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Getting started with NWC2 Instrument Trees

NoteWorthy Composer 2 includes a new instrument definition facility called Instrument Trees.

Some facts about Instrument Trees:

  • You can define your own MIDI instrument lists using one or more Instrument Tree files, which are plain text files that have a *.nwcitree extension.
  • The location of your Instrument Tree files is controlled by the setting of Tools, Options, Folders, Instrument Trees.
  • You access your instrument defintions when setting up an instrument for a staff from Staff Properties or Insert, Instrument Change.
  • You can change to a different Instrument Tree by clicking the Predefined instruments... button in an Instrument tab, followed by the Change List button.
  • You can edit an Instrument Tree file using any plain text editor, such as Windows Notepad. If you use something like a word processor (such as Microsoft Word), you must save your file as plain text in order for it to work inside of NWC2.
  • If you previously created a NTWPATCH.INI file in NWC1, you can change it into an Instrument Tree using this converter.

The following is the sample Instrument Tree from the NWC2 distribution:

Code: [Select · Download]
# This is a sample instrument tree. This can be used as the basis for
# creating your own instrument tree definitions. As you can see, comments
# are added by starting a line with a '#' character. Any line that starts
# like this is considered a comment and is ignored by NoteWorthy Composer.
# In addition, any blank lines are ignored by NoteWorthy Composer.
#
# An instrument tree can be as simple or as complex as you want. Instruments
# are defined by assigning the name of the instrument to a definition that
# describes the MIDI properties of the instrument. You can group sets of
# instruments into different named branches, but you do not have to do this.
# Branch names start with a \ character. Instrument names may not include this
# character.
#
# Creating instrument branches is generally a good idea, though, because it
# allows you to assign default properties to all instruments contained in a
# branch. It also makes it easier to navigate to the desired instrument when
# selecting it in NoteWorthy Composer.
#
# Any instrument or branch can have instrument properties assigned to it.
# If a particular property is not assigned directly to an instrument
# definition, that property may still be inherited from the branch that
# encloses the instrument.
#
# The first assignment in the file can be used to define the properties for
# the main branch. This assignment is optional, but if present, will embody
# all other definitions in the file.
#
# The following optional line assigns default properties for the main
# instrument branch, which will act as defaults for all instruments if
# they do not include a specific property assignment.

\=Bank(0,112),DynVel(10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127),Trans(0)

# The line starts with the new branch indicator (a '\'), followed by the
# assignment operator (an '=' sign). The different properties that can be
# assigned include:
#
# Bank(MSB,LSB):
#    This indicates a bank select definition. Both the MSB and LSB values
#    must be indicated if the Bank property is added to the assignment.
#
# DynVel(ppp,pp,p,mp,mf,f,ff,fff):
#    This indicates the default dynamics that should be applied. All eight
#    values must be included for this to be a valid property assignment.
#
# Trans(0):
#    This indicates the pitch transposition that should be applied when
#    an instrument is selected. Here, we default this to 0 for all
#    instruments in the file, and let each instrument override this if
#    necessary.

# Now, as a demonstration, a branch can be added that will enclose instrument
# definitions that will be treated as favorites. For demonstration purposes,
# some default properties are added, but a true file would likely use different
# property combinations.
#
# First, create a branch for favorites:

\My Favorites=Bank(0,0)

# In this example, the Church Organ is so special, it gets listed tight at the top
Church Organ=19


# Now, add a branch for the instruments that I play. In this case, no default
# properties are assigned to the branch, since the instruments are so varied.
# Each instrument is assigned the relevant properties:

\My Favorites\that I play
Trumpet=56,Trans(-2)
Muted Trumpet=59,Trans(-2),DynVel(10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80)
Piano=0

# Add some instruments to My Favorites that are used often:
\My Favorites\that I use=DynVel(5,15,30,45,60,80,100,127)
Acoustic Grand Piano=0
Bright Acoustic Piano=1
String Ensemble 1=48
String Ensemble 2=49
Orchestra Hit=55
Applause=126

# Favorites when playing to my Yamaha piano
\My Favorites\that I use\Yamaha Clav=Bank(0,112)
Grand Piano=0
Rock Piano=1,Bank(0,113)
NewAgePiano=2,Bank(0,118)
Dream EP=5,Bank(0,114)
Guitar (Bright Clean)=27,Bank(0,113)
Guitar (Smooth Nylon)=24,Bank(0,114)
Dist. Guitar=30,Bank(0,112)

# Now, in this example, the remainder of the list is just excerpts of
# the General MIDI list, to show how it would interact. This ends the
# descriptive comments in the file.

\GeneralMidi\Piano
Acoustic Grand Piano=0
Bright Acoustic Piano=1
Electric Grand Piano=2
Honky-tonk Piano=3
Rhodes Piano=4
Chorused Piano=5
Harpsichord=6

\GeneralMidi\Chromatic Percussion
Clavinet=7
Celesta=8
Glockenspiel=9
Music Box=10
Vibraphone=11
Marimba=12
Xylophone=13
Tubular Bells=14

\GeneralMidi\Organ
Dulcimer=15
Hammond Organ=16
Percussive Organ=17
Rock Organ=18
Church Organ=19
Reed Organ=20
Accordion=21
Harmonica=22
Tango Accordion=23

\GeneralMidi\Guitar
Acoustic Guitar (nylon)=24
Acoustic Guitar (steel)=25   
Electric Guitar (jazz)=26
Electric Guitar (clean)=27
Electric Guitar (muted)=28
Overdriven Guitar=29
Distortion Guitar=30
Guitar Harmonics=31

\GeneralMidi\Bass
Acoustic Bass=32
Electric Bass (finger)=33
Electric Bass (pick)=34
Fretless Bass=35
Slap Bass 1=36
Slap Bass 2=37
Synth Bass 1=38
Synth Bass 2=39

\GeneralMidi\Strings
Violin=40
Viola=41
Cello=42
Contrabass=43
Tremolo Strings=44
Pizzicato Strings=45
Orchestral Harp=46
Timpani=47

\GeneralMidi\Ensemble
String Ensemble 1=48
String Ensemble 2=49
SynthStrings 1=50
SynthStrings 2=51
Choir Aahs=52
Voice Oohs=53
Synth Voice=54
Orchestra Hit=55

\GeneralMidi\Brass
Trumpet=56
Trombone=57
Tuba=58
Muted Trumpet=59
French Horn=60
Brass Section=61
Synth Brass 1=62
Synth Brass 2=63

\GeneralMidi\Reed
Soprano Sax=64
Alto Sax=65
Tenor Sax=66
Baritone Sax=67
Oboe=68
English Horn=69
Bassoon=70
Clarinet=71

\GeneralMidi\Pipe
Piccolo=72
Flute=73
Recorder=74
Pan Flute=75
Bottle Blow=76
Shakuhachi=77
Whistle=78
Ocarina=79

\GeneralMidi\Synth Lead
Lead 1 (square)=80
Lead 2 (sawtooth)=81
Lead 3 (caliope lead)=82
Lead 4 (chiff lead)=83
Lead 5 (charang)=84
Lead 6 (voice)=85
Lead 7 (fifths)=86
Lead 8 (brass + lead)=87

\GeneralMidi\Synth Pad
Pad 1 (new age)=88
Pad 2 (warm)=89
Pad 3 (polysynth)=90
Pad 4 (choir)=91
Pad 5 (bowed)=92
Pad 6 (metallic)=93
Pad 7 (halo)=94
Pad 8 (sweep)=95

\GeneralMidi\Synth Effects
FX 1 (rain)=96
FX 2 (soundtrack)=97
FX 3 (crystal)=98
FX 4 (atmosphere)=99
FX 5 (brightness)=100
FX 6 (goblins)=101
FX 7 (echoes)=102
FX 8 (sci-fi)=103

\GeneralMidi\Ethnic
Sitar=104
Banjo=105
Shamisen=106
Koto=107
Kalimba=108
Bagpipe=109
Fiddle=110
Shanai=111

\GeneralMidi\Percussive
Tinkle Bell=112
Agogo=113
Steel Drums=114
Woodblock=115
Taiko Drum=116
Melodic Tom=117
Synth Drum=118
Reverse Cymbal=119

\GeneralMidi\Sound Effects
Guitar Fret Noise=120
Breath Noise=121
Seashore=122
Bird Tweet=123
Telephone Ring=124
Helicopter=125
Applause=126
Gunshot=127

Re: Getting started with NWC2 Instrument Trees

Reply #1
# Branch names start with a \ character. Instrument names may not include this
# character.
Instrument names may include a backslash. It may not be the first character in the instrument name.

Instrument names may not include an equals sign.  "="
Instrument names must begin with an alphanumeric character. (0-9, A-Z, a-z)

Branch names may not include an equals sign.
The first character after any backslash in a branch name must be an alphanumeric character.

If you click on 'Predefined instruments...', NWC2 searches for a match. If the Instrument Tree contains instrument names in one branch that are the same as those in another branch, NWC2 may stop on an instrument in the wrong branch. This can be avoided by assigning a unique name to each instrument.
Registered user since 1996

Re: Getting started with NWC2 Instrument Trees

Reply #2
If I am writing to the wrong place, forgive me, I am not a frequent asker of questions. Since I compose a lot of Church music, I need to know how to increase the number of Pipe Organ stops. The basic NWC "Church Organ" is fine for TUTI or Grand Organ, but that's all. There's little variation and no hope of "rattling the pipes" with 16 footers! Could someone please give me some guidelines in non-techno-speak plain English for my beginner level? I play the Yamaha whateveritsnameis at church and use a multiplicity of sounds, instrument banks, patches, etc., but it too is limited to "Pipe Organ" with ZERO chance of Baritone Bass and Woodwind. Organ and Harp work well together, though, with a string accompaniment, but I need more flexibility in the organ banks. I see that Hauptwerk Organ sounds great but it doesn't play NWC files and I cannot get Hauptwerk to play through my M-Audio keyboard.

Re: Getting started with NWC2 Instrument Trees

Reply #3
I am not familiar with the structure of this forum, so please excuse me if I am not following the right procedure.
I have got a serious problem in updating my NWC 2 version to the NWC 2.5.1: there is no more instrument tree available, so I cannot define an instrument for a specified staff;
What did I do wrongly, or how this can be corrected?

Thanks a lot for your help.
Coupat (a french user of NWC)

Re: Getting started with NWC2 Instrument Trees

Reply #4
Welcome to the forum.

I am not familiar with the structure of this forum, so please excuse me if I am not following the right procedure.
You probably should have started a new topic.

I have got a serious problem in updating my NWC 2 version to the NWC 2.5.1: there is no more instrument tree available, so I cannot define an instrument for a specified staff;
What did I do wrongly, or how this can be corrected?
Current version of NoteWorthy Composer is 2.51. I will assume you mean NWC 2.51

See: Installing the standard Instrument Trees
Registered user since 1996