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Topic: Welcome to the Guitar Tab Forum :) (Read 8563 times) previous topic - next topic

Welcome to the Guitar Tab Forum :)

All kidding aside, it would appear that a number of people have been experimenting with ways to do guitar tab in NWC for some time now. I thought it might be useful to compare & contrast the 3 approaches that have been posted recently. I will do this in order of the original post date.

Rick G. - this approach was created before there were custom objects, hence this is the only approach that will work in version 2.51a. It uses a separate 1-line staff for each string, and uses text objects for the fret numbers.  It is also the only approach of the three which provides rhythm marks. Although the attached score does not include a notation staff, one could be added. This approach allows the tab staff line spacing to be controlled separately from a multi-line staff.

Mike - this approach uses two custom objects (TabClef_ms.test, Tab_ms.test) to do its work, and uses a custom six-line staff. It requires that a mute, blank notehead, zero-stem-length note or chord be placed on the tab staff lines, and an instance of the Tab.ms custom object be inserted in front of each note. This custom object is configured with the fret numbers for that note/chord. The object draws the fret numbers at the notehead locations, and optionally plays back the tab note. A single TabClef.ms object is placed at the beginning of the custom staff, and will replicate the TAB clef across multiple systems. This approach has the disadvantage of having the same staff line spacing as would a notation staff, if one were present, so the tab staff lines would be a bit too close together when there are both types of staff in a system.

NWO - this approach also uses two custom objects (TabStaff.test, TabFret.test), but does not require a separate staff. The actual notes for the tab part are added to a regular notation staff. The user increases the upper or lower margin for this staff to reserve room for the tab staff. A single TabStaff.test object is then placed at the beginning of the notation staff, which draws the TAB clef, 6 staff lines, and bar lines in the reserved margin area. This object also allows the tab staff line spacing to be adjusted. An instance of the TabFret.test object is placed in front of each note; parameters in this object specify the note numbers to be drawn on each of the tab staff lines for that note. Object-driven playback is not required by this approach, because the notation staff already provides this.

If I have misstated or left out any important details, please feel free to post a correction.

Thanks,
Mike
 

Re: Welcome to the Guitar Tab Forum :)

Reply #1 –
TabStaff.test and TabFret.test have moved into the official Object Plugins board. This allows them to be managed from the Tools, Manage Objects area in NWC.