vertical line / microtones

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jgh
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Post by jgh » Sat May 19, 2018 7:29 pm

Two unrelated questions for the same score.

Is there a way to put a vertical line through a score at a cutoff point somewhere in the middle of a measure? Can that vertical line appear in the score and parts?

Where can I find microtonal accidentals? Like let's say I want a string player to portamento up to 6 cents sharp, how can I create a 6 cents sharp symbol to attach to the second note? I'm imagining I could use a microtonal sharp symbol and customize it with a numeral 6.


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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sat May 19, 2018 10:12 pm

jgh wrote:… Is there a way to put a vertical line through a score at a cutoff point somewhere in the middle of a measure? Can that vertical line appear in the score and parts? …
I am not sure I understand, what the “vertical line” should look like.
Should it look exactly like a barline?
Or somewhat different than a barline?


jgh wrote:… Where can I find microtonal accidentals? …
Take a look at the font Maestro Percussion, and also at the font Engraver Font Extras.
Are those microtonal accidentals what you need?
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jgh
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Post by jgh » Sat May 19, 2018 10:28 pm

Thanks for your response.

I'm thinking of a dashed vertical line through all of the staves of the score, kind of like a bar line, but that can be placed at any point in the middle of a measure, where I have to cut off the orchestra. And this dashed line would also appear in the parts.

As for the microtones, I went to expression designer to create something with with the sharp symbol and a number to represent cents, and I see I can choose Maestro font, but how do I search through the font to find the right symbol? Through trial and error I see that the "A" key on the keyboard makes a sharp symbol in parentheses which I could use, but I can't find the flat in the parentheses. Or to see the other options.

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Sat May 19, 2018 10:39 pm

The dashed line is easy. Use the built-in one in the Misc. Category. Have it apply to all the staves. If you want the one in the score to go all the way, including between staves, duplicate the one used earlier, apply it to the top staff, then drag it down all the way to the bottom staff. Lastly, in the Edit Expression Assignment box, select this expression to only show in the score.

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sat May 19, 2018 10:50 pm

jgh wrote:… I'm thinking of a dashed vertical line through all of the staves of the score, kind of like a bar line, but that can be placed at any point in the middle of a measure, where I have to cut off the orchestra. And this dashed line would also appear in the parts …
If I understand you correctly, the vertical line should look like a dashed barline, right?

1) Select the measure partially so that the selection “splits” the measure where you need the vertical line.

2) Plug-ins menu > Measures > Split Measure…

jgh wrote:… how do I search through the font to find the right symbol? …
I did not suggest the Maestro font (but rather the font Maestro Percussion and the font Engraver Font Extras).
You are well aware of that, I am sure.

Two different solutions for searching through a font’s characters:

1) (free):
Use the Finale dialog box Symbol Selection.

2) (costs money, but …):
There are several third party utilities that will let you browse through all the characters in a font.
Try e. g. PopChar:
http://www.ergonis.com/products/popchar/
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N Grossingink
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Post by N Grossingink » Sat May 19, 2018 11:21 pm

jgh wrote:I'm thinking of a dashed vertical line… that can be placed at any point in the middle of a measure, where I have to cut off the orchestra. And this dashed line would also appear in the parts.
Just a suggestion - why not use a caesura (railroad tracks)? It's universally known to musicians as a "cut-off", where a vertical line might be confusing as to its meaning. If you enter the caesura as an Expression, you can set the exact horizontal position in the measure so it appears at the same location in the score and parts.

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jgh
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Post by jgh » Sun May 20, 2018 12:37 am

Thank you all for these suggestions. I will try all of these to see what I like. Splitting the measure could work. What is the Misc. Category suggested by Zuill?

True about caesura, but there is something visually appealing about a vertical line straight down the score at the exact moment of the cutoff. Because railroad tracks are slanted, they feel less precise. And for film music, a visual line feels like the notational equivalent of a picture cut.

As for the microtonal symbol, I'm sorry, I still don't know how to find the symbol dialogue box when I'm in the expression designer trying to create my expression.

jgh
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Post by jgh » Sun May 20, 2018 12:39 am

FYI splitting the measure did not work. I got an error because of the rhythmic content of the measure; I'm trying to create this line in the middle of a triplet figure.

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Sun May 20, 2018 3:23 am

"What is the Misc. Category suggested by Zuill?"

Miscellaneous Category, sorry.

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jgh
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Post by jgh » Sun May 20, 2018 4:03 am

Thanks, yeah I knew Misc. meant Miscellaneous, I'm just not sure where that is.

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zuill
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Post by zuill » Sun May 20, 2018 4:06 am

The default files have categories for expressions. Miscellaneous is the last one in the list. The dashed barline is in that category.

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oldmkvi
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Post by oldmkvi » Sun May 20, 2018 6:11 am

Exactly how sharp is 6 cents sharper?
Quarter Tone? 8th tone? Minor 2nd ?
That kind of Precision might not be that easy to get.
I mean, 6, not 5 or 7?
Maybe a more general "Slide up a Quarter Tone" might be enough detail,
and get the job done.

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Post by RMK » Sun May 20, 2018 2:46 pm

For the 6th tone symbol, try the Bravura font (Google it!).

There is also a Microtonal Notation font I found somewhere that has many symbols.

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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sun May 20, 2018 8:15 pm

jgh wrote:… As for the microtonal symbol, I'm sorry, I still don't know how to find the symbol dialogue box when I'm in the expression designer trying to create my expression.
The dialog box Symbol Selection is available via the Text menu, i. e. it is available where-ever in Finale the Text menu is present (Text Tool, Lyrics Tool, Staff Tool, Expression Tool).
Typically the Text menu is available where you edit text, e. g. when the Edit Text window is open.

Also, the dialog box Symbol Selection appears where you need to select a font character, e. g. in the Articulation Designer.

When you are in the Expression Designer, do not look in the Expression Designer window, but rather look up in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
You will see the menu title ‘Text’ between the menu titles ‘Expression’ and ‘Window’.

The path to Symbol Selection is:
Text menu > Inserts > Symbol…
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Peter Thomsen
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Post by Peter Thomsen » Sun May 20, 2018 8:28 pm

jgh wrote:FYI splitting the measure did not work. I got an error because of the rhythmic content of the measure; I'm trying to create this line in the middle of a triplet figure.
Unfortunately the plug-in Split Measure can not split a tuplet.

Before you can run the plug-in, you will have to, manually split the triplet in the middle:
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