Notation Software Users Forum  


Go Back   Notation Software Users Forum > Musician community sharing > Tips and tricks for using Notation Software products

Tips and tricks for using Notation Software products Learn (and share) tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Notation Software products.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-12-2011, 04:30 PM
Sherry C's Avatar
Sherry C Sherry C is offline
Product Manager
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Bad Axe, MI, USA (The Tip of the Thumb of Michigan)
Posts: 2,556
Lightbulb Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi friends,

We've long wanted to create a series of video tutorials for various tasks in Notation Musician and Notation Composer. I've done some videos hither and thither in answering questions along the way, but am now looking to create some more video tutorials. We would also like to have a dedicated page for them for quick and easy reference. I can't promise that we'll be able to do every one that gets requested, nor can I promise a time frame, but I'd like to make an honest effort at having more of these available.

So, what topics would you find helpful now, or what would you have found helpful when you first started using Musician or Composer? Please remember that this is video tutorial topic list for the programs as they currently exist, not a feature request list (feature requests have another home here).

Some topics that come to mind:
Using the Rebar feature - recording a new file or using a "found" file recorded without a metronome, and then fixing the barlines to give usable sheet music.

Transcription options
- what are they, why they matter, and how do I change them for opening a file or for recording a new file (or changing them if I don't like the notation).

Two-hand recording
in Notation Composer, and splitting hands for keyboard staves for easy two-hand piano parts.

Creating Piano reductions from multi-instrument files.

Lyric entry
- How-to guide for syllable-by-syllable, copy/pasting from text files, and multiple verse entry

Graph Over Notes
- using this feature to affect the performance of a file, eg. for creating backing tracks or for demonstrating what your performance annotations are intended to do to the performance of the piece by real musicians.

"Edit/Paste Special" copy/pasting - filling a staff with a "loop" of notation, paste-inserting measures, chord names, Tempo and other MIDI performance data ("on top" of existing notes).
This list is just a start, based on an off-the-top-of-my-head recall of helpdesk requests. Please feel free to add other topics, or to make notes about those mentioned above.

Thanks for your help here!
Sherry
__________________
Music is to the soul like water is to green growing things.
__________________________________
http://www.beanfieldcastle.net/music.html
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-16-2011, 07:49 PM
Jellyall Jellyall is offline
Active User
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 13
Default Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi Sherry,

Just reviewed the first tutorial - very well done and I think that's a perfect start for Notation users

One suggestion I have for the 'wish list' is a tutorial on setting up the printed page .... page size, page breaks, page titles etc.

Kind Regards .... Richard
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-16-2011, 09:35 PM
Sherry C's Avatar
Sherry C Sherry C is offline
Product Manager
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Bad Axe, MI, USA (The Tip of the Thumb of Michigan)
Posts: 2,556
Default Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the kind words

The "Page Layout for printing" is now on the wish list. As I mentioned, I'll try to get as many of these done as possible as quickly as I can. They're a bit "rough and ready", because I figure folks wouldn't mind less "polish" if they could at least get a good idea about how to do things quickly.

ttfn,
Sherry

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jellyall View Post
Hi Sherry,

Just reviewed the first tutorial - very well done and I think that's a perfect start for Notation users

One suggestion I have for the 'wish list' is a tutorial on setting up the printed page .... page size, page breaks, page titles etc.

Kind Regards .... Richard
__________________
Music is to the soul like water is to green growing things.
__________________________________
http://www.beanfieldcastle.net/music.html
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 04-04-2011, 01:49 PM
Sherry C's Avatar
Sherry C Sherry C is offline
Product Manager
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Bad Axe, MI, USA (The Tip of the Thumb of Michigan)
Posts: 2,556
Default Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi friends,

Here's the current status on tutorial videos. Please note that the order of topics is not necessarily the order they will get done in
Done - Setting up your workspace - menus, (moveable) toolbars, palettes, playlists

Done - Transcription options - what are they, why do they matter, and how do I change them for opening a file or for recording a new file. (and re-transcribing after opening a file)

Done - Lyric entry - How-to guide for syllable-by-syllable Maybe a trouble-shooting guide as well.

Done - Lyric entry - copy/pasting from text files, and multiple verse entry.

Done - Lyric editing - changing font, size, etc.

Done - Transpositions - explanation of the two different types (Actual pitches/instrument transpositions), and how to do each.

Note entry methods - show each one, including changing pitch and accidentals
Done - 1. using a mouse
2. Step-time recording
3. "live" time recording - and mention with or without metronome

Page Layout for printing - "One suggestion I have for the 'wish list' is a tutorial on setting up the printed page .... page size, page breaks, page titles etc. Kind Regards .... Richard"

Creating an upbeat measure (could use a better video than the one on YouTube)

Music symbols in the score

Using the Rebar feature - recording a new file or using a "found" file recorded without a metronome, and then fixing the barlines to give usable sheet music.

Two-hand recording in Notation Composer, and splitting hands for keyboard staves for easy two-hand piano parts.

Creating Piano reductions from multi-instrument files.

Graph Over Notes - using this feature to affect the performance of a file, eg. for creating backing tracks or for demonstrating what your performance annotations are intended to do to the performance of the piece by real musicians.

Saving/exporting filetypes (and "printing" PDFs)
Parts - what is the difference between "part" and "staff", and how to create parts.
If you have suggestions, please feel free to make them

ttfn,
Sherry
__________________
Music is to the soul like water is to green growing things.
__________________________________
http://www.beanfieldcastle.net/music.html
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 10-20-2011, 06:34 AM
inspired inspired is offline
Active User
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 9
Question Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi Sherry

I think the Video Tutorials are a great idea! especially for someone like myself with little Musical knowledge. I really would like to see a video on "How To Copy and Paste Different Instrument Parts in a Midi" I so often get really stuck when I try to do this, and even if I manage to get part way there, as soon as I then try to have the score display in "Easy Notes" I end up with the basic score!

Have a Great Day!

Kind regards

Inspired
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 10-21-2011, 06:27 AM
mgj32 mgj32 is offline
Senior User
 
Join Date: Jan 1970
Posts: 117
Default Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi Sherry,
After all these years of using MidiNotate and Notation, the most helpful thing for me would be an explanation/demonstration of getting melisma dashes to continue on the next page. I've never been able to make this work. Perhaps trouble shooting in Lyric Entry would be a good place for it.

all best,
mgj
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 10-21-2011, 01:34 PM
Sherry C's Avatar
Sherry C Sherry C is offline
Product Manager
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Bad Axe, MI, USA (The Tip of the Thumb of Michigan)
Posts: 2,556
Default Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi,

Thanks for the input here! These types of replies are what help me to know what folks want

Quote:
Originally Posted by inspired View Post
I really would like to see a video on "How To Copy and Paste Different Instrument Parts in a Midi" I so often get really stuck when I try to do this, and even if I manage to get part way there, as soon as I then try to have the score display in "Easy Notes" I end up with the basic score!
I've been thinking of doing a tutorial on "note and score editing", which would include copying and pasting regions. I've also been thinking of doing one specifically on Parts and using the "Prepare Part" wizard, which would include the "Easy Notes". I'll add a vote to bump those up in priority (FWIW, these topics are both covered in the Users Guide;you can go to Help/Users Guide and use the Index to look up "copy and paste" and "Easy notes" respectively. That said, I know the value of a video step-by-step demonstration, too )

Quote:
Originally Posted by mgj32 View Post
After all these years of using MidiNotate and Notation, the most helpful thing for me would be an explanation/demonstration of getting melisma dashes to continue on the next page. I've never been able to make this work. Perhaps trouble shooting in Lyric Entry would be a good place for it.
Melismas are on the "to do" list for improvement, and you do have to do a bit of fanagling at present if the melisma is more than a couple of dashes long, or if it is a "stand alone" melisma (without other letter/number characters).

Short story (til I can get a tutorial shot):
Melismas are treated as Lyric text, and thus are associated with a particular note. Therefore, melismas currently won't "break" automatically and then continue on to the next page nor even the next system on a page. You have to enter another "extension" manually to another note in the staff.

You can do this by
(1) in Text/Lyrics (add mode) clicking on the next note location (either the second half of a tied note or the next other-pitch note) to add a "lyric" and
(2) hold the "Shift" key while pressing the space bar (to manually add a space in the lyric, to give something like " --" with a space in front) and then press the "-" key to add more melisma dashes. Adding that space in the beginning will bring the "stand alone" melisma into better vertical alignment with other melismas in the score that are attached to text (eg. "my--").

Also, a melisma currently will stick out (and over other objects) as far as it's dashes ("-") tell it to go. Therefore, you should be in Page View when adding any additional melismas, and you'll need to manually delete some of the dashes if the melisma is too long, or add more if it's too short.

Hopefully the above can get you both going for now, though a picture (or video) is worth a thousand words (I didn't really want to type a thousand words just now, so I'll do the videos hopefully soon ).

Thanks for the input!
Sherry
__________________
Music is to the soul like water is to green growing things.
__________________________________
http://www.beanfieldcastle.net/music.html
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-30-2012, 07:36 PM
mkentf
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi, I'm very very new to this entire system. Just got the program yesterday and have browsed the tutorial section and downloaded a few. While watching one it was mentioned that it would have been better it I had seen a different one before watching that one. So I thought there might be a list showing a newby what would be the best order to watch the tutorials.
Thanks for your help.
Kent
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 03-30-2012, 07:52 PM
Sherry C's Avatar
Sherry C Sherry C is offline
Product Manager
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Bad Axe, MI, USA (The Tip of the Thumb of Michigan)
Posts: 2,556
Default Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Hi Kent,

Actually there's not really an order to them (with a few exceptions) because different people want to do different things with the software. For a rough order, you can look at them in the order they've been done (eg. using the list on the "sticky" thread at http://www.notation.com/vb-forum/showthread.php?t=3609), but even then you may not need to look at all of them (eg. if you're only going to be entering your own notes, you don't necessarily need to review Transcription Options so much).

ttfn,
Sherry
__________________
Music is to the soul like water is to green growing things.
__________________________________
http://www.beanfieldcastle.net/music.html
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 03-30-2012, 09:17 PM
mkentf
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re: Video tutorials - let's make a list!

Sherry, Thank you so much for the information. I really appreciate it. I would also like to thank you for making the tutorials. I've only seen a couple but they are wonderful. The qualilty and information you are showing is great. I burned a couple on a DVD and sat in the living room and watched them. All I remember saying was Yes, Yes, Yes everytime I saw you do something that I wanted to be able to do. That makes me very happy with my purchase and I haven't even used it yet, but I know I will be able to do more than I was hoping to do.
Thank you so very much.
Kent
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 02:35 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Notation Software Germany GmbH www.notation.com/Imprint.php