Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Breath marks positions (Read 2537 times) previous topic - next topic

Breath marks positions

My present song has 1 lyric below treble clef and no lyric below bass clef.
When I enter "breath marks" with the "best fit" default option the 2 breath marks are not one above the other. The treble mark is after the middle of the space between the notes, the bass mark is before it.
Is this normal or a bug ?
Help is not sufficient. Please clarify what I should obtain with
- best fit,
- before other staff signature,
- after other staff signature,
- at next note/bar signature.

Re: Breath marks positions

Reply #1 –
I agree. Please give us more documentation on these features.

What, for example, are "other staff signatures?" Are they accidentals? Notes? Text?

What are the effects, if any, of right, left and center alignment when "best fit" is selected?

As far as I can tell, "before other staff signatures" and "after other staff signatures" give identical results. If so, why the distinction?

Re: Breath marks positions

Reply #2 –
Best fit will obviously not align the item with items in other staves. If you select "before other staff signatures" then the item will be placed exactly that way: it will be placed before a time, key, or clef signature that appears in any other staff at that location. Selecting "after other staff signatures" will force it to appear after (to the right) of those items if they appear in that same location on other staves. If a breath mark appears at the exact same position on all other staves, you can chose either one to make them align vertically, since no time, clef, or key signature would be present in the other staves at that position.

An example: Open the JINGLE.NWC sample file. Select the "Lively" instruction, then go to Expression Placement. Set the Alignment to "after other staff signatures" and see what happens. The item is displaced to the right, now appearing after the key and time signature in the lower staff.

Bottom line: If you are unsure, try different values to see what you get. Different situations often require different settings. Although it is not guaranteed that all desired results are possible, it is often possible to get a satisfactory result.

Re: Breath marks positions

Reply #3 –
If you want your breath marks to line up, you need to place them before notes that line up. If not, your are better off faking one of them with text, which can be padded with blanks. The new Print Preview makes it easier to check the alignment.