Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Transposing only part of a staff (Read 3499 times) previous topic - next topic

Transposing only part of a staff

I am new to using NoteWorthy composer. I find it to be a great composition tool, very flexible and with really great printing quality. What I would like to do is transpose only part of a staff. For example, I have a song going along in the key of G, then there's a transition, and it continues in the key of A. Since the chorus in A is the same as the chorus in G, I'd like to just copy and paste it, then transpose the latter part of the staff up 2 semi-tones. However the transpose function seems to only affect the whole staff or none at all. Does anyone have a solution so that I don't have to completely re-enter that whole section manually in a new key?

Also, does any version of NWC have the ability to add
8va--------| symbols above or below a staff, so I don't have to add notes with 4 or 5 leger lines, which my students find hard to read? Thanks.

Marti

Re: Transposing only part of a staff

Reply #1 –
Firstly - you can enter the 8va above or below as an option when you enter a clef.

To transpose only part of a staff.
Copy the section to be transposed onto another empty staff or a staff in another window.
Transpose this staff.
Cut or Copy and Paste back into the original staff.

Make sure your staves have a key signature - even when in C major or A minor otherwise transposition wont occur as expected.

Re: Transposing only part of a staff

Reply #2 –
I very infrequently see 8va attached to a cleff. Sometimes I see 8vbasso on string bass parts but frequently its just assumed for these. Its much more frequent to see 8va------------------ over a section of a staff. As Marti says - it cuts down on the eye strain trying to count the ledger lines.

In NWC you can add 8va------- as text over a section of a staff, but you can't get NWC to do the transposition just for that section. Now there's an idea! I'm off to the wish list.

- now there's a good idea. I'm off to the wish list!

Re: Transposing only part of a staff

Reply #3 –
'Til it's implemented, a workaround is... once again... to have visible muted staves with the 8va----- over them as needed, and a "sounded" hidden staff where you insert clefs with the appropriate octave up/down option clicked to make the sound follow accordingly. Or, since these staves will be hidden anyway during printing or display with NWP, simply live with the high (or low) notes on leger lines.

Re: Transposing only part of a staff

Reply #4 –
Hi Marti,

Regarding copying the chorus and transposing, there are a couple of ways you can do this...

If the part you're copying is very short, sometimes it is easiest to simply cut and paste the section. With the pasted section highlighted, use CTRL-SHIFT with up-arrow/down-arrow to move the block up and down the staff to the correct position. This of course does not put accidentals on, as it is only moving the notes up and down the staff, so you have to go back and put them by hand. Again, if the section being copied and transposed is very short, this can be a quick solution.

The other way is to temporarily add a new staff. Set it up in the old key and copy your chorus to that staff. Then transpose the staff to the new key. Copy and paste the new chorus to where you want it, then delete the temporary staff from your score. This doesn't take very much time and will do the job nicely. You may have to force accidentals and audit accidentals to get the new section to look correct for the key it is now in.

Regarding the "8va---------" markings, if you don't care about playback but only care about the printed score, then the advice already given to use the text insert tool works beautifully. (You may have to play with it a little to get it to look the way you want on paper.)

The other advice to use the octave shift up/down on the clef will certainly take care of playback, but may/may not be interpreted as elegantly by the musician reading the printed score. So the advice to use two staffs - a mute but visible staff with the "8va" text on it, and a non-muted but hidden staff that uses the octave shift, will take care of both the playback and the printed score.

Good Luck!

Sue
 

Re: Transposing only part of a staff

Reply #5 –
The simplest solution to the 8va problem is to combine
the two techniques: use Insert Text for the 8va------
and insert "octave up" and "octave down" clefs before
and after the 8va section. A couple of extranous clefs
on the score shouldn't be that distracting, and you don't
have to play with hidden staves.

- seb