I agree with Ray. Make the real words clear, but then indicate any special effects that are needed. (You may well run into choir directors who won't agree and won't want to do it that way, but that's the chance you take. English is not the greatest singing language, and conductors have to make these decisions all the time.) And I've been writing for singers for about 60 years, but still probably haven't seen everything!
Italics--perhaps in parentheses, perhaps not--might be the clearest way to do it, placed as if a second verse. That's pretty standard when an English translation is added to an original text. John At 12:57 AM -0400 7/22/12, Raymond Horton wrote: >Back to the original request: > >How to put words like "fire" and J.W.B" in a choral work: > >As a choral director (two days a week or so) what I would like to see is this: > >In the main text, keep the text intact: Put "fire ___" (I don't care >exactly where the dashes go, just put them where Finale does). Then, >underneath, in italics (smaller? parenthesis?), write it the way you >want it sung: "fi -yuh" or "fie-yer" or whatever. Same with "J. W. >--- B," then underneath: "Jay Duh-bah-yu Bee" or "Jay Doub-el-you Bee" >or whatever. Best of both worlds! > >For anyone with more normal hyphenation needs, this page is quite useful: > >http://juiciobrennan.com/hyphenator/ > >Raymond Horton >Bass Trombonist, Louisville Orchestra >Minister of Music, Edwardsville (IN) UMC >Composer, Arranger >VISIT US AT rayhortonmusic.com > > >On Sat, Jul 21, 2012 at 1:40 AM, Ryan <[email protected]> wrote: >> When I have to put m-dashes in lyrics, I often use a non-breaking space >> keep it attached to the previous syllable. On my Mac it's Option+Spacebar. >> Sometimes, though, depending on context, I'll just treat the em dash as its >> own syllable, and place it under a rest. But, I wouldn't hesitate to omit >> it entirely if it just adds to the clutter on the page, and doesn't help >> the singers. >> For hyphenation, I've found the entries on dictionary.com very helpful. >> FWIW, they consider "-ism" to be one syllable. >> Ter-ror-ism >> An-ti-Sem-i-tism >> >> I gather the lyrics you're setting use word-play and puns often. I would >> feel free to alter syllabification from the norm so that the singers can >> pronounce the word correctly in order to deliver the punchline. >> >> ==Slightly O.T.== >> And, sorry to be pedantic, but J.W.B. is not technically an acronym. It's >> just a lowly initialism. Acronyms are initialisms that make their own word. >> S.C.U.B.A. L.A.S.E.R. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. The P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act. >> >> On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 9:57 PM, Christopher Smith < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >>> On Sat Jul 21, at SaturdayJul 21 12:12 AM, John Howell wrote: >>> >>> > At 11:30 PM -0400 7/20/12, Christopher Smith wrote: >>> >> The words I have to hyphenate (obviously on different notes) are >>> >> >>> >> "Anti-Semitism" >>> >> "Terrorism" >>> >> "Paganism" >>> >> Would all these be "is-m"? >>> >> >>> >> "howl" on two notes, maybe "how-l"? >>> >> >>> >> the acronym "J.W.B." on five notes. I'm thinking >>> >> "J. dou-ble-U. B." but maybe no hyphen after >>> >> "dou-ble"? It follows several other acronyms > >> >> that I have rendered as one-syllable letters >>> >> with periods. >>> >> >>> >> "attire" on three notes, maybe "at-ti-re" but >>> >> that doesn't look right. I imagine it would be >>> >> the same as "fire" in two syllables, but I can't >>> >> recall ever having seen it. >>> > >>> > >>> > Personal opinion: Your friendly local dictionary >>> > is the best reference. But what you're asking >>> > about isn't grammar, it's style, so that would be >>> > covered in the Chicago Style Manual (probably up >>> > to about its 50th edition!) or the APA (American >>> > Psychological Association) Style Manual. >>> > >>> > I agree (by eye) with most of your examples, >>> > although I'm not sure about writing out the names >>> > of letters either. But "attire" is a >>> > two-syllable word, so I wouldn't try to make > >> > three syllables out of it. Rather slur one of >>> > the syllables. (For the most part a syllable >>> > requires a vowel, and a final silent "e" doesn't >>> > count because it isn't pronounced. I could argue >>> > that "r" is a liquid consonant that functions as >>> > a vowel, as in the words "bird" or "girl," but I >>> > won't in this case!) I've had students try to do >>> > things like this, and subdividing words into >>> > individual phonemes rather than actual syllables >>> > almost always makes them very difficult to read. >>> > (And yeah, I know Sinatra did it all the time, >>> > but hey, he was Sinatra!!) >>> > >>> > "Howl" is one syllable (to a singer), even though >>> > it contains 4 phonemes. I'd suggest slurring it >>> > and not hyphenating it. >>> > >>> > In general, micro-managing the English language >>> > will only serve to confuse a singer, NOT to make >>> > it more exact. There are some things that MUST >>> > be decided by the individual singer (or choir >>> > director). Fred Waring attempted to regularize >>> > it with his "tone syllables," and it worked for >>> > those who understood them, but baffled those who >>> > did not. >>> > >>> > >>> >> >>> >> which brings up another point, "the attire is >>> >> informal-so come just as you are." is the line. >>> >> I should include the M-dash, but it feels like >>> >> it should be between syllables like a hyphen, >>> >> not stuck to "in-for-mal-" with a long space >>> >> afterward the way it presently is. What is the >>> >> right thing to do here? I would have no problem >>> >> inserting the M-dash as an expression if that is >>> >> indeed the right thing. >>> > >>> > >>> > Grammatically I'd say that the m-dash is >>> > incorrect and should be a comma instead. The >>> > second clause is dependent and "so" is >>> > connective, not an independent thought. It would >>> > be worth checking on proper usage of the m-dash, >>> > which can be tricky. (Again, probably the >>> > Chicago Style Manual.) But if you have to use it >>> > I'd connect it to the previous syllable (as you >>> > did), as you would a comma, colon, or semi-colon. >>> > But it WILL be confused with a hyphen. >>> > >>> > Just personal opinion, but I am used to critical reading of student >>> papers. >>> > >>> > John >>> >>> Hi John, >>> >>> Thanks for the quick answer. The reason I'm asking is because my friendly >>> local dictionary doesn't have these words hyphenated the way they are >>> pronounced in this context. >>> >>> I would have absolutely put normally-one-syllable words like "howl" >>> (rhymes with "vowel") on a slur, but every last one of these examples is >>> repeated pitches on eighth notes and my music teacher brain starts to >>> bubble with two eighths of the same pitch on the same beat with a slur that >>> looks like a tie. >>> >>> I need to make "attire" look like it rhymes with "Meyer", which is >>> definitely two syllables and on repeating eighth notes. >>> >>> About the m-dash: according to Simon and Schuster's Guide to Writing >>> (Canadian Edition), the dash can be used to indicate contrast, e.g., >>> "Trust-but verify" or "Vote early-and often." In my case, the line is a >>> punch line that is at odds with the setup (it happens 3 other times in >>> other verses). I didn't write it, but I have to render it. >>> >>> Christopher >>> _______________________________________________ > >> Finale mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> Finale mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > >_______________________________________________ >Finale mailing list >[email protected] >http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music School of Performing Arts & Cinema College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences 290 College Ave., Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[email protected]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html "Machen Sie es, wie Sie wollen, machen Sie es nur schön." (Do it as you like, just make it beautiful!) --Johannes Brahms _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
