GenieSoft Overture™ 3.1.0
for Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP and
MAC OS 8.5-9.2
README.RTF
April 10, 2003
Copyright © 2003 by GenieSoft, Inc.  All rights reserved.
GenieSoft is a registered trademark, and Score Writer
is a trademark of GenieSoft, Inc.

Thank you for purchasing Overture! We hope you enjoy this release of GenieSoft’s award-winning music notation software.

Please read this entire document carefully–it contains information on GenieSoft Overture™ Version 3 not available in the User’s Guide.

Contents
Notes on the Cross-Platform (Mac/Win) Release	3
Two Platforms–One User Interface, Similar Features	3
Changes and Improvements in 3.1.0	3
Changes and Improvements in 3.0.2	4
Changes and Improvements in 3.0.1	4
New Overture 3 Features	5
Setup Wizard	5
Default File Open Folder	5
Open File - Import	5
Guitar Frames	5
Chord Window	5
Playback	5
Automatic Note Spacing	5
Harp Pedal Settings	5
Note Voice Colors	6
Menu Commands	6
Score Background	6
Cross-Platform Compatible	6
More Information on Overture’s Features	6
Using Alternate Music Fonts	6
Font Map Libraries	6
Reverting Mapped Characters to Aloisen	7
Tuplet Beaming Enhancements	7
Creating Groups of Beamed Notes in Tuplets	8
Controlling Secondary Beaming Groups in Tuplets	8
Hardware Notes and Known Problems	8
Using 16 bit SoundBlaster Drivers (PC)	8
No MIDI Sound (PC)	9
OMS under Mac OS X (Mac)	9
Printing	9
Printing to an Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5P in Windows 95	9
Printing to an Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 1200	9
Printing to a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5SiNX on a NetWare Network	9
Symbols do not print under Windows XP (PC)	9

Notes on the Cross-Platform (Mac/Win) Release
Two Platforms–One User Interface, Similar Features
If you have the CD-ROM version, your Overture package contains both Overture 3 for Windows and Overture 3 for Macintosh on the same CD-ROM, including Quick Reference cards, and a cross-platform User’s Guide.

Both versions offer Overture’s simplified interface and are very similar in most important respects. This makes it easy to learn and use one version after using the other.

There are several minor differences between the versions:
•	Only the PC has a Recent File List
•	Only the Mac can export to graphic files
•	The Graphic and Lyric windows are different on each platform
•	MIDI Setup uses a different interface
•	Other features as indicated in the Overture 3 User’s Guide

Here are a few PC features that are now included in the Macintosh version:
•	Additional engraver settings (line thickness) and stylistic flexibility (e.g., control over multi-measure rest styles, using alternative music fonts)
•	“Title Page Text” dialog for setting up score title, composer credit, and other title page information quickly, positioned automatically
•	Alternate Music Fonts
•	Allotment, Engraver settings, Title Page, and Font Maps are stored with the score
•	The ability to quantize notes for playback 
•	Multiple undo/redo 

The Windows and Macintosh versions of Overture share the same file format. To transfer a composition from one platform to another, save the file on the desired platform and choose File>Open. On the PC, if you do not see the file name in the Open Dialog box, set the File Type to “All files”.

Changes and Improvements in 3.1.0
•	Added option in Setup Track dialog to allow key signatures at the left edge of systems to be hidden. 
•	Added Notes|Delete|Redundant Notes menu item. Corrects two notes with the same pitch and start times.
•	Added Print Dialog options to print just Even and Odd pages.
•	Added Preferences dialog option to show “Raw Notes” as note heads instead as hozizontal lines.
•	Whole rests inserted by mouse in empty measures are now centered.
•	Hidden tempos are now showm when Show Invisibles menu item is selected.
•	Invisible rests are inserted in measures when converting Notes to Tablature to maintain note alignment.
•	You can now remap the space character in the Font Map dialog.
•	Fixed a bug that caused notes to be realigned while inserting notes in another measure on same system. 
•	Corrected the box position around measure numbers.
•	Corrected automatic rest calculations for compound meters.
•	Fixed problem when inserting guitar frames that had the Text Only flag set incorrectly.
•	Fixed several problem in the Graphic Window notes, controllers, and pitch bend (PC only).
•	Fixed the incorrect playback of pitch bend (PC only).
•	Fixed record problem that treated all treble clef staves followed by a bass clef staff as a grand staff.. 
•	Fixed a few bugs when importing MIDI files containing tempo changes.
•	Fixed bug with accidentals changing to double sharps and flats, when inserting new key signatures.
•	Fixed crash bug that happend after using the program for long periods of time.
•	Fixed bug that forced scroll position to jump to the top of page during playback.
•	Fixed a few problems when importing Encore and MusicTime scores.
•	Fixed stem height and flag problem on 32nd and greater notes.
•	Swing playback now plays in Cut Time.
•	The duration on notes inserted with the mouse has been corrected.  It was sometimes set to a full value.
•	Tracks added below scaled tracks now use the same scale value.
•	Improved transcription routines including hand splitting.
•	The split point in Import dialog only allows “None” and “Middle C”.
•	Improved page layout when importing MIDI files.
•	Fixed Split Hands recording in Mac version.
•	Fixed printing bug in Landscape mode in Mac version.
•	Fixed crashing bug when selecting large groups of beamed notes and typing 'r' to convert them to rests.
•	Fixed problem where incorrect patches were shown for banks other than the default bank.
•	Fixed crash during Step Record in PC version.
•	Fixed keyboard shortcut problems and Fixed Solfege and B=H note name types in Chord Window.
•	Fixed problem where note heads on some slash chords were offset incorrectly.

Changes and Improvements in 3.0.2
•	Fixed bug that caused the Pickup Measure check box to be cleared on measures following new meters. 
•	Measure numbers are now draw at the start of a Multi-Measure rest. 
•	Improved automatic positioning of Measure Numbers around clefs at start of system. 
•	Lead pickup measures are skipped when calculating Measure Numbers. 
•	Fixed bug that caused MIDI to be disabled when quitting application and choosing Cancel. 
•	Improved lyric hyphen placement and dragging.
•	Fixed bug that caused selected lyrics to move twice when moving selected notes using the arrow keys.
•	Fixed bug that cause both tied notes to be moved when the left note was moved using the arrow keys.
•	Fixed crash bug when copying and pasting and the view type was not Single Page.
•	Fixed cursor jumping during playback of scores that extend below bottom of page.
•	Fixed crash bug when opening scores and there is no default printer.
•	Fixed file corruption bug when changing voices on a note heads in a chord and saving the score immediately.
•	Fixed recording bug that caused the track below the recorded track to be erased if it had a bass clef and the recorded track had a treble clef, and the tracks were not a Grand Staff.
•	Fixed problem on dragging tempos and rehearsal marks that were not in the top track.
•	Fixed alignment problem with tuplets that were pasted.
•	Added Notes>Delete>Duplicate Notes menu item.
•	Whole note rests entered by user are centered if there are no notes in the voice.
•	Clicking on a note at start or end of measure with the tie tool, adds a tie to appropriate notes.
•	Improved MIDI File Importing quantization.
•	Splitting hands in MIDI file importing and real time recording has been improved.

Changes and Improvements in 3.0.1
•	Fixed bug when writing scores with measures containing large amounts of data. The score was corrupted. 
•	Fixed several problems with the MIDI file importer. 
•	The Macintosh version now extracts files to the correct folder. 
•	Fixed crash on using the revert command. 
•	Fixed print bug of double barlines when the new key signature was C and cancellation was before bar. 
•	Fixed printing of some symbols under Windows XP (PC Only). 
•	Fixed inconsistent playback when starting on last bar that contained a repeat (PC Only). 
•	Fixed several problems in the MIDI devices dialog (PC only). 
•	Fixed bug that caused ottavas in saved scores to be placed too low when reopened (PC Only). 
•	Fixed bug that would not allow tempo markings to be moved (Mac only). 
•	Fixed Insert/Delete bug in Expressions and Instruments library dialog (Mac only). 
•	Fixed printing bug that caused staff lines to disappear on PostScript printers (Mac only). 
•	The importer now imports Encore™ scores from version 3.0-4.5. Conversions of scores below version 4.2 may have some small problems. 
•	The Increase/Decrease measures command now protects the system position on remaining pages. 
•	You can now delete beams by selecting them and using the delete or backspace key. 
•	Multi measure rests now displays any text that is in the first measure of the rest. 
•	You can now add arrows to tremolos by clicking on the note with the tremolo tool and then drag up or down to add an arrow at end. This method may change in the future. 

New Overture 3 Features
Setup Wizard
Overture 3 has a setup wizard that lets you build your new score in one main dialog. You can choose standard instruments or templates for your tracks, and then set the Title Page, starting meter, time signature, key signatures, etc. within the dialog.

Default File Open Folder
Overture 3 allows you to set a default folder for opening scores in the “General” section of the “Preferences” dialog.

Open File - Import
The Open dialog is used to open Overture and Score Writer files. The new Menu item Import, is used to import Encore™, MusicTime™, and MIDI files. Only Encore™ 4.0 and MusicTime™ 3.5 or later files can be imported. We are working on earlier files and will provide an update ASAP.

Guitar Frames
Overture 3 now comes with a guitar frames (fingerings) library. You can create your own guitar frames and save them in the library. The library that shipped with this version has only the basic guitar frames for a standard guitar.  We will have a completed library soon, so check the website regularly for the completed library.

Chord Window
The Overture 3 Chord Window has been redesigned and now has a button to toggle between standard chords and guitar frames. When using guitar frames, there are keyboard shortcuts to quickly select the guitar frame to enter in the score.

Playback
Overture 3 can playback hairpins using MIDI volume or note velocity and has four different interval settings. Dynamics can playback using MIDI volume or note velocity. Pedal on and Pedal off now send MIDI commands to control pedal sustain. Mute Playback has been added to the Edit menu. This command toggles the playback of symbols.

Automatic Note Spacing
Overture 3 can automatically adjust the measure widths and measure spacing as you enter notes and rests.

Harp Pedal Settings
The Harp Pedal dialog allows you to display pedal settings as a graphic or text and the choice to just display the changes.

Note Voice Colors
Notes and rests voices can be displayed in different colors for each voice. Use the Options>Show Voices in Colors menu command.

Menu Commands
Several commands have been clarified and several new commands have been added for inserting and deleting tracks and converting existing notes into cue and grace notes.

Score Background
You can set the Score background to white, off-white, gray, or one of several textures. See the General section in the Preferences dialog.

Cross-Platform Compatible
Overture 3 files can be shared between the PC and Macintosh. To share files simply copy the file and open it on the other platform. Not all information such as printer settings, MIDI bank switching, etc can be passed between platforms. You may have to adjust for these on each platform.

More Information on Overture’s Features
This section of the ReadMe file contains additional information on Overture 3 features, not found in the User’s Guide.
 
Using Alternate Music Fonts
Overture 3 allows you to use music characters in any font you wish and switch between fonts easily. Using an alternate music font is an effective way to give a different look to your scores. You can choose from many music fonts that allow you to display characters in a classic engraved look, or a more rounded European style, like Susato–you can even choose a font that lends a “handwritten” appearance to the music. Any font installed on your system that provides music characters can be used to display one or more of Overture’s musical symbols.

Font Map Libraries
The easiest way to change the look of your scores by switching between music fonts installed on your system is to load a music font map library. A library contains settings for any music characters you want to represent in any font, plus any repositioning you make to ensure that the mapped character lines up properly with the rest of your music.

You can map some characters to an alternate font, and leave others in Overture’s default music font, Aloisen. Loading a library automatically switches some or all of Overture’s music characters to the ones stored in the library.

To save and load font map libraries, use the Music Font Map dialog box. For more information, see your Overture User’s Guide.

You can easily switch any or all of the music characters from Overture’s default font, Aloisen, to any other font you may have installed on your system, such as the Jazz Font or GoldenAge music fonts. Jazz Font and GoldenAge are two excellent music fonts allowing you to print music in a “handwritten” style.

Although you can use any alternative music font you wish and create your own library, Overture includes three font map libraries to get you started: AloisenFontMap.lib, JazzFontMap.lib and GoldenAgeFontMap.lib.

The Jazz Font and GoldenAge libraries switch most of Overture’s main music characters to each font respectively. The Aloisen library will revert the score to Overture’s default music characters. Please note that you will need to purchase Jazz Font or GoldenAge, available separately, before you can make full use of the Jazz Font and GoldenAge libraries.

For more information on the Jazz Font, please contact the developer, Sigler Music Fonts:
•	email:	rsigler@jazzfont.com
•	web:	http://www.jazzfont.com
•	mail:	Sigler Music Fonts
		3705 Media Lane
		Bowie, MD 27015

For more information on GoldenAge, please contact the developer, Donald Rice Music Preparation:
•	email:	MelRoc@aol.com
•	web:	http://members.aol.com/melroc/goldenage.html
•	mail:	Donald Rice Music Preparation
		P.O Box 110838
		Brooklyn, NY 11211

Reverting Mapped Characters to Aloisen
If you’ve mapped a character to an alternative music font but want to display it in Overture’s default font, Aloisen New, click the mapped character (in the dialog’s upper row of characters) and press the Backspace key.

To revert all mapped characters at once, use the Aloisen font map library, described above, rather than reverting each character individually.

Limitations when Using Alternate Fonts
Not all music fonts contain all the characters included in Aloisen. For example, Aloisen contains characters for 32nd, 64th, and 128th note flags, but the current versions of Jazz Font and GoldenAge do not. Other missing characters between the fonts exist as well, and this limitation may also affect other third party fonts on the market.

You should leave any missing characters, such as the above flags, mapped to Aloisen. This will cause some stylistic discrepancies in your scores onscreen and in printout, but ensures that your music is notationally correct.

Also, some characters in alternate music fonts are sized noticeably bigger or smaller than the same character in Aloisen. This may cause some slight overlapping of music characters on the score in isolated cases.

GenieSoft is working with font vendors to make Overture and each music font work together as well as possible. Future updates of Overture and/or a particular font will offer improved integration.

Tuplet Beaming Enhancements
Overture allows you to alter individual beam groupings on existing beams. The following two sections give examples how to alter existing beams.

Creating Groups of Beamed Notes in Tuplets
When creating a tuplet out of existing notes like 16th notes, you now have more control over how those notes will display their secondary beams (the 16th or smaller beams). By breaking the secondary beams in different places, you can imply a rhythmic or metric grouping within these notes.
For example, when creating a tuplet from six 16th notes you want to be played in the space of one quarter note, you can either tell Overture to group them as one sextuplet, or as two triplets. Either way, the notes will share a primary beam, as expected.

To create a sextuplet from six 16th notes, do either of the following:
•	Select the notes, and choose Notes>Group>Tuplet, and enter 6 over 4
•	Select the notes using the Tuplet tool, and enter 6 over 4

To create two groups of triplet 16th notes displayed under one “3” bracket, do either of the following:
•	Select the notes, and choose Notes>Group>Tuplet, and enter 3 over 2
•	Select the notes using the Tuplet tool, and enter 3 over 2

To create two groups of triplet 16th notes displayed with one primary beam but two “3” symbols, one above each group, perform one of the two steps above, and the do the following:
•	Select the Eraser, and click on the bracket surrounding all six notes (this only removes the bracket, and does not change the notes from triplets to regular notes)
•	Select the notes, and use the Notes>Beam>Based on Meter command

Controlling Secondary Beaming Groups in Tuplets
Overture allows you to change the beam grouping of smaller notes, like 16th notes, after you change those notes into tuplets. For example, this allows you to select the beam on six 16th notes, and break the secondary beam into 2 groups of 3, or 1 group of 6.

To change the grouping of a group of six 16th notes in a tuplet, do any of the following:
•	Create a tuplet from 16th notes grouped as 6 over 4
•	Select the beam using the Selection tool; be sure to click the beam rather than the bracket or slur (if any)
•	Type the 1 key to beam all the notes as one group of 6 notes
•	Type the 2 key to beam the notes in two groups of 3 notes

Hardware Notes and Known Problems
Using 16 bit SoundBlaster Drivers (PC)
If you have a 16 bit SoundBlaster card, you should avoid using the "Suspend" function of Windows 95/98 while Overture is running. Your computer may not function correctly after you reactivate it; Overture will not be able to exit successfully. Since the crash occurs after you are asked to save your documents, there is no risk of data loss.

This is a limitation in the 16-bit SoundBlaster drivers, which enter an endless loop while Overture is attempting to exit, halting your computer.

This problem also affects portable computers, since the computer may enter suspend mode (sometimes called “sleep”) on its own when idle for several minutes.

If you have a setting to prevent your computer from entering sleep, you may wish to use it. Or, consult with Creative Labs technical support for an updated driver.

No MIDI Sound (PC)
On some systems Overture does not recognize any MIDI devices. We have a temporary fix on the web site www.geniesoft.com. Go to the Downloads page and follow the instructions above the MIDIOXSE.EXE link. Please call us if you have any problems with the installation.

OMS under Mac OS X (Mac)
OMS does not work under Mac OS X in Classic mode. If your operating system is OS X and you need MIDI input or output, you’ll need to boot native under OS 9.2. If you choose to boot under OS X and then run Overture (Classic mode), you should first remove or disable OMS. This will cause Overture to provide simple MIDI output using QuickTime. We are currently working on an OS X version and should have it available late spring (2003).

Printing 
Printing to an Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5P in Windows 95
If you use Windows 95 B (OSR2) as your operating system and print to an HP 5P, your ties may print improperly. They may appear more thick and dark than you expect.

If you experience problems with your ties or other curves when printing on an HP 5P, use the standard LaserJet 4 print driver supplied with Windows 95. It does not display this problem.

If you use Window 98, you will not need to switch print drivers, since this problem doesn’t occur when printing to a HP 5P in Windows 98.

Printing to an Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 1200
There is a print bug in the driver that prevents some lines not to be printed. We have worked around this the best we can but there may be a possibility of a line not being printed. We have informed HP of the bug but as of this time HP has not responded.

Printing to a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 5SiNX on a NetWare Network 
The HP 5SiNX print driver has an apparent bug that causes a crash for users printing to that printer on a NetWare Print Server. This affects applications that use the Microsoft Foundation Classes, like Overture and Microsoft’s WordPad. The crash causes a “blue screen” to appear.

To determine if this bug affects you, set your default printer on the NetWare network to the HP 5SiNX and run WordPad. Then, print any WordPad document (even a blank one). If WordPad crashes and displays a blue screen, then Overture will also crash if you try to print; you will not be able to print to this printer across a NetWare network.

Symbols do not print under Windows XP (PC)
There is a print bug in some printer drivers that prevents notation symbols from being printed when running under Windows XP. To fix the problem, set the printer to print in black and white only. We are working on the problem and will post a patch ASAP.