Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Novice question (Read 5086 times) previous topic - next topic

Novice question

I have a four part harmony song. The main lyrics are mostly sung by all four parts with the occasional tum-de-dum sung by tenor or bass. The tum-de-dum bits are spread spasmodically throughout and I'm having trouble aligning them to their correct places. So far I've used dashes, dots and carriage returns on the lyric lines until I hit the right place, but is there an easier way?

Please bear in mind I'm only a week into trying out noteworthy.

Re: Novice question

Reply #1 –
Hello and welcome.

Yes there is !  If you highlight the notes that you DON'T want lyrics attached to (this may be easier in small chunks), then with the notes still highlighted, hold down the ALT key and press enter to bring up the properties for all items that you have highlighted.

Click on the notes tab. You will see that one of the drop down boxes says "Lyric Syllable" . Change this to say "never". Click OK.

You will then find that your tum-te-tum lyrics will only attach to notes that do not have this set.

Rich.

Re: Novice question

Reply #2 –
Thank you so much - that makes it a lot easier!

No doubt I'll be back in five minutes asking another question......

......five minutes later.... here's the next question:

My four part harmony starts off noted in the first bar as "Intro" - this first bar ends with a double bar line. From that time on the bars are numbered 1...thru... but Noteworthy numbers the bars from the first one, so I'm effectively one bar out on the numbering. How can I get the numbering to start from the second bar?


Re: Novice question

Reply #3 –
G'day linlin,
you're lucky.  You can start the bar numbering from 0 instead of 1.  Goto |File|Page Setup|Options tab|Measure Start - make it 0.

If you had more than 1 bar at the start you would have a problem.  The way around it then is to use a text entry and turn bar numbers off:
|File|Page Setup|Options tab|Measure Numbers - make it None.

To create the text entry position the cursor and press "x" to start the text entry dialogue...
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.
 

Re: Novice question

Reply #4 –
Brilliant! Thank you

Finally (for a while anyway), I have a diamond shape on both staffs, it's not a note but needs to have a lyric assigned to it. (At the end of a line of lyrics, the word "yes!"). I can't find a diamond or any other shape to which I can assign a lyric. Any ideas?

Re: Novice question

Reply #5 –
Hmm - I see Lawrie's on line at the same time as me and we often end up trying to answer the same questions - so I'm going to wait and see if he answers.

I presume you are using NWC version 1.75  - version 2 beta has diamond note heads - Dealing with this in 1.75 takes a bit more - over to you Lawrie.

Rich.

Re: Novice question

Reply #6 –
G'day again linlin,
I see Rich has passed the baton on to me...  Thanks mate!  ;)

Probably the easiest way I can think of in NWC1.75 is to place a normal note and make it |Visibility|Never|

  • You do this by placing the note
  • then highlight it
  • press <Alt-Enter> to get to the notes' properties page
  • select the "Visibility" tab
  • in the "Show on printed page" list box select "Never"
  • click "OK"

Now, you need a text entry for your diamond.  One is available as chr 0184 (press <Alt-0184>) in Wingdings2.  To begin you specify a "User Font":
  • |File|Page Setup|Fonts Tab|
  • Select any of User1 to User6
  • Click "Modify..."
  • Select "Wingdings 2" from the list box
  • Set the size, 12 is probably a good start - you may need to experiment with the size, come back to here later to change it.
  • Click "OK"
  • Click "Close"

Next you place a text entry just before the note you've entered that is centred on the next note.
  • Position the cursor
  • Press "x"
  • Press <Alt-0184> in the "Expression" field
  • Select your "User Font" in the "Display Font" list box
  • Click the "Expression Placement" tab
  • Set "Justification" as Center
  • Set "Alignment/Placement" to "at next note/bar"
  • Make sure "Preserve Width" is "ON" if you only have one staff.  Off otherwise - you may end up adjusting this to suit your needs
  • Click "OK"

Voila
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: Novice question

Reply #7 –
Only coz I'm sitting at work and it would have been quite a long answer (and I shouldn't be doing this !!!)

But I would have done the same thing as you except I would have used an invisible rest, not a note - and then assigned lyrics always.

If you have used a note, Linlin, what you may now need to do is to mute it. (Select it and go to the properties again  - and select mute)

Rich.

Re: Novice question

Reply #8 –
Okay - I think I have that. I can't say for sure as I'm having a problem playing back. Some, but not all, the four staffs are holding on ties - the more of the score is played, the worse the sound!!! The voice synth doesn't work at all and that's what I'm aiming for.....but perhaps I'm going too fast, too soon. I'll post another time on that.

Thanks again for all your help.

Re: Novice question

Reply #9 –
G'day linlin,
the most common cause of "stuck notes" is a tie across a barline where the note to the left of the barline has an accidental associated with it (may be a note of the same pitch earlier in the bar that actually has the accidental) and the note tied to (after the barline) does not have the same accidental.

I won't go into details as to why this happens but that's a good think to look for.

You can use a tool from the edit menu...
|Edit|Find|By Category|"Hanging Note Tie".

You will need to repeat this process for each staff until it reports none found.
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: Novice question

Reply #10 –
Once again, you've solved it.

Many thanks

Re: Novice question

Reply #11 –
Hi Linlin check out my previous post 'Multiple Line Lyrics Tip' where I use a numbered-dash text file as an aid to positioning occaisonal lyrics.