Hi Sherry,

You should teach this stuff--you are very good at creating examples. I think what I need to do to get everything fixed is to actually use setup in Composer, but that will take a new computer or soundcard, alas. The audio HQ, of whatever it's called, got lost in a Windows crash, and I haven't been able to get it back. The soundcard is made by Creative and supplied to Dell by Microsoft, and none of these has the proper software any more. I suppose I could pick up Sound Blaster 7.1 at Walmart for under $30 and have more than I've got.

But for now, I've at least been able to figure out how to use SB A and SB B (and MS wavetable is ok for some percussion sounds) to increase the number of instruments I can use, at least for playing in Composer and recording .wav or .mp3 files.

It would be interesting to hear what the voice sounds you have are like. I suppose the ideal thing would be to find a nearby soprano who could put on a head set, get comfortable, with the score in hand, and sing the part as it played, minus her part, in acoustica. I think that could be done, but I'm not going to get excited about it since there are no sopranos locally with the necessary range and Bonnie Jo, for whom the piece was written is a couple of thousand miles away.

The English horn has only two solos, and otherwise does not play. During its solos, the oboes are silent. But it will have to have its own staff in the conductor's score, so I'll add it before sending you the .not file.

Back to work . . .

best,
mgj