Dear Dan, thank you for your very detailed explanation. The sad thing is that Sibelius will not take midi velocity into account in step mode. Velocity is only recorded in real-time or "flexitime" as they call it. I'm aware that few people will want this, but I wrote a word to their technical support to ask them if they could include step mode velocity as an option for weirdos like me. Cheers, JPR http://myspace.com/jeanphilipperykiel ----- Original Message ----- From: Dan Rugman To: sib-access@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 4:40 PM Subject: [sib-access] Re: piano forte and manuals JPR wrote: I've been looking in vain in the different manuals for ways to enter dynamic information such as piano and forte. Instead of telling me how to do it, could you please tell me where to look ? The relevant sections in the Sibelius Reference are 3.1 and 3.2 but as we've noted before, the reference can be difficult to read even after being converted into text. Unfortunately, there is no section on text in the access guide yet but it's a high priority - just like everything else! In the mean time I'll give you the briefest overview I can. There are different text styles which you use for creating types of text. EG: expression, lyrics, chords, tempo, figured bass, etc. (Dynamics are created using the expression text style.) You can find all these in the create menu under text. As you browse the menu, take note of the shortcut keys. The most useful are Control + E for expression, Control + T for technique, Control + L for lyrics and Control + Alt + T for tempo. Don't confuse these text styles with fonts. Text styles are far more advanced than that, although each text style does have a font associated with it. In other words, each text style will appear in the font which it has been assigned. Most text styles will use a combination of times new roman and the opus font which is used for musical symbols. Text items can be system items or staff items according to type. Tempo, titles and rehearsal marks are all system items because they appear in all staves, whereas expression, technique, lyrics and chord symbols are all staff items because they only appear above or below one staff. To add a text item you must first select the note which is closest to where you want to text to be created. If you're creating system text then it is enough to choose any note which has the same rhythmic position that you want the text to have. For staff items you must select the note in the staff that you want to text to appear in. Once you've selected the closest note, use the create menu or press the shortcut key for the text style. The text item will be created and an edit window becomes active which you use to input the text. Once you've finished entering the text press Escape. The edit window closes and you'll be placed back in the score with the text item selected. If you want to edit an existing text item you'll need to select it first and then press enter to activate the edit window. System text items can be selected using the system items dialog (Alt+F3) whereas staff text can be reached by pressing Tab or Shift + Tab when you've selected the note which is closest to the text item you need. Sibelius will take note of any text you input and adjust the playback of the score accordingly. For this to work you must make sure that you spell words properly. For this reason there's a pop-up menu of common terms which you can open by pressing the application key, Shift + F10 or the right mouse button. The menu of common terms will be different for each of the different text styles. The menu is actually a property of the text style and you can edit it to add your own terms if you really feel the need. There are also shortcut keys which you can use within each text style to add a term from the menu of common terms. One thing to take note of is that some of the common terms use different fonts with specific sizes and attributes. For example, "p", "f" and "rfz" all use the opus font. This font looks like a rather elaborate version of times new roman but it is larger, bold and italicised. On the other hand, "dolce", "legato" and "marcato" all use the standard times new roman font in italics. As a brief example, here's how to add "ff" below a note. 1. Select the note. 2. Press Control + E to create an expression text item. 3. Press Control + F twice to add two "f"s in the opus font. 4. Press Escape to close the edit field and return to the score. 5. Press Tab until you have selected the next note in the staff. Dan Rugman visit the new on-line resource for visually impaired musicians and home of Sibelius Access. www.musicaccess.co.uk -----Original Message----- From: sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sib-access-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jean Philippe Sent: 03 December 2008 07:39 To: sibaccess Subject: [sib-access] piano forte and manuals Hi all, I've been looking in vain in the different manuals for ways to enter dynamic information such as piano and forte. Instead of telling me how to do it, could you please tell me where to look ? As a Sibelius novice, I will be asking all sorts of silly questions like this one. This leads me to another question. The Sibelius reference manual that comes with the software is a real pain to navigate through, even after converting it to a text file. I asked Sibelius about an electronic copy of the entire Sibelius user guide but they said they couldn't provide it. Is anything like this available from Sibelius access? Cheers, JPR http://myspace.com/jeanphilipperykiel If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx If you wish to unsubscribe, send a blank message with the single word, unsubscribe - in the Subject line to: sib-access-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx