Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) sheet for the Noteworthy Composer (NWC) users.
Any suggestions for update/correction, please let me know.

Index

  1. 0.1 About this FAQ
  2. 1. Getting the Software
  3. 1.1 What is NWC?
  4. 1.2 Obtaining NWC
  5. 1.3 Evaln/Registered
  6. 1.4 Registering
  7. 1.5 Updates
  8. 2. Getting Help
  9. 2.1 The Forum
  10. 2.2 NoteWorthy Help
  11. 2.3 The Newsgroup
  12. 3. Common Questions
  13. 3.1 Move Notes ↑ or ↓
  14. 3.2 Enter Chord
  15. 3.3 Rests in Chords
  16. 3.4 Keyboard U/S
  17. 3.5 Trills / Mordants
  18. 3.6 Hidden Staves
  19. 3.7 Transposing
  20. 3.8 MP Controller
  21. 3.9 Cresc & Accel U/S
  22. 3.10 Sound Banks
  23. 3.11 Slurs U/S
  24. 3.12 Tied note not off
  25. 3.13 Bi-directional beam
  26. 3.14 Chord accidental
  27. 3.15 Make invisible
  28. 3.16 Expressn placement
  29. 3.17 Playback legato
  30. 3.18 Force System break
  31. 3.19 Force Page break
  32. 3.20 Indent
  33. 3.21 Blank Manuscript
  34. 3.22 Play collection
  35. 3.23 Tempo settings
  36. 3.24 Headers / Footer
  37. 3.25 Make Wav/MP3 file
  38. 3.26 XML ↔ NWC
  39. 3.27 Make CD
  40. 3.28 Vol change on Note
  41. 3.29 No Collapse
  42. 3.30 Glissando
  43. 3.31 Ntuplets
  44. 3.32 Part Italics
  45. 3.33 Chord Tie
  46. 3.34 Beam Rest Chord
  47. 3.35 Many Vs 1 Chorus
  48. 3.36 User Object?
  49. 3.37 Install User Object
  50. 4. The NWC Scriptorium
  51. 4.1 Scriptorium Hints

0.1 About this FAQ

This FAQ is intended to fill in some gaps and provide a sort of map on how to obtain further help. We won't duplicate everything that has been done elsewhere. Other sources of information are detailed in section 2.

1. Getting the Software

1.1 What is Noteworthy Composer?

From the first page of the help file...

"NoteWorthy Composer 2 is a music composition and notation processor for Windows. It provides for the creation, play back, and printing of your own musical scores. It will also save your compositions to other MIDI applications, thus making your compositions available to a wide variety of music software on the market today. Additionally, NoteWorthy Composer 2 is able to automatically convert standard MIDI files into notation, thus enabling the exploration of existing songs that you may have on your machine already."

Also, you can use external systems to convert pdf files into nwc format.

External systems can also be used to transfer xmlfiles to and from NoteWorthy Composer

1.2 Obtaining copies of NWC

Copies of Noteworthy Composer, created by Noteworthy Software, can be obtained from the WorldWide Web by visiting https://noteworthycomposer.com/info/order.htm

Noteworthy software have created a free player (for NWC, Midi and RMI) files, called Noteworthy Viewer, as well as a free WinAmp plugin.

If you don't have web access, mail
NoteWorthy Software, Inc.
PO Box 211
Valdese NC 28690-0211
USA

1.3 What's the difference between the evaluation and registered NWCs?

Noteworthy Composer is not free. You may evaluate it for free, downloading the special evaluation version from https://noteworthycomposer.com/info/evaluate.htm The evaluation version is the same as the registered version with the following changes:
  • It lacks the ability to open or save any documents created by you or others.
The following commands are limited or unavailable in the demo version:
  • File->Open
  • Open Backup
  • Save
  • Save As
  • Revert
  • Import
  • Export
  • History
  • Edit->Paste as New File
  • Edit->Copy
  • Tools->User Tool

During your evaluation, you can open a built-in sample or template while trying the various features and functions possible in the editor.

1.4 Registering

The current cost of registering NWC is $49US.
This will enable you to download a full version, and enable you to obtain free updates for all 2.* versions of Noteworthy Composer.

The Help/About page of the evaluation program will lead you to detailed ordering information. It can be also be done directly from Noteworthy Software via secure http at https://noteworthycomposer.com/info/order.htm, and by mail.

1.5 Obtaining new updates of NWC.

Go to https://noteworthycomposer.com/info/upgrade.htm
These are free for all registered users of version 2.*
Alternatively, Select "Access NoteWorthySoftware.com" from the Help menu of NoteWorthy Composer.

2 Getting Help

The NWC users community are a friendly bunch. Noteworthy Software have provided several support "nodes" and forums for discussion/help. It is best to "help yourself" by using the online help provided with the software. If you can't find something by using the contents (F1), and are using Win 95/98/NT/XP/7/8/10, try the Search facility and then click the Search tab to find the phrase you are after.

Other good places to get your frequently asked questions answered are

The Forum and support

There are several friendly places to ask questions and discuss Noteworthy topics. If you have a technical question, try and help yourself using the online help, user tips and the forum. The forum is often frequented by Noteworthy Software staff but there are also may very able users who also may be able to answer your question.. Before asking publicly, avail yourself of the above resources and the common questions answered below, in section 3.

2.1 The Forum

The online forum is a web-based message board.
It is located at https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/
Folks on the forum are very friendly and helpful. Usual etiquette prevails:
  • Talk politely when addressing folks. No flaming, please. If someone flames, it's best to ignore it or e-mail objections privately so as not to prolong the annoyance.
  • It's okay to complain about aspects of NWC, but try and do so constructively if possible. It may be a Mercedes at a Volkswagen price, but it ain't a Lamborghini (yet). Often, however, if you are stuck when doing something with NWC, more experienced users will have already found a workaround, so it may well be worth your while to ask.

    If you are posting a wish, don't forget that Noteworthy Software have a special web page at https://noteworthycomposer.com/info/wishlist.php for you to provide that sort of feedback.
  • When quoting other users, try and make the quotes brief and relevent to what you want to say. Avoid requoting whole postings simply so that you can say "LOL" (Laughing Out Loud) or "Great!".
  • When posting unusual attachments, it may help to explain how it was produced, eg
    Alt+Prt Screen | Paste to MS Paint | Winzip etc. to aid readers in unpacking and deciphering.
  • Refrain from posting large binary files (eg large pictures, MP3 or WAV files). A good alternative is to make the file available on the web somewhere and simply post a link to it. (Note that you can only paste links if your are registered as an NWC2 User or above)
VIRUSES
Everyone on the forum is encouraged to protect themselves from internet-borne computer viruses, worms etc by using a good antivirus program and KEEPING IT UP TO DATE.

2.2 NoteWorthy Help

NoteWorthy help can be obtained by sending an email to support (e-mail) or by sending a letter to:
NoteWorthy Software, Inc.
PO Box 211
Valdese NC 28690-0211
USA

2.3 The Newsgroup

There are those of you around that will say, "I've heard of a NoteWorthy Newsgroup, how do I get to it?"
Well, unfortunately, the newsgroup has passed on and is no longer available.
However, the Scripto webmaster has a record of most newsgroup activities and nwc files posted to the newsgroup and so if you are desperate to get something from it, get in touch.

3. Commonly Asked Questions

The venues above receive questions that are asked fairly often. We'll try and answer them succinctly here. They are not in any particular order and so you will just have to search for a relevant word or simply browse through.

3.1 How do I move my notes up and down the staff?

Select them, by dragging your mouse across them, or using the shift and right- and left-arrow keys. Then use Ctrl-Shift-Up or Ctrl-Shift-Down to move the notes vertically. Note that this will preserve notes' relative positions with respect to the staff, but not their relative pitches (ie it ignores key signatures).

3.2 How do I enter chord members?

Position to the right of the note where you want to put the chord, move up or down appropriately and use Ctrl-Enter.

And...? Oh! You can remove chord members individually, by positioning to the right of the chord, move up or down appropriately and use Ctrl-Backspace.

3.3 How do I enter rests in chords?

Note the following : 1. that the rest must be the same value or less than the notes in the chord and must be entered first.
2. even though you can't see it, the rest has a tail. This tail must be in the opposite direction to the tails on the actual notes.
So, select which way the rest "tail" will go.
(use the right stem up/down buttons that show quarter notes with tails pointing up or down
Or else you can enter a rest, highlight it and then click on the notes menu to see the tail direction). Enter a single rest. Then select the opposite direction and enter the note(s) as a chord member (Ctrl + Enter).

3.4 I've connected my keyboard, why doesn't it work?

NWC will accept input from an external midi device, like a keyboard or some such thing which will plug into the MIDI IN of your computer's soundcard. If this is not working for you, ask yourself the following questions:
  • Is the keyboard turned on?
  • Is the keyboard's MIDI OUT connected to the computer's MIDI IN? Often these can be reversed due to confusing naming conventions. If things don't work, try swapping around the leads and see if that makes any difference.
  • Check Tools | Options | Record to see that the correct Midi Input Device is selected. It may be handy to switch on echo midi input (and make sure it echoes to somewhere that will generate a sound) just so that you can hear when things are working.
  • Make sure that Midi Input Active (either the button, or the Tools menu entry) is ON.
It may be handy to turn on Tools | Options | Records | Echo Midi Input (using your standard MIDI out channel). This will help verify that notes are getting through, or may simply be used as aural feedback to help in composition.

3.5 How do I get those great trills, mordants, glissandi and other marks on my page?

NWC has a great facility to allow users to specify other fonts to use when entering text. Note that specifying fontfaces other than Times New Roman and Arial may make your NWC file less portable, as other readers of your score may not have the right font files. However, the NWC community uses a suite of fonts developed by Lawrie Pardy of Melbourne, called Swingdings. Swingdings replaces the previous "Boxmarks" font. Swingdings is available from http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Fonts It contains rehearsal marks, glissandi, arpeggio, trill, tremolo, turns and many other useful marks.
  • And here is how you do it:
  • First of all download one of the Swingdings suite from the Scriptorium at http://nwc-scriptorium.org/helpful.html#Fonts.
  • Extract the font into your Windows fonts folder. Win 95 and later should automatically install the font.
  • In Noteworthy Composer, open (or create) your NWC file.
  • Go to File | Page Setup | Fonts.
  • Scroll down to User 1 (2 - 6) and modify it (Alt-M), selecting the font. You may need to experiment later with the size of the font, but start at about 12 to 18 for now. Click OK to save your font specifications.
  • In the score, use the X command (Insert | Text) to bring up the Insert Text Expression dialog.
  • Select User 1 (2 - 6) as the display font.
  • In the expression box, enter the appropriate character that you want to use. You can use the character map to find appropriate symbols. Press OK.
  • The appropriate glyph should appear on your score.

3.6 Hidden Staves, or, Okay, now I've got great looking trills, how do I make 'em sound?

Another great NWC feature is hidden staves. These are entirely the same as all other staves, except that they are concealed from view when first opening files in NWC.
Staves are concealed and revealed by
  1. going to the Contents tab of the File | Page Setup dialog.
  2. An X marked in a staff's box in the Visible Parts list means that the part will be displayed. So simply change this by clicking in the appropriate box.
  3. Whole groups can be displayed or hidden by checking/unchecking the Group in the Groups list.
A staff's group can be changed (and new groups created) in the General tab in the Staff Properties dialog (Staff | Properties, or F2 key). Simply type the name of a new Group (eg Woodwind, Percussion) or, if you've already created a group for other instruments, select the Group from the list.

So then the trick for for high quality display and performance is to create two staves; one which is decorated using a Swingdings font but is not heard (click the Mute button, or use Tools | Mute), and one which is the actual implementation of the marks (esp. arpeggios, glissandi, turns, etc), which is then hidden.

But if you are using a version 2.75 or later, then you can make use of User Objects which will allow you to place some of these functions directly on the staff and have them sound without having to use hidden staffs etc. For example, acciaccatura, trills, glissandi, arpeggio, tremoli , guitar chord charts and arpeggios can all be inserted as playing user objects and by the time you are reading this, perhaps many more !
If you would like to see the full range of User objects, go to the forum at https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?board=14.0 You can also watch a video about installing a user object https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R-5V0FvMGg

For further information about installing user objects, see section 3.37 How do you install a User Object? which will tell you more.

3.7 What's going on with transposing?

NWC can transpose a complete staff (as opposed to selecting a whole lot of notes and moving them up and down with the Ctrl-Shift-Up/Down).
  • Make sure you have a key signature at the start of the staff. If you don't need a key signature, enter the C key signature (Insert Key signature - C major).
  • Goto Tools | Transpose.
  • Choose how many semitones up or down you want to go.
  • Clear the Update staff box (unless you a writing for a transposing instrument, like some of the woodwinds and brass, and are transposing a part that you want to keep the pitch of).
  • Click OK.
  • This is normally enough. Sometimes, however, a little more work is needed. Enharmonic spellings may be incorrect. For instance, F# may be written as Gb. So there are additional options available - "Minimize sharp/flat count in key", "Favour Flat keys in ambiuous cases" and Favour Sharp keys in ambiguous cases". It's always worth checking after transposition and some manual changes may be needed,
Very occasionally, you want to transpose just a part of a staff, not the whole staff. If you are transposing by an octave, then that's easy, just select the notes you want to transpose and move them up or down 7 times with the Ctrl-Shift-Up/Down.
If you want to transpose a section of a staff and it's not an octave, then you have to copy the applicable section to a completely new staff (don't forget to put the key signature in if the selection does not start with it). Then transpose this new staff as above. After you have completed the transposition, copy and paste the section back into the original staff.
Before any non octave transposition, it is always a good idea to force all the accidentals (Tools / Force Accidentals). You can always audit accidentals(Tools / Audit / Audit Accidentals) after you have finished the transposition.

3.8 What's a multipoint controller?

Multipoint controllers, or MPCs, are little streams of special midi instructions which NWC can squirt into a channel (or, with tempo - the conductor's track) to do special things like altering pitch, volume, stereo pan etc. This can be handy for special effects, as well as "humanising" performance with things like swing, portamento, hammer-on on a guitar, swell on sustained notes, etc. Note that some soundcards do not implement these features. For example, say you want to create a Swedish fiddle piece that's in triple time, but the first quarter note of each measure is long, followed by two shorter ones (a typical Swedish fiddle trick!) You can do this by creating one MPC for the first bar (see below for an example) and then copying and pasting it into the start of each other bar. This method can be used to do swing for jazz pieces, too. To fill out the MCP dialog entries, you may do:
  • Start by doing Insert | Multi-point Controller (or press L)
  • Controller: Tempo. Well, that's obvious!
  • Style: Absolute, Linear Sweep. For many effects, you will want a sweep to obtain a smooth transition. However, this can generate many MIDI commands, which may slow down the replay of your NWC file. This MIDI "traffic" can be reduced by making the Sweep Resolution larger.
  • Time Resolution sets the "granularity" of the time offsets listed at the bottom. In this example, we could make it Quarter note.
  • In this example, initial time offset is zero (we want it to happen straight away). Say the piece is to be at a tempo of about 80 quarter notes per minute. But because of the "stretching", the first beat of the measure is at about 60 quarter notes per minute, so that is what we set the controller value to.
  • We enable setting 2, and set it at time offset of 1 (quarter note), and set the tempo back to 80.
  • Because we're getting good at this, we decide to slightly adjust the last beat of the bar to be at tempo 85, as it feels as if we always speed up at the end of the bar.
  • The tempo will remain at the last value set. This is worth keeping in mind, especially with pitch bends! (Sometimes you may need to string a few MPCs together to achieve a "zero-point" at the end of an effect).
Similarly, depending on your sound card, you may wish to use this for smooth "lip-off" effects on flute (smoothly dropping volume before a note finishes), volume swells (of ensembles, church organ, choirs). Note that this is for notes that are being held for a while. For crescendo and decrescendo of phrases or passages of notes, simply use dynamics marks and insert a Dynamic Variance.

3.9 Why don't my crescendo and my accelerando work properly?

Dynamic Variance (crescendo, decrescendo, diminuendo), and Tempo Variance (accelerando, allargando ,rallentando, ritardando, ritenuto) work by finding a "before" setting (of dynamic - ppp to fff - or tempo) and an "after" setting on that staff. So the default tempo is 120, and the default velocity is f, you need to explicitly inset those settings somewhere on the staff before your variance, and a "final setting" somewhere after it, for the variance to work properly.
It is sensible to keep all tempo settings on one staff, as they are global (ie no matter which staff a tempo setting is on, it will affect the whole performance, even if the staff is muted or hidden).
Dynamics are not global. If you want your whole brass ensemble to play crescendo, you will have to enter the crescendo mark (and dynamic or tempo marks) on each staff.

3.10 How do I access the groovy sounds in the other sound banks in my spiffy new sound card?

Each instrument that you assign to a staff (either through the Staff | Playback Instrument dialog, or though Inserting and Instrument Patch to change it later in the piece) can specify a MIDI bank select command to send as well. You will need to (carefully) read your sound card's manual to work out which banks to use.
The use of soundfonts within NoteWorthy is a complete topic on its own. To set up a virtual midi synth to work with NoteWorthy, please see my help file : Setting up and using Soundfonts using Coolsoft’s VirtualMIDISynth which is one way of doing it. Other instructions are also available.

3.11 Why won't my slurs work?

That depends on what you are wanting them to do. NWC uses the word slur for phrase marks (groups of notes that should be played together smoothly, or sets of notes that are sung to one syllable), and tie for notes of the same pitch which are held for the combined length of the tied notes.

Notes are slurred by using the ";" key (or Notes | Slur command).
Notes are tied by using the "/" key (or Notes | Tied command).

3.12 Why won't my tied note turn off?

Most likely because
  1. you tied notes across a bar line and the first note had an accidental (natural, sharp, flat, double sharp or double flat) and the second note is also supposed to have the same accidental, but you forgot to set it.
  2. you have changed key mid tie
  3. the second note in the tie may have been accidentally muted.
Because the convention is that accidentals are not rewritten on tied notes - but are assumed, it is an easy thing to forget to do. However, in NWC, accidentals on all tied notes must be made explicit. So the best way to approach this is to place an accidental if needed, on both the starting and ending note, place the tie and then audit accidentals. NWC will then hide the latter accidentals so things will look right.

3.13 How do I beam in both directions?

Layering allows you to superimpose one staff directly on top of another (v1.50 and later). In fact, you can layer as many staves as you like.

So how do I layer staves over each other?

  1. Ensure that Layering has been requested for the file you are working on. In the PageSetup/Contents tab, ensure that the allow layering box is checked.
  2. You will now be able to layer any staff with the staff that is immediately below it.
  3. Select staff properties (F2) and from the visual tab, check the Layer With Next Staff box.
    If Layer With Next Staff box in the visual tabs greyed out, check steps 1 and 2 above again and also check that you are using version 1.5 or later.
In order to make layering more useful, the following features of NoteWorthy Composer may also be of use :
  a) Vertically displace a rest, either up or down on the staff.
  b) Horizontally displace a note
  c) Horizontally displace an accidental
  d) Horizontally displace a dot
  e) Override stem length (to make sure, for example, that a layered 8th does not look like a 16th
These five functions can be achieved by highlighting either the note or the rest and then pressing Ctrl-E and following your nose !
  f) Lower voice dot placement (From Staff Properties - NB if activated, applies to all such relevant dots on the staff !
There are numerous effects that can be obtained by layering including bi-directional beaming, complex timing patterns, dual language lyrics highlighted at the same time, complex chord patterns with rests, chords with rests of equal value. ( i.e. a sixteenth note tails up with a sixteenth rest directly underneath it).

3.14 How do I add an accidental to a chord member


If you have already entered a chord and after you have finished, you realise that one of the notes in the chord should have been an accidental, you do NOT need to delete the chord and re-enter it.
You don't even need to delete the note out of the chord and re-enter it. All you need to do is to hover over the note you need to change and then right click it.
You will then see a sub menu of Tie, Color, Courtesy Accidentals, Accidentals and Noteheads.
Select accidentals and then click the one you need. Obviously, you can use this to remove an accidental too.
This method can also be used to add/remove a tie, change notehead color, tie etc.

3.15 How do I make something invisible?

Any note, rest, expression or barline can be made invisible by highlighting it and typing Ctrl+e. Under ‘Visibility’ choose ‘Never’. The item in question will appear light grey in the editor, but will not print. Sometimes you may want something to only print on the top staff of a score (like rehearsal marks, general directions etc). In this case, choose "Top Staff Only".

Why would I want to make something invisible?

The main reasons for doing this are
  1. to produce empty bars,
  2. to avoid printing items which are included in the score to facilitate playback and
  3. complicated tricks such as cross staff beaming.
  1. Empty bars.
    This can be useful when layering tracks. Quite often long sections do not require a layered track, and this function can hide the full bar rests. Empty bars (or sections of bars) are also useful in piano music when one hand changes staff, or in vocal music when a part is ‘spoken’ instead of sung.
    Another use is in printing blank manuscript paper. Fill the staves with a number of invisible bars, and force a system break at the end of each. See section 3.21 for exmple files.
  2. To avoid printing items which are included in the score to facilitate playback.
    If you want to produce a score that plays well, as well as looking great, there are certain expressions that you will need to insert. In piano music you may need a pedal marking for each staff, and possibly dynamics for each staff. Flow directions will also need to be repeated. Making all but one of each of these expressions invisible means that you don’t have to have separate scores for printing and playing. It also allows you to realise some ornaments without having to resort to a hidden staff.
  3. Complicated tricks.
    The manner in which beamed notes disappear when rendered invisible allows you to do a number of tricks. New tricks are often posted to the newsgroup or the forum.

3.16 What is "Expression Placement" all about?

In v1.70 and later, when you enter a text expression, you have a number of options as to how this will be placed in the final score. These will be hidden when you enter a text expression (X command, or Insert | Text) if you have Smart Properties Insert set in Tools | Options | Editor.
Justify left
means that the expression will start where your insertion point is, and extend to the right.
Justify right
means that it will finish at the insertion point, and extend to the left.
Centre
means just that. It will centre on the insertion point.
‘Preserve width’
means that a space will be made in the score to fit your expression. If this box is not checked the text will go over or under the surrounding notes or rests.
‘Before or after other staff signatures’
dictates where the expression will be placed in terms of signatures which occur in other bars.
‘At next note/bar’
means that the text will be centred over the following note. This is useful for placing ornaments when using a font such as Boxmarks.ttf. If this is used with ‘Preserve width’ turned on there will be a strange looking gap before the said note.
‘Best fit’
is self explanatory.

3.17 How do I make the playback sound more legato?

Use ‘Insert | Performance style | Legato’ for each staff.

3.18 How do I force a system break?

  1. Select the barline you want to break at in the top system.
  2. Type Ctrl+E.
  3. Check ‘Force system break’.

3.19 How do I force a Page break

  1. Place the cursor immediately after the barline(where you want the new page to start)
  2. Press the boundary change key (']') Or select from the Insert menu
  3. Select ‘Force new system (top staff only)’ and also check the ‘start a new page’ box.

3.20 Can I indent the first system of a piece, the way it's done in expensive printed music?

Yes. There are two ways of doing this:
1. ‘Page Setup | Options | Staff labels | First system’ puts a label in front of each staff for the first system of a piece. These labels are the titles you can give to staves under ‘Staff | Staff Properties | General | Name’. If you would like to indent the first system without placing labels, simply name the staves using the character Alt+0160. (This is the non-breaking space character in Times New Roman, NWC's default font for printing this information).
2.You can also use ‘Insert | Boundary Change | Gap the Staff’ Simply click the circle and then set the width you want. This will work whether you have labels or not. Just repeat the process (or copy and paster) for each staff. Note that this is also used to set a gap in the printed sheet music for example, before a coda.

3.21 How can I create a blank manuscript?

Either print blank_12.nwc or print blank_15.nwc. Both require NWC v1.70 or later.
The file, blank_12.nwc, simply has twelve empty staves, and has File | Page Setup | Options | Extend Last System selected. This is very elegant, but has a joining line on the left.
The file, blank_15.nwc, uses hidden rests and hidden bar-lines to create fifteen staves of completely empty staves.

3.22 Is there any way I can play back a collection of NWC files?

Yes, three different ways.
1. Probably the most elegant way is to use WinAmp 2, a freeware media player available at http://www.winamp.com/index.html, for which Noteworthy Software have created a plugin that will make NWC files one of the file types that can be played by it. The plugin is available at https://noteworthycomposer.com/info/winamp.htm .

2. You can use a batch file. Simply download the batchfile below, put your desired playlist files into the directory, and execute the file... playlist.bat
The batchfile has been configured for :
.nwc and .nwctxt files in c:\music\temp and the NoteWorthy viewer in its standard location. Edit and change these in the batch file if necessary
Note that this batch file will only work with real NWC files, not with shortcuts to files, unfortunately. This is a restriction imposed by Microsoft's batch processing language.

3. Supply a text files with the nwc files that you wish to play.
To do this, follow these instructions from : the forum

3.23 What tempo do I set for grave, allegro, presto etc?

Metronome markings for different tempi specifications (crotchets/quarter notes per minute):

Tempi Range
From: To :  
Grave 40 42
Largo 44 46
48 50
Lento 52 54
Adagio 56 58
Larghetto 60 63
Andante/Andantino 66 69
Sostentuto 72 76
Comodo/Maestoso 80 84
Moderato 88 92
96 100
Allegretto 104 108
112 116
Animato 120 126
Allegro 132 138
Allegro assai/Allegro vivace 144 152
Vivace 160 168
Presto 176 184
192 200
Prestissimo 208 +
These tempi are indicative only, and should be adjusted according to taste.

3.24 How can I put headers and footers into a score?

You can use two user objects to put headers and footers into your nwc score. The two user objects you need are PageTxtMaestro.lua and PageTxt.lua both available here from the forum

The PageTxtMaestro object must be the first to be entered into your score. This deals with the printing aspect. The PageTxt object is then inserted afterwards and can contain many fields that can apply to either the top of every page (the header) or the bottom of every page (the footer).

Using these objects, your score can be configured to have a header and a footer on every page. This can be any of the items from the file info but it doesn't have to be. The first page can be configured to be different to the remaining pages and items that appear on the first page can be switched off for the remaining pages. (So you can have the title and composer on page one but only the title on the remaining pages.)

Please note that this is only available for NWC versions 2.75 and later

Here is an example file showing one possibility :
Anchors Aweigh_h and f.nwc

3.25 How do I make a WAV or MP3 file of my Noteworthy masterpiece?

This is fairly easy to to. First of all, if you do not have it, you need to download and install Audacity. At the time of writing. it's free!

Having done that, you need to make some changes (you can change back later if you like) in your Control Panel. This is to make sure that when you record, you only get sound from NoteWorthy and not sound from your inbuilt microphone or system sounds as well.

Load up your control panel and click on Hardware and Sound.
Click on "Sound" - This brings up a small window with the following tabs : "Playback","Recording","Sounds" and "Communications".
Click on the recording tab and look for "Stereo Mix" and enable it.
Disable Microphone if it is enabled.
You may also want to click on the "Sounds" tab and change the "sound scheme" to "No Sounds". This will mute any system sound so that it will not appear on your Wav or MP3 recording. (But remember to change it back after you have finished)
Close the Control Panel.

Now, load up NoteWorthy Composer and set it up as you want with the music that you want to record as an WAV file or MP3 file. (Not forgetting to set up the appropriate sound fonts etc)

Now, load up Audacity. You are going to use Audacity to record your NoteWorthy music.
You will see a group of 6 icons at the top left. Underneath these, you will see a drop down box next to a microphone. Click the drop down and select "Stereo Mix" (remember you enebled this in the Control Panel)

Press the record button (Do not worry that you have not yet started NoteWorthy)
ALT TAB to NoteWorthy and start your music playing. (You can ALT TAB back and forth to see what is happening)

When NoteWorthy has finished playing, ALT TAB to Audacity and press the Stop Button.
Go to the "Edit" Menu and select Preferences (or CTRL+P)
Highlight the Import/Export Line and at the top, select "Ignore blank space at the beginning" and click OK

From the "File" menu, click "Export". You will see that thetre are a number of options. "WAV" and "MP3" are just two you can use. After selecting one of these, you will then be given the option of setting the file name and the folder. Following this,you will also be asked if you would like to set some Metadata Tags. (You do not have to)
Click OK and the export to your chosen format will then take place.

When Closing Audacity, you will be asked of you want to save the project. There is no real need to do this unless you are going to do further work on your music files.

Don't forget to enable System Sounds again from the Control Panel if you disabled them.

3.26 How do I convert to/from MusicXML


If you want to convert NWCtxt to MusicXML or convert MusicXML to NWCtxt then visit :
Niversoft Converter

3.27 How do I make a CD of my Noteworthy masterpieces?


Follow the steps for 3.25 above for each song you wish to put on the CD, and then use your CD-writing application (something like Nero is good. Most CD writers come with some form of software for creating audio CDs.) for the final step of burning the tracks onto CD.

3.28 How do I crescendo or decrescendo on a single or set of tied notes.


Essentially, there are two ways of doing this. Both a bit awkward
  1. By changing the channel Volume
  2. By using a Multi-Point Controller (Volume or Expression)
  1. Channel Volume.
    When you assign an instrument to a staff, by default it has a channel volume. This is normally set to the maximum 127.
    Whereas instruments such as a piano "velocity" to cause volume, (ie the force that a key is hit)
    Other instruments such as wind instruments use volume of air or pressure on the string and it is variable across individual notes or passages.
    For these instruments therefore, the use of volume in NWC gives a more realistic sound than velocity. So to change the volume of a single note or a tied note for these instruments, it is best to alter the channel volume. The only issue here is to remember that you have done that and that any following dynamic will be affected by whatever state you left the channel volume in. So it is probably better to remember to change the channel volume for the start of every placement of a dynamic.
  2. MPC Controller (Expression or Volume) An alternative method is to use an MPC (Multi-Point Controller).
    With an MPC, you can be more creative however, it takes more setting up and you need to specify the times that changes happen (This is cumulative) and if the change is immediate of gradual (Absolute or Linear).
Vol.nwc
This example file contains examples of volume changes using MPC Expression and MPC Volume.

3.29 My collapsed section refuses to collapse


There are a number of things to check if you expect a collapsed section and it does not collapse:
You should always ensure that the cancel instruction goes before the barline that starts a collapsible section. Cancel goes after the last barline that ends the required collapse.
  1. If you are collapsing a layered section, have you placed the collapse instruction on all of the layers.
  2. Make sure that you have issued a "Collapse" and not a "Cancel Collapse" instruction.
  3. A collapse will only happen from the first full system following the collapse instruction.
  4. If your cancel instruction is such that display of the staff occurs before a new system then the whole of that system will be shown overriding the collase instruction.

3.30 How can I notate a glissando or a portamento.


Both are termed glissando in NoteWorthy Composer.
If the instrument is like a piano then you can get separate notes going one note to the following note.
If the instrument is like a trumpet then you can get a a slide going one note to the following note.
The best way to deal with this is to use the Glissando User Object provided by Mike Shawaluk (glissando.ms).

But before setting that up, decide what the range of the glissando needs to be. By default the pitch bend controller extends only 2 semitones. So if you need more than that, you need to go to the staff properties for the instrument and set the pitch bend range to whatever you need.

Having done that, insert the glissando.ms object between the two notes that you want a glissando/portamento.
Mute the notes on either side of the object.
If you now edit the user object you can decide if you want a portamento (use pitchbend) or if you want glissando (use chromatic, white keys or black keys).
You can also change the word "gliss." to something else if you prefer and set the text sizes.

3.31 What's with Ntuplets?


Triplets are the only ntuplets that can be natively used in NoteWorthy.
Duplets are sort of native - (for a duplet, add a dot to both notes and then highlight and enter "-0.1" in the Extra dot spacing in the Notation properties)
If your want the duplet mark across the two notes, then use Lloyd's tupletmarks.fso
For any other ntuplets, many people have come up with workarounds in order to try to get other ntuplets into their scores.
I cannot do better than to suggest that if you require ntuplets other than duplets and triplets, you visit Warren Porter's website Ntuplet page at : Ntuplets
You will also find other goodies to help you with your music.

3.32 How do I display part of my song, the chorus, in italics.



NoteWorthy only allows one font for lyric display so that means that you can have the font as normal of bold or italic.
But normally, you can't mix this. So once you have set the lyric font, that is it.

However, the font Romital available from the Scriptorium has both normal and italic text in the same file.
The only problem is that the italic letters have replaced characters that are not commonly used and so a character map is required to select and use them.

But, Rick the wizard produced a .vbs program which will convert your text into italic text.
What you need to do is as follows :
  • If you dont have it, install Romital font (from the link above)
  • Download Rick's vbs program - rg_romitalclip.zip
  • Extract the program
  • From your lyrics line, copy (select and CTRL C) the section you would like turned into italics
  • Double click on rg_romitalclip.vbs to activate the program.
  • The system will tell you how many characters have been converted
  • Paste back to your Lyric line replacing the original characters
Job done
Thanks Rick

3.33 How do add a tie to an existing chord member?


See How do I add an accidental to a note in an existing chord.

3.34 Why can I not beam a rest chord?


Beaming rest chords is not available in the current version of NoteWorthy Composer (2.75)
However, Lloyd has provided a User Object that will allow the appearance of a beamed rest chord. Download and install beamrestchords.fso from the forum.
The chord needs to be a rest with a quarter note seated on it, the rest forming the duration of the chord.

3.35 How can display one chorus for multiple verses and still have it highlighted?


First of all, configure your voice part for as many verses as you need for the song.
If , for example, you have 8 verses, then you will configure your lyric line count for 8 Lyric Lines so that within the staff lyrics box, 8 tabs are available for lyrics, one for each verse.
At this stage, assuming that you have entered the notes on the staff, you can now enter the lyrics of the 8 verses - but not the chorus.

At the point where the chorus is sung, change all of the chorus notes to "Lyric Syllable Never"
Now, copy the entire staff onto a new staff directly below the voice staff.
This time, however, all of the verse notes should be set to "Lyric Syllable Never" and the chorus notes should be set to "Lyric Syllable Default" This staff should be layered with the voice staff.
Whereas in the voice line, you configured 8 verses of Lyric, this time, you only want one line for the chorus.
Enter the lyrics for the chorus and then configure the placement so that the single line comes out in the middle of the 8 verses.

Please see this example and maybe then, all of this will make sense. Widdicombe Fair
(In the example, I've also used Mike Shawaluk's user Object brace.ms and his VerseNumbers.ms)

3.36 What is a User Object?


User Objects were introduced in NoteWorthy Composer version 2.75.
Objects are automatically loaded by NoteWorthy Composer when they are placed into the Object Plugins folder. This folder is set from Tools, Options, Folders, and by default uses a standard Windows location.
They are small programs that help you to achieve additional musical features that NoteWorthy cannot natively do.

You can see a youtube video Introduction to Manage Objects Video which will help you understand a bit more about User Objects.

3.37 How do you install a User Object?


You can automatically download and install new USer Objects published in the forum by using the Tools, Manage Objects command, which opens with Ctrl+J. For new objects, you should generally open the sample's object clip first. Click the Options button, then Check online sources. This will identify any plugin source code that can be downloaded or upgraded from the forum. You can right click, or double click, any object types that you would like to install.

4 The Scriptorium

Many Noteworthy Composer users have been so enamoured with the software that the newsgroup was created by Noteworthy Software to allow users to send in NWC files to share around. This led to us wanting a place to keep them, and hence the Noteworthy Composer Scriptorium was born. The "Scripto" contains many many useful things for NWC users, including
  • a set of printable help references written by Barry Graham (updated by Richard Woodroffe), very handy for the NWC beginner. In MSPublisher, PDF and Postscript formats. This is for version 1.70 but most is still applicable.
  • auxiliary programs to help musical "tinkerers".
  • an archive of NWC files (over 12000) to inspire Noteworthy Composers. These files are all presented with their creators' permission, and are of songs/pieces either in the Public Domain or being used with the copyright holders' permission.

4.1 Scriptorium Hints

The Scriptorium also has some hints on how to produce NWC files for public performance/consumption at https://nwc-scriptorium.org/submit.html#comphints