Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Courtesy Accidentals (Read 28500 times) previous topic - next topic

Courtesy Accidentals

Courtesy  accidentals can be inserted as text entries. I use those found  in Petrucci.ttf which was installed when I down-loaded the free Finale demonstration program. You can also use Bach.ttf which has both parentheses and accidentals.
Carl Bangs
Fenwick Parva Press
Registered user since 1995

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #1 –
G'day Carl,
the "name" fonts in my suites also support this:

SwingDings.ttf
MusikDingsSans.ttf
and
MusikDingsSerif.ttf

Note that the glyphs in MusikDingsSerif.ttf are taken from NWC2STDA.ttf; the standard NWC2 system font.

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

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #2 –
Another method: use a regular accidental, add an extra space to it ("extra accidental spacing" on the note properties tab), and then add just the parentheses as a text entry. Use the Staff Bold font, place the text entry directly after the note, right justify, and adjust the horizontal location of the parentheses by placing spaces between them and after the right-hand parenthesis. Example:

Quote
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Clef|Type:Treble
|TimeSig|Signature:3/4
|Note|Dur:Half,Dotted|Pos:b0
|Bar
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:n0|Opts:XAccSpace=1
|Text|Text:"(    )         "|Font:StaffBold|Pos:0|Justify:Right
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:#1
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:2
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

You may have to adjust the number of spaces to make it look correct in Print Preview.
 

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #3 –
[size=12The problem with this is that auditing accidentals removes the courtesy accidentals.pt][/size]
Carl Bangs
Fenwick Parva Press
Registered user since 1995

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #4 –
Yes, I guess it would. So a "force accidentals" option on the Note Properties tab might be a useful addition to the program. However, I almost never use "audit accidentals" because NWC and I often disagree profoundly on what should be a sharp and what should be a flat. So using the regular accidental function for courtesy accidentals works fine for me.

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #5 –
Quote
I almost never use "audit accidentals" because NWC and I often disagree profoundly on what should be a sharp and what should be a flat.

My bad memory is proverbial but, Bill, are you sure that "audit accidentals" is still changing the enharmonic spelling? (Sorry, I'm not able to check it right now)
Now I think you must use "audit enharmonic spelling".

When I want an accidental that can survive the "audit accidentals" I use Rick's trick: a hidden, muted, natural grace note just before the accidental.

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #6 –
Good catch, Maurizio. You are correct - "audit accidentals" doesn't change enharmonic spelling, it just removes "unnecessary" accidentals, some of which turn out to be necessary. It is also true that if you use "audit enharmonic spelling" the program does an automatic "audit accidentals" along with it, which removes the courtesy accidentals. So a "force accidental" option on individual notes seems like an even more useful addition to the program than I thought. In the meantime, Rick's hidden-grace-note trick solves the problem nicely.

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #7 –
Why do we have to jump through all of these hoops to get suitable courtesy/cautionary/hint accidentals? I need them quite often in barbershop harmony charts and it's always a chore. If I place parentheses as text objects, it seems they never line up on the print and print preview screens as they do on the edit screen. Then it's a several minute exercise to get the alignment correct since you have to diddle both the horizontal and vertical spacing, and the vertical alignment always looks a bit off. These accidentals are also a bit smaller than regular ones. Now I realize I can probably find a font and point size that works better, but again, why is this necessary? There should be a simple check box on the Note Properties or User Tools drop-down menus that will make this a one-click done deal. I'm a failry new user of these forums so pardon me if this problem has been solved and I just haven't found it yet. (Links welcome if it has been.)

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #8 –
Quote from: RedDawgEsq –
I realize I can probably find a font and point size that works better, but again, why is this necessary?
Finding a font is no longer necessary in NWC 2.5
You can see an example in the NWC Viewer 2.5 by opening this:
Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.5,Single)
|Note|Dur:Whole|Pos:b0
|Bar
|Text|Text:"(e) "|Font:StaffSymbols|Pos:0|Justify:Right|Placement:AtNextNote
|Note|Dur:4th|Pos:0
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End
NWC 2.5 will automatically adjust the point size of 'Font:StaffSymbols' if you make a change to the Staff Metrics field as described in FAQ - How do I change the size of the notation or text fonts?

Quote from: RedDawgEsq –
There should be a simple check box on the Note Properties or User Tools drop-down menus that will make this a one-click done deal.
Not everyone would agree. Some would prefer a Page Setup Command option. For a chord, providing an option on Notation Properties->Notes might be overkill.

You sing barbershop, I play piano. I use courtesy accidentals only when I find myself consistently misplaying something. For me, it is a waste of space and ink to restate the obvious. NWC 2.5's method can be applied at the note position level, which works well for me.
Registered user since 1996

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #9 –
Well, however it is implemented will be welcomed. Barbershoppers as a lot are not trained musicians, in fact, I would estimate fully 95% have probably never had any formal musical training. Sight-reading skills are limited at best (some learn only by rote) so that anything that helps them figure out which way to move is useful. In my experience, most instances of the need for courtesys happens as you cross the bar line, but there are also plenty of examples where shorter note durations (8ths, 16ths) that are moving up and down within a measure can get confusing. Less confusion = better performance. Thanks Rick, I'll check out 2.5

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #10 –
Forced sharp, flat and natural signs are in the Help manual for NWC - just press F1 when you're in NWC and search for Accidentals.

NWC has allowed forced single note accidentals as far back as I can remember, and these are adequate as courtesy accidentals as long as you don't run Audit Accidentals or Audit Enharmonic Spelling and don't want brackets around the sign. 

For instance, if my staff is in the key of E major and bar 3 has an accidental D natural, I can force a sharp sign to be displayed in front of a D in bar 4 or later by pressing 9 when I enter that D.  It isn't needed for playback, since NWC will recognize the D is already sharp, but it serves as a courtesy accidental.  

Courtesy accidentals don't require parentheses, although they are often used. I'd be tempted to leave them out, although omitting them may cause more confusion than necessary.   Bill and Lawrie suggest how to insert the brackets around the forced accidental sign.

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #11 –
My experience (which may be retro):
When notating for INexperienced players -
1. Courtesy accidentals are just about obligatory.
2. Bracketed courtesy accidentals clearly indicate them as such.
3. NOTEROW.ttf, as a user font, (available at http://nwc-scriptorium.org/sfontr.html ) allows me to show
   the courtesy accidentals in text at whatever point size I prefer.
   (7) for NATURAL, (8) for FLAT, (9) for SHARP.
4. Using "Preserve width" and "Justify Right" get them to display and print correctly.

WATCH IT:
5. When transposing, things can get quite tricky:
    The text needs to be moved up or down, and
    FREQUENTLY the accidental has to be changed to something else.

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #12 –
FWIW there are courtesy accidentals, brackets included as a single character, included in each title font of my font suites.

Sharp - (#) is ² (<Alt+0178>)
Natural is ³ (<Alt+0179>)
and
Flat - (b) is ´ (<Alt+0180>)
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: Courtesy Accidentals

Reply #13 –
Thanks Lawrie,
as suspected, my experience is retro.

Lawrie's suite of fonts are available at http://zoundz.pardyline.com.au/fontindex.html

Or get the PARDY PACK from:   
   
Re: Fonts subdir
« Reply #3 on: 2011-04-08, 08:58:28 »
   Reply with quoteQuote Modify messageModify Remove messageRemove
For Lawrie's Fontpack, try:
http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/uc/pardypack/