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Topic: Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords (Read 5959 times) previous topic - next topic

Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords

Hi,

I read the User Tip entitled "Entering Sharps and Flats for Chord Symbols with the NWC Font" and now I can enter
music symbols in a text field, (my thanks to the author of that tip). However, I can't figure out how to mix the music symbols (sharps and flats) with letters for the chord names. I can only seem to apply a single font to one text field, (rather than a font to each character).

I can get the effect I want by putting the various
characters in separate text items and using "preserve width" feature, however, then the chord names don't align with the music.

Have I missed something obvious here? Does anyone
have a simple method for mixing the music symbols and
letters for chord notation above a staff of music?

Thanks and Regards,

- Dave

Re: Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords

Reply #1 –
I just use the hash (shift 3) and lower case b for sharps and flats.

Re: Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords

Reply #2 –
There isn't a simple way for entering Rich Text Format text. It just isn't supported by NWC at the moment.

You can try using "concurrent" non-width-preserved text, with subsequent characters padded to the right be blank spaces.

Andrew

Re: Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords

Reply #3 –
If any of you have made and progress on this one, I'd love to hear it. I'm struggling with the text aligment and getting them entered in (in less than 12 hours a page) using the text tool.

Re: Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords

Reply #4 –
Hi,
Re entering chord symbols. Has anyone tried using the lyrics feature to do it? Using the insert text command I also ran into major trouble trying to add chord symbols. The lyrics feature looked like it might be a way to do it but I haven't had a chance to work with it yet.

Re: Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords

Reply #5 –
Using the lyrics for chords will work if you want the chords all at the same height, and you want chords for most notes (otherwise you need a lot of underscores). It does not help the mixed font problem Dave is having. What is needed is a font containing both musical symbols and standard characters. Anyone know where to find one?

If you must do insert text with multiple fonts, (aligned with leading spaces - what you see on the screen is different than Print Preview, which is different again from what actually is printed) you might have better luck with monospace fonts than proportional fonts.

Re: Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords

Reply #6 –
I don't see how the lyrics feature could be used. You wouldn't be able to insert chord changes during instrumental parts... at least not with a lot of 'padding'. I'm not sure how an introduction could be 'chorded' using the lyrics feature. There would be no first note to attach it to.

The workaround I came up with is to make a staff of rests as the top staff, use rests of similar duration as notes, and insert text where appropriate, using a negative 'staff position' to lower the chord names to the top of the next staff (which was 'vocals' in the original file in question).

Re: Mixing Symbols and Letters for Chords

Reply #7 –
Using Text symbols, I obtain rather stable results when mixing these two fonts: TimesNewRoman|Bold|10 and MusicalSymbol|Normal|20 when using a staff size of 19 (then changing it don't alter placements)

You may find an example at http://www.geocities.com:80/Paris/LeftBank/1357/nwc/flotsjvr.zip (1260 bytes) (go to measure 15)

Please let me/us know if this helps you, and if not, why.
You may also send me your file, and I'll try on my side (at madmarsu@musician.org )

Dominique