[sib-access] Re: [Bulk] Notation Of Drum Kit - Sticks versus Brushes
- From: "Dave Carlson" <dgcarlson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <sib-access@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:30:56 -0800
All,
Since we're discussing symbols, here's text (not very well formatted) from
the Sib 5 User Guide, section 2.25 on Symbols: Lots of neat information
here. Enjoy.
Dave
2.25 Symbols
All of Sibelius's standard music symbols are available not only from the
Keypad and menus, but
also from the large Create > Symbol dialog, which also includes many extra
symbols. Like text
and lines, symbols can attach either to a single staff, or to the system.
The difference between symbols and other objects is that you can position
symbols anywhere you
like. This enables you to override any of Sibelius's positioning rules by
putting a symbol such as a
sharp exactly where you want it, even in weird places where sharps shouldn't
go.
The disadvantage of symbols is that their IQ is not as high as that of other
objects. For instance, if
you put a sharp symbol next to a note, it won't move vertically if the note
is dragged up or down,
nor will the note play as a sharp, and nor will it change to a natural (or
whatever) if the music is
transposed. The moral of this is: don't use a symbol where a normal object
will do equally well.
Symbols are still smart in other ways, though - they attach to staves and
rhythmic positions, so
that they stay in the right place in parts (b 7.6 Attachment).
Creating a symbol
* Select the note next to which you want to add a symbol, then choose Create
> Symbol (shortcut
Z for "zymbol")
* Select a symbol from the dialog and, if necessary, adjust the size of the
symbol using the four
size options. (Symbols automatically shrink when attached to a small staff,
so you should normally leave the size at Normal when putting a symbol on a
small staff.)
* Choose whether you want to attach the system to the Staff or the System.
You only need to
create a system symbol if you want it to appear all your parts (e.g. a
fermata (pause) over a bar-
line, or a coda or segno symbol) or when using symbols that control how
repeat structures
behave (e.g. segno and coda symbols).
2.25 Symbols
* Click OK, and the symbol is created in the score next to the selected
note. (Double-clicking the
symbol in the dialog does the same as clicking OK.)
Alternatively, you can place symbols with the mouse. To do this:
* Ensure that nothing is selected (hit Esc), then choose Create > Symbol
* Select a symbol and click OK
* The mouse pointer changes color, and you click in the score to position
the symbol.
Symbols can be copied and deleted just like other objects.
Moving symbols
It's often useful to "nudge" symbols around in tiny steps using the arrow
keys; holding down Ctrl
or X moves in bigger steps, exactly one space in size. Layout > Reset
Position (shortcut
Ctrl+Shift+P or xXP) returns a symbol to its default position.
Editing symbols
For details on editing existing symbols and creating new ones, b 7.15 Edit
Symbols.
Playback of symbols
Although most symbols don't play back, a handful (such as scoops and falls)
will play back if your
current playback device supports it. You can set up playback for other
symbols using the Play >
Dictionary dialog - b 4.8 Playback dictionary.
Notable symbols
The Create > Symbol dialog is grouped according to categories. Some of the
less obvious symbols
are as follows:
Category Symbols Meaning
Repeats Repeat the last groups of eighths (quavers), usually found in
handwritten music; repeat last
bar; repeat last two bars. Also includes various barline symbols, useful for
scores where some
staves have independent barlines. Two kinds of coda and segno symbols are
provided, one
pair in a design usually used in Japan.
General Parentheses (round brackets) for placing around symbols (e.g.
accidentals, 8va, trills); key-
board brace; bracket/winged repeat ends
Ornaments Includes mordents, turns, and so on, but these do not play back
automatically; to create trills
that play back, b2.16 Lines; to play back mordents and turns, b5.11
Plug-ins. Fur-
ther ornament symbols are found in the More ornaments rows further down the
dialog
(see below).
Keyboard Pedal symbols that you can use to change the appearance of the
pedal line (b2.16 Lines);
heel and toe symbols for organ pedals (left and right foot)
Percussion These rows include most symbols provided in the well-known GhentT
font. The first row
includes symbols for various percussion instruments.
.beaters Includes sticks for various instruments (pictured left are soft,
medium and hard beaters)
Guitar Includes frames for various numbers of strings; vibrato bar scoop;
vibrato bar dip
Notations
149
2. Notations
Articulation The first two rows are ordered according to relative proximity
to the notehead (e.g. a stac-
cato dot goes nearer to a notehead than a down-bow symbol); the symbols on
the first row go
above the note, and those on the second row, below the note.
The third row contains other articulations:
Multiple staccatos, for use on repeated notes written as a one-note tremolo;
snap pizzicato
for stringed instruments, mainly used by Bartók, and sometimes drawn the
other way up
Comma and tick, indicating a breath, usually in choral music (the comma also
indicates a
short silence on instruments like the piano, which can't literally breathe);
cesuras in two dif-
ferent thicknesses
Stress and unstress marks (above and below), used by Schoenberg; "notch"
staccato, some-
times used in early music
Accidentals The first nine symbols in both rows (unbracketed and bracketed)
are ordered from flattest to
sharpest, including microtones; remember that as these are symbols they're
not automati-
cally transposed, nor do they play back, so use a normal accidental if
possible.
Alternative symbols for microtones are available on the More accidentals row
further
down the dialog.
Notes These notes are not used by Sibelius to draw ordinary notes; they are
provided purely in case
you want to write notes in totally weird places. Sibelius draws notes using
a notehead (from
the Noteheads row), with tails (from the Notes row) for short notes.
Tail aficionados might like to examine closely how we've constructed the
tails of sixteenth
notes (semiquavers) and shorter notes, such that the tail nearest the
notehead is of slightly
greater curvature. (Tail non-aficionados will have no idea what we're
talking about.)
Grace note slash for acciaccatura stem; laissez vibrer tie symbol
(preferable to using a real tie
in some circumstances), which can also be used for ties going into 2nd
endings (2nd-time
bars) and codas; tremolo stroke; rhythm dot
Cluster symbol; by stacking several of them vertically you can make a
cluster chord of any
size
Noteheads To change noteheads, don't use symbols - b2.20 Noteheads. Also
contains "stalk"
symbols for altered unisons - b2.1 Accidentals. More uncommon noteheads for
avant
garde and modern classical music can be found in the Round noteheads row
further down
the dialog.
Rests All standard rests, including old-style multirests; also includes
constituent parts of H-bars -
b2.19 Multirests
Category Symbols Meaning
2.25 Symbols
Notations
Conductor Hauptstimme: place it above an instrument's melody to show that it's
the most prominent
instrument in that passage; nebenstimme: denotes the second most prominent
instrument;
the rightmost corner-piece shows where either passage ends. Used mostly by
Schoenberg,
Berg and Webern.
Put these at the right-hand end of a staff (e.g. in choral music) to show it's
going to divide on
the next system. They can stick out into the right margin of the page. You
can also use the
arrows individually, pointing the other way around to show that two staves
are going to join
together again.
Beat, left-hand beat, right-hand beat, long beat. The leftmost symbol is the
only standard
one; the others are used occasionally (e.g. by Lutoslawski), but their
meanings vary some-
what. Beat marks appear in the full score to tell the conductor how to beat
in tricky circum-
stances; they also sometimes appear in parts so the performers know when to
wait for a beat.
Double and triple beats (for a single beat, use one of the above arrows or a
simple vertical
line). They appear over sequences of music to indicate how the conductor
will group them;
they are schematic drawings of the shape outlined by the conductor's baton.
Used e.g. in
Boulez's Le Marteau sans maître. The lower set is for compound beats.
Further conductor
symbols are found on the More conductor row further down the dialog.
Clefs Contains all standard clefs - b2.8 Clefs. The 8 and 15 are separate
symbols (at the right
of the second row), which you can alter in order to change all appropriate
clefs at once. More
uncommon clefs (e.g. upside down and back-to-front treble and bass clefs)
are found on the
More clefs row further down the dialog.
Octaves Used in 8va etc. lines - b2.16 Lines
Layout Marks Used by Sibelius to show page/system breaks etc. - it's
unlikely you'll want to use these.
Techniques This row contains a myriad exciting and unusual symbols:
Lift (doit) and fall for jazz notation; mute, for stringed instruments
Wind instrument fingerings: open hole, half-hole and closed hole
Attach to the stem of a note or chord. They mean: whispered or sprechstimme;
swished (or
some similar action on percussion instruments); sul ponticello (played on
the bridge); harp
"buzz" (when the pedal is changed while the respective string is still
vibrating), also used by
Penderecki to notate an unmeasured string tremolo played as fast as
possible. A slightly dif-
ferent "z" stem marking for buzz rolls is available from the third Keypad
layout.
"Exponential" crescendo curves that fit onto short and long crescendo
hairpins
Accordion 25 treble coupler diagrams and 21 bass coupler diagrams for
accordion music, plus empty
diagrams and blobs that you can superimpose to produce further combinations
Handbells All of the symbols commonly used in handbell music are to be found
here
More
ornaments
More than 50 additional ornament symbols, including pincé, shake, port de
voix, cadence,
cadence coupée, etc., are provided in these four rows.
Clusters Symbols for white note and black note clusters for intervals
between a second and an octave.
Special stems A variety of alternative stem symbols for use with stemless
notes, to show different playing
techniques.
Prolations Symbols for tempus perfectus, tempus imperfectus, prolatio
perfectus (major prolation), prola-
tio imperfectus (minor prolation), etc. for use in editions of medieval
music.
Miscellaneous Leger line symbols of various widths (normal, whole note, cue
note) are provided; line these
up with the regular stave lines to ensure that they look as good as possible
Note names Special noteheads that show note names inside the notehead shape.
To use these,
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