia and we're in daylight savings time...

Ahh, who cares!?!

[move]<Image Link>  Happy New Year!  <Image Link>[/move]


May God's richest blessings be upon us all!
82
User Tools / Create chords from a single note.
G'day all,
I have attached a pair of user tools that have been designed to create chord structures from single notes. 

First a small caveat:
I haven't written line of code of any kind for, oh easily 15 years, and even then it was 4gl stuff - Database specific mainly, aside from the odd batch file that is, so I do not consider myself a programmer of _ANY_ kind.  OK?  In fact I've never even looked at VB or WScript before so this has been something of a "crash course" - and me a network integrator too!  Thus there are probably some very naive constructs that the real programmers out there may frown upon.  Please feel free to educate me.

These tools do not understand what clef or key signature you are using, they are a purely interval oriented thing.

They have been "growing" in the NG for a couple of weeks and there are many refinements courtesy of RickG, but note that any and all mistakes are mine, not his :). - Thanks mate.

The scripts are heavily commented, primarily for my own benefit so they may not be very pretty.  I've tried to format them a little but as I've been reminded, different editors and different font selections in the editor may make them look pretty crook.  I created them in notepad using Arial and with word wrap turned off.  Do this and you'll see 'em as I do.

The tools  are:
MakeChord-SpecifyAccidental-LP.vbs and MakeChord-AdditiveAccidental-LP.vbs.

These scripts will allow you to create chords from a "source" note(s).  You specify the intervals and optional accidentals on the command line.  Best to use a PROMPTed invocation. - examples to come.  Like all user tools, they work on your selection, or if you haven't made a selection then they'll work on the entire staff.

The tools will construct chords, using slighty different rules, from the information provided thus:

Both tools will take interval information and create a chord from it.  A '3' argument will add a 3rd to the original note.  A '3 5' will create a triad from the original note - the key signature or preceding accidentals will define Maj/min.

A '3 5 7' will create a 7th chord &etc..

Negative intervals will give inversions.  A '-4 3' would give a first inversion triad, '-6 -4' will give you a second inversion.

An accidental can also be passed 'b3 5' for a minor, '-4 b3' for a 1st inversion minor, accidentals and minus signs can be used together; 'b-4 b3' for a 1st inversion diminished:

v = Double Flat
b = Flat
n = Natural
# = Sharp
x = Double Sharp

A 'help' argument will remind you of them.  As these symbols are defined in NWC I saw no reason to change 'em

The scripts do NOT take into account any existing clef or key signatures.  They have no idea what a note is, they simply take the numeric value of a notes' position on the staff and add or subtract to calculate the new chord members' numeric position value.   They are not intended to be some magical 'make all my chords for me' tool, but I do believe they can create a useful starting point.  Your ears are the best guide to whether the results are any good or not!

MakeChord-SpecifyAccidental-LP.vbs

This version will ignore any accidental on the original note and apply the accidental specified on the command line.

MakeChord-AdditiveAccidental-LP.vbs

This version will use any accidental on the original note and 'add' the accidental specified on the command line.  The script limits the maximum accidental to double flat and double sharp, so if you have a double flat starting note, and want to add a flat to the 3rd, it will still only be a double flat, not a 'triple' <g> one.

To try and take it further than that and figure out a new note to take into account a 'triple' flat or sharp is waaay beyond the skills I've learned in the last few days.  Also, I imagine that it would be so rare as to be not worth the effort.

Both versions will give you an "Octave chord" if used with no arguments.

Command lines for NWC2 tools dialogue:

  • 1) Copy the attachments to the "C:\Program Files\Noteworthy Composer 2\Scripts" directory
  • 2) Change their names to have a ".vbs" extension instead of ".txt"
  • 3) Create a new tool in the <Alt-F8> dialogue:
  • a) Open or create a song file
  • b) Press <Alt-F8>
  • c) Click "New.."
  • d) Give it a name:
  •    d1) MakeChord-SpecifyAccidental-LP
  •    d2) MakeChord-AdditiveAccidental-LP
  • e) Define the command (important spaces exist after "wscript" and ".vbs"):
  •    e1) wscript Scripts\MakeChord-SpecifyAccidental-LP.vbs <PROMPT:Enter intervals with opt. acc.'s, space delimited (use help):=*>
  •    e2) wscript Scripts\MakeChord-AdditiveAccidental-LP.vbs <PROMPT:Enter intervals with opt. acc.'s, space delimited (use help):=*>
  • f) Click "OK"
  • e) voila - ready to use
Note that lines e1) and e2) may have wrapped, be sure you put a space between ".vbs" and the "<PROMPT:" bits. when you copy and paste it.


This has been an interesting exercise and is no doubt not finished yet.  As usual, comments welcome, nay, sought!  Any comments on the usefulness of these scripts is also solicited.

Bug reports are also welcome, but I may limited in my ability to fix 'em.  I will try though.

83
General Discussion / High(er) visibility notation font - NWC2HiVisLP.ttf
G'day all,
as you may have noticed from Rich's scripto update message, I've released a new NWC2 system (notation typeface) font.  Some of you may recall a thread where Pat, whose husband has vision problems, was looking for round note heads in order to make things easier for her when preparing music for him.  See: https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=5113.msg32383#msg32383  This was the inspiration for the new font.

Called NWC2HiVisLP.ttf, it is based on NWC2MusikDingsSans.ttf but the symbols have been made bolder and, more importantly, the note heads have been enlarged and made round.

The objective was to make NWC2 printed output easier for people with a vision impairment to see.

To install and use, download the font to your hard drive and then copy it to your "Fonts" folder.  I highly recommend you do not download directly into your "Fonts" folder as I have seen this cause problems.

Once installed the font will be available in the: |File|Page Setup|Fonts (tab)|Staff Metrics|Change| dialogue.  Simply click on the "Notation Typeface" pull down and it should be there waiting for you.

To maintain consistancy in appearance you can use my MusikDingsSans suite for the other typefaces in your song.

NWC2HiVisLP and the MusikDingsSans suite are both available from the Scripto:
http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Fonts

Any suggestions for improvements are welcome...  Especially from those who prepare music for people with vision problems.


84
General Discussion / Errors in the MusikDings and SwingDings font suites
This issue has been corrected. 
See reply 6 below for details, or just download the updated *Dings-V1d.ttf files in this zip file:

http://zoundz.pardyline.com.au/SupportFiles/Fonts/DingsUpdate-V1d.zip

EDIT - This update is probably no longer needed - I will leave it up, but if you have downloaded any of the affected suites (SwingDings, MusikDingsSans and MusikDingsSerif) since the 3rd of September 2006, then you already have these updates as they are incorporated in the ZIP files you downloaded.

Install by first removing the affected font files from your fonts directory (normally c:\Windows\Fonts) and then copying these new files in their place.

The affected fonts are:
  • SwingDings
  • MusikDingsSans
  • MusikDingsSerif

Be careful not to remove any other SwingDings, MusikDingsSans or MusikDingsSerif fonts as only the 3 mentioned above are affected.

I highly recommend that you do NOT extract from the zip file directly into the fonts directory - I have seen this cause problems - unzip to another location and then copy the files to their final destination.


G'day all,
it has been brought to my attention that there are some inconsistencies in MusikDingsSerif, MusikdingsSans and SwingDings.

The problem is courtesy accidentals.  In MusikdingsSans and MusikDingsSerif the courtesy natural, sharp and double sharp are all 1 position lower than the insertion point, the flat and double flat are 2 positions lower.

Interestingly, SwingDings which both MusikDings files were modelled off are all only 1 position lower.

Hence, my dilemma...

If I modify all 3 suites to have them at the insertion point (which I'm happy to do - I don't know how I missed it in the first place :(   ) how will it affect other users.  No problem if there has been little use of courtesies so far but if there are works already completed it may be a problem for some people.

The MusikDings pair have not had the interest of SwingDings so modifying the flat and the double flat to make everything 1 position lower to match the rest is no big deal (IMHO). 

I might add that I intend to do at least this as the 3 suites are supposed to be completely interchangeable.  For this reason I'm reluctant to get them actually at the insertion point if it will affect users of SwingDings.

Comments anyone?

Sorry for the errors folks.
85
General Discussion / SwingDings update for NWC2
G'day all,
as a result of the work that Noteworthy have done with the latest beta of version 2, I have released a new update of SwingDings.

Its primary purpose is to allow the SwingDings NWC2 system font and the original NWC2 system font to co-exist.  there are also some very minor glyph updates, the main one being a prettier 0 (zero)

It is available from the same link on the Scripto as the previous version:
http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Fonts
86
General Discussion / MIDI recording bug
G'day all, I think I may have found a bug in NWC2 Beta 1 Update 2.

When recording from a MIDI keyboard I've found that I can record to a new window just fine, but I cannot record to the "Record" group in the current window.

Now I thought it could have been an error on my part as I don't do this much.  In fact I just bought a new Edirol USB to MIDI adapter and was trying it out.  So I reverted to NWC1 which I had complete success with so my problem is NWC2 specific.

I can echo MIDI input to any play device I have configured in NWC2 so the software is receiving the MIDI input, just not putting it into the new staff.

I'm not sure what "buffer only" does and so cannot report on this.

Is it just me or are others finding similar results?
87
General Discussion / Personal Messages
G'day everyone,
it has dawned on me that perhaps not everyone has their personal messages notification turned on...

I have sent several PM's lately that have not as yet been responded to.  Two were quite recent and the recipients may not have been on since they were sent, but at least 1 was sent to a user that has posted several times since...  Of course this assumes that they might actually want to respond to me :)

Might I suggest that users check their profiles and turn on PM notification, assuming of course that you would like to receive personal messages!

Go to | Profile | Personal Message Options | Check "Show a popup..." |

It may be necessary to turn off your pop-up stopper for *.noteworthysoftware.com in order for this to work.

Otherwise, it mightn't hurt to make it a practice to check your PM's when you log on.
89
General Discussion / NWC2 Clip Text in the new forum
G'day all,
I just did a quick test using preview and found that NWC2 clip text is not handled the way of the old forum.  (I kinda expected that but I did hope)

I confess that I found that feature very useful for quick demo's.

Eric, is it possible to include that feature in the new code or are we relegated to attachments?

Also, some real smileys would be nice (not too many though).

TIA,
Lawrie  :)
90
General Discussion / Mmm, new editor window
Hi guy's,
noticed the new message editor window in the NWC2 forum?

Nice!  Thanks Eric.

I wonder if it will appear in the NWC forum... ?

Lawrie
91
General Discussion / *Ping* PAT
Hi Pat,
just checking to see if you're still out and about...

I dropped you a couple of emails several days ago via your website email link and haven't received a reply yet...

I'm not being impatient - I just wanted to make sure you're OK as I haven't seen you in the forum for a while either...

Perhaps (hopefully) it's just an email/PC related problem...

Lawrie
92
General Discussion / Audit Enharmonic Spelling
Just downloaded the p1q release of NWC2 and was testing the cursor positioning after various staff related actions - as discussed in https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=5046.

I noticed that when you perform audit enharmonic spelling on a transposed staff the audit is done with respect to concert pitch _and_ the key signature rather than just the key signature of the staff.  I realise this is not new with p1q, but I only just twigged to what was going on...

Unless I'm missing something I don't think this is very useful.  Fine on untransposed staves but...

Two examples I experimented with:
  • A trumpet part transposed for a Bb trumpet, +2 semitones with playback transposition updated - gives -2 on the midi transposition
  • A guitar staff - midi transposition to give an octave lower pitch than notated.
In both cases the written staff was returned to concert _but_ the midi transposition was not updated.  Thus, successive audits result in progressively changed staves.

This:

Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:F#,C#
|TimeSig|Signature:4/4
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Rest|Dur:4th
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-4
|Rest|Dur:4th
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-5^
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-5
|Rest|Dur:4th
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
becomes this after 2 audits:

Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:F#,C#
|TimeSig|Signature:4/4
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:n-6
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:#-5^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-5
|Rest|Dur:4th
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:#-5
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:n-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:n-6^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-6
|Rest|Dur:4th
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:n-3
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:#-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:n-5^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:#-5^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:n-5^|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-5|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:n-6|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:#-8^
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:-8
|Rest|Dur:4th
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
But only if there is a midi transposition on the staff of -2 (for this particular example)

The same thing happens if there is an instrument patch inserted that contains a midi transposition without a midi transposition on the staff itself, but only for the notes that appear after the instrument patch.  This is at least consistent

Is this deliberate and thus for a purpose I haven't recognised or have we a bug?