> At 11:16 AM +0200 6/15/11, Marcello Noia wrote:
>>-------- Messaggio originale --------
>>Oggetto: FinWin 2k11 - strange Hp rendition of ' (breath) sign
>>Data: Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:45:56 +0200
>>Mittente: Marcello Noia <[email protected]>
>>Rispondi-a: [email protected]
>>A: [email protected] <[email protected]>
>>
>>
>>
>>Why Finale stops a bit the time of a piece when the breath sign is
>>placed after a note?
>>And more, it happens only when breath is placed on every voice of the
>>score in the same position (SATB).
>>It should only cut a fixed percentual duration of the note without
>>influencing the time.
>>Does exist any "academic" meaning to make Finale programmers introducing
>>this
>>feature in the breath sign?
>
On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 12:47 PM, John Howell <[email protected]> wrote:
> Unfortunately, yes. The sign (comma-shaped) has two meanings. The
> first is a simple breath mark, which should not change the meter and
> should steal time from the preceding note, just as you say. But the
> second is a kind of caesura, or silent tenuto, often inserted just
> before the final note or final measure of a piece in performance
> (whether called for or not), and conventionally indicated by a comma,
> although the double lines ("railroad tracks") would be more accurate.
>
> Apparently the programmers programmed the second meaning only.
No, no, no!
"The programmers" in Finale made the breath mark play the note after
which it is placed a shorter duration than printed. In Fin2011, it
plays the note 75% of the original length (for example, playing a
quarter note as a dotted eighth plus a sixteenth rest) but does not
alter the meter. In older Finale versions I believe it played a
shorter percentage (50%?), and I always changed mine to 75 or 80
percent.
It, just as any articulation in Finale, can be changed - by the user -
to any other duration, or made to alter the note's attack or velocity,
or made to make no affect whatsoever to the playback. The user can
double click on one of the breath marks and the dialogue box will pop
up. The user can also copy the breath mark and program different ones
with different playback lengths. In addition, an identical comma
marking could be made - by the user - as an expression, to which
nearly any type of playback function could be assigned. One could
have a breath mark change the patch, switch the rhythm to swing,
change the transposition, or rotate the tires on your car. (I may
have imagined one of those.)
Back to Marcello's question - if this is a file of your own creation,
Marcello, and breath marks in every voice cause an interruption in the
meter, some problem has been introduced in some other way. I have
tried, just now, to reproduce that problem and I cannot. I would have
noticed the problem before, in any case, as I do a lot of SATB pieces
in Finale for my church choir and often put in breath marks ahead of
time to save rehearsal time.
Here is what I would suggest - first, under the articulation menu,
double click on one of the breath marks to see what it's definition
is. If it is not an articulation, click it with the selection tool to
find out what it is. If redefining it doesn't seem to get anywhere,
then I would suggest you highlight the entire offending passage, then
under the "Edit" menu select "Clear selected items" - then on the
items menu: First select "none" so you don't clear anything you want
to keep; then select "midi data" and "articulations," then "OK." That
will likely clear any playback problems, but you will have to re-enter
the breath marks.
If you want, Marcello, send me the problem file - tell me in what
measures the problem occurs, and I will take a look at it.
Raymond Horton
Minister of Music, Edwardsville (IN) UMC
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