Skip to main content
Topic: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions (Read 11159 times) previous topic - next topic

V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

1. Directional "strum" notation for chords associated with plucked or bowed string intruments
2. "Ghost Notes"
3. "Slide" notation- the classic glissando and the popular straight line adorned with the letters "sl"

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #1
Ghost notes use the X noteheads, don't they? 

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #2
1. Directional "strum" notation for chords associated with plucked or bowed string intruments
2. "Ghost Notes"
3. "Slide" notation- the classic glissando and the popular straight line adorned with the letters "sl"

Ghost notes I'm not sure of, the rest can be displayed with text entries.  I agree that a proper, built in gliss would be especially welcome.


OK, just looked up ghost notes:

Extract from Wikipedia article:

Notation
The term ghost note, then, can have various meanings. The term anti-accent is more specific. Moreover, there exists a set of anti-accent marks to show gradation more specifically. Percussion music in particular makes use of anti-accent marks, as follows:

slightly softer than surrounding notes: u (breve)
significantly softer than surrounding notes: ( ) (note head in parentheses)
much softer than surrounding notes: [ ] (note head in brackets)
In jazz notation for wind instruments or string instruments, the intent of a composer for a note to be ghosted is often indicated by using an 'x' for a notehead rather than an oval.



These are all achievable with text entries - very easily actually.  Except for the "x" head one which is already built into NWC2 and thus is even easier.

The playback of these things would require hidden, sounding staves while the visible ones need to be muted.  This is a common practice in NWC circles - while we sometimes whinge about the need in some circumstances, the reality is that we end up with very tight control over the audio reproduction.

Except for the Gliss - there is a work around, but our real problem is that the pitch bend MPC is limited to 2 tones - not nearly enough and we don't have access to the MIDI CC's that would allow us to override this limitation.
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #3
David, the common symbol for a ghost note is a note enclosed in parenthesis. The x note is usually used for muted notes (both as used in guitar applications). The use of a ghost note removes the headache and confusion of using ties to annotate sounds that are decaying, but contribute something to the overall desired effect.

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #4
NWC- Afterthought regarding strum notation: either the classic style (indicating direction also) or the popular straight line with an arrowhead would be nice. Personally, I prefer the classical notation over the popular arrowhead configuration. Up to ya. Thanks.

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #5
Acasson,
while I'm not NWC, I am curious what you mean by strum notation...

I looked up google for some info, and one of the things that caught my eye was the classic up/down bow notation:

A square with the bottom side missing = Down bow
A "V" shaped symbol = Up bow

I'm guessing they are what you mean by "Classic notation".  These symbols are available in a font called "Boxmarks" available from the Scripto:
http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Fonts
in the "Fonts" part of the "Helpful Files" section.

In addition to Boxmarks, these symbols are also available in:
Boxmark2
SwingDings
MusikDingsSans and
MusikDingsSerif

The last 3 are part of 3 font suites (of the same name) I have put together.

All these fonts are available on the Scripto.

To use any of them, simply define a "User font" in |File|Page Setup|Fonts (tab)|, then place a text entry with the appropriate font selected and the appropriate character:
t = Up bow
u = Down bow

This part's easy, the harder part is the different noteheads...

NWC2 has both diamond and "x" noteheads, but the "/" shaped head and the italicised rectangle for the whole note (semibreve) are less easy.

Using NWC2's facility to have no notehead, it is possible to place text positioned "Centre justified" "at next note/bar" and simulate a "/" shaped head, but I am unaware of any common fonts with the italicised rectangle as a glyph.

Everything else I saw was placeable as text.

Hope this helps some.
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #6
Lawrie, strumming and bowing are two different actions. When I say "classic" notation, I'm referring to that which has been used for around two hundred or so years. You'll have to dig into some classical guitar music to find it. A ghost note is common popular guitar notation. To use something other than that leads to confusion for the player. There are some unsual notes and symbols in guitar music due to the nature of the instrument and its versatility- vibrato, harmonics, mordents, trills, bends, pre-bends, bend releases, hammer-ons, pull-offs, mutes, taps, etc., etc. Using text to describe an action won't cut it on many pieces of music. The score would simply become quite unwieldy and overly cluttered for the musician to read.

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #7
Umm, acasson, you miss the point.

The fonts referred to have the symbols, not the text.  The letters I quoted are the keys you press on the keyboard to get the symbols you require.

I am well aware that strumming and bowing are different.  I said in my previous reply that the symbols I saw when I looked up the strum notation matched those of the up and down bow symbols - they are the same!  Therefore, the symbols in the fonts suggested will do the job - according to the article I found they ARE the required symbols.

To say it another way, I am NOT suggesting you write text, I am saying that by using the text object facility in NWC you can use specially crafted fonts that have the appropriate glyphs in them to create the markings you are asking for.

I am a musician, much of what I play is sight read - I am well aware of the need for correct symbols!
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #8
Lawrie, you missed the point. My original posting was a suggestion for NWC.

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #9
Lawrie, you missed the point. My original posting was a suggestion for NWC.

Actually, no.  I recognise that it was a suggestion, however the current solution is as I have described and is not likely to change in the near future - you may note that I did say that I hoped it would help.
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #10
Quote
I am unaware of any common fonts with the italicised rectangle as a glyph.
I have one that I have created, but when the *Dings Suite was released, I stopped tweaking it (I was gonna post it for general use, but you beat me to it with your font set.).
The glyph in question can also be found in the Inkpen2 suite, after which I modelled my suite.

Gotta go - dinner's on the table!

Re: V 2.17 Beta Observation: Suggested Additions

Reply #11
G'day Kevin,
I think you've still got my email address.  Would you mind emailing me a copy with a view to possibly expanding the *Dings suites?
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.