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Topic: Comments about default notes, tenuto, staccato (Read 2976 times) previous topic - next topic

Comments about default notes, tenuto, staccato

In NoteWorthy Composer, I often have every single staff in my composition start off with a "Tenuto" Performance Style, otherwise many parts sound choppy. Notes that don't hold completely have their place, of course. When it comes to how long a note is held before the next is played, precision is extremely important to the sound of a melody or rhythm, and I've learned this more and more over time. One aspect which makes a composition sound excellent is the exact right note lengths, which isn't necessarily expressed by a note on a staff, but by the player of an instrument, which is why NWC and a saxophone player will look at the same sheet music and spit out a far different result.

Getting the "perfect" sound out of a rhythm is something I usually accomplish by halving the note value and then dotting it, or tying it to thirtysecond or sixtyfourth notes, followed by the appropriate rests before the next note, to make it EXACT to how I want it. When I have to use all these extra small notes and rests, staffs become stretched out and cluttered, although it's indeed amusing to see how crazy I've been sometimes (and looks aren't much of my concern). I've come to not even use the staccato marks, because they are almost never the right staccato for a given piece or passage.

What would be a better way of doing this? It doesn't make sense that the meaning of a staccato or tenuto symbol can satisfy every composition, so I propose that on a master, or per-staff, or even per-note basis, the amount of a note cut off by default is adjustable, and it can be set what percent of a note "staccato" cuts off, or what tiny bit less "tenuto" means. This would make for expressing things much easier. I feel that such settings would be logical to have for the exact reasons that individual staves have their own settings for what individual dynamic symbols mean, and that even individual dynamic symbols can be adjusted. Clearly the developers understood why those things should be adjustable, why not take things a step further?

Here's to try and demonstrate what I mean (even though I feel I've been clear enough):

Code: (nwc) [Select · Download]
!NoteWorthyComposerClip(2.0,Single)
|Instrument|Patch:56|Bank:0,0|Trans:0|DynVel:10,30,45,60,75,92,108,127|Pos:8|Wide:Y|Color:1
|Clef|Type:Treble
|TimeSig|Signature:2/4|Color:1
|Key|Signature:Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb
|Text|Text:"Default playback style:"|Font:StaffLyric|Pos:9|Wide:Y|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:4th,Dotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Bar
|Text|Text:"W/default expressions:"|Font:StaffLyric|Pos:9|Wide:Y|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th,Staccato|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th,Staccato|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th,Staccato|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:4th,Dotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Bar
|Text|Text:"Desire:"|Font:StaffLyric|Pos:9|Wide:Y|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-4|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-3|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Rest|Dur:16th|Opts:Stem=Up
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-2|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Rest|Dur:16th
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Rest|Dur:16th
|Bar|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:0|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:4th,Dotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Bar|Style:Double
|TimeSig|Signature:4/4|Color:1
|Key|Signature:F#,C#,G#,D#|Color:1
|Tempo|Tempo:172|Pos:15|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-1!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-3!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-4!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-5!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th|Pos:-6!1|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:Half,DblDotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Bar|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th,Staccato|Pos:-3!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th,Staccato|Pos:-1!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:8th,Staccato|Pos:-3!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-4!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:8th,Staccato|Pos:-5!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Bar|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-6!1|Opts:Stem=Up
|Rest|Dur:Half,DblDotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Bar|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th,Dotted|Pos:-3!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Rest|Dur:32nd|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:16th,Dotted|Pos:-1!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Rest|Dur:32nd|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th,Dotted|Pos:-3!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Rest|Dur:32nd|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-4!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:16th,Dotted|Pos:-5!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Rest|Dur:32nd|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Bar|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-6!1|Opts:Stem=Up
|Text|Text:"needs to be a bit less...."|Font:StaffLyric|Pos:12|Color:1
|Rest|Dur:Half,DblDotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Bar|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-3^!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:64th|Pos:-3!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Rest|Dur:32nd,Dotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-1^!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:64th|Pos:-1!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Rest|Dur:32nd,Dotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-2!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=First
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-3^!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:64th|Pos:-3!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Rest|Dur:32nd,Dotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-4!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:16th|Pos:-5^!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam
|Note|Dur:64th|Pos:-5!1|Opts:Stem=Up,Beam=End
|Rest|Dur:32nd,Dotted|Opts:Stem=Up|Color:1
|Bar|Color:1
|Note|Dur:8th,Tenuto|Pos:-6!1|Opts:Stem=Up
|Text|Text:"<-- This is crazy!"|Font:StaffLyric|Pos:7|Color:1
|Rest|Dur:Half,DblDotted|Color:1
!NoteWorthyComposerClip-End

Re: Comments about default notes, tenuto, staccato

Reply #1 –
Quote from: X172 –
a saxophone player will look at the same sheet music and spit out a far different result. <snip> (and looks aren't much of my concern)
You might consider using a sequencer rather than a notation program. A large part of good sound from brass is portamento and pitch bends over half an octave or so. NoteWorthy doesn't support these either.

NWC could add full MIDI support rather easily. It is simply a matter of getting the MIDI messages from the user and dumping them into the stream at a user specified time. A text area accepting hex digits added to something like the text object with a spinbox for a delta time should do it. In the hex area, "x" could serve as a placeholder for the staff channel and "vv" for the current note velocity.

But that would leave many dissatisfied. They would want a more user friendly interface and that interface would be nearly as large as the rest of NoteWorthy.

Quote from: X172 –
I propose that on a master, or per-staff, or even per-note basis
Per note would likely be needed, given your example. Perhaps something like the Instrument Change Command, with ascending durations replacing the dynamics.

I've attached a file from 2009 showing all the durations obtainable from a single note in NWC 2.0
It may be of some help.
Registered user since 1996

Re: Comments about default notes, tenuto, staccato

Reply #2 –
The reason I use NWC instead of a sequencer, is that even being a notation program, it has plenty of functionality coupled with a simple interface, and with the right midi device/soundfonts it is a powerful program. I agree that having a built in hex editor for midi commands would render the possibilities limitless, but a better step would be supporting pitch shifts farther than +/- 2 semitones (or to at least add a custom MPC with input fields for command/value), in addition to my above suggestions.

If the program was perhaps in the middleground between notation/sequencer, it might satisfy more simplistic users needing not much but sheet music, as well as advanced users trying to produce compositions, but I'm not trying to tell the developers what type of program to make, just offering a basic idea to extend upon the current state of NWC.

Re: Comments about default notes, tenuto, staccato

Reply #3 –
Quote from: X172 –
to at least add a custom MPC with input fields for command/value
I have always supported the idea that NoteWorthy should support all MIDI controllers.
Registered user since 1996