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Topic: Playback for congregational singing. (Read 4938 times) previous topic - next topic

Playback for congregational singing.

I'm not merely interested in the sound of the playback, but the visual presentation. I and my grandsons have entered perhaps a hundred popular hymns, but playing them back at the church meetings we have has been simply too difficult to achieve. Can anyone help me? Having to use a windows computer to do it can be difficult, but if I have to, I will. Anyone had experience?

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #1 –
removed by author.
Registered user since 1996

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #2 –
I think you missed the point that i want the score and lyrics to play along with the music. I want to put the score and lyrics on our TV's and the sound on the sound system.

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #4 –
Currently, your only options for both visual and audio playback are a computer running the NWC program itself, or the free Viewer program, which also requires a Windows computer.

This page has more information on the Viewer.

Mike

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #5 –
 Hi, mdeadly.

If you are wanting to display the score - properly formatted in conventional sheet music layout - while playing the music ... that is, if you want Noteworthy to do this - then you're out of luck.  Sibelius and Finale and a number of others can do it, but with Noteworthy probably the best you can do is print the Noteworthy File out and display it on one screen while, quite separately, playing the NWC (or Midi) File independently.

In the past people have requested that Noteworthy be able to play from a formatted score, but so far such a capability has not been provided.

MusicJohn, 10/Jul/15

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #6 –
Music John,

You are not quite correct concerning playback of a formatted nwc score if (and only if) you are using the Viewer.  If (immediately after starting playback with the usual in-line display on the screen) you click the "Print Preview" button, the formatted 'Print Preview" score will appear and the playback will continue to sound. 

The difficulties are:
1.   the notes are not highlighted during playback so it is not easy to follow the play.
2.   the pages do not turn automatically, so you must be ready to click the 'next page' arrow when needed.

The system works best when some effort has been spent on formatting, to hide empty staves and ensure that the systems are as compact as possible to reduce the number of pages.

Having said all the above I must agree that it isn't easy to operate the system.  It requires close concentration on the part of the operator.  It would be great if (1.) and (2.) above could be incorporated into the program, but I suspect it would be extremely difficult.

Bill Denholm

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #7 –

You're right, of course, Bill.  I'd forgotten all about that.

Is that helpful, mdeadly?

MusicJohn, 10/Jul/15

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #8 –
OK Music John.

I think that in hastening to correct your information about the display and playback of a formatted score I probably gave the impression that I favour that form of display for congregational singing.  Personally I believe that Noteworthy's in-line display is easier to follow on today's wide-angle screens, with only a limited number of flip-backs to the LH edge.  With a formatted score, as with Sibelius or Musescore the frequent line changes and page changes can be more confusing and harder to follow.

Admittedly in the in-line display it is impossible to hide empty staves, so in some cases there can be a lot of useless stuff on the screen.

During our Choir's Christmas holiday period I often conduct rehearsals at my home, with the score displayed on a projector screen and the playback through my sound system, and the in-line display works very satisfactorily for this purpose.

Bill D.

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #9 –

   Hi again, Bill.

   You say: "... Personally I believe that Noteworthy's in-line display is easier to follow on today's wide-angle screens, with only a limited number of flip-backs to the LH edge."

   Well, yes, perhaps - and the in-line display has the benefit of being more like the standard "score" commonly shown in most hymn books.

   You add: "With a formatted score, as with Sibelius or Musescore the frequent line changes and page changes can be more confusing and harder to follow."

   Mmmm.  On the other hand, if it's a Choral Work you're singing, then practising while looking at a representation of the real score that you use in a performance is surely best?

   Actually, displaying a hymn - where basically you only have the Choral staves (and only two of them at that!) - in the normal formatted way should be perfectly OK ... and will almost never require more than one page, so page turning shouldn't be an issue.

   Incidentally, I discovered, to my surprise, that when - as you suggest - you use the Viewer's print-preview capability to display a formatted score while the File is actually playing, it automatically shows that page currently being played at the moment you initiate the preview.  It would seem, then, that it shouldn't be too difficult to arrange that the displayed preview page changes to keep matching what's being played.

   MusicJohn, 11/Jul/15

Re: Playback for congregational singing.

Reply #10 –
Quote from: MusicJohn –
[/quote Incidentally, I discovered, to my surprise, that when - as you suggest - you use the Viewer's print-preview capability to display a formatted score while the File is actually playing, it automatically shows that page currently being played at the moment you initiate the preview.  It would seem, then, that it shouldn't be too difficult to arrange that the displayed preview page changes to keep matching what's being played.]

That's a detail I had missed.  It should certainly help.

Bill D.