[Finale] ChordSymbol/JazzSymbol discount through June
Hello music notation listers - Here's a final call for discount prices for our ChordSymbol and JazzSymbol fonts. I'd also appreciate private input, including from any MakeMusic people monitoring the Finale list, to a question at the end. - Thanks. For orders received before July 1, 2011, we'll maintain discounted prices on our ChordSymbol and JazzSymbol fonts, as follows: ChordSymbol 2 individual order @ $50.00 JazzSymbol 1 individual order @ $35.00 ChordSymbol 2/JazzSymbol 1 individual bundle @$75.00 ChordSymbol 2 site license, 5 or more copies @ $35.00 JazzSymbol 1 site license, 5 or more copies @ $25.00 ChordSymbol 2/JazzSymbol 1 site license bundle , 5 or more copies @ $50.00 As of July 1, 2011, we'll revert to the regular prices--$75.00 for an individual order of ChordSymbol 2; $50.00 for an individual order of JazzSymbol 1, and so on. For font samples and demos, see our web site, www[dot]virtualconservatory[dot]com. To order by return email, simply specify the type of order (individual or site license), quantity, and the platform(s) you need (Mac, Windows, or Both), and pay by PayPal or check sent to the address below. To pay by PayPal, simply establish your free account at www[dot]paypal[dot]com, link a checking or credit card account to it, and then make payment to _order@virtualconservatory.com_ (mailto:or...@virtualconservatory.com) . I'd like to have any private input from current users of our fonts in either Finale or Sibelius as to their utility. I know they save considerable time in Sibelius especially, which of course begs the question, When will Finale be made Unicode compliant? Are plans on the table yet? I realize this is a difficult proposition technically, but if such functionality could be engineered around our comprehensive fonts (probably involving palette-based entry), chord symbol entry for popular and traditional music alike would be a snap. Thanks much, and cheers, Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _JClevESM@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: www[dot]virtualconservatory[dot]com ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Chord symbol New Year
Greetings listers! I wanted to put out the word that our chord symbol fonts are available at discounted prices for the New Year: ChordSymbol 2 for $50; JazzSymbol 1 for $35; and both fonts for $75; with discounted site licenses also available. Because these fonts are available in both Unicode and TrueType formats, they give you all the chord symbols you'll ever need in any application, whether Unicode-savvy or not. This means they save almost as much time and trouble in Finale as they do in Sibelius. Thanks much, and happy New Year, Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: www[dot]virtualconservatory[dot]com ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Re: Argue kudos
In a message dated 8/12/2010 10:00:46 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, finale-requ...@shsu.edu writes: Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:43:54 -0400 From: Michael L Meyer mlmli...@gmail.com Subject: [Finale] Congratulations to Darcy! To: finale@shsu.edu Message-ID: cb0c1a14-0f82-434e-bd93-ca3df203e...@gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Not that I post here very often, but it was very cool to open my August issue of Downbeat and see a familiar name from this list featured! Darcy was named Rising Star in the Big Band, Composer and Arranger categories in this year's Downbeat Critic's Poll. Very cool -- mazel tov! -- Mike And a nice guy, since he took a lot of trouble to help me get JazzSymbol right. Congrats Darcy! Best, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Musical engraving work (a bit OT)
Hey Finale and Sibelius listers! Can anyone give me general recommendations on how to go about drumming up musical engraving business? I and a partner want to add that as part of our activities, using both Finale and Sibelius (and of course our little chord symbol fonts), and I don't have a clue how to go about finding work. I assume that a number of you make your living that way--not to steal your clients or anything, but any general advice would be appreciated. Do you do most of your work for composers? Or such as sheet music publishers? Living near Hollywood and being a would-be movie screenwriter, I wouldn't mind hooking into film music scoring too, if that's remotely possible. My friend has some connections in religious music, and we're comfortable with and equipped for pop/jazz/theater music too, though we both have PhDs in music theory and are classical music specialists. So we're looking to explore quite a range here. If anyone needs subcontracting work, both I and Benjamin Ayotte do highly precise work and would be glad to help. Thanks in advance. Cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Finale Unicode support for chord symbol entry
In a message dated 7/30/2010 10:01:07 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, finale-requ...@shsu.edu writes: Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:26:01 -0400 From: Darcy James Argue djar...@earthlink.net Subject: Re: [Finale] Re: Finale Unicode support To: finale@shsu.edu Message-ID: 349bef70-8616-4224-954a-9b312213a...@earthlink.net Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Hi John, You need to understand the facts on the ground here. MakeMusic has had a yearly release schedule since 1996. Finale 2011 was just released. It does not support Unicode. The next major release will be Finale 2012, which will most likely be released 11 months from now. In all likelihood, that is the earliest that a major new feature like Unicode support could conceivably be introduced. Cheers, - DJA Thanks, Darcy. I do understand, and from everything I've been told, such a changeover is a big deal. Hopefully they'll be able to pull it off by the next release, which would be in time for us to accommodate Finale as an option for users of our forthcoming Understanding Tonal Music. And now that ChordSymbol is being used in developing three other major college music theory textbooks, such an update to Unicode would be very much in MakeMusic's interest. Let me reiterate too that although MakeMusic has thus far basically ignored me, accommodating the functionality of our premium-quality Unicode chord symbol fonts in their Unicode implementation of chord symbol entry would give Finale a distinct advantage over Sibelius. This will be all the more true once we complete the first Unicode handwritten chord symbol font for jazz, which we might call JazzHand or something like that, sometime this fall. Cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Re: Finale Unicode support
Thanks for the feedback, folks. I understand that business realities may preclude such a major redesign. But if MakeMusic can do it soon, it would be to their advantage. ChordSymbol is being used in the development (and in one case the final formatting) of three major college music theory textbooks, beyond our pending Understanding Tonal Music. Through our partner musical engraving firm, Ayotte Custom Musical Engravings, we are offering to help more than one publisher format things like complete sets of part-writing exercises in Sibelius for these books. If that happens, tens of thousands of music students per year will get closely acquainted with Sibelius only, leaving Finale increasingly behind the times and out in the cold. Best, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Cheap student versions of Finale and Sibelius; Noteflight
Relative to my earlier query about teaching music theory or jazz arranging, etc., with technology, can someone clarify whether or not there are cheap student versions of Finale and Sibelius (Finale Notepad?) that are actually useful for this purpose? That is, limited versions that students can purchase for a nominal price far lower than full price, but which have sufficient functionality for use in teaching? I had assumed that was the case, but some feedback I have received thus far indicates it may not be. Has anyone tried Noteflight? I had not heard of it previously. I gather it enables users to create notation through their Internet browser, with no installation required. Comments on that as it compares to Finale or Sibelius would be appreciated, as would thoughts on using it for pedagogical purposes such as we are concerned with. We're trying to sort out our business model as it relates to our impending resumption of work on Understanding Tonal Music for college traditional and commercial music theory studies, now that we have our chord symbol fonts ready. So further feedback on these points would be much appreciated. Thanks much, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] music-notation apps and chord symbol fonts in teaching
Fellow Listers: Since I first released ChordSymbol in 1996, I've been trying to encourage music instructors (initially music theory teachers, now also jazz arranging teachers) to use Finale and Sibelius integrally in their teaching. Specifically, the Rubicon is crossed when daily homework assignments are completed *digitally* by students on their own computers using the cheap student versions of these applications. This means students must learn a music-notation app along with the course content--not a small thing. But knowing such technology tools should be con sidered part of being a professional musician nowadays. And one of those tools is, or ought to be (I respectfully suggest), ChordSymbol for traditional music chord symbols and JazzSymbol for commercial music chord symbols. They're both light-years beyond the limited capacity built into the music-notation apps right now when it comes to chord symbol entry, where everyone who uses these programs has to build their own custom library of, say, jazz suffixes and tensions, or--still worse--figured bass stacks. With Unicode, such libraries can be built right into a font--ChordSymbol 2 has more than 13 times the special symbols that were in ChordSymbol 1. And to the extent our fonts become industry standard, students will have to obtain such a tool just once for use in any application, including word-processing programs such as Word. In this context I'm pleased to mention that as of last week, the next editions of both the number 1 and 2 college music theory textbooks will be formatted using ChordSymbol 2. I'm working on the commercial sheet music publishers and the jazz/pop arranging/harmony/history textbook authors and their publishers on the commercial side. In fact, we're offering to help produce such as complete sets of part-writing exercises in both Sibelius and Finale for these textbooks at low contract rates. We're even trying to set up a share space at our web site where instructors may exchange, at no cost, their own sets of custom-produced exercises--that representing in itself a revolutionary step forward in music teaching, and a major motivator of this posting (do please get in touch with me if you have materials you'd like to contribute). Things change fundamentally when an 18-year-old music student regularly sits down at his or her laptop, completes a homework assignment using one of these programs and a cheaply obtained copy of one of our fonts (listening to their work prior to submission), and then submits it by email. I've been out of teaching for nearly ten years. Is this sort of thing happening more regularly now? I hope so, and not just for commercial reasons. The resulting improvement in musical literacy should be dramatic, largely due to the wonderful things that these great music-notation apps make possible. Sort of a brave new world of music instruction, which I'd like our group to be part of in at least a small way. Cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] JazzSymbol, Finale, and Unicode
In a message dated 6/27/2010 10:00:47 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, finale-requ...@shsu.edu writes: Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:36:20 -0400 From: dhbailey dhbai...@davidbaileymusicstudio.com Subject: Re: [Finale] Use of JazzSymbol in Finale To: finale@shsu.edu Message-ID: 4c2648a4.6020...@davidbaileymusicstudio.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Thank you very much for clarifying this for me -- I suspect you will be selling a font to me in the near future! :-) David H. Bailey Thanks, David. And by all means, folks, please give us feedback on these products, especially JazzSymbol, which really came out nicely due to the intrinsic clarity and compactness of Arial Narrow--a wonderful base font for chord symbols, that good suggestion having come from a Finale user. The great thing about Unicode fonts is that they're infinitely extensible. So if there are any sets of matching symbols you'd like to see in a future upgrade, just let me know, and we'll add them. It also would not hurt if users report to MakeMusic, even just on this forum, the usefulness and inherent quality of our fonts, which combine high-quality workmanship with strong design features enhancing usability. If they can coordinate their leap to Unicode (which surely must occur before too long, since Sibelius already embraces Unicode) with our chord symbol fonts, chord symbol entry in Finale will be a snap--and far superior to that in Sibelius. Things such as customizable Traditional and Commercial Chord Symbol P alettes based on our well-organized fonts to replace the arcane libraries of chord suffixes and so on could eliminate several confusing, intricate, and labor-intensive steps. Not to mention the thousands of pages of content we have already produced in Finale for our traditional and commercial print-digital music theory textbook, Understanding Tonal Music, that I'd like to keep in Finale--our intent there being to empower adopters of our textbook to create their own matching custom instructional materials using Finale and our fonts, making our textbook totally customizable and therefore quite unique, while promoting Finale. And yes, it would be possible for us to create a matching handwritten jazz font (same mapping, different base font), if enough users want that. That would make it possible for users globally to change between our chord symbol fonts depending on what look they want--formal (serif); less formal (sans serif); or informal (handwritten). Cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Use of JazzSymbol in Finale
In a message dated 6/26/2010 10:01:06 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, finale-requ...@shsu.edu writes: Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2010 06:40:45 -0400 From: dhbailey dhbai...@davidbaileymusicstudio.com Subject: Re: [Finale] JazzSymbol commercial music chord symbol font released To: finale@shsu.edu Cc: sibelius-l...@yahoogroups.com Message-ID: 4c25d92d.6020...@davidbaileymusicstudio.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed I have a question regarding the use of these fonts in Finale or in Sibelius - I didn't think either program was unicode compliant yet. Am I mistaken about this? If a program isn't unicode compliant how does one access any of the characters above character number 256? The demo for ChordSymbol which you link to below (the top link didn't work for me but the 2nd link did work) appears to be showing us how to do it on a Mac. It only shows one page of 256 characters. How would we do such a task on a Windows machine, and how would any of us access more than 256 characters? David H. Bailey Hi David. First, yes, Sibelius has a glaring advantage over Finale right now when it comes to chord symbol entry, because they have managed to embrace Unicode, which I understand is no small thing. Hopefully Finale can be brought up to date in that regard soon. Until that happens, our Unicode fonts are slightly ahead of the curve, but once Finale users realize the advantages afforded by native Unicode chord symbol entry, they won't want to do it any other way. That's why I also laboriously developed cross-platform TrueType component fonts for both of our chord symbol font packages, ChordSymbol and JazzSymbol. In the latter case, there are seven TrueType fonts, including small suffixes and tensions, large suffixes and tensions, a custom range so any matching custom combination can be created from scratch, and a comments range. Even with just the TrueType fonts, mechanisms provided by modern operating systems--the Character Palette/Viewer on the Mac side, the Character Map on the Windows side--greatly facilitate entry of these symbols. That's what Kent used in his demo; to access other characters, you just move to the needed range (or switch fonts in the case of TrueType fonts). The PopChar utility, available cheaply at _http://www.ergonis.com/products/_ (http://www.ergonis.com/products/) , is even better. And of course in Finale, chord symbol creation is palette-based. You simply switch to whichever font you need, enter the required symbol in your Library, and you're done. If you use the fonts in the Lyrics or Text tools, all characters can be accessed using the keystrokes provided in our character maps (Alt + code on Windows; various Option-key and Shift-Option-key combinations on Mac). I myself have created something like 2000 pages of music analysis illustrations using ChordSymbol with Finale in basic production of our music theory textbook, Understanding Tonal Music, so I know of what I speak, believe me. Once Finale updates to Unicode, chord symbol input will be that much faster. I'm told that chord symbol entry using our fonts in Sibelius is amazingly fast and easy, far superior to Sibelius's built-in functionality using the old-style fonts distributed with their product. And here's where the good people over at MakeMusic can get a competitive leg up over their chief rival once or if they wake up to the exquisite quality and incisive design features of our Unicode fonts: If they build their Unicode chord symbol input functionality around our fonts, chord symbol entry will be such a breeze that nobody will ever want to go back to the old-fashioned way of doing things. Something like five times as fast, with no need ever to assemble your own library, as our fonts are totally comprehensive and infinitely extensible. Thanks much. Cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] JazzSymbol commercial music chord symbol font released
Greetings fellow music listers. Long in the making, JazzSymbol, the powerful new commercial music chord symbol font, a less formal-looking companion product to ChordSymbol for traditional music, was released today. For font samples and an order form, see _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com) . Video demos of chord symbol input using our fonts in various applications can be seen at _http://music.iupui.edu/imtc/2010/presenters/kent_williams/_ (http://music.iupui.edu/imtc/2010/presenters/kent_williams/) . With over 1200 characters to ChordSymbol's 2200+, JazzSymbol is a big font with every chord symbol you will ever need for commercial music. Yet it's priced in proportion to ChordSymbol and focused to the needs of its specific market. So I hope those of you who have need for such a tool will find it helpful. JazzSymbol has already received enthusiastic reviews, and I'm very pleased with the look and quality of the font package overall. I'm frankly hoping to make it the industry standard for commercial music, assuming jazzers come to appreciate the greater clarity of engraved versus handwritten fonts. Those who teach theory or history of jazz or other popular idioms should also find it useful, given its intrinsic suitability for instructional settings. We offer steep discounts and an exceedingly low student price for class adoptions of either font, as explained on the flyers posted at our web site. Thanks much. Please let me know if you have any questions--you can order directly by return email; just let us know whether you need Windows, Macintosh, or Both formats, and we'll fill the order immediately. Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] JazzSymbol how to order
In a message dated 6/24/2010 10:00:46 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, finale-requ...@shsu.edu writes: I don't understand how to buy the font set paying through paypal. On your site I cannot find any order page. Thanks It may take us a week or two to get the flyer up on our site (no order page as yet). In the meantime (and thereafter), anyone can order directly from me by email at this address or _i...@virtualconservatory.com_ (mailto:i...@virtualconservatory.com) . Just let me know your platform (Windows, Macintosh, or Both); I'll send the font files and await payment. I'm in final stages of implementing the TrueType files for Finale; everything should be ready to go out in a few days. As for PayPal: set up your free account at _www.paypal.com_ (http://www.paypal.com) , then make payment to _or...@virtualconservatory.com_ (mailto:or...@virtualconservatory.com) . Thanks much. Best, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Contact information for development team at MakeMusic?
I'm trying to get a message through to developers or product managers at MakeMusic. Anyone there monitoring this list who can provide current contact information for the right people? Even simply receiving and then forwarding my message would be most helpful. We at TVC are interested in coordinating our high-quality chord symbol fonts with MakeMusic's development efforts--particularly Unicode implementation of chord symbol entry in Finale, which could give them a big leg up on Sibelius. So any facilitation would be appreciated. Thanks much. Please reply privately. Best, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] ChordSymbol-Jazz Symbol Finale entry online demo
Hey folks. My associate Kent Williams presented ChordSymbol and JazzSymbol in a video-conference for Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis today. You may see his QuickTime demo of entry in Finale using these fonts at _http://music.iupui.edu/imtc/2010/presenters/kent_williams/_ (http://music.iupui.edu/imtc/2010/presenters/kent_williams/) . JazzSymbol will be released this weekend, so we have begun accepting orders for our dedicated commercial music chord symbol font! Please see our JazzSymbol and ChordSymbol flyers at the link above for further font samples and ordering information. PDF Character Maps of both fonts are also available there. Let me add that I am very pleased with the clean, compact look of JazzSymbol; I think basing it on Arial Narrow--the result of a suggestion from one of you--was an excellent choice. I am also most grateful for the many thoughtful and detailed suggestions regarding the contents of this totally exhaustive font, many of them received from commercial copyists and arrangers contacted through this list. We could never have done it without you. Thanks much. Enjoy, and please feel free to contact me directly with any questions. Cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Re: JazzSymbol (replies to June 22, 2010 digest)
In a message dated 6/22/2010 10:00:32 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, finale-requ...@shsu.edu writes: Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:21:17 -0400 From: Steven C Nilson snils...@juno.com Subject: Re: [Finale] JazzSymbol impending release To: finale@shsu.edu Message-ID: 20100621.112209.953.186...@mailpop11.vgs.untd.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Dr. John, Sounds great. Would you please send me any additional info you might have. Will we get a notification from Finale when it becomes available? Thanks, Steve I'm sending out the flyer today; by tomorrow I should be ready to follow up with the character map. I completed the font yesterday; it should be ready for commercial release by July 1 or so. I'd be delighted to coordinate with MakeMusic on this, if they wish. JazzSymbol's TrueType component fonts will of course be extremely useful in Finale right now, but once MakeMusic is able to jump on the Unicode bandwagon, entry of chord symbols will be incredibly fast and easy using this font resource, which has been specifically designed to take utmost advantage of the power and flexibility (and most of all the capacity) of Unicode. It's essentially a totally comprehensive chord library built into a single font file, with the capacity to create any custom symbol to match the hundreds of prebuilt ones. Thanks, jrc (replies to other pertinent messages below) Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com) == Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:06:52 -0700 From: Alan Charlesworth acharleswo...@san.rr.com Subject: [Finale] customized chord suffix To: finale@shsu.edu Message-ID: 1c21b659-d533-4188-9c12-fedffd588...@san.rr.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; format=flowed; delsp=yes 21 Jun 10 Finale List, I am using Finale 2010 on an Apple Imac. I don’t like the suffix provided for diminished seventh chords; the diminished ‘o’ is too small and too low. As displayed nicely on the flyer, JazzSymbol has three sizes of orthographically correct diminished symbols. It's totally exhaustive, having benefited from considerable input from several Finale users. Thanks, jrc == Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:13:05 +0200 From: Marcello Noia marcellon...@gmail.com Subject: [Finale] Re: JazzSymbol To: finale@shsu.edu finale@shsu.edu Message-ID: 4c208cb1.8090...@gmail.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Having a look at the flyer I see that the fonts look like those used by recent Sher Music real books. Nice look and readability Good work Marcello Thanks, Marcello. I've adjusted the flyer a bit and should have the character map done by tomorrow at the latest, for anyone interested. I actually referred to several Real Books and New Real Books in designing the font, mostly to ensure that it has all needed characters. Those are beautiful handwritten fonts, but the engraved look of JazzSymbol, less formal than a serif font (as in ChordSymbol), is decidedly more legible than any handwritten font I've seen. So I think it preferable to handwritten fonts, and I hope our users will agree. Cheers, jrc == ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] JazzSymbol impending release
Hey folks. Just a heads-up that JazzSymbol, the less-formal looking variant of the extensive commercial range (over 1000 symbols) from ChordSymbol, will be released as a separate, dedicated product by early July. Like ChordSymbol, JazzSymbol will be available in both Unicode and TrueType formats, since Sibelius is Unicode-savvy and Finale is not yet. Based on Arial Narrow for a compact, clean, informal look, it features over 400 prebuilt large and small suffixes with all chord tensions, plus a custom range so you can create any conceivable combination to match the prebuilt ones (though you probably won't ever have to, so exhaustive is this font package) and a comments range. And like ChordSymbol, its workmanship is precise to 1/2048th of an em. JazzSymbol has benefited from lots of detailed input from commercial arrangers, so it will have everything you will ever need. And because it's smaller than ChordSymbol (which has analytical and figured bass characters for traditional music in addition to its commercial range), it's cheaper ($50 for individuals, $35 per copy within site licenses, and $10 a head for class adoptions). I'm hoping it'll become the industry standard chord symbol font for commercial music. I'd be happy to send via private email a flyer and current character map PDF to anyone interested. Also, please feel free to get back to me privately with any questions or suggestions you may have. Thanks very much, and cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Re: ChordSymbol 2 typography
Thanks, Jari. Please see my responses inserted below. Generally, please remember that lots of information has to be crowded onto a single page for marketing purposes simply because ChordSymbol 2 contains lots of stuff. When I have time I'll provide more contextual samples of what's in the font package, including real lead sheets, figured bass in an actual score, and chordal analyses of music from the literature. Those will be posted at our web site soon after JazzSymbol is released in March. Best, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) In a message dated 1/9/2010 10:00:32 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, finale-requ...@shsu.edu writes: You're talking about something like 2000 symbols, how do you access all those in one click? In Finale's Chord Tool, entry is palette-based (one click). This is also done in other applications using such as the Mac Character Palette. If as MakeMusic brings Finale into the Unicode age they are willing to coordinate the design of their chord entry mechanism with my fonts, chord symbol input will be vastly easier and faster than has ever been possible in any application, including Sibelius right now. By the way, I formatted 2000 pages of musical examples and scores in Finale as part of our development effort for our print-digital music theory text, Understanding Tonal Music, and its accompanying Anthology of Tonal Music, so I'd be delighted to work with MakeMusic in coordinating my fonts with Finale, if they so choose. Otherwise I may end up switching to Sibelius, taking tens of thousands of music students along with me eventually. Also, I have some questions regarding the flyer for ChordSymbol 2: http://www.virtualconservatory.com/ChordSymbol_2_Flyer_090509.pdf * Why don't the figure bass examples use line spacing? I'm not sure what you mean here, beyond the general need to pack lots of stuff onto one sheet. But one related point is that ChordSymbol actually consists of two fonts, CSTwo (which has two rows of figures but narrower line-spacing for use in text documents, a unique feature of my fonts--what used to be called CSTimes, much loved by music theorists and musicologists) and CSThree (which has three rows of figures and wider line-spacing, disruptive in text documents). Importantly, the two fonts map the same, such that you may globally change from CSThree to CSTwo if you realize you didn't need that third row of figures in a text document after all. * In the roman numeral and Schenkerian analysis examples, why do the horizontal brackets collide with the parenthesis? They don't overlap, but they do meet. If that bothers users, I can add a little space there for ChordSymbol 3, though at the expense of slightly wider line-spacing. But the main point is that ChordSymbol provides such horizontal connecting elements in the first place. That would normally require a graphics program and is handy to have available just within a font when you're preparing analytical papers or homework assignments. * It seems that the many chords seems strangely kerned and aligned/spaced, like the Bbm7/Eb, the F#/C and G11(OMIT9). Are these chord samples a good representation of the general kerning and spacing of the font? The Eb preceded by a slash is an alternate bass, intentionally aligned below the baseline as in other jazz fonts. The F# over C is a compound chord done on two lines with CSTwo; one could left align the F and the C if one prefers. I don't see anything wrong with the G11(OMIT9), but I welcome specific criticisms on such details as center-aligned versus left-aligned figures, the fact that with these OMIT or ADD indications the numerals are set larger than the letters, and so on. All such details that really prove objectionable can be rectified in later versions of ChordSymbol, and in fact in the initial version of JazzSymbol, since I will rebuild that font from scratch. Jari, I sent you the PDF of the commercial range from ChordSymbol, and I welcome your input on what exactly you'd like to see adjusted in JazzSymbol. The pickier the better, as that will also drive improvements for later versions of ChordSymbol. I'll also be happy to send along initial prototypes from JazzSymbol, if you'd like to see those. * Is the product name (ChordSymbol2) with the 2 as superscript or not? Is it space between the 2 or not? For my mostly music theorist users of ChordSymbol 1, that superscript was intended to show graphically the difference between that old TrueType font (256 characters) and the new Unicode font (2200+ characters): ChordSymbol squared, as it were. But yes, the 2 refers to the
[Finale] Re: JazzSymbol development
Hey folks. Let me respond to several points raised here regarding my impending development of JazzSymbol. First, although my main development is in Unicode, I have templates for c ross-platform TrueType fonts usable with Finale until MakeMusic can make Finale Unicode-compliant. So I will also develop what I hope will be the ideal Finale TrueType jazz chord fonts simultaneously with the Unicode JazzSymbol. Partly with your help, all these fonts should be on sale by the end of March. Second, I agree with the comments about handwritten fonts. I understand why they would be preferred in informal contexts, yet I've always felt that jazz arrangers ought to be able to benefit from modern typography like everyone else. I certainly recognize the need for a less formal-looking sans serif jazz symbol font, so that's what I'm producing first. If enough people insist on having a handwritten font to match, I'll do that too. And all these fonts will be mapped identically (in both Unicode and TrueType formats), so they can be globally changed from one to another readily if a different look is wanted. Third, a Unicode font has huge advantages over old-fashioned fonts. Unicode is, for all intents and purposes, infinitely extensible. Whereas ChordSymbol 1 had 256 characters, ChordSymbol 2 has 2200; and ChordSymbol 3 will have more like 3000. One wouldn't want to get much larger than that, but 3000 characters should suffice for every chord symbol anyone in the Western tradition would ever need, whether for traditional or commercial music. And I mean globally, from South America to Timbuktu (partly because that's what Unicode is, an accommodation of all the world's scripts). Relative to Finale, once Finale embraces Unicode, jazz symbol entry (as with figured bass and so on) will get a whole lot easier. That's because my Unicode fonts will amount to a totally comprehensive library of all possible combinations. In fact, with the Unicode JazzSymbol, virtually every conceivable chord suffix and tension can be entered in one click. And for those exceptional cases not available preassembled in the font, they can be readily assembled from scratch using the custom suffix range. So Finale users should encourage MM to make that big Unicode leap. It's in their own best interest, since chord symbol entry in Sibelius using my fonts gives their users enormous advantages right now. And I don't think MM would want us to change our current Finale-orientation for our forthcoming multimedia textbooks, in which music students will use our fonts in conjunction with student versions of Finale in completing assignments. But we'll promote Sibelius this way instead if we have to. (Finale's advantage would be all the more compelling if they engineer their Unicode chord symbol-entry functionality around my fonts, but that may be too much to hope for.) Fourth, npcimaging is actually an etailer for ChordSymbol 2--Nick is already selling my initial Unicode ChordSymbol font, with the TrueType subfonts available for free from me once the Unicode font has been purchased. He will no doubt be selling JazzSymbol, in both its Unicode and TrueType formats, by the end of March. But of course all these fonts can also be obtained directly from me, with fast service and paying by PayPal. Finally, let me encourage all of you to have whatever level of input on JazzSymbol you want. My intention is to create the most useful fonts package possible for chord symbol entry in all idioms, in Finale and any other application. So I will send out, to any requestor, a PDF listing ChordSymbol 2's commercial range, which will be the starting point for JazzSymbol albeit based for now on Times New Roman, whereas JazzSymbol will be rebuilt from scratch using Arial Narrow. I would also be more than happy to let any Finale user review my initial JazzSymbol Unicode prototype and the test versions of its Finale TrueType subfonts. For those who contribute very substantively to this development effort, I'll supply the font to you cost-free, as a small token of my gratitude for your help in making this font package the very best it can be. So please by all means help me get this right--I've already had numerous thoughtful suggestions, and believe me, the fonts will be far better because of such helpful input. Thanks much, and cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Re: JazzSymbol and Finale-specific font-handling mechanisms
In a message dated 1/7/2010 10:00:27 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, finale-requ...@shsu.edu writes: Message: 4 Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 17:58:25 -0500 From: Giz Bowe girard...@verizon.net Subject: Re: [Finale] JazzSymbol To: finale@shsu.edu Message-ID: 0kvu0098jl3e8...@vms173019.mailsrvcs.net Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed At 03:54 PM 1/5/2010, you wrote: We'll probably sell JazzSymbol for about $50 per copy, with liberal student adoption terms (perhaps $5 per copy for 10 or more copies distributed by instructors). Hopefully I can have the new font ready by March. The JazzFont is in serious need of an overhaul, and I would gladly pay $50 for a chord font which improved the current Jazz Text font used for chords, but to my eye, Arial Narrow doesn't really fill the bill. Even something similar to Dom Casual would be an improvement. Giz Bowe Alright, thanks Giz. Since we've had several requests for a jazz symbol font based on Arial Narrow, we'll do that first. But I'll check out Dom Casual or other handwritten look options for a follow-on product for those who strongly prefer the most casual look. Basically I wish to produce the definitive chord symbol font suite, partly as a prelude to our print-digital textbooks, which will encourage student use of our fonts. So all such input is greatly appreciated. Again, for anyone who wishes to see what we have so far (albeit for now only in the stodgy-looking Times New Roman), I'll be happy to send out a PDF displaying the commercial range from ChordSymbol. Just let me know. As a sidebar, someone might fill me in on Font Annotation and any other font-handling mechanisms specific to Finale if you like. I want to make sure to get these things right. Am I missing anything? Thanks much. Cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] JazzSymbol
Dear Finale and Sibelius Listers: Just a heads-up that I will soon commence development of JazzSymbol, a variant of my ChordSymbol Unicode font tailored specifically to commercial music. Based on the less formal-looking Arial Narrow, JazzSymbol will provide commercial musicians with any chord symbol they will ever need in an informal typography more suitable to popular idioms. If you have any suggestions for what you'd like to have in JazzSymbol, please let me know. Upon request, I can send out a PDF listing the contents of ChordSymbol's commercial range so you can see what's there now--I think all conceivable suffixes and tensions, and much else, nearly 1000 characters all told. Substantive contributors to the design of JazzSymbol will receive free copies of the font. As with ChordSymbol, JazzSymbol will feature TrueType subfonts replicating the Unicode functionality of the main font until MakeMusic can bring Finale into Unicode compliance. I understand this is no small logistical hurdle, but it is one that the good people at Sibelius have surmounted, giving their users a huge advantage when it comes to chord symbol entry as made possible already with ChordSymbol. Please keep in mind that JazzSymbol may be incorporated into textbooks and various sorts of digital teaching materials, and that The Virtual Conservatory will begin publishing such materials this year. So if you have anything you'd like to put out through us, or if you wish to request special additions to JazzSymbol for your particular publishing purposes, please let me know. We'll probably sell JazzSymbol for about $50 per copy, with liberal student adoption terms (perhaps $5 per copy for 10 or more copies distributed by instructors). Hopefully I can have the new font ready by March. Thanks much, and happy holidays. Best, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] ChordSymbol/CSTimes update, Finale version - discount
Hello fellow Finale listers. Someone mentioned that people on the Finale site are trying to find me to learn if there has been an update to my old, popular CSTimes music-analysis text font. There has, in the form of ChordSymbol 2, which includes a text font that replicates the functionality of CSTimes. Because ChordSymbol 2 is in Unicode and Finale is not yet Unicode-savvy, I have created eight cross-platform compatible TrueType fonts that replicate its overall functionality, including everything from general chordal analysis through figured bass with slashed figures to jazz chord symbols with every imaginable suffix and tension. The fonts contain hundreds of prebuilt figure combinations, saving much entry time. If you're interested, please let me know, and I'll send you a flyer featuring a $10 discount through December 31. With over 1500 characters, it's a big package that comprises much more, for example, than Sigler's Jazz fonts - on the commercial side, you can do everything in all editions of the Real Book. So I believe it's well worth the money Once MakeMusic is able to bring Finale up to date with regard to the Unicode standard, it'll be that much better. Right now Sibelius users have an advantage when it comes to entering chord symbols, but hopefully that will be rectified soon. If MakeMusic is willing to engineer their Unicode chord-entry mechanism around ChordSymbol and its coming offshoots, including a variant based on the less formal-looking Arial Narrow, they'll be unbeatable. The folks at MakeMusic may feel free to provide a link to our web site for those many Finale users who are looking for the ChordSymbol/CSTimes update. Thanks, and happy holidays. Best, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) On the Finale site, they cannot find you and are asking for help in locating CSTimes ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] ChordSymbol 2 TrueType Finale fonts are ready
Dear Finale Listers: The laborious task of creating TrueType versions of the various ranges of our ChordSymbol 2 Unicode fonts specifically for use with Finale is finally complete! So the unprecedented chord symbol entry functionality of ChordSymbol 2 is now available to Finale users. If interested, please email me privately; I'll reply with a flyer containing font samples and an order form. Mention you need the Finale fonts, and I'll attach those along with the Unicode fonts. The conference discount price is $75, a bargain for the eight TrueType fonts, each containing 191 characters, together enabling entry of any type of chord symbol, from figured bass to commercial symbols. A bit of a rant, if I may so indulge: These eight cross-platform fonts do replicate the impressive functionality of ChordSymbol 2 quite nicely. But Finale users who wish to exploit the full entry power of the vast Unicode font (over 2200 characters) will be strongly motivated to cross-grade to Sibelius until our good friends at MakeMusic step up to Unicode (which I understand is no small thing). Nothing compares with the capacity to enter even the most intricate jazz chord suffixes, or such as three-figure figured bass stacks, in one entry action. Chord symbol entry will never be the same--and Finale will lose market share unless it becomes Unicode-compliant quickly. Thanks, and cheers, Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 S. Patterson Ave., #203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 Phone and fax: (805) 964-7988 (for fax, ignore answering machine) Email: _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Re: Unicode support in Finale--impending upgrade of ChordSymbol font
Greetings, list. I've been out of the Finale world for awhile, but now that I'm upgrading my ChordSymbol font, I'm wondering what the status of Unicode support is. I see that it is not supported in Finale 2010. Will it be added for Finale 2011? If a support rep or product manager wishes to reply privately, I'd appreciate that. Or I may get in touch directly soon, also about the possibility of bundling my Unicode font with Finale once you finally make that leap. I hope to make ChordSymbol 2 the gold standard among music-analysis and lead-sheet fonts. Music theorists have always sworn by ChordSymbol 1, and I'm hoping that commercial music arrangers will equally value the new font, with its full set of commercial chord symbols--not handwritten, as in the existing Finale fonts, but properly set in Times New Roman. In the meantime, I will create three separate TrueType fonts that Finale users may find useful: - RomanNumerals, for roman-numeral analysis; - BassFigures, for figured bass (featuring slashed figures in any conce ivable combination and all needed accessories such as the little plusses); and - JazzSymbol, for pop/rock/jazz/theater music. I expect to roll out this font package for Windows and Mac within about two weeks, as the main Unicode font, which features over 1000 special symbols, is finished, and it will not take long to derive the subset fonts therefrom. Please feel free to direct inquiries to my personal email address--most sales will be done by email (paying using PayPal) until we can get our web site, _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com) , updated with the needed functionality. Thanks and cheers, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger 50 S. Patterson Ave., Apt. 203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 (805) 964-7988 _jclev...@aol.com_ (mailto:jclev...@aol.com) **A bad credit score is 600 below. Checking won't affect your score. See now! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221823322x1201398723/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072hmpgI D=62bcd=JulyBadfooterNO62) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] MakeMusic inquiry on ChordSymbol?
Dear Finale List Members: I was just informed by one of my ChordSymbol users, in inquiring about my plans to reengineer this product into a far more powerful and versatile tool, that some sort of message had been posted on the MakeMusic web site asking about how to contact me. Do any of you know about this? At any rate, here I am, open to queries, as we're still struggling to find a way to complete the last tenth of the engineering for our ear-training application, Hearing Tonal Music, on the marketing of which I plan to piggyback the far more versatile and powerful ChordSymbol 2. Also, feel free to pass along my contact information below to whichever MakeMusic person was trying to contact me. But please reply directly to me personally, as I no longer monitor the Finale List. Thanks very much. Best, jrc Dr. John R. Clevenger, Manager The Virtual Conservatory 50 South Patterson Avenue, Suite 203 Santa Barbara, CA 93111 USA Telephone and fax: (805) 964-7988 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) Web site: _www.virtualconservatory.com_ (http://www.virtualconservatory.com/) ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
