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Messages - William Ashworth

101
General Discussion / Re: My (new, and long) NWC wishlist
Quote from: hmmueller –
G-2. Beams between staffs for keyed instruments are not too rarely used. Not having them is, unfortunately, a "missing feature".

These are easy enough to kludge that they're pretty far down my list of things that need improving. Assume four beamed 16ths, the first two on the lower staff and the second two on the upper. Then:

  • Place the four notes in the correct positions on their proper staves. The upper staff will require an 8th rest before the notes; this should be hidden.
  • Set the stem length of the two upper-staff notes to zero.
  • Add two 16th notes at any random vertical position you like following the two correct notes on the lower staff, to form a group of four 16ths. Beam the group.
  • Mute the two "random" notes on the lower staff, and check "no ledger lines" for them.

Now all you have to do is use <Ctrl><Shift> to move your two muted notes up till they overlap the correct notes on the upper staff. Adjust stem lengths as needed. This looks right on the page and sounds right when played, and it doesn't require layers, or take a great deal of time to produce. Sure, it would be nice to have cross-staff beams natively, but there are a lot of things that seem more critical (cue staves, and preventing hairpins from overlapping dynamics, are my own top priorities).
102
General Discussion / Re: Learning to crescendo and decrescendo
I suggest using SyFonOne, which doesn't require any complicated setup, although you'll need a virtual MIDI driver (I use LoopBe) and a sound font (FluidR3 works well). Another approach - although this doesn't work on the fly - is to export as MIDI and then use an online service such as SolMiRe to convert it to an MP3, using the sound font of your choice from their list.
103
General Discussion / Re: Printing to PDF
I use PDFreDirect, which does everything you've asked for very nicely and is free. I don't know if it works with W10, though (I use 8.1).
104
General Discussion / Re: chord notes of differing value
If you only need a few notes here and there, there's a much quicker way to create a new layer than adding a new staff full of hidden rests and barlines. Simply duplicate the staff you want to add the extra layer to, mute it, and change or add just those few notes you're concerned about, un-mute them, and mute and/or hide notes on the original staff as needed. You can hide all the duplicate music or not, as you prefer; it won't show anyway.
106
General Discussion / Re: Tremolo and Note Value.
Just to be clear, violinists (and flautists, whom this will also be useful for) strongly prefer reading ledger lines to 8va notation - at least, in my experience. That's why the greater offsets are necessary.
107
General Discussion / Re: Tremolo and Note Value.
10 would probably do it. That should allow tremolos up through C7, and I have serious doubts that anyone has ever or will ever write a violin part that goes higher than that - although I'm prepared to be proved wrong.
108
General Discussion / Re: Tremolo and Note Value.
Since we're talking about tremolos, I'm going to piggy-back this issue on here. I've run into a problem with the TremoloSingle object. I've marked a tremolo on an F6 in the violin part of a piano quartet. As per Elaine Gould, I've moved the tremolo marks down into the staff - only they won't go all the way down. The vertical offset needs at least 5.5, which the object flags as out of range. I think I understand why you kept the range down - if there are just ten offset positions, you can stay within a single decimal digit - but it's too limiting in this circumstance. Could you please do an update? (Will the language accept a hex value there? That would allow an offset of up to 8, which should take care of any circumstance.)

Bill
109
General Discussion / Re: Dynamic, Velocity, Expression etc.
Lawrie was being delicate. The GS Wavetable synth is crap. You'll never get it to sound good. Check into an alternate softsynth - there are many out there, and some of the better ones are freeware. I use SyFonOne, mostly because it was the first one I found and I've not had a problem with it. Others have different favorites. You have to install a GM (general MIDI) sound font to go with it: most people consider FluidR3 the best of the free ones.

If you have the current NWC Viewer installed, you probably have FluidR3 on your system and can use it to play your NWC files through the Viewer. You might check that out. But you'll still need an aftermarket synth to use it with the NWC editor.
110
General Discussion / Re: Silly notation
Conductor's score, or concert-pitch score? I have a hunch it's a conductor's score, meaning that the instruments are written as the instrumentalists see them. In that case, the orchestra is playing in E Major - not that uncommon a key, but it forces the Bb instruments to play in F# Major. Hence, notation like this. I agree about the look of the score, and it wouldn't be easy to sight read even for a clarinetist who was used to reading signatures with lots of sharps, but to write the sharps as their enharmonic equivalents would risk having the clarinets play out of tune. Enharmonic "equivalents" are only equivalents in the tempered scale, and good wind and string players (and vocalists) don't play in the tempered scale.
111
User Tools / Re: suggestion: enharmonic reversal user tool
I've run Opagust's enharmonic.og tool on this twice, with different options ("sharps up/flats down" and "common accidentals"), and both times it produced no changes. This is to be expected, since the notation is clear and accurate. There is no need for changes here, and the tool would not likely be run. I'm not sure I see a problem.
114
User Tools / Re: suggestion: enharmonic reversal user tool
Quote from: Mike Shawaluk –
  • I am assuming that the tool might need to be aware of the current key signature? (In the event that the note being converted to a sharp or flat is already noted as such in the current key)
A reasonable assumption. I rarely use key sigs, so it didn't cross my mind.
Quote
  • As you describe the tool, it would toggle sharps to flats and flats to sharps. Thus, if a chord contains both flats and sharps, it would still have both after the tool runs, except different notes would be sharpened/flattened. Might it make more sense to have 2 options when the tool is invoked: Sharpen vs. Flatten?
I would make it three options: flats to sharps, sharps to flats, sharps/flats reversed.
Quote
  • NWC allows some interesting chords:

    !NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
    |Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:#-4,-3
    |Chord|Dur:4th|Pos:#-3,b-2
    !NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

    So I assume the tool should deal with these situations gracefully (i.e. either delete the redundant note, or leave that chord as is)
Flurmy is correct: chords like this are fairly commonly written for the harp. I think a conditional is called for: if two enharmonic versions of the same pitch class are present, leave them alone. (The user might still want sharps or flats corrected in the same chord.)
Quote
  • If a note has an E# or B# (or an Fb or Cb), should they still be toggled? Perhaps to a double flat or double sharp?  I guess there is also the question of whether double sharps/flats should be toggled as well.
I've been operating under the assumption that the Audit Enharmonics tool has been run first. If that's been done, this is a moot point. I would recommend having the user tool leave them alone, with a note in the help that the AE tool should be run first.
Quote
Sorry for all the questions, but I find it handy to plan ahead before starting a project like this.
Sorry it took so long for me to respond. I'm too busy for my own good. Thanks for taking this on -

Bill
115
User Tools / suggestion: enharmonic reversal user tool
As longtime readers of this forum know, I'm not a great fan of user tools - the only one I currently use with any regularity is Opagust's GlobalMod.og. However, one I would use - if it existed - is one that would flip enharmonic spellings from sharp to flat, or vice versa, within a selection.

NWC's "Audit Enharmonics" tool is useful, but it always defaults to sharps. There are many times when the proper enharmonic choice is flats. I'd love to be able to select the appropriate chords or bars, run a tool, and watch all the A#s and D#s (etc.) change to Bbs and Ebs (etc.).

The tool I visualize wouldn't require user input beyond creating the selection and running the tool. It would simply examine the selection for accidentals and change all that it found to their enharmonic equivalents - sharps to flats of the note above, flats to sharps of the note below.

Anyone want to tackle this? I did my last programming a quarter century ago or more, and I'm not going to start again now, but this doesn't look like a particularly difficult task.
116
General Discussion / Re: Convert Violin score to Viola score?
Warren, no. If you're just changing the same score from violin to viola, there's no key change. All you are doing is moving the notes to different positions on the staff. Violin and viola music uses different clefs, not different keys. Using the transposition tool is not only unnecessary, it's counterproductive. It will introduce an unwanted key change. Select the notes and use <control><shift>.

The OP here asked for a representation of open strings on each instrument. Don't complicate the issue by assuming he also wants a key change from G to C.
118
Object Plugins / Re: Arpeggio.ms (2.0c)
Mike, can you spot a reason why the arpeggio fails to cut off in this clip? (It's the arpeggio: if you remove it, the clip sounds properly.)

Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Instrument|Name:"Acoustic Grand Piano"|Patch:0|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:15.5
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|User|Arpeggio.ms|Pos:-1
|Dynamic|Style:p|Pos:-8
|Chord|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:b5^,b7^,b10^|Opts:Muted
|Bar
|Chord|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:5,7,10|Opts:Muted
|Bar
|TimeSig|Signature:4/4
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Note|Dur:Half|Pos:15
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
119
General Discussion / Re: Convert Violin score to Viola score?
Warren, you're correct for the general case. In Don's case, he wanted to change from the open strings of the violin to the open strings of the viola. The bottom string on the viola is the C below middle C; the bottom string on the violin is G below middle C. Two steps up is the proper number to move a G in treble clef to a C in alto clef.
120
General Discussion / Re: Convert Violin score to Viola score?
(1) Select the four notes (place the cursor at the left end, hold down the <shift> key, and press the <end> key).
(2) Hold down the <shift> and <control> keys together, and press the <up> arrow twice.
(3) Change the clef from treble to alto. The easiest way to do this is to put the cursor directly to the right of the clef, backspace once (to erase the old clef) and use the Clef Selector toolbar button to enter the new clef; however, you can also select the clef, press <alt><enter>, and use the Properties dialogue box to change the clef type.

That's really all there is to it, for any set of notes. You don't have to change any accidentals, or worry about enharmonic spelling, because the actual notes don't change - just their positions relative to the five lines of the staff.
121
General Discussion / Re: Fixing Transposition Playback Issues
Quote from: Flurmy –
The number and staff of the possible warns.
The channels used and those still available.
The pannings and the volumes.
The transpositions.
And more.....

Two things to include in that "more...." at the end of Flurmy's list are (a) which staves are muted, and (b) the existence and general state of any hidden staves. (I ALWAYS forget which scores have hidden "sound staves" to go with visible, muted "printing staves"; Score Review gives me that information at a glance.)
122
General Discussion / Re: Fixing Transposition Playback Issues
Quote from: Rick G. –
Or press R for Score Review and see the transposition for each of the staves at once.

You still have to fix each staff independently, but you can go directly to any offending staff by either right-clicking or double-clicking on it in the score review box and choosing "Staff Properties..." (right-click and double-click take you to the same pop-up menu).

An aside: are Rick and I the only ones who use Score Review? I rarely or never see it mentioned in other people's posts.
124
General Discussion / Re: Chord Problem
The dotted note with the triplet is still wrong, Lawrie, and if the problem is the placement of the dotted note in relation to the triplet, it's still on topic to point out that the solution is to remove the dot, Peter. However, this whole argument could have been avoided if you'd used this clip instead:

Code: [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.751,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|Key|Signature:C|Tonic:C
|TimeSig|Signature:6/8
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Chord|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First|Dur2:4th,Dotted|Pos2:2
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

In 6/8 time the dot belongs there, and the space allowed for the dot here is the same as it was in your triplet And that space is - as you correctly pointed out - greater than it needs to be.

Gould recommends, in cases like this, to consider reversing the normal order of the note heads, so that the dotted quarter note follows the eighth note it's played together with instead of preceding it. This allows the note heads to butt against each other as if they were on one stem. But either doing that or simply shrinking the space requires layers in NWC (unless Rick can come up with something).
125
General Discussion / Re: Chord Problem
The topic, as I understood it, was what to do about the dot. My answer: leave the dot off, because it doesn't belong there in the first place. Problem solved, in the easiest possible way. Interesting that you should consider it off-topic.
126
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
My blog entry pointed to in another topic (https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=9681.0) explains why I stick with NWC over Finale, Sibelius, MuseScore, or any other notation program.  As for composing by assembling sounds produced on synthesizers, etc., my opinion is the same as hmmueller's - although I do compose partially at the keyboard. When I do that, I write down the music I've created the old-fashioned way, with pencil and manuscript paper, and then enter it into NWC and modify and/or extend it as needed to fit the form I'm trying to create.

The music I write is intended for use by performers to reach their (and my) listeners. That requires standard notation, for the most part. If one is just trying to entertain one's self, one might do it a different way.

edit: Lawrie posted while I was writing. Just want to add here that I agree with him.
127
General Discussion / Re: Chord Problem
Sorry, Peter, but I don't think this is a matter of opinion. Without a tuplet bracket on the upper voice, that voice has no tuplet. If it has no tuplet, the dot gives it a half-beat longer time than the tuplet below it takes. Double-stemmed writing is a way of placing two independent voices on the same staff, and they should be treated as if they were on separate staves, except where required for ease of reading. Dotting the upper voice in this instance complicates the reading rather than making it easier.

If this seems unclear, consider how two eighth notes in the upper voice against a triplet in the lower voice would be handled. The eighth notes in the upper voice don't get dots. It is common to use a duplet bracket against the triplet bracket in such cases, but that's necessary only for clarification, not for accuracy -  I've seen music where the duplet bracket doesn't appear, or appears only the first time in a long section of two-against-three writing.

I'm not a ranking expert in notation, of course, so I checked Elaine Gould's book (Behind Bars) just now. She doesn't specifically address the problem of showing a dotted note against a triplet; however, she does discuss tuplets in double-stemmed writing, and in the single example she gives there of a  tuplet with stems one direction against a note in the other voice that takes the entire time of the tuplet (an 8th note triplet against a quarter note, as in your example), that note is undotted. I think that's definitive.
128
General Discussion / Re: Chord Problem
It's making space for the dot. The dot shouldn't be there, BTW: the triplet and the quarter note are in two separate voices, and the upstem voice doesn't have a triplet in it.
129
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
I started in 1996, so going on 22 years. NWC has changed a LOT in that time, and I've had to learn every change by trial and error. A lot of error. That's computers.

Re templates, BTW: I deal with them by simply not using them. It's not that much work to set up a score from scratch, and every one is slightly different. I HAVE been known to take a string quartet, save it under a new name, and strip all the music out of it....so I've used previous scores as templates. But you don't have to organize a separate set of templates for that, just organize your scores.
131
General Discussion / Re: Moving or placing all dynamics in one position
(1) For moving all the dynamics at once (and similar tasks), you need the user tool globalmod.og (make sure it's got the .og suffix: that's the one that doesn't require "speaking code"). It may be included with the install these days - I'm not sure. Otherwise, you can download it from this forum. Find it at https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=9383.0. It's dialog-based: it will lead you through the process with questions in dialog boxes. No need to figure out a code syntax.

(2) The best cheap alternative to Gould's book that I know of is actually free: it's a pamphlet called "Standard Music Notation Practice" put out by the Music Publishers' Association. Find it at http://www.mpa.org/sites/mpa.org/files/standard-practice-engraving.pdf. It won't answer all of your questions, though.

3) Re positioning dynamics: you don't need to make them all the same height. The primary need is to keep them from colliding with other score elements. It's best to have dynamics associated with a hairpin at the same height as the hairpin, though. And a score looks better if all the dynamics in the same system are as close to the same height as possible. But both of those rules are flexible if there is a need. Do try to center dynamics under the first note they apply to.
132
Object Plugins / Re: PageTxtMaestro.nw
Font size percentage will differ by which font you use and how big you have it set on the "fonts" tab of the Page Setup dialogue box, but yeah, that sounds about right.
133
General Discussion / Re: Review of NWC on my blog
One other point that may not be clear: to pull an orphan measure up into the previous system, you need to be inserting spacers in the measures of the previous system, not in the measure you're trying to pull up.
135
General Discussion / Re: Putting notes in the other staff in piano music
For notes in the other staff on the same side of the beam, just add the notes in the staff they will sound in and set their stem lengths to zero. Cover these notes with muted notes with no ledger lines, but with stems, from the staff with the beam. For what you call "N-shaped" beams, you will have to have a beam in each staff. Set stem direction down in the upper staff and up in the lower staff, and adjust the stem lengths so the beams exactly overlap.
136
General Discussion / Re: File and Project Organization
Empathy from this quarter. I'm in the process of trying to decide which beginning I want to extend into a complete piano quartet, choosing among a couple of dozen starts I've made over the last ten years. My file system is pretty scattershot, so it's not been easy. Two tools you may not have thought of: one is NWC's "file history" window ("History" in the File menu, or "File History" in the MRU window that opens from the file-folder icon in the lower LH corner). This is the only spot I'm aware of in NWC where the complete file paths to recently opened files are displayed, and it goes back a very long way - mine currently has 66 files in it. The second tool is a good file duplicate finder. I use FileGuru, but there are others. Getting rid of identical files placed in different folders is a necessary step in the process you and I are both going through right now.

My basic organization is by chamber music, choral music, orchestral music, solos and duets, and songs. There are subfolders in each category for things like string quartets, piano solos, songs with chamber accompaniment, etc. I also have separate folders for recently performed works and for sketches, although I'm not sure either of those is useful. I decided this morning to eliminate my "current projects" folder, as I hadn't actually been using it - just going to the type of music the project would normally be filed under, such as "/solos and duets/piano"

Dunno if this helps, other than the comfort of knowing that you're not alone.
137
General Discussion / Re: Review of NWC on my blog
Too tired last night to add this list, but here it is now, for those who don't have access to Behind Bars. The space between staff lines for the different rastral numbers is given in millimeters in Gould's book: I've done a quick conversion to computer-font point size (1 mm = roughly 2.8 points).

  • Rastral 0:  26   pts   (educational music)
  • Rastral 1:  22.5 pts  (educational music)
  • Rastral 2:  21 pts     (piano music, songs)
  • Rastral 3:  20 pts     (piano music, songs; single-stave parts)
  • Rastral 4:  18 pts     (piano music, songs; single-stave parts)
  • Rastral 5:  17 pts     (piano music, songs; single-stave parts)
  • Rastral 6:  16 pts     (choral music, cue staves, ossia)
  • Rastral 7:  14 pts     (choral music, cue staves, ossia)
  • Rastral 8:  10.5 pts   (full orchestra scores)

Keep in mind that these are only guidelines: smaller or larger font sizes may be needed to make the music balance properly on the page.
138
General Discussion / Re: Review of NWC on my blog
I'm going to give you a qualified "yes." There's a useful chart in Elaine Gould's book Behind Bars on appropriate rastral sizes for different types of music (a "rastral" is the distance between two adjacent lines on a staff). You'll find it on p. 483. If you're not familiar with Gould's book, you might want to check it out - it's the "Bible" for current notation practice.
141
General Discussion / Re: Review of NWC on my blog
I'll give you a quick step-by-step run-down here, without screen shots; perhaps someone (perhaps even me) will write a more complete guide to place on the Scriptorium later on.

For adjusting system lengths ("casting off" in publisher's terminology), your main tools are the spacer, the system break (which can also be adapted for use as a page break) and the "Disable Justify" switch in Print Preview.

  • To insert a spacer, press the <Insert> key on your keyboard. Repeated presses will increase the width of the spacer. A spacer overrides the program's automatic spacing, so the space you're adjusting usually shrinks to begin with; it widens again as you keep pressing <Insert>.
  • A system break can be obtained in either of two ways: as an attribute of a barline, or as a boundary object. In either case, it has to be placed on the top staff of the score. Boundary objects are the recommended method. To place one, move the cursor to the measure where you want to begin the new system and press the right bracket key (<]>). Go to the bottom of the "Notation Properties" dialogue box that appears and click the radio button beside "Force a new system (top staff only)". If you want the new system to begin on a new page, click on the "Start a new page" checkoff box on the same line of the dialogue box.
  • To disable justification in Print Preview, press <F11>, or go to the menu (obtained by clicking on the three-line symbol between the two arrows in the top right-hand corner of the screen) and click on "Disable Justify". A red line will appear at the right-hand margin of the page, and each system will shrink to the length it would be with the minimal spacing NoteWorthy considers adequate. The space between the red line and the end of each system is the extra space you will have to work with in that system.

There are a number of places you may want to use these tools - to create convenient page turns in parts, for example, or to move a rehearsal letter or time signature off the beginning of a system - but their most common use is to improve the appearance of the last system. To do this:

(1) go to Print Preview and press <F11>. Look first at the last system. If it contains only one or two measures, you will probably want to try to get those measures up onto the previous system. If it contains three measures or more - but still looks bad - your fix will probably involve bringing one or more measures down from the previous system.

(2) To bring an orphan measure up into the previous system, look back through the score until you find a system with plenty of space at the right end. (It also helps if the first measure in the next system is short enough to almost fit in the space at the end of the previous system that you're working with.) Look for blank places that can be shrunk in the system you've identified. Good candidates are whole notes and whole-measure rests, but you can work with smaller note values if you have to. Press <Insert> to insert a spacer in your chosen blank space - you may also have to insert spacers in the same measure in other staves - and then keep pressing <Insert> to widen the spacer until the measure looks good. Check Print Preview again. If the orphan measure has popped up, you're done. If it hasn't, first try reducing the size of your spacer. (IMPORTANT TIP: do NOT use the <Backspace> key - it will erase the whole spacer. Highlight the spacer, press <Alt><Enter>, and adjust the width in the Properties dialogue box.) If that doesn't work, or if you get it to work but the measure you've been adjusting looks too short, find another spot where there is room at the end of a system and go through the same process again.

(3) to bring a measure down, find a system with very little space at its right end and insert a system break in its last measure. The almost-full system will still look good, and everything below it will bump down, usually all the way to the system you need to fill out. If the last system doesn't change, that means that one of the systems between the break you placed and the end of the piece absorbed the bumped-down measure. That system itself will now be almost full. Use Disable Justify to find it and go through the same process again.

Hope this quick review helps. I'll consider turning it into a pdf, better organized and with screen shots, when I have a bit more time. One more tip: if the score has more than one place where system lengths need adjusting, start with the one closest to the beginning of the score. It is likely to change system breaks all the way down, and you may find that just that one adjustment will fix everything.
142
General Discussion / Review of NWC on my blog
I recently finished a string quartet (written with NWC, of course) and haven't started a new project yet, so I've had a little time on my hands. I used some of it to investigate the wider world of music notation as it currently stands. You can read the result on my blog: here's the link:

http://www.williamashworth.net/blog.htm?post=1073008

While you're on my website, which hosts the blog, you can also listen to some of my music. No scores up yet, though I may eventually post some. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas.

Bill
143
General Discussion / hairpins
If I could have just one change in NWC right now, it would be to modify the hairpin algorithm so that hairpins do not conflict with dynamics.

Dynamics should always be centered under the first note they apply to (per Elaine Gould, Behind Bars, pp. 102-103).  When you do that in NWC, a hairpin that begins on the same note will overlay the dynamic. There is a relatively simple way to fix that, but it requires three staves, two of them muted and one hidden, to do the work of one. The algorithm needs to be modified to cause hairpins to begin after the dynamic, when a dynamic is present on the initial note.

This would save me a whole lot of work on the string quartet score I'm currently preparing for submission.

While the hairpin algorithm is under reconstruction, it would also be nice if it could change the way hairpins behave across system breaks. The louder portion of a hairpin that extends across a break should be open at both ends; i.e., a decrescendo across a break should be open at both its large and small ends on the first system, and a crescendo should be similarly open on the second system. (The same thing applies for any break in a hairpin, such as breaks to allow intermediate dynamics to be placed.) You can fix these with digital whiteout, but it's messy and time-consuming. It would be really helpful if NWC would do it automatically. Eric?
144
General Discussion / Re: Latency Adjuster
Quote
"NOTE: ASIO4ALL is a generic ASIO driver that works with most audio interfaces, your experience may be different, including long periods of silence and head-scratching." - from the FLStudio online manual.

I tried ASIO4ALL a few years ago and had enough of those "long periods of silence and head-scratching" that I abandoned it after a few days and went back to the standard WDM output. I realize that many people swear by ASIO, but I was swearing at it instead. It's not necessarily a solution for everybody. In my case, adjusting the buffer size in my softsynth (SyFonOne) worked much better.
145
General Discussion / Re: Buglet in printing?
I agree with Rick, here: I don't see anything wrong with the current way of doing things. If you don't want the conductor's staff visible at all times, and you have another staff which will always be present at the top of the score, try making the conductor's staff the second staff in the system. Layer the top staff with it, instead of vice versa. I often do this for parts - it allows you to put system breaks, etc., in the part they're relevant for instead of having to constantly shift them around in the conductor's staff while preparing the parts.
146
General Discussion / Re: Transpose staff
In the "Transpose Staff" dialog box, at the bottom, there's a section labeled "New Key Signature Preference." Check "Favor sharp keys in ambiguous cases." That should do the job. If that doesn't work, you can change the key signature by hand and then use the "audit enharmonic spelling" tool in the "audit" submenu of the "tools" menu.