regarding Sybelius 7.1.2

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inkivan
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:10 pm
Sibelius Version: 7.1
Operating System: Windows

Post by inkivan » Fri Sep 18, 2020 12:04 am

Dear all,
First of all, I would like to thank you for all of your suggestions relating my questions as I already have the possibility to do many activities in comparison with the previous period. Anyhow, concerning some issues I think there has been an inconvenience which is, I admit, my fault as I did not describe them properly but might partially have to do with the difficulties of transmitting them by email which would be the reason why it would maybe be better to discuss them in a telephone conversation. It is this letter in which I would attempt to explain these difficulties I still find in the program in some better manner.

As you asked me some questions including the question about the version of the Sibelius I use I suppose I should now provide you this information in order to have the completeness of the insight into the possibilities on it. The Sibelius I use is Sibelius 7.1.2 All the files were typed in this version of Sibelius. I intend to go to Sibelius ultimate 2019.5

Before proceeding I should indicate some points which would, I suppose, make clear the moment at which I intend to make these changes to the score. The difficulties which I encounter appear at the compositional phase in which the majority of music has already been written in the score. It includes many staves mainly added as Extra Staves. It is because I left the instrument determination to a latter period primarily focusing on note input itself at the initial period. Therefore, I would tend to find some ways of automatic transformation with this big amount of music as any further copying, introducing new instruments and manual activity would make it impossible for me to navigate in an even larger number of staves. The majority of questions are in connection with this kind of possibility pertaining the actually written music on the staves. When creating a new file next time I will, of course, use the features from the moment of starting the note input. But now I should find some ways in adapting this to a comfortable file in order to work further on the score.

Concerning the paper size issue I do not see there is an offer to choose a bigger size than A3. When I go to Layout / Document Setup / Size the biggest size I could choose is 29.70 cm × 42.00 cm. If there is a possibility to choose a bigger paper size it would be useful for me to know. The full score will certainly fit on the A3 paper format. It is that I thought that it would be simpler for me to initially work with all independent staves, i.e. not with Voices on a single stave, intending to bind them together afterwards. So, if there is a possibility to have independent staves instead of multiple Voices on staves but with the number of them exceeding the A3 paper format it would technically be better for me at this stage in order to have bigger flexibility. They have not been imported from any other program but have been added mainly as many Extra Staff to instruments. The Staff Size in Layout / Document Setup is 3.5 mm, the Spaces Between Staves in Layout / Staff Spacing are 5.50, the Spaces Between Systems in Layout / Staff Spacing are 9.25. I used Optimize, Reset Space Below and Reset Space Above in Layout / Staff Spacing but the staves are still overlapping. It would be better if the page size could be enlarged beyond A3. As I already created this number of staves which include music is there a possibility to choose a paper size bigger than A3?

Concerning the reduction of staves issue it would be all right for me to use Voices. But, since I already wrote the music on individual staves including single voices I need to reduce the number of staves putting more voices on a single stave. In the particular case which appears in the score I would need to bind together 3 staves on 1 stave. So, this would mean that the music from those 3 staves should appear as 3 Voices on a single stave. From your letter you wrote me I am not sure if you want to indicate me that the only way to do this is to create new instruments and copy the music into 3 Voices on a single stave. The actual difficulty is that there are many such cases in the score which also appear simultaneously. It would be best if there is some kind of automatic action which reduces the number of staves, i.e. puts the selected staves including single voices on a single stave including more voices without the necessity of copying manually. This holds for the music throughout these staves, i.e. the single voices on them which should be bound together always appear on the same staves rendered to them from the initial moment without any changes of the stave on which they appear. These staves systematically appear as groups including 3 staves which should all be transformed to Voices, i.e. every group including 3 staves should become a single stave with Voice 1, Voice 2, Voice 3. It is needed that the program perceives 3 staves as 3 Voices. Therefore, is there some option of stave reduction if I select the staves including single voices which would put them on a single stave using Voices?

Concerning the groups of instruments issue I would need to indicate that, due to the previously explained problem of having the number of staves I need in the score, I had to create more files that run the same music. So, they have different file names. They can be opened in File / Open. But, of course, they can be viewed only independently, i.e one by one. My question from the previous letter was if there is any possibility to bind them all together. Therefore, I would need to bind together files including orchestral scores to appear in the same file as a single score. In the particular case I am confronted with, some of the files include the same instruments, i.e. the same instruments are present in more files, which means that when appearing all together they should appear at the place where they normally appear as it were only 1 file. The staves in these files have been created as standard instruments in Home / Instruments / Add or Remove while some instruments also use Extra Staff. It is such a realisation that my score is actually split into more files which should all be bound together. But they are separately created files. All of the staves from the files should be found as existing in the single score including all of them when bound together, i.e. the music from these independent files should appear not successively but simultaneously when bound together, as all the files start from the same bar, i.e. from bar 1. So, my question would be if there is any possibility of addition of music from other files into the file actually opened in a manner as it were added in the actual file in Home / Instruments / Add or Remove?

Concerning the Extra Staff issue I cannot find the Plug-in Exchange Staff Contents. There are Plug-in in Home tab, Note Input tab, Text tab, Play tab, Review tab but neither of these contains this Plug-in. Is this Plug-in present in Sibelius 7 using some other name?

Concerning the notation issue I understand that there is no possibility of automatic grasp of notation. It is all right for me to write each time as it should appear on the paper. But, is there a possibility of making, i.e. establishing, as default some notation like using dotted rests instead of multiple rests, for example 1 triply dotted half rest instead of 4 rests containing a half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth?

Concerning the selection issue you wrote that Ideas has the possibility of copying an arbitrary non-rectangular segment. This way I can do everything to them. But, is it possible to copy the segments saved in Ideas over the existing piece of music, i.e. how should I select this shape on which it should be copied to, not changing anything in the adjacent notes in this already existing piece to which it should be copied to, so only interpolating this segment from Ideas in the piece pertaining all the notes from both of them Ideas and the main page?

Independently from Ideas I would ask you if there is some possibility of selection in the main page which would include an arbitrary non-rectangular segment. It would be very convenient for me if, for example, there is some kind of selection similar to the kind of selection present in Paint. Therefore, can I select notes with a single drag of the mouse encompassing the shape within which the notes should be selected?

It would be useful if there are some more types of selection which permit bigger flexibility in choosing passage. This is particularly needed when the passage is not vertically fixed over more staves, i.e. when it does not start at the same moment in all the staves that should be selected, as these staves contain some other music that should not be selected belonging to other passages. If it is in my interest to select a field that contains many notes but is of arbitrary non-rectangular shape what would be the best way of making this selection?

Concerning the irregular rhythm issue at some staff sizes the tuplets appear in red color. It is that the note heads themselves appear normally but only the brackets including the tuplet number appear in red color. Is this just an indication that the staff size should be changed as there should be more space around those notes so it does not have anything to do with an improperly written rhythm?

Concerning the note input issue I would be interested in switching completely to keyboard input as it seems to me that this kind of note input is much faster than using the mouse. As I understood keyboard input enables all the features of note input including flexible moving, choosing, selecting staves, voices, instruments and using many features from the Keypad without need of any cancelation of the properties of the previous note, i.e. its note value, accidentals and other features attached to it. At this point of my improvement in using the program could you state if there are any disadvantages in using exclusively keyboard input in comparison to mouse input as long as my intention is only fast note input, including its note value, accidentals and main properties that should be attached to the note, without any extra properties, at least at the initial moment when all the music should be typed into the score including all the notes?

It would be my obligation to ask if you think I should use some newer version of Sibelius. This is a question I ask independently from the issues I state in this letter, i.e. irrespective of the possible advantages they might have relating these issues, as they might same some advantages in some other dimensions which might make my work in Sibelius in general different, maybe without even encountering the issues I state here. Would it in your opinion be better for me to use a particular version of Sibelius?

As I explained the issues, I would like to indicate again that it would be best for me if I could use some kind of automatic transformation providing a large fundus of music has already been written in the score. This implies any usage of Plug-ins or some commands that relate to the complete score or some external program acting over the actual one. Also, if some issues are possible in newer versions of Sibelius I could import the file in them, i.e. export the file from this one.

Yet, I extremely apologize for not being in a position to explain these issues properly in the first letter. These are delicate questions which I should have explained better. If there is any inconvenience in this one I would need to know this as it would be my wish to continue the improvement in using the Sibelius either this version or some other but primarily to make some significant improvement in the computational realisation of my compositions.

Sincerely yours,
Ivan Nesic


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