[ddots-l] Re: Can I create and print simple chord charts using Sonar Producer?

  • From: "Bill" <billlist1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2015 10:19:06 -0400

Hello, David,



If you have the CakeTalking for SONAR scripts, check the main tutorial document
for references to the Staff View. For CakeTalking 8.8 users, see Lesson 49.



As David Pinto wrote, SONAR’s support for printed notation is limited but it
certainly can be useful for some applications like teaching a sighted person to
play one of your compositions and arrangements. That being said, it will not
be the program you’ll want to use to publish your work.



Since it’s a relatively brief lesson, I will paste it in below with the
standard legalese that all copyrights are reserved:



BTW, David Pinto suspended development of Sibelius Speaking years ago. If you
are looking for an accessible notation program, consider our Lime notation
software with the Lime Aloud scripts. Write me at my info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
address to request access to a private link where you can download the free,
15-day evaluation version of the software.







LESSON 49. THE STAFF VIEW.



49A. SONAR’S Staff Notation Capabilities.



SONAR’S staff notation abilities are limited. It's a better idea to use the
Sibelius notation program to print out staff notation. The Sibelius Speaking
scripts for Sibliues 3, make Sibelius totally accessible. That having been
said, you can use SONAR’S staff notation capabilities to print out nominally
readable music.



49B. Displaying Tracks in the Staff View.



1. You must be in SONAR’S Staff View when you want SONAR to print music for
sighted musicians. You open the Staff view from the View menu, or by pressing
ALT + 7. Like other views, you close the Staff view with Control + F4. Or you
can keep it open and move to other open views with CONTROL TAB and CONTROL
SHIFT TAB.



2. When nothing is selected in the Track Pane, only the track that you were on
in the Track pane will be displayed in the Staff View. However, if you have
multiple tracks selected in the track pane, then they will also be displayed in
the Staff view. Note that only those tracks that are displayed, will be printed
out. In the Staff view, you can open up the Pick a Track dialog box and ARROW
to any track that you wish displayed. Just press the letter T, to open the Pick
a Track dialog, and then ARROW to the track you wish to display. Or to display
more than one track, hold down SHIFT, and ARROW through the list. Then press
ENTER to return to the Staff View where all the tracks you selected will be
displayed in Staff notation.



3. You can not use the staff view to actually edit notes, but only to configure
the display of the notes for printing.



49C. Playing Individual Notes and Chords.



1. As you know, in the Event View, when you press CONTROL + SHIFT + SPACE, you
can step through individual notes one at a time and hear them. In the staff
view, you can step through not only notes but also chords. You use CONTROL +
RIGHT ARROW to go forward, and CONTROL + LEFT ARROW to go backwards.



2. Since you can not use the Staff view to change notes, one strategy for
editing the individual notes in chords would be to find the chords in the Staff
view with CONTROL + the LEFT or RIGHT ARROWS, and then CONTROL TAB, or CONTROL
SHIFT TAB back to the Event View, where you can do your editing.



49D. Setting the Clef.



1. If you wish to print out the music of the tracks that are displayed, you
first have to have the time signature and the key signature established. To set
these, open the Meter Key dialog box, by pressing ALT + I, then K. If you don't
set the time and key signatures, they default to 4/4, in the key of C.



2. You also have to set a clef for each of the tracks. To set a clef for a
track, press the letter L. The Staff Layout dialog box will open. Arrow through
the Track list box to select the track that you wish to set a clef for. Then
TAB to the Clef combo box. ARROW UP and DOWN to select the clef for that track.
Then press ENTER to return to the Staff View.



49E. Adjusting Note Durations.



1. Now, in order for the Staff View to display your music intelligently, you
must have recorded it while following the click. It should also be quantized.
Even though you may not want your music to be perfectly quantized for listening
purposes, it's important to do it if you plan on printing. So you should have 2
versions of your song. One for printing, and one for listening.



2. You should have the durations of notes quantized also, by making sure that
the Quantize Durations checkbox in the Quantize dialog is checked when you
Quantize. You see, when you record in real time, often your fingers are
released from the keys before, or after the next note is pressed. When
recording music for notation, don't use a sustain pedal, but always play
legato. Also, don't play staccato. The goal is to have all the notes last till
the next note starts. Of course, if you want to deliberately sustain notes past
the next notes entrance then do that. Otherwise release the notes as best as
you can, when the next note starts.



3. There are additional tools available that will let your note durations be
displayed in a notation friendly manner. Even though you may have played as
accurately as possible, and then quantized your durations, there still may be
some note durations that unnecessarily end before the next note, or overlap the
next note. To make the Staff View not take your performed durations so
literally and print a whole bunch of small rests, press the D key. This toggles
the fill durations button. When fill durations is active, the music looks much
more like you intended. And, if you press the D key twice quickly, you'll
toggle the trim durations button. When the trim button is on, unnecessary
overlapping ties are eliminated. You will need a sighted assistant to tell you
the state of these buttons.



4. An additional aid to displaying your notes accurately is the Display
Resolution Combo box. If you press Q once, the shortest valued note and rest
that will be displayed will be eighth notes. Pressing Q twice quickly will
allow the display of only sixteenth notes and rests and longer values. And,
pressing Q 3 times will set the shortest displayed note and rest to
thirty-seconds.



5. By trimming the durations, filling the durations, and setting your display
resolution, you will solve most of the duration problems. However, these
buttons are also not perfect. You should finally check things out in the Event
View, by moving up and down the duration column. Whenever a note duration is
not right, you can adjust it in the duration column.



6. If you have inserted chord symbols in the Event View, then in the Staff
View, it is best to set their font size to 20 points. This makes the symbols
comfortably large enough for sighted musicians to read in performance
conditions. To do this, do the following.



a. Open the Staff Notation dialog with the letter L.



b. Tab to the Font combo box, and press C, to select chord text.



c. SHIFT TAB to the Font button and press it. The Font dialog opens.



d. TAB to the Font size edit field and type 20. Then press the OK button.



7. Once the music is quantized, the display of durations is adjusted, the time
and key signatures are set, the clef is set, and the chord font is set, you can
start the process of preparing for printing.



49F. The Print Preview Window.



1. In order to print, you must be in the staff notation window. Make sure that
only those tracks that you wish to print are displayed in the Staff View. You
must then open up the Print Preview window, and select the size of the staves
and their contents. Follow these steps.



a. Open up the Print Preview window, in order to select the size of the staves
and notes. To do this, first get into the file menu by pressing ALT + F, then
UP ARROW once to the More sub menu. Open it with a Right ARROW.



b. In the More sub menu, Down Arrow to Print Preview, and press ENTER.



c. In the Print Preview window, open the Staff View Configure dialog box, by
pressing ALT + F. That's the letter F, as in figure.



d. Use the ARROW keys to select choice 0, 1, or 2. Each of these choices
displays the music in a different size. Have a sighted musician advise you on
which choice he prefers. Usually, choice 2 is the safest choice.



e. Press the ENTER key to exit the Configure dialog box, and return to the
Print preview window.



f. Press ALT + P to start your printer. You may get other dialog boxes relating
to your printer that you have to negotiate.



g. Lastly, when printing starts, you will be returned to the Staff View.



2. It should be noted, that SONAR’S notation capabilities are not publishing
quality. You cannot insert repeat marks, or display odd groups of rhythmic
units like groups of 5, or 7. And you can not define exactly how many bars go
across the page. That having been said, SONAR’S notation abilities include
chord symbols, graphic crescendo and decrescendo marks, text dynamics, and
lyrics. So you can create useable charts for musicians to read from, that will
often get the job done.



----- END OF LESSON -----





From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of David Truong
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 7:20 PM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Can I create and print simple chord charts using Sonar
Producer?
Importance: High



Thanks mate! Ah well!





From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Phil Muir
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 5:17 AM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Can I create and print simple chord charts using Sonar
Producer?



No. Guesss you could write them out in word by hand though :-) Had to do that
here for a worship team I was working with at church.

On 11 October 2015 20:11:35 BST, David Truong <blindboxer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hey All,



I’m just wondering if it is possible to create simple chord charts in Sonar
Producer and then print them? I am working in a duo/band with a guitarist and
she needs simple chord charts of my songs. She is fully sighted so I have to be
able to print them out for her. Can I achieve this using Sonar Producer? Thanks
for any help on the above,





David Truong

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