NoteAbilityPro Tools

NoteAbility Pro Tools

The NoteAbility tools are located in a scroll window at the top of each score window. The available tools are:

The NoteAbility tools control the various functions that the user most often performs with the NoteAbility. The specific function of each of these tools is described below:

Image	Tool	Description
	Insert Image	For entering most musical images onto the page.
	Move Entry Cursor	For re-positioning the Entry Cursor.
	Selection	For selecting an image or a group of images on the score.
	Select Score	For selecting a segment of the score (along a single staff or on multiple staves).
	Measure Text	For entering and editing text (affixed to the measure and staff).
	Graphic Slur	For adding graphic slurs (slurs not connected to notes)
	Crescendo	For adding crescendi and decrescendi.
	Line	For drawing straight lines.
	Rectangle	For drawing framed and filled rectangles.
	Oval	For drawing framed and filled ovals.
	Curve	For drawing curved lines
	Lyrics	For entering Lyrics under a line of music.
	Page Text	For entering and editing text (affixed to the page).
	Arpeggio	For adding arpeggios.
	Trill	For adding trills.
	Multiple Measure Rest	For adding multiple measure rests.
	Octava	For adding octava and octava basso images.
	Graphic Tuplet	For adding tuplet graphics.
	Graphic Beam	For adding beam extensions and measured tremolo.
	Max Text	For entering and editing Max text boxes.

Insert Image Tool

When the Insert Image tool is selected and the mouse is clicked on the score, the image indicated in the Current Command field of the Score Controls is added either at the Entry Cursor (in the case of regular notes and rests) or at the position of the mouse cursor. While the mouse button is held down, the notes and rests can be dragged up and down and other images can be dragged in any direction to a new position. For a complete List of commands see the Image List panel.

Move Entry Cursor Tool

When the Move Entry Cursor tool is selected the Entry Cursor will be repositioned at the mouse cursor when the mouse button is depressed.

- The Entry Cursor can also be moved by dragging the bar along its right edge or by holding down the Command key and clicking the mouse cursor at a new location.

Selection Tool

When the Selection tool is selected you can click on one of the control points of an image to move or adjust it, or you can drag the mouse cursor to create a selection rectangle. All images in the rectangle are selected, and they can then be moved or adjusted by placing the cursor in this rectangle and dragging the mouse cursor. Some images (eg. regular notes and rests) will not be moved away from their metrical position.

- Slight adjustments to the horizontal position of regular notes and rests can be made by holding down the Control key while dragging the images. If you do not want notes to linked to the metrical structure create Graphical notes and rests with the commands &h, &q, &rq &rs etc. instead of the commands h, q, rq, rs etc.

Select Score Tool

When the Select Score tool is choosen you can select all images in a portion of the score by setting the starting and ending points of the selection. This tool can be used to select images on certain staves across multiple measures or across mulitple pages. When you depress the mouse button, a starting arrow appears, allows you to set the beginning of the selection. When you depress the mouse button again, an ending arrow allows you to set the end of the selection. The selected area includes all measures between the start and end points and all staves between (and including) the starting staff and ending staff. The height of the selection arrows is modified to show which staves are included in the selection.

- When using either the Selection or Select Score tools, the selected images are redrawn in red to indicate that they are selected.

Text Tools

NoteAbility supports 4 different types of Text:

Measure Text(the most common type of text) is associated with a staff and a beat location in a measure. This text is adjusted with as the staff and rhythmic spine (beat positions) are adjusted. Examples of this text type are dynamics and tempo indications (eg cresc., rit..., fingering numbers, and any markings that are an integral part of the music, and whose position should be adjusted along with the music.)
Page Text is used for text that is to be fixed at a particular location on the page (eg. title, composer's name, etc.).
Max Text is a special-purpose class of text that is used for creating Max object boxes. Max text is enclosed in a rectangle, and indicates the beat position of the text. Like Measure text, Max text is linked to the music structure. Unless you are using NoteAbilityPro to control Max/MSP or to generate Max qlists, you will not likely use Max text.
Lyrics are entered by selecting the Lyric tool, placing the Entry Cursor at the beat location you want the lyric to appear, typing the syllable (which appears in the Command Field) and pressing the Return. For more details, see Entering Lyrics.

The example below show the four different types of text, and the effect of adjusting the staff and beat positions.

Tools for Complex Images

There are a number of tools for drawing complex images: Graphic Slur tool, Crescendo tool, Arpeggio tool, Graphic Beam tool, Trill tool, Multiple Measure Rest tool, Octava tool and Graphic Tuplet tool. These tools are used to draw images that have a horizontal or vertical dimension to them. In each case (except when using the Graphic Slur Tool), you depress the mouse button to start the image, then drag the mouse to the desired height or width and release the mouse button. These images all have two Control Points - one at the beginning of the image and one at the end. Either or both the the Control Points can be adjusted. Since slurs have three Control Points - one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end, an unusual drawing technique is used:

depress the mouse button to start the slur,
drag and release the mouse button at the middle point of the slur,
then continue moving the mouse and click to finish the slur.

When using the Graphic Tuplet tool or the Octava tool, holding the Shift key down while drawing the image will draw the second of the two images shown on the tool button (an octava basso or a tuplet which goes below notes.)

The Graphic Tuplet tool should only be used for adding tuplet graphics in instances when tuplets do not appear automatically, or where the tuplet you want is too complex for NoteAbilityPro to calculate. Type the number you want to appear in the tuplet in the Command field before drawing the tuplet. If no number is entered, then a bracket with no number will be supplied.

COMMAND: 3 8:6 none (with Shift Key)

The Graphic Beam tool should only be used for adding beam extensions (eg. feathered beams or measured tremolo). Normal beam groups are added with the Beam Notes menu items (Command-b or Command-B).

Type the number of beams to be drawn in the Command field before drawing the beam. If no number is entered, a single beam is drawn.

The Graphic Slur tool should only be used for adding slurs in instances where the Slur Notes method (i.e. selecting notes and clicking on the Slur Notes button) will not work (such as when you want a slur over images other than notes or when you need more than 1 slur over a group of notes.)

- Remember that tuplets are normally created automatically by NoteAbilityPro as notes and rests are entered into the score, and beams and slurs are normally created through editing procedures such as Beam Notes and Slur Notes. The Graphic Slur, Graphic Tuplet, and Graphic Beam tools are only need for creating graphical versions of these images.

Drawing Tools

The Line tool, Rectangle tool, Oval tool and Curve tool are the NoteAbilityPro drawing tools. They allow simple graphic shapes to be drawn directly onto your score. These images are entered in the same way that the complex images are entered - with curves being entered in the same way that slurs are entered. The graphics attributes (eg. line width, fill colour etc.) for these images are set in the Graphics pane of the Music Images panel. The type of line drawn by the Line tool (eg. with arrowheads, dashed, etc) is set in the Line pane of the Music Images panel.

More complex graphics can be added by dragging PDF, TIFF or other graphic images directly onto the score or by using the Image Library panel to insert images into the score.