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Topic: A thought (Read 7721 times) previous topic - next topic

A thought

You know all the work-arounds that everybody has created, shouldn't they be added to the next release because they have been solved for you. And things like the drum converter, Barry or somebody wrote a program to do it... so why couldn't it go in the program as well? Also bar repeat, maybe the % sign can be used because it looks just like one of the notation for repeating last bar. Also many others. I wonder because I am wondering if it will be better to wait or to buy one of those mega notation programs. I do not want to do this because Noteworthy has the most efficient method for entering music and printing. SO all I want to know is what can we expect?

Yours truly

Re: A thought

Reply #1 –
What is the name of the thing that looks like one of these stretched out:
<

This one goes under a group of notes to tell the musician to play louder gradualy. There is also the opposite:
>

Does NWC have this one? What is it called? I have been writing this one on the music after the print. Please forgive me that I do not know.

Re: A thought

Reply #2 –
Those are called "hairpins", for lack of a better word. There is a pair of them in the Boxmarks font, but they're on the small side. I use them for short, fast fades or swells, (together with volume mpc's for the sound) and use cresc. / decresc. for the longer ones.

Re: A thought

Reply #3 –
about < and > : if you use a postscript printer, you may refer to https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=149 , but I fear this doesn't work on all PS printers. At least I can't make it work with the HPLJ4+PS I have at work. No time to investigate rite now...

About including external solutions into NWC: sure it'd be wonderful :-) but it's a lot of work, even if you have the source code for it. Reusability of program is possible only with "common interfaces"... Especially when you want to keep mastering every single line of code (which is my own technique, not the better for sure on some projects).

About Boxmarks font, I'll probably have some time during end of summer to add some chars in it (or in another font). Maybe the version of NWC for the 3rd mill. will include more than we expect :-) There is still 550 days before it after all ;-)

NWCly yours

Re: A thought

Reply #4 –
Workarounds are really the creative ways that users of NWC (or any other program for that matter) have found to do things that were not designed into the program. They range from the pretty simple, such as adding notes or rests to both staves when using layering to get the alignment just right, to the very complex, like Marsu's hairpin solution for PostScript printers. Some are even encouraged by the program's author, like the ability to incorporate user fonts in a piece.

You really must decide what you want to do with the program. If you really need to produce typeset quality output for virtually any situation that could arise, then NWC may not be the best solution for you. Likewise, if you want to produce production ready MIDI output for everything from Bach to Shoenberg to Jethro Tull, NWC probably won't get you there. These uses need the right tools for the job (read Finale, Cubasis, Cakewalk, and $$$£££¥¥¥)

For me and many others, NWC is an excellent fit. It fits my budget, it runs flawlessly on almost any computer you ask it to (right Fred and Richard?), and it has an easy learning curve. It does 80% - 90% of what I want to do, and another 5% with various workarounds. Part of the fun of NWC is finding a way to accomplish that 5%. Take away the fun of creativity in workarounds, and making music with NWC will become a lot like writing with Word/WordPerfect -- technically excellent but really boring. We all have our wish list items that would make NWC "perfect" in our eyes. Unfortunately, if all of these were implemented, we would have a combination of Finale and Cakewalk, with a price tag of the two combined.

My bottom line: Give us an upgrade every 6 - 12 months implementing the top couple of wishes and I'll be thrilled!! (especially if haripins are included <REALLY BIG GRIN>)

--Peter

Re: A thought

Reply #5 –
We don't need "a combination of Finale and Cakewalk". A few well-chosen features can make a big difference, which we tend to get each release.

The one big thing preventing me from getting the printed scores to look the way I want is (you guessed it) HAIRPIN CRESCENDO symbols. Everything else is infrequently needed (glissando, etc), or can be worked around.

Re: A thought

Reply #6 –
I wonder why on Earth you should pick on Fred & me ?
Strange !!!

Seriously though, I 100% agree with your sentiments.

I am recently feeling rather pleased with myself for adapting Warren Porter's way of getting n-tuplets into Noteworthy. Having adaped this I have also managed to get a three four bar at the same time as a four four bar and OK it doesn't look good but if I want to print - I get as close as I can to a realistic copy and then touch up with a DTP package.

I can't imagine ever being able to afford the wizz bang software packages unless I win the lottery and even then, I can't imagine any package being more user friendly than NoteWorthy. On top of which there are a great bunch of people to help with any music topic you could imagine, both users and NoteWorthy artware. I am quite happy with all that NoteWorthy gives me and look forward to version 2 which I think is probably on the horizon now.

BTW I am hanging on to my troglodite systems but the time is rapidly approaching when I will have to etc etc ...

Rich.

Re: A thought

Reply #7 –
I was recently asked by a friend to evaluate Sibelius for his school, and they gave me a copy for a month. While you can do a lot more with it than with NWC: hairpins, Ossia staves, guitar chords, more text items, swing, etc. Yet even if someone gave me the program for free, I would still use NWC for almost all my music and only do the few pieces that really needs a special feature with another program.

The ease of use of NWC really hit home yesterday when my 9 yr old daugther entered a simple song all by herself from only watching me use the program.

My biggest wish list item is hairpins and transposable guitar chords (Text and/or frames).

Re: A thought

Reply #8 –
yes, hairpins are a must. I also think that sloping slurs, and slurs/ties above/below notes are also needed to produce professional looking music

Secondary (but still important IMHO) are page breaks and staff suppression/multiple rests, and I still have a niggle about note head alignment on simultaneous chords.

Peter

Re: A thought

Reply #9 –
I would suggest that the user control sloping slurs by setting vertical offsets for the start and end points. Having the program do it is a very difficult task, because it is so subjective.

Re: A thought

Reply #10 –
I think it'd be a cinch to add hairpins to Noteworthy as they'd be implemented exactly the same as doing slurs and ties...

Re: A thought

Reply #11 –
Like slurs, yes. Like ties, no. Slurs are associated
with two points on the score; ties are associated with
a solitary note (or chord).

Now here's a question: how would NWC handle a hairpin
without dynamic markings on both sides? Would it always
just "gradualize" the progression from the current dynamic
on the left to the current dynamic on the right? (Which
means that crescendo and decrescendo hairpins would actually
functional identically.) In scores you often see, for example, a crescendo hairpin in a "p" environment followed by
an explicit "p". Doesn't that mean a crescendo followed by a
sudden piano? "p" to "p" wouldn't do very much. :-)

- seb

Re: A thought

Reply #12 –
A hairpin, I assume, would just be a graphic without any midi attributes.
It would be a sign for the performer not the software.
Similar to the status of marks such as Sforzando in the current set of Dynamic Variance.

Re: A thought

Reply #13 –
The "hairpins" that a lot of you are mentioning would be a nice addition to NWC. As I don't know any of your backgrounds in music, I don't mean to insult anyone's intellect. A piano followed by a "hairpin" crescendo followed by a piano that you see in scores means you build the volume for the length of the hairpin then drop back down to piano suddenly. There is no implication as to how loud you get, but most musicians increase by 2 or 3 levels. For example, from piano to mezzoforte.

I would also like to see the repeating measure symbol (%) implemented. I have found a work around, I have a music symbols font. I define it as a user font and place text right on the staff in an empty measure. However, NWC only counts measures that have a note or rest, so my measure numbers get screwed.

Multi-measure rests would also be nice, as would short-cuts. These are notes that have hash marks across the stem in the staff. A single hash mark means to divide the note into 8ths, 2 hashes for 16ths, 3 for 32nds.

I'm probably wishing too much, too.

Re: A thought

Reply #14 –
I would hope a hairpin crescendo would have a dynamic setting on the right side, just for convenience. Maybe even the left side too.