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Topic: Improvements I'd like to see (Read 5689 times) previous topic - next topic

Improvements I'd like to see

I've not been on-line for some time, and have just now looked for answers to my questions, but don't see them.  Can anyone help me find a way to do what I want (or perhaps NWC may include them in an upgrade?  I think there used to be a way of suggesting such improvements direct, but I can't find it!)  I'm afraid I've accumulated a number of 'wants'!

1. I'd like to put in a chord with a longer duration, say an octave on middle C, minim length, and then put shorter notes on the same start point and following it, within the same duration.  At the moment I can put in a minim alongside a shorter note, but can't put the minim both above and below the shorter notes.

2. How can I print a block of bars' rest, such as might be needed by a vocal line, which does not have, or need, the full accompaniment, which fills in the gaps.  If I put it in with text, it mucks up the bar count, and I can't see a way of restarting the bar count from within a piece.

3. Is it possible to alter the height of triplet marks ( ---3---)?  Is it possible to replace the 3 with another number, to provide for, e.g. 5 or 7 notes to be played over the value of 2?  Again, this can be achieved by text and hiding rests/notes to fill in the gaps in the other part, but it doesn't always look right, and doesn't play right.

4. The printout does not always match exactly the preview (e.g. margins, and placing of text over notes).  Any way round this?

5. There appears to be no way to alter the placement of header text e.g. title, composer, so as to save space, or an option to omit them - which I've wanted to do when printing sections of a piece, e.g. because there are several voice parts in one section, but only one in the following section.  If you print the second section as a separate piece of music, you have to repeat the title, composer, etc.  The alternative to this problem would be an option to change the number of staves within a piece.  This would be better, but perhaps is more difficult to achieve in software terms.

6. Is there a way to insert more (different) characters with Text Insert? i.e. to use extended character sets?

7. I could do with a function for Lyrics, so that a chorus/refrain only needs to appear once, but each verse can appear in full.  At the moment, if the chorus comes first, you have to put something under every note of the chorus, for each verse after the first one, or the words appear in the wrong place! A full stop will do, but it looks odd.  To put in the chorus words every time is fussy and unnecessary.  Is there perhaps a way of hiding certain parts of text? As you can do with notes?

Any suggestions will be most gratefully received!

Re: Improvements I'd like to see

Reply #1 –
G'day Rosemary,
try these:
1) this would be a task for layering.

2) Place the rests bars as whole rests and then mark the appropriate number of rests and barlines as Hidden/Print Never.  Next you can place a multi bar rest indicator from Boxmarks or any of my font suites.  this maintains the bar count and compresses the space requirements.  If you are using NWC2, Kjeld Hansen wrote a user tool to automate this process.  Available from the Scripto - http://www.nwc-scriptorium.org

3) The method you suggest is still it for the visuals, but you can set things up with hidden tempo and time signatures to get the playback and barlines right.

4) I think this is mainly related to printer drivers - I do not have this problem, but I know others have experienced it

5) This is still a limitation.  It is possible to do some post processing using a word processor or a DTP applcation but like you I'd prefer to see these features built in.

6) Depending on the characters you need, you might find my font suites useful - http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/uc/pardypack

7) Umm, I'm not sure if you've alluded to this or not, but if you place underscores "_" in the lyric editor for the notes you don't want anything to show under then you will have clear whitespace.

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

Re: Improvements I'd like to see

Reply #2 –
An alternate way to do lyrics with one line in some places and more than one line in others (e.g., chorus and verse) is to use layering. Create a second staff that's an exact copy of the first. Copy your melody onto the second staff and check "layer with next staff" in the staff properties box of the first staff. Now place only the chorus lyrics on one staff and only the verse lyrics on the other. You can use multiple verse lyrics. Using "lyric syllable - never" in the note properties box, adjust the words of the chorus and verses so that they fit under the proper notes. Allow layering. You may have to adjust the lyric offset value on one or both staves. Small, stupid example attached....

Bill

Re: Improvements I'd like to see

Reply #3 –
I've been off-line the last couple of weeks (moving house), but now I'm back with you, I'm glad I've been able to look up your replies.  I appreciate the comments and suggestions, which I understand, and at which I will now have a go!  The layering solution for different note lengths is one I've tried, but when this occurs only, maybe, once in a piece, it is a rather long-winded solution, as you have to insert all the other bars onto the second (layered) staff to make it fit.

In the meantime, I've found another oddity:

Measure numbers: is there a way to automatically insert these every 5 bars, rather than just at the beginning of every line?

Many thanks,
Rosemary

Re: Improvements I'd like to see

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Rosemary700 –
Measure numbers: is there a way to automatically insert these every 5 bars, rather than just at the beginning of every line?
You might try this User Tool: NumberBars.vbs - add rehearsal numbers

Quote from: Rick G. –
A side use is to add no text or key. This will result in a staff with just invisble rests and barlines.
I use it often to create an empty staff.
Registered user since 1996

Re: Improvements I'd like to see

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Rosemary 700
it is a rather long-winded solution, as you have to insert all the other bars onto the second (layered) staff to make it fit.

Well, it's a bit redundant, but it's not labor-intensive. The two staves can be exact copies of each other except for the bits you want to be different, so all you have to do is select the entire staff you are working with, copy it, and paste it into the new, layered staff. Then make the changes. The unchanged parts will match up exactly when you layer, and the fact that they are layered will not be visible.

(You may already know this, but I know there are some users out there who may read this who do not.)

Bill

Re: Improvements I'd like to see

Reply #6 –
Re - layering

I've just used layering to get the lyrics placed where I wanted them, and to allow for differing rests in the different parts, but I just found something which doesn't line up:

when you layer up two staves, which include two adjacent notes (vertically), each one on a different layer (e.g. F# and G), the lower note does not automatically slip sideways, as it does if you put them both on one staff.  This makes the chord difficult to read. 

You can add this second note to the upper staff of the two, and, oddly, it brings the same note on the second (lower) staff with it!  However, since these lower notes were semiquavers, I wanted to join them with a beam, but separately from the upper line of music (upper voice part has stems going upwards, and lower voice part has stems going down).  I then came back to an earlier problem: if you add a beam to quavers which are part of chords - stems going both ways - the beam only applies to the upper line. 

Any thoughts or solutions out there?

Re: Improvements I'd like to see

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Rosemary700 –
Any thoughts or solutions out there?
One of these might work:
Quote
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
# layer with next staff
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First,XNoteSpace=1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:#-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First,XNoteSpace=1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:#-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:#-3|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First,XNoteSpace=1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:#-3|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=First,XNoteSpace=1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Down,Beam=End
|Bar
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
See 'Use Extra Note Spacing' in FAQ - How are 2 voices notated on a single staff?
Registered user since 1996

Re: Improvements I'd like to see

Reply #8 –
The solution, as Rick has demonstrated, is in the "extra note spacing" box on the "notes" tab of the Notation Properties dialog box. (Highlight the note you want to move and press <alt><enter> to get to that dialog box.) You can move a note forward up to three spaces.