The following pages are a print out of the Read Me files that are included on the Nightingale 1.4 disk.
Nightingale 1.4 Update Notes
New Features/Fixes/User Interface Changes
(plus changes made since the July 1993 release of Version 1.0)
••••••••••••••
New Features
in Version 1.4
Nightingale 1.4 has numerous new features/improvements added since the July 1st release of 1.0. Most of these are not documented in the manual:
• NEW RECORD MERGE COMMAND
Real-time recording in Nightingale now includes the ability to “overdub” additional parts above/below existing music in your score. Just simply click at the beginning of an empty measure and you can record directly into your score without any need for cutting/pasting newly-recorded music into the score.
• FLIP DIRECTION OF GRACE NOTES
Flip Direction now affects the stem direction of any selected grace notes, as it does for any slurs or notes.
• IMPROVED RESPACING DEFAULTS
When using the Respace Bars command, if the current spacing percentages of all measures in the range aren't the same, Nightingale will automatically adjust the percentage shown in the Respace Bars dialog to a value which is slightly smaller than the average of all selected measures. This will reduce the chances that percentage setting you have chosen will require reformatting.
• NEW NIGHTINGALE HELP
A new, improved Nightingale Help is included.
• TRANSCRIBE RECORDING AVOIDS AUGMENTED UNISONS
Transcribe recording does a better job of transcribing minor seconds without spelling them as augmented unisons (e.g., a G and G# played simultaneously will now be transcribed as a G and an Ab).
• “OTHER” TEXT STYLE
The choice for “This Item Only” offered in the list of text styles in the Text Tool dialog box has been renamed “Other”. This option is simply for assigning any desired font, size or formatting to text entered using the text tool.
New Features
in Version 1.3
• NEW DOUBLE SELECTION COMMAND
A major enhancement to Nightingale’s editing abilities is the new “Double Selection” command which allows user to select any range of measures in a single part, and “send” the selected notes, rests, and text to another part (i.e., copy measures 1 through 101 in the soprano and paste them into the alto part). Doubling handles any number of voices on a staff, and retains all voice number assignments.
• IMPROVED REAL TIME RECORDING
It is now very much easier to record in real time directly into your score, as many times as you like, without the need to manually add empty staves or pages to record on.
• NEW COPY/CUT/PASTE COMMANDS FOR LARGE SECTIONS OF SCORE
Nightingale’s old "Copy Page" command is now "Copy Pages" and handles ANY NUMBER of pages (the user can shift click on pages to select them) and it displays on the menu how many pages have been selected for copying.
The old "Paste Page" command has also been enhanced to handle any number of selected pages, and tells you the number of pages waiting in the clipboard.
Nightingale's old "Cut Page" command has been replaced with a much more useful (and faster) "Clear Pages" command which handles any number of pages.
We also replaced the "Cut System" command with a much faster and more useful "Clear System" command (note: we have temporarily removed any command-key equivalent for Clear System to avoid confusion with older versions).
We also now show a "please wait" (wrist watch) cursor for Copy Pages and Clear Pages commands.
• NEW TILER UTILITY
A new tiler utility will let you print out 11X17 size scores onto two individual 8.5X11 sheets.
• MORE UNDO COMMANDS
The Undo command has been implemented for the Reformat, Record, Step Record (both varieties), Remove Gaps In Voices, and Set Multibar Rests commands. Nearly every command now has an undo command or and opposite command to reverse its action (i.e. create tuplet/remove tuplet).
• MASTER PAGE - EASY SELECTING MULTIPLE STAVES
Users can now shift-click on a staff and any staves that are already selected. This extends the selection as in all standard Macintosh programs.
• MULTIPLE STAFF SIZES IN A SCORE
A new "Staff Sizer" utility will now change a Nightingale score so it can have any combination of different sizes. This utility is available by request from TAP (along with instructions for how to use the utility).
Note: This utility is essentially for use at or near the time when a score is completely entered with measures laid out on their appropriate pages. Once a staff has been altered from its “standard size” many of Nightingales automatic spacing features won't work as well as they do in a score that contains only one staff size.
• NEW TEMPLATES AND IMPROVED TEMPLATES
Several new templates have been created, which allow you to immediately begin scoring for the size ensemble you want using a traditional score layout. As always, any template can be modified to your own liking by opening Master Page. New templates provided with Nightingale 1.4 include a full symphony orchestra template, a big band template, a symphonic band template, and “single staff per system” template. All other templates have been updated to include General MIDI Spec instrument/patch assignments.
• MIDI METRONOME
The default metronome is now set to go out through the MIDI instrument; We also changed its default velocity from 90 to 92 to avoid confusion with default note number (which is 90).
• USER DEFAULT TEMPLATE
Even though NightCustomizer can change almost all standard default layout preferences, you can use the new “User Default Template” as an easy way to open a new score with a personalized layout. Make alterations in the User Default Template file under “Define Text Styles”, “Master Page”, and “Page Setup”, and then keep this template handy for whenever you want to open a new document.
• LARGER DEFAULT STAFF SIZE
Staff size 1 (.33 inches) is now the default size for new documents. As always, this default setting can be changed with the NightCustomizer utility.
• IMPORT MIDI FILES IGNORES REPEATED KEY CHANGES
This change makes it much easier to import large MIDI files exported from Finale. If an original Finale score contains any key change, the key change information is repeated in each subsequent measure. Nightingale now ignores these repetitious key signatures, and warns the user that it will do so.
• PLAY/REC MENU
As many of the commands as possible are now left active under the Play/Rec menu, even in the event that Nightingale cannot find MIDI Manager.
• CAN’T REFORMAT WARNING
Very frequently when “Reformat Systems” can't proceed because a single system doesn't fit on a page, it's only because the "extra top margin" on the first page is too wide. Nightingale now informs you of this situation, and suggests reducing the top margin setting.
• SAVE SELECTION NOTELIST IMPROVED
We have added dynamics, normal text and lyrics, and tempo marks to the "notelist" (which is created using Save Selection Notelist)
• APPLE EVENTS NOW SUPPORTED
Installed support for the "required" Apple Events: Open Application, Open Documents, Print Documents, Quit; if we're running under System 7, we now rely on Apple Events to open files at startup time (i.e., when Nightingale is launched as a result either of opening one or more scores in the Finder or of System 7 "drag and drop").
New Features
in Version 1.02
• GROUP PARTS WITH or WITHOUT BARLINES EXTENDING
The Group Parts command under the Master Page menu, which groups parts with a square bracket along the left edge, now includes a checkbox option allowing you to choose whether or not barlines should be extended between the staves of the group. This is especially useful in choral music.
• SPLIT PART
The new "Split Part" command under the Master Page menu allows you to divide a part containing more than one staff (a piano grand staff, for example) into single staff parts. This can be used on the main score or on extracted parts, allowing you to have unified parts during one portion of your work process, and then divide them into separate parts for printing or for different playback needs.
• TRANSCRIBE RECORDING WITH GUESS BEAMS
Transcribe Recording will now "Guess Beams by Beat" as it notates newly-recorded material (this option was included in the 1.0 version, but was eliminated temporarily due to the need for additional testing).
• IMPROVED RECORDING WITH TRIPLET RECOGNITION
In the NightCustomizer resource, changed the default value of "levels to try tuplets at" to "2-1".
• IMPORT MIDI FILES WITH TRIPLETS
Import MIDI Files and Transcribe Recording now allow the "recognize triplets" option only if you're quantizing to 16th notes or a longer duration. (This is to sidestep bugs that we suspect have been fixed in the meantime. But if the caps lock and shift keys are down, these commands still don't care what the quantize duration is.)
• IMPORT MIDI FILE INFO INCLUDES INDICATOR FOR TRIPLET PRESENT
The Import MIDI File command has a new feature added: when you click on the [INFO] button in the Import MIDI File dialog, the fourth column of the info panel (the "grid") will display an asterisk and a 3 (*3) if Nightingale detects that there are triplets in a track of the standard MIDI file being imported. If "*3" is displayed, then you can quantize with the "Recognize triplets" option selected in the main Import MIDI File dialog.
• SPEED WITH LYRICS
In scores with lots of Graphics (usually lyrics), when Looking at One Voice, improved greatly the speed of selecting large amounts —especially with Select All.
• TEMPO MARKS
We have added a NightCustomizer field to control the distance in tempo marks between the tempo-mark part and the metronome-mark part. Aside from being useful in general, this makes it possible (though in a very clumsy way) to get around an old problem: in bold fonts, the space between the tempo part and the metronome part of tempo marks varies with the length of the tempo part.
• EXTRACT PARTS
A "Respace percentage" control has been added to the Extract Parts dialog: it's initially controlled by the overall average respace percentage of the original score, but you can now choose a separate setting for respacing extracted parts.
• MIDI PLAYBACK
On MIDI playback, if it's supposed to "Play from Parts' Settings", Nightingale now sends the appropriate patch changes regardless of where in the score it starts playing.
• RECORD WITH/WITHOUT NOTE VELOCITY
We have added a field to the user-editable NightCustomizer resource: when recording, ignore recorded note velocity and set it from to equal the note velocity of the region of the score directly preceding the recorded material.
• CHORD SYMBOLS
We have added a field to NightCustomizer to modify the distance between baselines of components of the extension stack in chord symbols (this is to allow users to readjust the placement components in the extension stack in parentheses which have accidentals. These tend to overlap any extension above or below).
• IMPROVED MIDI PREFERENCES
Redesigned the MIDI Preferences dialog to make it easier to understand.
• STEMLET LENGTH ON RESTS
Increased the length of stemlets on beamed rests from 3 to 4 quarter-spaces.
• TRANSCRIBE RECORD w/ TRIPLET BRACKETS
In Transcribe Recording, if auto-beaming is requested, Nightingale now sets tuplet bracket visibility to the conventional default (that is, no bracket when notes are beamed), as Import MIDI File has always done.
••••••••••••••
Program Fixes
Done in Version 1.4
* OVERLAPPING PAGES ON THE SCREEN
Formerly, when creating large scores, viewing a the score at 400% or 200% magnification would often result in one page’s contents being drawn over another’s. This has been corrected.
* BARLINES DRAWN OFF TOP/BOTTOM OF PAGE
Formerly, when a large number of changes were made in the Master Page (e.g., adding several parts, then repeatedly deleting and adding others) without intermittently exiting Master Page to “register” the changes into the score, Master Page would get confused, resulting in barlines extending off the page. This has been corrected.
* SLASH CHORDS WITH STEMS NOT PRINTING
Formerly, slash chords with stems would print out as only slash marks without their stems. This has been fixed.
* DRAGGING AND RESPACING
Formerly, it was possible to drag all the notes/rest on a sync so that none of them were visually aligned on the sync, causing inconsistent looking spacing whenever the Respace Bars command was used. Nightingale now automatically adjusts the position of the sync to align with the nearest note/rest.
*DRAGGING TOO FAR TO THE RIGHT
Formerly, it was possible to drag a note/rest to the right beyond the note following it, causing difficulty in respacing, and confusion on the part of users. This is now prevented.
Program Fixes
Done in Version 1.3
* TRANSCRIBE RECORDINGS BUG
Formerly, Transcribe Recording in a score starting anywhere after the first page or two would sometimes produces several empty measures, followed by all the transcribed notes piled up more-or-less on top of each other OR nowhere in sight. This has been fixed.
"GET CONTEXT" ERROR BUGS FIXED -- The next two bugs resulted in error messages which included the term "GetContext":
* TEXT/TEMPO MARK/REPEAT ENDING ATTACHED TO INVISIBLE BARLINE BUG
Formerly, if a piece of text, tempo mark, or repeat ending bracket was attached to a barline, and if the user reformatted the score so the barline became the first "invisible" barline in a system, the text/marking would become unattached. When the file was saved and then reopened later, error messages were displayed. This has been fixed.
* TEXT ATTACHED TO PAGE BUG
Formerly, inserting a piece of text in lyric style (Style 4) but attached to the page resulted in a GetContext error (as Nightingale tried to center the text around what it was attached to) and its horizontal position became unpredictable. This has been fixed
* REPEAT ENDINGS NOW REMAIN IN PLACE
Formerly, if a measure with a repeat ending bracket was moved to a different system or page, the bracket shifted to attach itself to the first measure of a system. This has been fixed.
* MASTER PAGE MARGINS HOLDING
Formerly, if the user opened the Master Page and adjusted the margins, some numbers would be saved at a slightly smaller value, due to excessive roundoff error. This has been fixed.
* SYSTEMS NOT FITTNG ON A PAGE BUG
Formerly, when only one system fit on a page and it very nearly filled the page, and the top "title" margin was not too large (specifically, no more than about 62 points), Reformat frequently produced an extra, totally empty page at the start of the reformatted range (and there was no easy way to get rid of the extra page). This has been fixed.
* FILL EMPTY MEASURES
Formerly, using the “Fill Empty Measures” command often produced Syncs with erroneous vertical positions on the staff (though visibly nothing appeared to be wrong because all the rests in the Syncs looked to be correctly positioned). The result was that any text attached to the new rests would move to unpredictable places. This has been fixed.
* CLICK ON TITLE BUG
Formerly, if the user clicked on a page-relative piece of text on the first page of the score, or if they would Select All, Nightingale sometimes crashed, or sometimes nonsensically left Move Systems enabled. A rarely seen bug that is now fixed.
• TENOR CLEFS
Formerly, in a tenor clef staff using a flat key signature, the 2nd flat was in the wrong octave; in sharp keys, the 6th sharp was in the wrong octave. Both are now in the right place.
Program Fixes
Done in Version 1.02
* REAL TIME RECORDING
Formerly, if you real-time recorded for very long, at a certain point (at a tempo of quarter=100, the point is after 45 seconds--16 measures or so of 4/4), an arithmetic overflow resulted in the notes' timestamps vacillating wildly. Not surprisingly, this made Transcribe Recording produce garbage after that point. This has been fixed. Please note: it's possible the bug could still occur, but only at EXTREMELY slow recording tempos, i.e., quarter=20 or slower.
* HIDDEN MEASURE NUMBERS
Formerly, if the staff was hidden, which would normally have a measure number above it, Nightingale didn't draw the measure number at all. This has been fixed.
* QUICKCHANGE MOVING NOTES WITH ACCIDENTALS
Formerly, if you used QuickChange™ to move a note that had no explicit accidental but had an EFFECTIVE accidental (because of the key signature or previous notes) to another staff, it was treated as if it was a white-note pitch. This has been fixed.
* TRANSCRIBE RECORDED NOTES IN A NON-DEFAULT VOICE
Formerly, if any notes in selected measures were in a voice other than their staff's default voice, Transcribe Recording generally crashed. Now, if any there are any such notes, Transcribe Recording just says so and does nothing.
••••••••••••••
Important Note: Limitations to Paste Merge command
• Do not include the barline preceding a measure when you select/highlight material in your score that you plan to copy and then paste merge.
• When Paste Merging, be certain that the insertion point follows directly to the right of a barline.
If you use Paste Merge, and see "unusual" looking results, namely, the loss of beams or mixing of stems in your score, then you must IMMEDIATELY go to the Undo command under the Edit menu (or type Cmd-Z). Reselect the material and paste it according to the two guidelines above.
••••••••••••••
System Requirement Change
Nightingale now requires at least System version 6.0.5 instead of 6.0.
••••••••••••••
Tips for enhanced speed using Nightingale
• TURN OFF COLOR
For Nightingale to run at top speed, you must turn off all color options and gray scale options for your computer monitor. This is done by going to the Apple menu on your Mac and selecting "Control Panels," and then opening the "Monitors" utility. Adjust the Monitor settings for Black and White only.
• SWITCH OFF AUTO RESPACING
To avoid unwanted redrawing of measures on the screen as you are entering symbols with the mouse, you may choose to turn off the "Auto Respace Bars" command (found under the Score menu). You can manually respace any measure by clicking anywhere in the measure, and then using the Respace Bars command (Cmd-R).
• USE REDRAW INTERRUPT
To halt redrawing at any time as you work, use the Redraw Interrupt key command (Command-period).
• ZOOM IN TO WORK ON SMALL AREAS
Redrawing of the score is greatly reduced if you use the “Enlarge" command to zoom in closer to the area of the score being edited.
••••••••••••••
Printing with StyleWriter, DeskWriter, ImageWriter, Personal LaserWriter, or other non-PostScript printers
When printing with a StyleWriter, HP DeskWriter, ImageWriter, Personal LaserWriter, or other non-PostScript printers, output quality is GREATLY improved using the following method:
1) Save your score in its final form.
2) Go to Chooser (under the Apple menu) and select the printer you will use.
3) Go to the Page Setup command (under the File menu) and select a 50% print size.
4) Zoom in to view your Nightingale score at 200% on the screen using the Enlarge command (under the View menu).
5) Go to the Print command (under the File menu) and print the score while you are still viewing at 400%.
This will give much finer-looking symbols throughout the score.
6 ) -optional- You may wish to use the “Revert” command (under the File menu) to return the page setup back to normal settings.
For highest quality non-PostScript printing
For the very highest PostScript quality printing from StyleWriters and DeskWriters (and numerous other printers), call Temporal Acuity Products (206-462-1007) to purchase a utility named "T-Script", which is a PostScript emulator that will convert Nightingale's PostScript output into the resident language of your printer. The 360 dpi output is in most cases as good or better than that of laser printers! The utility sells for $65.
••••••••••••••
Nightingale User Tips
• STARTING UP NIGHTINGALE:
Once installation is complete, you can start up Nightingale by double-clicking either on the Nightingale application or the Nightingale Demo Score.
• USING NIGHTINGALE HELP:
Use the Nightingale Help file for basic instructions on how to use Nightingale. DO NOT DOUBLE-CLICK ON NIGHTINGALE HELP! You must access Help by first starting the Nightingale application, and then going to the Apple menu and selecting “Nightingale Help".
• USE THE MIDI METRONOME!
For recording in real time (using Record Insert), the internal metronome played through Mac speaker is "wobbly" on some computers. The metronome played through your MIDI instrument is very stable.
••••••••••••••
THE SIX MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
• HOW DO I ENTER NOTES and ACCIDENTALS?
When entering notes with the mouse, you can hold down the mouse button as you place a note, and then drag the note up/down on the staff until it reaches the desired pitch. Ledger lines appear automatically for any notes inserted (or dragged) above/below the staff.
To enter notes with accidentals, press the Shift key and hold down the mouse button as you place notes into the score. With the mouse button still held down, you can drag the note up/down on the staff, and you will see a choice of accidentals displayed in a small box next to the note. When the accidental you want appears, RELEASE THE MOUSE BUTTON FIRST.
• HOW DO I CHANGE A NOTE'S PITCH?
To change the pitch of a note already in the score, drag it up/down with the Dragging Tool/hollow arrow.
To add an accidental to a note already in the score, or change an accidental of a note already in the score, drag the note up/down with the Dragging Tool/hollow arrow while the shift key is pressed. When the accidental you want appears, RELEASE THE MOUSE BUTTON FIRST.
• HOW DO I STOP NIGHTINGALE FROM REDRAWING MEASURES?
To speed up your work, use the Redraw Interrupt Command (Cmd-period) to stop redrawing any time you like (e.g., as soon as the portion of music you are editing becomes visible).
Turning off "Auto Respace Measures" under the score menu can also speed up your work. Normally, each time you insert a new note/rest, Nightingale will automatically respace the measure into which you click a new note/rest, and all measures to the right. Turning off this feature eliminates many redrawings of the screen.
• HOW DO I LAYOUT A NEW SCORE?
See the new file called “Chapter 5 - Page/Score Layout” which has been placed into the Nightingale Folder on your hard drive for a complete discussion of page and score layout.
The Master Page command (under the score menu) contains most of the tools needed to create the general layout of a score, including staff size, instrument names, adding/deleting parts, grouping/ungrouping parts, splitting a grand staff, and setting margins. Selecting the Master Page command calls up a new "Master Page" menu, and changes the view of your score to include only staves and systems with no notes.
You can drag margins displayed in Master page to any desired position, or set them numerically using the Margins command (in the Master Page menu).
The first page will usually contain an extra title margin, which is not visible in Master Page. Master Page displays the page setup for all pages in the score without taking into account an extra title margin. Adjust the Title Margin setting of the first page in the Preferences command (under the File menu). It may be necessary to drag either the top or bottom margin in Master Page slightly up and down for a newly-adjusted title margin setting to “register.”
You can drag individual staves and up/down to reposition them on the page. An entire grand staff can be dragged by its left-hand brace, and a grouped set of staves can be dragged all together by their left-hand square bracket.
By dragging the entire second system up/down on the page, you determine how many systems will fit on a “normal” page (one without a title margin). As you drag, you change the amount of empty space is left between systems. A third or fourth system may automatically appear at the bottom of the Master Page, indicating that more systems are able to fit on the page. Note: The first page will usually contain an extra title margin, and will therefore hold fewer systems on it. This is visible only when you have exited Master Page.
Once you exit Master Page, you can add new pages or new systems using the "Add Page" and "Add System" commands (under the score menu).
• HOW DO I RECORD TRIPLETS IN REAL TIME?
Triplets have been removed from the Transcribe Recording command to eliminate real time recording problems for novice users. You can RE-ENABLE TRIPLETS at any time by holding down the Option & Command keys while selecting Transcribe Recording from the Play/Rec menu.
Recording triplets works quite well, but only if you do not play ahead of the metronome's beat while recording. For best results, try to play exactly with the beat, or very slightly behind the beat.
• HOW DO I KEEP THE LEFT/RIGHT HANDS SEPARATE IN RECORDING?
Record from the keyboard playing the right hand one octave higher than normal (to ensure division between the treble/bass voices). When you are finished recording, click on the treble clef sign to select the entire treble staff (or select the newly recorded notes by dragging across them with the mouse), and then transpose the entire treble staff down one octave.
