Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: When to transpose (Read 4009 times) previous topic - next topic

When to transpose

I can appreciate that (for instance) a note heard from a Bb trumpet when it plays a note scored as C will be a Bb and that it needs to be transposed accordingly.
II want to play and hear a Noteworthy score in it's final form do I enter the notes for all the instruments in Concert pitch and only transpose them later for printing parts?
I believe this must be the case because the instrument patches do not differentiate between (say) a Clarinet in A or Bb - but I can't get my head round it.  Help!

Re: When to transpose

Reply #1 –
Correct. You enter the notes at concert pitch and then you transpose. Use Tools/Transpose Staff and make sure that the "Update staff playback transposition" box is checked; this will keep the actual sound of the staff the same (e.g., for a Bb instrument transposition, a note written as Bb will now look like a C but will still sound like a Bb).

A couple of hints:

  • NWC's staff transposition tool often messes up the enharmonic spelling of accidentals. To minimize this, use the tool sequence "Force Accidentals" -- "Transpose Staff" -- "Force Accidentals" -- "Audit Enharmonic Spelling." You'll probably still have to correct a few accidentals by hand, but not a great many.
  • NWC normally updates all key signatures in the staff. The key of "C" has no signature, so if you are writing in concert C, the transposed staff will not have any signature, either. To avoid this, use the key signature tool to give "C" a signature consisting of all natural signs (this will appear as a single F natural on the staff). The transposed staff will then have the correct number of sharps or flats.

Hope this helps....

Bill

Re: When to transpose

Reply #2 –
Many thanks Bill.

I feel I can now make some progress.

Re: When to transpose

Reply #3 –
You don't have to start with concert pitch.  If you are entering notes from a full score that is already transposed, just enter them as written.  To get the right playback pitch, adjust the staff transposition properties.  Make sure the staff is the right one, then press F2 for staff properties.  Select the midi tab, then for trumpets or clarinets, set the transposition to -2.

If you want to change the transposed part to concert pitch, just enter it as it appeared in your source, then do the opposite of what Bill has directed (since you'll be starting with transposed parts that you are changing to concert pitch).

If you are working from fairly decent source material, Sharpeye.exe is an optical music recognition program that works quite well.  Sharpeye is available from http://www.visiv.co.uk/index.htm   You still have to correct and edit the music, but Sharpeye  will probably cut the amount of time you spend entering the notes in 1/2.  You can use it free for 30 days, but I think you're restricted to processing one image at a time.  The paid version will batch process several pages. 

You have to create an image of the original sheet music as a black and white TIFF file, and import that.  Then Sharpeye processes it.  You fix whatever errors you can there, then save it as an XML file, and use http://www.niversoft.com/'s mxml2nwcc.exe to import it into NWC2, where you do your final corrections.  What used to take me about 30 hours takes only 10 or 15 now.

Sharpeye will make errors, but I find these are reduced if I scan at a higher resolution (400 or 600 dpi) or magnify the image (set your scanner to 110% or more). 

 

Re: When to transpose

Reply #4 –
David, many thanks for the additional information. Looks very interesting.