Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Gray notes (Read 2520 times) previous topic - next topic

Gray notes

I'm trying out the software; some of it's great, some of it's puzzling.

Current puzzle -- I downloaded a midi filed from the web, opened it in Noteworthy.  There are maybe ten staffs; the line under which the vocal words appear has a lot of gray notes on the same stems as the darker notes.  In fact, the gray notes, whole chords of gray notes, start several measures before any sound starts on any of the staffs (all the rest of the staffs have rests for a few measures). 

What are they gray notes?

They seem to be on a staff that underlies the vocal line staff, and they never play.  The piece doesn't seem to be missing anything in not playing them, but I've never heard them so maybe I'm wrong.

Why would noteworthy create an entire staff of notes grayed out, when opening a midi file?

Re: Gray notes

Reply #1 –
G'day Tella,
I'm not quite sure about the phenomenon you're seeing, but it sounds like a combination of things.

The grey and black note on the same staff suggests that there are 2 staves layered on each other.

To confirm this, click the |View| menu and check |Allow Layering| - if it is ticked then click on it to turn layering off - this will separate any staves that are layered over each other.

Arrgh!  'ang on a tick...

OK, I just did a quick test and imported a MIDI with lyrics.  The lyric staff is greyed out and each individual note is muted.  Their purpose is to give a place to hang the lyrics on.  It is a single line staff which was layered on the staff above it. 

NWC has considerable flexibility.  A separate lyric staff that gets layered onto other staves as required is a common practice.  I use it regularly when I write arrangements for the stuff we do at church so that I can have a part with correct lyric layout even though the notes for the instrument don't necessarily occur at the same point in time as the lyric would require.

Each object (note, rest etc.) on this lyric staff is |Visibility|Never| - this is a property of each object.  Thus, the lyrics will show on your printout (Check in |Print|Preview|), but nothing else on the staff will print.

They are grey so that their presence is known in the editor, and that they will be hidden in the printout.

I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.