| |
|
|
|
Using SmartScore 3
Score - A musical piece compiled as a document. A score usually contains more than one part with all the parts to be played together. In SmartScore, it is a single computer file; an ENF file. A hand-written score is called a manuscript.
Part - A part is represented by a staff line either alone (solo part) or grouped into a system with other instruments (ensemble part). A part is usually an single instrument, but in the case of two-handed instruments (piano, organ, xylophone, etc.), it may represent one hand's part.
Voice - Derived from choral music but applied to instrumental music as well, contrapuntal voicing (sometimes referred to as polyphonic voicing) refers to a unique melodic thread distinct from other voices in a measure by its harmonic direction and possibly its timbre. Contrapuntal voices reside in the same measure of the same staff. Voices are often distinguished by stem direction and sometimes by offsetting the horizontal position of notes. For the purposes of SmartScore, a "voice" written in its own staffline is referred to as a "Part".
Score-Part - Scores that are printed in sets for each individual instrument. Players read from their own unique set of pages. For example, a duet for guitar and flute would be printed in two separate sets: one for the flute player and one for the guitar. Staves of part scores flow like a book where each staff line appends to the one above it.
Ensemble - Scores that have multiple staff lines connected by a vertical bar or "bracket" (usually along the left-hand edge of the music). When joined in this way, each staff line represents a different part or instrument. All parts are played "ensemble". Piano music, (with left-hand and right-hand staves) are joined into one system, is regarded as "ensemble". SmartScore assigns each stave to separate MIDI tracks.
Landscape - Some scores are wider than they are high. These "landscape" layouts need to be rotated prior to processing.
Folio - Large sized and conductor scores may need to be scaled down during scanning or reduced on a copy machine before scanning. If the score must be reduced more than 50% in order to fit the imaging area of your scanner, you may consider scanning each full-sized page twice and treat each scan as one "image-page".
System - A grouping of multiple staves linked together by a solid line or bracket along the left margin is called a "system". All staves belonging to a system are played simultaneously. In ensemble scores, each system appends to the one before it. A single page of a symphony conductor's score, containing 10 or 20 staff lines per system, may represent only a few seconds of music!
Staff (Stave) - The field on which notes are represented is called a staff. "Staves" is normally used as the plural. At the core of every staff are five horizontal lines. Each successive line and space are equivalent to a full step in note pitch. The higher the note appears on the stave, the higher its pitch. Every staff line anomaly begins with a clef sign and a key signature.
Voiceline - An individual melodic line formed by a voice within one measure. When a staff contains more than one voiceline in any given measure, note stems of each voiceline usually point in the opposite directions. The sum of all note and rest values of each voiceline in any given measure should be accounted for, but sometimes are not. Refer to "Working with Voices and Colors" for more on dealing with this rule in SmartScore.
Clef - The clef sign at the beginning of each stave identifies which pitch "class" that stave belongs to. The lowest instruments are written in the bass clef, intermediate instruments and voices often use one of three "C" clef classes while higher-pitched instruments, in addition to the right-hand part of a piano score, are scored in the treble clef. The clef sign always appears at the beginning of every staff line and in the first measure if a change of clef occurs. Change of clef signs are smaller than normal clefs.
Key Signature - The key signature, along with the clef sign, appears at the beginning of every line; it is also found in the measure where a change of key occurs. The key signature defines the "tonal center" of the piece. The number of sharps or flats in the key signature determines the key tone (or tonic).
Time Signature - Time signatures usually appear only once: at the beginning of the stave in the first measure of the piece. They will also appear when a change of time signature occurs. Time signatures indicate both the number of beats per measure (numerator) as well as which note value is given the fundamental beat (denominator). The sum of note duration values in a given measure must equal the value of the current time signature.
Note - A note is the fundamental unit of tone. The duration of a note is determined by its note value (normally between 1 and 128 divisions). The note's vertical position on a given staff (with clef) determines its pitch.
Rest - Rests are equivalent to notes insofar as their durations; but represent silence. They act as "place-holders" used to keep the rhythmic structure of the measure intact.
Measure - Staff lines are segmented into equal time divisions called measures. Measures are the building blocks that provide structure for music. The sum of note and rest durations within each measure must equal the value of the current time signature
Barline - Barlines are the vertical lines that define the beginning and ending of measures
Accidental - Note pitches often range outside of the tonal center defined by the key signature. An accidental shifts its associated note up (sharp) or down (flat) by 1/2 step. Accidentals may also be doubled. An accidental remains effective only for the remainder of the measure in which it appears. A natural "cancels" a note's current accidental.
Dot of Prolongation - Notes and rests that are dotted have the value of their duration lengthened by 1/2. For example, a dotted quarter note is equal in duration to three eighth notes. Double-dotted notes increase the note's duration by 3/4 of the original.
Tuplet - Some notes belong to a special readmit class called "tuplets". These include triplets, quintuplets and sextuplets. A tuplet is a group of notes, usually marked with a bracket, that are subdivided within a single beat, equal in duration to the note's next higher value. For example, a triplet of three eighth notes is equal in total duration to one quarter note
Ties - A tie links two pairs of notes of the same pitch whose durations are combined so that both notes are played as if one note. Ties are often used to sustain the sound of a note across more than one measure.
NOTE: Ties and slurs (legatos) often look alike, but they are as different as lightning and a lighting bug. Ties connect two notes of the same pitch and combine their durations into one note event and slurs connect two or more notes over a range of pitches forming a legato that when performed, creates a slight overlapping of the notes. The arc of a slur can vary from flat to angular. The arc of a tie is always flat.
Articulations - Performance markings that provide instructions for playback of the marked notes. For example, a staccato, a dot placed above/ below a notehead, means the note should be short, sounding for only a moment.
Dynamics - Dynamic markings are used to denote the general volume and intensity of music. For example, "f" or forte means loud and "p" or piano means soft.
Polyphony - The dynamic harmony which evolves as voicelines move horizontally against one another in time. Polyphony evolved from the simpler homophony of middle ages where vocal harmony was more chordal, vertical and static. Polyphony usually refers to the harmonic relationships between voices but also applies to instruments and parts. For the purposes of this manual, we use the adjective "contrapuntal" rather than "polyphonic". Contrapuntal voices are fundamental to SmartScore's design. Refer to "Working with Voices" for more details.
Counterpoint - Similar to polyphony but more formalized by the theoretical, rule-based conventions of music composition. Counterpoint usually refers to the melodic and rhythmic relationship between parts or voices.
MIDI- Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Originally a hardware device that allowed a computer and a synthesizer to communicate, now a generally accepted term for hardware or software that operate according to General MIDI standards.
Standard MIDI File (SMF) - The file protocol or format for music files saved as MIDI (.MID extension). Includes Type 1 (multiple track / multiple channel) and Type 0 (single track / multiple channel) formats.
Device- A MIDI driven tone generator. Sound cards, synthesizers, and MIDI modules all fall under this category.
MIDI Event - Each piece of information contained within a MIDI file is an event. This includes Notes (attack and release), Control Changes, System Exclusive, Meta Events, Program Changes, etc.
Velocity - The speed at which the note was struck, measured with a number from 0-127.
Channel -A MIDI device sends and receives MIDI information along separate and distinct Channels. Each channel contains note and non-note event data. Most MIDI devices can support up to 16 MIDI Channels at one time.
Patch - Every MIDI channel has a MIDI patch assigned to it. A Patch is the instrument sound selected for a particular channel when playing back.
Program Change - Same as a patch. Indicates a change of patch within a given channel or track.
Bank - MIDI devices divide patches into groups of 128. One Bank of patches from a MIDI device can be accessed at a time by a MIDI computer program or another MIDI device.
Port - A computer can run several MIDI devices at a time with the proper hardware. Each device is connected to a unique Port.
ENF - Extended Notation Format. This is SmartScore's proprietary file format. It is created after scanning, when creating a new score or when converting an imported MIDI file into ENF (MIDI-to-ENF).
Navigator - The floating window containing buttons designed to "navigate" through SmartScore's main features and editing environments.
System Manager - The System Manager is a sort of "virtual system" which allows for manipulating all or specific voices, parts and systems in the score. Generally, it is a list of all the parts and voices that make up the LARGEST system in the score. The System Manager is the basis of many editing features including; Visibility, Voices, Spacing, and Part Names.
Voice Line Threading - SmartScore will differentiate multiple voices within a single staff line by displaying them with different colors (Voice 1-black, Voice 2-red, Voice 3-green, and Voice 4-blue) while, at the same time, creating an independent MIDI channel for each voice. The individual voice lines will "threaded" from the TIFF file, through Recognition, to the ENF file, from the ENF file to the MIDI file, and from the MIDI file back to the ENF file.
| |
|
|
|