On Jun 14, 2008, at 9:12 PM, Matthew Hindson fastmail acct wrote:
Can anyone suggest some good slur settings?
I am using engraver slurs, but am continually frustrated by them
either curving too high or making bizarre curvatures in general.
Even worse of course is when you print it out and it's not WYSIWYG...
The main thing (that I learned from Darcy) is that if you set the
slurs to LIFT rather than STRETCH, then you are saying to raise the
end of a slur (say, to avoid a sharp on the ending note) rather than
arch the slur. This keeps relatively flatter slurs, while avoiding
collisions with sharps. The maximum lift will operate until the max
is reached, then the slur will start to arch. These settings are ones
I posted more than a year ago, and I still dick around with them
quite a bit and still have to adjust individual slurs, just not as much.
Johannes might weigh in with some insights about the wild curves
showing up on Engraver Slurs. Apparently if you select all, nudge up
(to change them from Engraver) then nudge down (to put them back in
place) then they are less likely to go nuts on you. This is related
to the non-WYSIWYG problem. Bug MakeMusic about that, as it is
inexcusable.
Repost starts
***************
OK, here we go, then. All settings in EVPUs. Don't forget these are
default settings, and you can drag individual slurs' handles to
change their shape from these defaults.
Under Slur Contour,
Short Span
Height 16
Inset 30%
Medium Span
Height 60
Inset 25%
Long Span
Height 72
Inset 20%
Extra long Span
Height 72
Inset 15%
Notice the Inset (how close the outside handles are to the tip) gets
smaller (related to the length of the whole slur) on longer slurs,
making the ends curlier on longer slurs. You can make this an even
smaller percentage if you prefer, or drag the handles manually to
affect inset and height on individual slurs. You can even set a
NEGATIVE inset, if you like slurs that bulge at the sides like the
top of a loaf of bread. I don't like this.
Now on to Smart Slur Options
Use Engraver Slurs checked
Max angle 45
Slur Symmetry 50% (Darcy turned me on to this, with the idea that
slurs should not be stylised in thickness, as they are in the
JazzFont default)
Space around objects 18 (you might like this smaller, say 12, if you
find slurs get separated from their notes by a large amount.)
Avoid Accidentals checked.
Space around accidentals 6 (or smaller, depending on your eye)
Initial Adjustment
Lift checked
Maximum lift 48 (this seems large to me now)
(I'll check these new settings out)
Slur System Breaks
Avoid Staff Lines by 8
System Start Adjustment 0
System End Adjustment 0
(I may still screw around with those last two, as these are the
amount above the staff by which slur ends appear that are cut on a
system break)
Thickness
Thickness Left H 0, V 6
Thickness RIght H 0, V 6
(Nice and fine and uncluttered. Thanks Darcy)
Slur Tip
Tip Width 1 (maybe even thicker, I've been undecided lately. I've
tried 6, which jumps out a bit better, but some engravers like the
tips to be fine.)
Tips Avoid Staff Lines checked, 0 (but maybe I should have a value
here. No problems so far)
If anyone has some comments or adjustments to suggest, please do. I'm
not even sure I understand all the settings, as you all probably
know, some of the names and what they control are somewhat obscure.
christopher
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