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Topic: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once (Read 5334 times) previous topic - next topic

Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

I enter a lot of choral music to help me learn my part.  If I have time I like to enter all 4 parts and play them back together.  However, especially when first learning a piece I would like to hear my part (tenor) louder than the others.

So I'm looking for a quick way to mark my staff so that all dynamics are increased (or mark the others so they are all decreased), without having to change every dynamic marking.

At first I thought I could use the Staff Properties "Midi" tab, which has a "Part Volume", and that I could decrease all the other staves from the default value of 127.  Perhaps this works if I had an external MIDI device to play the piece on.  When I just play it through my sound card, however, it has no effect.  All staves play at the original dynamics specified in the piece.  (Although "Mute staff" does work to silence a staff completely.)

Does anyone have a solution for this?  It seems like it would be a common desire.  Thanks for your help.

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #1 –
There is not any easy way to do this globally using just MIDI volume changes if your staff dynamics override MIDI volume. Do your dynamics really override MIDI volume (you would have to manually do this when entering the dynamics)?

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #2 –
I frequently use NWC for hymns so that our congregation can "learn their parts".

I use 5 staves, one for Soprano, one for Alto, one for Tenor, one for Bass, and one for Drums.  I use the "Acoustic Grand Piano" voice for all parts except the drums.

I use the "Staff Properties" | "MIDI tab" to adjust the volume of each individual staff.  In this manner I can emphasize each part so that it can easily be heard above all the others.  I then save the file with the "emphasized part" included in the file name.  I save these files as both NWC files and as "Type 1 MIDI" files.  I then use Microsoft's Sound Recorder to create ".wav" files and then create Audio CD's  from the .wav files and distribute the Audio CD's to members of our congregation.  Each CD has 5 tracks:  one with all parts at the regular volume, and then other tracks with each part emphasized (volume-wise) for individual practice.

Be advised that I DO NOT use standard dynamics, e.g., f, ff, fff, etc., rather I use the MPC to change volume levels within each song and use the "text" tool for entering the dymanics in an appropriate location, if this be required.

This procedure works like a charm.  I have had absolutely no problems doing this.

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #3 –
Dymanics???

That's a new one to me too!

My apologies, abiding, profuse and profound!

Debo

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #4 –
Well said Debo!
Despite being told on a previous occasion that I was talking ‘rubbish’, I still maintain that using Dynamics to alter the Volume parameter is a bad idea – and this is a good example of why!
Use Staff/Staff Properties/Midi/Part Volume to set the relative Volumes of the various parts, then leave it alone.  If you want one part much louder than the rest, it is easily done this way.  Then, when you insert dynamics (pp, mf, ff etc.) DO NOT put a tick in the Override Default MIDI Volume box (but you can override Default Note Velocity if you wish).
If you want a “swell” effect, or a crescendo or diminuendo on a sustained note, as in organ music for example, use Multipoint Controller ‘Expression’.
In MIDI terms, Volume is MIDI controller number 7; Expression is MIDI controller number 11.
I may be talking ‘rubbish’, but believe me, it works very well, and is, I believe, the method that professional producers of MIDI files do it.

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #5 –
Your not talking rubbish from my point of view - your spot on.

Commercial MIDI file producers do that because they recognize that sound devices vary in their dynamic output and end users may need to change the patches or edit the file to achieve balance across tracks.
A guitar may sound louder on my AWE32 than it does on your Audiophile or someone else's Roland Sound Canvas.
The end user can quickly adjust the track balance using a single controller at the head of the track without having to edit hundreds of Volume controllers within the file.

I'd go a step further and use Velocity changes only for  accents and use Expression controllers for ALL dynamics.
If you check out the MIDI events in a commercial file you would find that the velocities of notes vary from note to note providing subtle accents within the overall dynamic envelope.

A good reference on this subject is Dave Clackett's "Handbook of MIDI Sequencing" (PC Publishing) - Dave is the director of "Hands On Midi" a British MIDI sequencing house.

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #6 –
I guess that the contraction for "you are" is "your" in Australia...

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #7 –
I do something similar, except that I pan all parts to one channel (0), except the part I am emphasizing, which I pan to the other (127). I then save 4 versions (e.g. "Name S", "Name A", etc.) Then the user can use the windows controls (accessible from the player or viewer toolbar) to pan center to hear all parts, or left or right (I forget which)  to hear only his/her part.

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #8 –
I also do the pan thing, but I've noticed that on some systems panning away from center makes everything louder, while on other systems panning away from center makes everything softer.  Anyone else notice this?  And what is probably more common?

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #9 –
Would this be an acceptable quick workaround?

Say it's a 3 part score.  You would have

staff 1 (main) and staff 1a (duplicate)
staff 2 (main) and staff 2a (duplicate)
staff 3 (main) and staff 3a (duplicate)

Set the dynamic values very low on all the main staffs, perhaps with the numerical setting for fff not more than, say, 75.  Then make the numerical setting for ppp in each duplicate score not less than 80.

For playback emphasizing the first part, you would mute staffs 1, 2a and 3a.  To bring out the second part instead, mute 1a, 2 and 3a.

For printing, just hide all of the duplicate staffs from the page setup menu.

I haven't tried this workaround, it just seems like something that could work.

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #10 –
Thanks to all those with helpful hints.  I am still somewhat puzzled; but I do have a solution (implied by "NoteWorthy Onlne") for most files.  And I learned a lot as well.

After reading the response from "NoteWorthy Online" I realized that the file on which I tested this was one I had converted from MIDI rather than one I had entered myself.  Aha, I thought, it must contain dynamics that have "override default MIDI volume" checked.  But no, as far as I could tell looking at the score in NWC, it didn't appear to have any dynamics at all.

Then after further experimentation I found that it was only the first staff that caused the problem.  I could mute that staff, and it would be silent.  But if I did not mute it, I could set the part volume all the way down to 0, and it would be just as loud as at 127.  However, I can see nothing in the staff properties that looks very different from the others.  Any ideas for that staff?

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #11 –
It looks as if you might have to open the original midi file in (say) Cakewalk and study the event list in order to solve this one!  Perhaps there is a midi message at the beginning of the staff/track that does not get ‘translated’ when you convert to NWC.
Meanwhile, try putting a multi point controller set for very low volume a few bars (measures) into the ‘rogue’ staff/track.  If this has the expected effect, then there probably is something at the beginning of the track that NWC is not recognising.
BTW, have you made sure all staffs are visible on your screen?  (File menu/Page Set Up/Contents/Visible Parts).  On a few occasions when I have opened other people’s files in NWC, I have been quite surprised at the difference between the visible and hidden staffs.

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #12 –
If the problem is as Graham suggests, back up the file, then copy the contents of that staff to a new one and delete the troublesome staff.

It may not tell you what was wrong, but it might give you the result.

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #13 –
Thanks.  That suggestion about copying the contents of the staff to a new staff did solve the problem.
 

Re: Increase (or decrease) all dynamics on a staff at once

Reply #14 –
Brilliant idea, David!  Why didn't I think of that?!