NoteWorthy Composer Forum

Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-16 04:14 pm

Title: Difficult Notation
Post by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-16 04:14 pm
I would like to know how to key in the notation from the example in the attachment. It's when strings of the orchestra move their bows very fast over two notes to create a buzzing sound.
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: melismata on 2013-08-16 05:01 pm
There are two issues here and these can be resolved separately

You have notes in a chord where the lower note has it's stem pointing upwards while the higher note has it's stem pointing downwards.  This is resolved by using different staves and then combining them into one using the technique called layering.

The second issue is the tremolo markings (you describe this as "the instrument making buzzing sounds").  This you can resolve by installing the "Boxmark2" font freely available from the Scriptorium and insert the mark as a "text" entry.  There may be other fonts on the Scriptorium that have these marks but these are the one that I normally use.

Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-16 05:22 pm
Melismata, thanks for the feedback. I know about layering, just didn't know about the font. When keying it in so as to listen to the music correctly as it should sound, will that font then be interpreted as text or audio?
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: Haymo on 2013-08-16 06:15 pm
Boxmarks & Boxmark2 are strictly text only.
If you want to have it sounding correctly,
(at present) in NWC you would have to mute the printing staves and create hidden staves,
where every single note is notated.
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: Rick G. on 2013-08-16 06:31 pm
No special fonts are needed for this.

Due to the overlapping voices, your example cannot be exactly reproduced in NWC. Your options are to squash them or spread them as shown here:
Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposer(2.5)
|AddStaff|Name:"Staff"
|StaffProperties|EndingBar:Open (hidden)|WithNextStaff:Layer
|Key|Signature:C|Tonic:C
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:#4
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:#4
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Bar
|AddStaff|Name:"Staff-2"
|StaffProperties|EndingBar:Open (hidden)
|Key|Signature:C|Tonic:C
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Rest|Dur:Whole
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:#2|Opts:Stem=Up,XAccSpace=1
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:#2|Opts:Stem=Up,XAccSpace=1,XNoteSpace=1
|Rest|Dur:Half
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposer-End

Give me a couple hours and I will post an example using the format in measure 3.
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: melismata on 2013-08-16 07:33 pm
Boxmarks & Boxmark2 are strictly text only.
If you want to have it sounding correctly,
(at present) in NWC you would have to mute the printing staves and create hidden staves,
where every single note is notated.

Of course, you are right Hymo and thanks for pointing this out.  Having seen the attached picture, my mind immediately went into "printing" mode and forgot all about the sounds!
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: Rick G. on 2013-08-16 07:47 pm
It would help to know the Clef(s)s, Time Signature and Key(s).
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-17 06:44 am
It would help to know the Clef(s)s, Time Signature and Key(s).
Rick, the clef is treble, time is 4/4 and the key is F.
Due to the 128k restriction on graphic attachments, it was impossible to include everything in the graphic.
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: Rick G. on 2013-08-17 08:13 am
You may get some ideas from the attachment.
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-17 08:30 am
Thank you, Rick G. That's very kind of you. I'll go study it.
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: Rick G. on 2013-08-17 08:59 am
If the version you got is in 3/4, you may want to download it again. It should look like the attached pdf.
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-19 01:35 pm
Aside for now: it's very interesting that the only instrument(s) that sound almost like the original instrument are the piano and harpsicord, there are a few others like flute, oboe (at times) and church organ (grand organ) that could be interpreted as "real"; I find the strings are tinny, the large woodwinds are terrible; the brass isn't worth describing. Why is that? Is this dependent on the type of sound card in my machine?
Title: Re: Sound (was Difficult Notation)
Post by: Barry Graham on 2013-08-19 02:46 pm
Ian:
You don't say what your system is (Win XP, Win 7, Win 8)?
The solution to the poor sound quality is definitely your sound device.
What card is installed on your system?

These are some ways to improve the sound:

1. Install a Soft Synth.
Applies mostly to earlier operating systems.

2. Use soundfonts
If your soundcard supports soundfonts (mostly Creative soundcards) you can install soundfonts which are portable samples.
Many good quality soundfonts may be found on the net.

3. Use a good quality external keyboard.
Direct the sound output via a MIDI or USB cable to a keyboard with built-in quality sounds (Roland, Korg etc.).
Operating system independent.

4. Use an external synth module.
Direct the sound output via a MIDI or USB cable to an external synth module like the Ketron SD2.
Operating system independent.

5. Use a sound font player like Synthfont or SyFon1.
FREE solution! (Check the Synthfont web site for compatibility with Win 7 and 8).
Requires a virtual MIDI cable (see below).

6. Use a sample library with a VST player.
The sound output is processed internally by routing the MIDI messages through a software player such as Kontakt 2 or Aria Player accessing a sample library like Garritan Personal Orchestra or Jazz & Big Band samples.
Requires a virtual MIDI cable like MIDI-OX or loopBe.

The last should give the best result.
For example the JABB library contains an array of brass instrument mute samples (Cup, Straight, Harmon etc) and various articulations (legato, staccato etc.) as well as additional instruments not found in the General MIDI set.
Some of the key switching may be difficult with NWC and dynamics use CC1 by preference.

I personally use soundfonts on the X-Fi card with XP.
But playback enhanced MIDI files via Aria Player and the Garritan Jazz and Big Band Library.
I don't use NWC for scoring or playback.

Barry Graham
Melbourne, Australia
Title: Re: Sound (was Difficult Notation)
Post by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-19 02:53 pm
Hi Barry, many thanks for your quick response in the middle of your night. My system is Vista Ultimate 64-bit and my sound card is ASUS XONAR. I do not possess an external audio device and my keyboard is an M-Audio (formerly Evolution MK) input device only. I was listening to some MIDI to NWC files downloaded from other sites.
Title: Re: Sound (was Difficult Notation)
Post by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-19 03:10 pm
Barry, I'm old and confused. The Asus Xonar DG is on my XP machine. The Vista 64-bit machine has onboard sound and is using the NVIDIA High Definition Audio driver, along with the RealTek HDA. Not sure which it's using to render MIDI. Not sure if these HDAs will accept soundfonts either.
Title: Re: Difficult Notation
Post by: Barry Graham on 2013-08-20 12:42 am
Old?  Confused?
Welcome to the club!

Lawrie Pardy has written a good intro to using VST instruments with NWC.
http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Explanations (http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Explanations)
(Scroll down the page to find it).
With a VST host you can use soundfonts or sample libraries like Garritan Personal Orchestra.

If you want to go down the free soundfont path and you don't have a Creative soundcard then search this forum for:-
Synthfont
and
Syfon


Barry Graham
Melbourne, Australia
Title: Re: Sound (was Difficult Notation)
Post by: IanDSamson on 2013-08-20 07:03 am
Thank you, Barry.