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Topic: Reset default direction for slurs & ties (Read 4235 times) previous topic - next topic

Reset default direction for slurs & ties

I have looked all over to try to find an answer to this question.  The website, the WONDERFUL manual by Barry Graham etc.

I key in our choir music for everyone to learn their parts.  I always layer the soprano/alto parts.  (TB, if I have time.)  I have now created a template for myself that has the fonts, margins etc that I try to use.  I am wondering if it is possible to override the default slur/tie directions.  I would like to make my alto line ALWAYS slur under the notes, regardless of the stem direction.  Likewise, soprano should always slur/tie over the notes.

I am forever having to highlight the whole stave, right click, go into properties, & change the direction.  I would LOVE to just have it set the way I want in my template.  Can this be done?

Thanks for your help.

Ann Scharpf

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #1 –
I agree - this would be a useful enhancement.

I've never given much thought how to achieve it (presuming that the template won't save this information), but I suppose you could write a macro to open the template and then make the changes you require.

There's some macro information on the Scriptorium (http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html). I might have a go with AutoIt, which has worked for me in the past with other applications.

HTH
~Simon~

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #2 –
A template is just a NWC file saved in the "Template" folder in the NoteWorthy Composer directory. Just make a NWC file with what you need and drop it in there.

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #3 –
I'm sorry, I responded to fast. You know that information...

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #4 –
I also use layering all the time, and find that the easiest way to achieve the desired result is to select the entire stave, once it is complete, and, using the tie/slur direction boxes, adjust the slur and tie directions for the whole stave. This takes hardly any time at all, and of far more use to me would be a device that detects when, as a result of layering, notes on adjacent lines and spaces overlap, and automatically offsets the note on the lower layered staff as required.

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #5 –
Well, I definitely agree with you about the offsetting, Graham!  The other problem I have is with flags lining up incorrectly and making two layered eighth notes look like sixteenth notes.  I am always having to unlayer the staves and switch the stem direction.  But I don't always want to have the entire soprano stem up & alto stem down.  Sometimes the music seems easier to follow if they're both up or both down.

I do the same thing you do with selecting the whole stave & changing the note properties to slur/tie up or down.  I just thought maybe I'd missed something and there was a way to set the default.

Ann

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #6 –
I've been tinkering with AutoIt, and created a macro that sets the slurs and ties in a file based on the satb template.

Since file attachments are verboten here, I'll send it to the newsgroup.

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #7 –
What I would like to see is the ability to have stems-up notes with the slurs above the heads, not way up above the stems.  You know, like in engraved music.

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #8 –
I'm not sure I've ever seen that, Jeff.  It would confuse the person playing the part, because the slur would cut through the note stems, and could look like another flag.
 

Re: Reset default direction for slurs & ties

Reply #9 –
What I mean is two quarters slurred together.  No stems to cut through, just a cute little curve right near the heads.
And if there are more than two notes slurred together, the slur has an acute curve to start it off, rises above the stems, and ends with an acute curve near the notehead.
If only I could post the examples right here...